Day Off in Dallas

Sleep in.

Yeah, right. I'm up by 7. Work for a few hours, then decide to head to Starbucks. It's about 2 miles away and I'm not really sure exactly where it is, but I don't have anything to do today, so I figure I'll meander in that general direction and eventually find it. Takes a while, but I enjoyed the walk. Grab a scone and a hot drink and get a table outside. I share my scone (in the South we call these things stale biscuits) with two of the strangest birds I've ever seen. They kinda look like small roadrunners and are very skittish, but grateful for the chow. I read a couple of newspapers and after being there for a couple of hours I head out to find another way back to the hotel. Wind up walking about 3 miles and get a terrific walking tour of some Dallas projects. Come up on the hotel property from the other side and discover a place nearby called Buck's Prime. According to the sign, they have "Buckin' Good Burgers". Hmmm…maybe I'll have dinner here later.

Thanks to the sunny day, I'm draped in wet cotton by the time I get back to my room. Grab a shower and then Andy Battye calls about going to eat Mexican food. Evidently Forrest, the hotel's shuttle driver, has offered to drive Andy and whoever to any of the local restaurants. We decide on a 7pm meet time in the bar.

Head down at 7. Looks like it'll be me, Andy, Za, Steve Carlsen (stage manager) and Eddie Kercher (production manager). As we're leaving the property with Forrest, we decide to go bar hopping in Deep Ellum and hope that we can find some Mexican food down there. If you've never been to Dallas, Deep Ellum is their French Quarter, their Georgetown, their Greenwich Village, their Glenwood South. You get the picture.

The bar hop starts. A couple of bars in, I spot a table of 4 cops having dinner. I ask them about nearby dining options, they tell. So we're off to Sol's Taco Lounge, a couple of blocks away. Not very crowded, but a great staff. Great food, too. I will definitely be back here next time I'm in Dallas. We completely gorge ourselves and knock back some $17.00 shots of tequila (Don Julio 1942) and then some $13.00 shots (some highfalutin' Jose Cuervo). At this point I’m really glad we've been eating or I'd be trashed. After dinner, we head to the bar and talk shit to the staff. I decide I want a t-shirt, so I offer our waiter Miles some tickets to tomorrow's show in exchange. He jumps at the offer and several of us leave with Taco Lounge T's.

So now we go out drinking. No, really. We hit several bars for a beer here, a beer there, and the occasional shot of ugliness. Wind up at the wrong place, meet the wrong people, and suddenly it's a powder party. I opt out and decide to grab a cab back to the hotel. Andy and Za decide to come with, so we head home.

I sit up websurfing for about an hour, hoping to metabolize some of the ugliness I've consumed. Hope it works…

Follow the Bobzilla's Photos link at the right to see photos from my travels.