18 Mar 2010

R: While L visited her grandparents in Sarasota, N and I enjoyed the tourista life in a historic downtown area. The whole main street was full of corny souveneir shops, restaurants and clothing stores geared toward old ladies who wear turtle necks in the hottest days of summer. There were a few rather entertaining bits of local flavor/humor.

C: Our flight touched down nearly an hour earlier than anticipated this morning. Temperatures in Dallas/Arlington weren't much different from the almost-Spring weather we were having in Boston, with the exception of brighter sunlight, for longer hours.

Despite being a well-spread out city with plenty of land between man-made structures, this can be easy to forget when you are greeted by an expanse of concrete roadways and dried out grass; everything seems to be a shade of beige or sand. However, I quickly recovered from the monochromatic landscape as we explored a couple of M's restaurant favorites like Boo Boo's and El Chico, and visited newer local attractions like the barely-year-old Cowboy's Stadium. I also got a $6 ($8 with a "generous" tip) trim at M's dad's salon. Then we passed some apartments that advertised 3 bedrooms for $99, and though probably not livable by our standards, it is a significant finding that apartments can cost less than my monthly cable bill.

Though the grass might not be greener, more of it is good enough for me. Austin tomorrow - and getting closer to my next-year home.