[Question] clueless brit heading to TEXAS!

twitchmoss

twitchmoss

I don't post here as much as I used to, but I need advice and stuff!

i'm heading to texas in december! my sister is about to have another baby, and they decided two months before due date to up sticks and move to plano.

does anyone have reccomendations for shit to do/see in said area? food, gaming haunts, whatever you reccomend! also, things to avoid! whatever helps!
 
strawman

strawman

Just act nonchalant when they hand you the complimentary handgun once you arrive, its rude to immediately discharge it in the air while hootin' and hollerin'.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I had to look at a map... and I always thought Plano was near Ft Worth... boy was I wrong. There's plenty to do in Dallas.

Eat Fajitas and a good local Tex Mex restaurant.
Find a good BBQ joint and get Brisket and Ribs.
Try Ox Tail Soup at a soul food restaurant.
Eat a Chicken fried steak with cream gravy.

You will need a local friend to recommend specific places.

Several world class museums, check to see if Fair Park has an exhibit.

Find Deep Ellum, a trippy club/bar area for a pub crawl. It is like being a human zoologist.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Hrm, is Six Flags open in december, I wonder? That'd be fun with an 8 month pregnant woman :D

There's a Dave and Buster's in Dallas but I haven't been to one in like 20 years, so I don't know if they suck now.

Every tourist has to go to Dealey Plaza and see where JFK was shot. Even I did it once. There's an X on the street where his car was. The floor Lee Harvey Oswald shot him from is now a museum about it.

My favorite BBQ place in the DFW area is Cousins Bar-B-Q. Don't go to the one in the airport though.

If you've never been to one, there's a Medieval Times there. Might be funny to watch Americans pretend to be British and beat the crap out of each other while you eat. Second best thing to the Texas Renaissance Festival, I suppose, which closes last weekend of november.

Other ideas:

http://www.texasoutside.com/northtexas/fun-things-to-see-and-do-in-dallas-fort-worth.html
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Oh, you *must* visit Central Market at least once. It's a foodie paradise. It's on Lover's Ln (no joke) in Dallas. A bit of a drive from Plano, but worth the visit if you're into food at all.

I had a friend ask me one time what was so great about Central Market. So I went to the produce department and counted the number of varieties of oranges they had, as an example. Most grocery stores might have navel oranges, and if you're lucky, cutie mandarins.

That day, Central Market had 15 varieties of oranges. No kidding.

You can get a lot of the things there that I love to eat or cook with but have a hard time finding in most grocery stores, like clotted cream, crème fraîche, demi-glace, caster sugar, incredible stinky cheeses, and a whole host of other stuff. So amazing.

Fair warning, it's definitely upscale/pricey.
 
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Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

So, some generic other things:
Trinity Hall Irish Pub has live Irish music on the weekends. http://www.trinityhall.tv/music

Paintball Park is just north of Plano: http://www.collincountypaintballpark.com/
(take out your aggression by shooting scores of loud mouthed middle-teen boys..lol)

You can visit Carpenter House, the last surviving actual Victorian homestead in Plano. This was were Cindy and I were going to have our wedding before cancer surgery changed our plans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_House_(Plano,_Texas)

Take the Plano walking tour
https://www.plano.gov/DocumentCenter/View/587

I haven't been, but this looks fun:
https://escapeexpert.com/faq
You're 'locked' in a room with other people and have to figure out how to get out by solving puzzles and stuff.

fade said:
The central market here in Houston is nice, too. Especially the beer section.
Click to expand...
Agreed...I fell in love with Central Market when I still lived in Houston. I was so happy that there was one in Dallas when I moved there.

People up here tell me that Wegman's is just as good..but it's not even close.

On the other side of the shopping coin, if you want to experience an absolutely gigantic asian grocery, try H-Mart at
2625 Old Denton Rd #200, Carrollton, TX 75007[DOUBLEPOST=1479146207,1479146022][/DOUBLEPOST]
GasBandit said:
There's a Dave and Buster's in Dallas but I haven't been to one in like 20 years, so I don't know if they suck now.
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I haven't been to a Dave and Busters in a while, but Dallas does have a Main Event that's not too terrible.
https://www.mainevent.com/[DOUBLEPOST=1479146249][/DOUBLEPOST](sorry about the million posts...I haven't lived in Dallas for like 6 years now, and it's all starting to come back to me..hah)
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

It's not close to Plano, so don't do this if you're not already in the Austin area to see other things. But if you do happen to visit Austin on a day trip or something, go to the Salt Lick, and drown yourself in BBQ'd meats.
 
phil

phil

I live in plano!


Uh..

You can do the...thing...that's fun to do here.

Lazertag?

Oh the whirly ball place is kinda neat! it's like basketball but you're in a bumper car
 
phil

phil

Lockhearts is some pretty good BBQ. it's the kind where you basically just order your meat by the pound and get it wrapped in butcher paper and also here's some bread. get the spicy mac n' cheese.

Also this is a bloody Mary you can order. this is a thing that the hubris of man created.
burnt-end-bloody-mary.jpg
 
fade

fade

Staff member
If all the British expats at work are any indication, the most fun thing to do in the US is constantly talk about how the British version of everything is superior. Must be buckets of fun, because they do it all the time.
 
phil

phil

There's a haunted house that'll be doing some shows in mid December if you're still here. I've never gone cause I ain't made of money but I've heard good things.

AVOID THE MALL cause it'll be December and pretty crazy and also malls are just depressing.

If you want to see a movie consider the alamo Drafthouse in nearby Richardson. they have special movie viewings including quote alongs, party viewings of older movies or new movies in a theater where people can and will be kicked out for talking!

The Dallas Arboretum is pretty cool and not that hard to get to.
 
twitchmoss

twitchmoss

Back from texas!

my god its flat. and empty. so very empty.

dallas museum of art was nice. and so were the water gardens in fort worth. my sisters place is like, an hours walk from anywhere interesting, which made getting around a bit tricky. madness comics was fun though!

one question, what the hell is up with your colossal bookshops? barnes and noble had a flipping LEGO SECTION. is that normal?
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Yes, bookstores are massive, but getting rare now. My town does not have a bookstore, besides the ones geared to college textbooks.

Dallas is quite flat, but Austin and San Antonio are on the rugged side. I get agoraphobia in Dallas and Houston. I live in a forest, and can not see more than 100 feet in any general direction. But get to those towns... You can see for miles!
 
fade

fade

Staff member
twitchmoss said:
Back from texas!

my god its flat. and empty. so very empty.

dallas museum of art was nice. and so were the water gardens in fort worth. my sisters place is like, an hours walk from anywhere interesting, which made getting around a bit tricky. madness comics was fun though!

one question, what the hell is up with your colossal bookshops? barnes and noble had a flipping LEGO SECTION. is that normal?
Click to expand...
Yeah, plenty of hills in TX, just not in Dallas.

I think the Legos are an attempt to stay afloat in a time when bookstores are going out of business. I think most people buy their books online these days.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Celt Z said:
Oh god, the flashbacks.... noooo! NOOOOOO!

(I don't remember which highway we were on, but my entire drive through northern Texas looked exactly like this.)
Click to expand...
And even we who wistfully long for the drive pictured above...

... tremble in fear of repressed memories of I-70 through Kansas.

Welcome to Kansas. H̼ͯ͆̽́̈͊o̜̜̯̺͖̙̟̎̓̔p̒̾͗͛͂̚ḛ̬͇̖̱ͥ͑ ̦̤̬͈ͤy̮ͧͪ͌ͮ̀͐ͅo̟͔̝̩̮̭̓̿͂ͅū͔͓͕̪̫̺̄͒̀́̃͂ ̼̱̱̞͇̓l̼͍̏̔ͅi̗̯͋̅ͣ̉k̠̙̞̳̱͎ͧ͛̈́͐͗e͉̹͕̱ͩ̆̔̍ͩ̄̚ͅ ̺̦̎ͨ̃c͙̼̥̰̤̬̃̇o̹̘̪͕̮̼̅r̹̮̦̦̘̝̺ͣͩͯn͙.̙͓̫̙̓͗

500+ miles... of THIS..

kansas.png
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

GasBandit said:
And even we who wistfully long for the drive pictured above...

... tremble in fear of repressed memories of I-70 through Kansas.

Welcome to Kansas. H̼ͯ͆̽́̈͊o̜̜̯̺͖̙̟̎̓̔p̒̾͗͛͂̚ḛ̬͇̖̱ͥ͑ ̦̤̬͈ͤy̮ͧͪ͌ͮ̀͐ͅo̟͔̝̩̮̭̓̿͂ͅū͔͓͕̪̫̺̄͒̀́̃͂ ̼̱̱̞͇̓l̼͍̏̔ͅi̗̯͋̅ͣ̉k̠̙̞̳̱͎ͧ͛̈́͐͗e͉̹͕̱ͩ̆̔̍ͩ̄̚ͅ ̺̦̎ͨ̃c͙̼̥̰̤̬̃̇o̹̘̪͕̮̼̅r̹̮̦̦̘̝̺ͣͩͯn͙.̙͓̫̙̓͗

500+ miles... of THIS..

View attachment 23052
Click to expand...
Oh, I know. I've been to Iowa. *shudders*
 
Dei

Dei

I-70 through Kansas is definitely better in the winter than I-70 through Colorado. Then again, at least I-70 in Colorado will take you to the ski slopes. Or, you know, an endless parking lot.
 
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