Category Archives: In the City

Sundance Square Plaza

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Sundance Square in Fort Worth is well worth a visit – even if you live in Dallas.

North Texas Ramblings - Sundance Square Plaza With so many people living in suburbs, city downtown areas often fall into decline. Dallas and Fort Worth are two cities bucking this trend by providing places for people to gather. Dallas has Klyde Warren Park, and Fort Worth has Sundance Square.

Anchored by the Bass Performance Hall, Sundance Square sports comedy clubs, jazz nightspots, and theater groups, not to mention the annual Lone Star Film Festival held every November. Shopping, dining, urban living, and hotels – Sundance Square has it all.

Sundance Square Plaza

Completed in November 2013, Sundance Square Plaza adds an almost European dimension to the Sundance Square scene. Outdoor seating surrounds a jetted fountain on the west side of the plaza. More than 200 jets shoot water into the air on a random schedule. Kids love it. They gleefully wait in anticipation for the water entertainment. Yes, kids can play in the zero-depth fountain (normally from 2 to 6 p.m.). There are some rules: no animals, street clothes only, and no pool toys.

On the east side of the plaza, you’ll find a cloud of four gigantic umbrellas sheltering outdoor tables from the sun. The 80-foot umbrellas, while immensely practical, have the elegance of an beautifully designed sculpture. At night, LED lighting illuminates the canvas ceiling.

Free Entertainment

With a new plaza, Sundance Square is the perfect spot for outdoor entertainment. A free, Sunday jazz series runs every other Sunday, through the end of June. Music starts at 3 p.m. Then on Wednesday evenings this summer, come by the square at 8:30 p.m. for a family movie shown in the plaza.

The Flying Saucer

What could be better than burgers and beer? How about burgers, beer, and bands? The Flying Saucer (111 East Third Street) has an outdoor stage that draws a crowd from within the restaurant’s outdoor patio and from people strolling Third Street. A beer emporium, the Flying Saucer has over 200 different beers on tap.

The Bird Café

The Bird Café (115 East, Fourth and Commerce) is a new restaurant opened following renovations to Sundance Square Plaza. The Bird Café has extensive patio seating facing the plaza, and indoor seating in the historic Land Title Block building. Decorated with bird prints from artists Scott and Stuart Gentling, the restaurant’s interior adds to the dining experience. The Gentling brothers toured Texas painting native birds in a style similar to that of naturalist John James Audubon. Bird Café sources many of its ingredients locally. The café offers some unique items such as quail and rabbit, along with more pedestrian choices.

Sid Richardson Museum

The Sid Richardson Museum (309 Main Street) is a unique little museum tucked in among Main Street storefronts. Richardson was a Texas oilman who made his fortune in the 1930s. The museum displays his collection of Frederic Remington and Charles Russell artwork. Western art is not normally my favorite, but I thoroughly enjoyed this small gem of a museum. A detailed guide gives you the story behind each painting. The museum is free.

When you go.

Sundance Square spans 35 city blocks. It supports a host of businesses, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, and even a radio station (The Ranch, 95.9 FM). The architecture is an eclectic mix of modern, in some cases, high-rise buildings; and early twentieth century architecture. Parking is available in three large garages: Garage 1 (Commerce and First Street), Garage 2 (Calhoun and Third Street), and Garage 3 (Taylor and Third Street). Parking is expensive on weekdays, but free on weekends and after 5 p.m. There are so many unique shops and wonderful restaurants that I can’t list them all here. I hope you enjoy wandering the streets and exploring the shops as much as I did. Be sure to take time to relax in the plaza.

 

Dallas Farmers Market

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You can still buy fresh produce at the Dallas Farmers Market as it undergoes its North Texas Ramblings Dallas Farmers Markettransformation. And while you’re shopping, stop in at Ruibal’s for your spring plants and flowers. Finish your outing with lunch at Pecan Lodge.

Times Are Changing

Operated since 1941 by the City of Dallas, the farmers market recently sold to DF Market Holdings. According to the Dallas Morning News, the private company will invest over $64 million to renovate the area for mixed use to include retail, apartments, restaurants, and a fresh produce market. Redevelopment is already underway, with Dallas Farmers Market Shed 1 demolished, refurbished, and now open for business.

Market Shed 1

With a new roof and floor, Market Shed 1 houses a much smaller farmers market. You’ll still find half a dozen produce vendors. The produce prices for fresh fruits and vegetables rival what I pay at the grocery store. Unfortunately, not all the items are local.

In addition to produce, we found local honey, fresh eggs, a pickle vendor specializing in Texas BBQ pickles, artisan cheese from Waco, and the standard jams and jellies. There was even a vendor with massive bones and other treats for your four-legged, dog-friends.

A small number of crafers have stalls in the shed. Yumscents sells soaps, scents, and handcrafted shaving kits (Yumscents lavender eye pillows are a steal at $7.95). Finally, a few food vendors sell breakfast burritos, tamales, and roasted corn.

Expect to see additional vendors as spring moves into summer, and more local farmers set up shop.

Ruibal’s Plants of Texas

Michael Ruibal began selling plants out of a truck at the Dallas Farmers Market in 1984. Now he operates four nurseries in the Dallas area. His market location is kitty corner to Shed 1. Ruibal’s boasts a vast variety of plants. Colorful annuals, perennials, garden pots, shrubs, and even trees are available at the fully stocked nursery that covers two city blocks. A visit to Ruibal’s is a must for anyone getting ready to plant their spring garden.

Pecan Lodge

Alas, Pecan Lodge no longer fills the market air with the sweet smell from its smokehouse. Pecan Lodge, named by D Magazine in 2010 as Dallas’ best new restaurant, and THE place for BBQ, has moved. While Pecan Lodge now has its own restaurant location in Deep Elum, it’s still within a mile of the Dallas Farmers Market. Shop the market in the morning and take a walk over to Pecan Lodge for lunch.

When you go

The Dallas Farmers Market (1010 South Pearl Expressway, Dallas) is open Friday and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.; and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is free and plentiful. Ruibal’s Plants of Texas (601 South Pearl Expressway, Dallas) is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. And Pecan Lodge (2702 Main Street, Dallas) is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; and from 3 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Economy in Action Exhibit

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The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank has a free exhibit in its lobby entitled Economy in Action. The exhibit is chocked full of currency facts. For example, did you know that the North Texas Ramblings photo of Dallas Federal Reserve Bankonly paper currency bearing the portrait of a woman was the one dollar silver certificate? Martha Washington graced that now defunct bill. And did you know that without a central bank in the mid-1800s, there were more than 30,000 different types of currency in the United States?

From interesting information on paper currency, you enter the heart of the exhibit and learn more about the Federal Reserve. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank serves the eleventh district encompassing areas of Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico. It is one of twelve districts which comprise the central bank of the United States, more commonly known as the Federal Reserve. Look at a dollar bill. If there is the letter ‘K’ on the left side in the middle of the bill, then the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas placed that dollar into circulation.

Clever, multimedia displays discuss the inception of a central bank for the United States. You learn the story of how Dallas forefathers chatted up the United States Postmaster during a train trip to lobby for a Reserve Bank location in Texas.

The Economy in Action exhibit also educates on how the Federal Reserve works, monetary policy, and the roll played by each Federal Reserve District. Play the game show to see how much you know about the Federal Reserve. Or take the Bankers Challenge to understand criteria banks use to determine whether you get your mortgage or business loan. There is even a display to see how good you are at spotting counterfeit money.

When you go

The Dallas Federal Reserve is at 2200 North Pearl Street, Dallas. Security precautions at the building are strict. You must present a government-issued, picture id to gain entrance (passport for international visitors). Everyone goes through a metal detector. All firearms and weapons, including pocketknives, are prohibited. The self-guided tour is available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Federal Reserve building is located kitty-corner to Klyde Warren Park, a great place for a picnic lunch. Parking is available around the area in paid lots and on neighborhood streets. The visitor parking at the Federal Reserve building is restricted to group tours only.

African American Museum Dallas

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The African American Museum is a Fair Park treasure. Unlike many of the Fair Park buildings, the museum is not an art deco building, but a newer structure built in the 1980s. North Texas Ramblings African American MuseumLight, airy, and spacious, the building’s grand foyer sets the mood. Galleries branch off from the foyer on two levels. Said to be one of the finest in the nation, the ground floor houses an extensive folk art collection.

Special Exhibits

The museum features African American artists. During a recent visit, I enjoyed the gallery featuring Maryland-based, LaToya M Hobbs. Working in a mixed medium of printmaking, acrylic, and collage, Hobbs’ larger than life art is expressive and beautiful. “My work is an investigation of the point where the notions of race, identity, and beauty intersect concerning women of African descent,” writes the artist. The Hobbs’ exhibit will be at the African American Museum through April 30, 2015.

Freedman’s Cemetery

The real gem of the museum is its Facing the Rising Sun exhibit. I was at first skeptical about an exhibit centered on the archeological excavation of a cemetery. From about the 1850s through early twentieth century, much of the Dallas African American community lived north. Just outside Dallas city limits, the area became known as Freedman Town (about where Uptown Dallas is today). Freedman Cemetery was the burial site for the town. The cemetery fell out of use only to be rediscovered in the 1990s during an Interstate 75 expansion project.

Facing the Rising Sun is so much more than just a display of cemetery artifacts. Throughout the exhibit, you’ll find kiosks with monitors. At each kiosk, you can pick topics, like schools, to learn about life for African Americans living in the Dallas area. Learn about Tom Thumb weddings, African American social clubs, and Sunday afternoon teas. It’s a cornucopia of culture from about 1890 through the 1950.

Sculpture Garden

A small, sculpture garden surrounds the museum. The Bottle Tree, made of metal and glass, anchors the outdoor sculptures. The Bottle Tree is the work of students from the Patsy Eldridge of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

When you go

The African American Museum is located in Fair Park at 3536 Grand Avenue, Dallas. The museum is free, though there is a charge for groups of 20 people or more. The museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, contact the museum at (214) 565-9026 or visit their website at aamdallas.org

White Rock Lake Pelicans

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White Rock Lake, in Dallas, is a bird watcher’s oasis in the heart of the city. North Texas Ramblings Pelicans at Sunset Bay in DallasAmerican white pelicans are the lake’s wintering divas. Traveling from places as far north as Canada’s Northwest Territories, the pelicans begin arriving in November. The Sunset Bay pelicans roam the lake in groups of five or six. They feed together, herding fish to their compatriots. Big-billed wonders, the pelicans are a delight to watch and often come close enough for amateurs to photograph.

Other migratory water birds include cormorants and even the occasional roseate spoonbill. Great blue heron and egrets are year round residents, along with a few hundred American coot and a dozen “wild” domestic geese. Beware the coots and geese. Both goose and coot will mob the unsuspecting birder in hopes of a handout.  Rock pigeon and grackles round out Sunset Bay’s winged inhabitants, filling trees shoreline with noisy flocks.

Sunset Bay is located at 810 E Lawther Drive, Dallas. Shoreline parking is available and there is a small boardwalk for a closer look at the water birds.