Dallas Daytripping

 It all starts with tickets to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art.  We have those and the museum opens at 11.  Leaving the house at 8 makes for some time to kill.  Come along and share in our amazing day.  First stop is a new-to-us coffee shop along the way.  Here is the Buzz and Bustle LINK  so you can check it out yourself, if you so desire.  That's why I make a separate link now and then - not all who read this give a hoot about coffee in Dallas.  It is what it is.

The other day, I mentioned to Mister that we had not thoroughly explored an area of our city.  We had been there a couple of times, but not to really check it out, so that is our next destination.  Here is the Thanks-Giving LINK to see what this is all about.  It has been in movies, on stamps, and much more.  What a great stop - so much to see and learn right here where we live.

There is still time before the museum opens and as we walk to the car Mister mentions how cool the view on the corner is.  Old meets new in many ways.

Another thing that Dallas has scattered around the city are sculptures.  In 2017, I showed you the giant eyeball (here is a LINK) if you don't remember, and today, we're hunting down The Bowler Hat.  I've driven past it a couple of times, but never stopped.  Today is the day.  To spare myself the typing here, all of the information on this sculpture and the next one we visit can be found in this INFO LINK.  That will take you to a website that is not mine, but the Dallas Public Arts.  

Yep, I walked over to and peeked inside.

The second statue in the area is Stanley's Umbrella.  It is smack dab in the middle of the street, with traffic passing on both side.  

We're still a bit early for the DMA, but decide to head there to park and walk for a bit.  Outside the Nasher, the willows are wonderful

Klyde Warren Park - it's been a minute or two since we've visited.

There was a huge line at the other entrance to the DMA so we opt for this one.  All alone, but still 15 minutes away.

Mister says the sound of the waterfall is reminding him of the beach.  Do you agree?

As he sits there, I notice a sculpture at the top of the light post near by.  The Sitting Man has a great vantage point.

Looking down the walkway beside the museum.

After crossing the street, a peek in the window of the Nasher has this bejeweled pumpkin to share.  So, so cool.  Geodes shining in the morning light.

Nearby, this ledge of purple and green is simply lovely.  I'm on the hunt for the name of the plant.

Another street cross back to the DMA side and this sculpture is available for viewing.  It is called Ave and has was created in 1973 by Mark Di Suvero.  "This bright-red steel girder sculpture - weighing in at a whopping 12,000 pounds - stands guard at the south entrance to the Dallas Museum of Art.  Prior to the DMA's 1976 acquisition, Ave did tours in Paris and New York."

At last, the museum opens and we go straight to the Van Gogh exhibit - In this Van Gogh LINK, you can see many of his paintings and learn right along with me.  It was FABULOUS!!

We checked out a few more traveling exhibits and found a few things to share here, as they are not Van Gogh.  This first one is just entitled, "Composition" and was done by Lygia Clark from Brazil in 1953.

The next is "Untitled (parabolic lens) by Fred Eversley  of Brooklyn, NY.  It is of cast polyester.  "Associated with the Finish Fetish movement in Los Angeles, Fred Eversley trained and worked as an engineer before focusing full-time on art.  In the late 1960s, he developed a process that involved spinning liquid resin combined with commercial dyes around a vertical axis to create concave surfaces.  The resulting forms function like optical lenses through which to see reflections and refractions of the surrounding space.  Eversley has described his Parabolic Lenses as kinetic sculptures, referring to the variations resulting from the interplay between material, color, and light as viewers move around the works." 

It didn't take Mister long to play.  He's behind the lens.

The water fountain view from inside.

As we depart the DMA, Mister says that he heard of a Main Street festival in Richardson today.  Off we go.  There is a really good turn out and much to Mister's dismay, the wait for a burger at Del's Charcoal Burgers is pretty long.  Another time.  

Walking about finds us in Isabelly's, a delightful candy/ice cream/soda shop all in one.  Turns out they are giving out samples of Blue Bell ice cream and we give two of them a try.  One is the Salty Caramel that we heard so much about during our visit to the factory and the other is Coffee.  BOTH are wonderful  Make sure to stop in there sometime if you are in the metroplex.

Music and fun under the DART rail line.  We sat for awhile and listened but it's late afternoon and I'm getting hungry.

Afrah is not too far away and I love Mediterranean food, so I'm game for a new spot.  When the hummus and pita arrive, it looks amazing.  It ended there.  Drat.  Everything was sweet, even the hummus.  I kept holding the bread in my hand and smelling it over and over again.  Finally, I told Mister that it smells like my cinnamon rolls.  Turns out I was right - they put cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar in the pita bread.  It's kind of a no for me and Mister.  We actually left both on the table.  I will say that my Tabbouleh salad was very good though.

We are pretty close to a local brewery that we have not visited in some time, so a stop there is next.  Four Bullets has changed a bit since we were here.  I love the changes though and first thing I'm after a restroom - this sign has me laughing all the way in.

We start out on the patio but a couple of cigar smokers soon has us indoors for the remaining beer left in our glasses.

Well, a stop for groceries and back home for us.  We left at 8 this morning and it's now 6:30.  That's a full day.