A Memorial Day In Dallas

Dallas Arboretum

Donut Break

A warm Memorial Day in Dallas, as we spend our last day with Beth and family.  Like most mornings recently, it's overcast, humid with thunderstorms during the night and more this morning and then, perhaps, some sunshine for grilling out our marinated flank steak for fajitas.

Breakfast

Yesterday, a Sunday, we said dam the heat and humidity; we were going to get out and enjoy some of the late morning and afternoon air.  And what better way to start our day then at Hypnotic Donuts, another hot spot in Dallas, with a constant line of customers, of course.  Their shtick is making original donuts, like the one Marisa ordered, the Canadian Healthcare, a donut with maple flavored frosting, topped with a thick slice of bacon.  Yum.

Health Food

I ordered the Maui Wowie, with coconut frosting and a coconut cream filling.  There other best seller is their biscuits, sliced, with a breaded chicken breast sandwiched in between. Double yum. Evie and I ordered ours with honey but there were various other toppings we could have gotten, including gravy.

Waiting In Line At Hypnotic Donuts

We sat around eating the donuts as we waited for our chicken/biscuit sandwiches.  When they arrived, they were piping hot and one was enough for two of us.  By the time we were through, we needed a cup of good coffee, so Rami knew of another coffee oasis, with Ethiopian coffee, called the Good Friend Package Store.  It was an interesting place, with a coffee bar, a counter where you could order food, and a wall of coolers with every all kinds of micro brews and European brews, even Southern Tier from Chautauqua.

Flower Strewn Paths

We then drove to the Dallas Arboretum, a short hop from the coffee shop.  We visited it back in November but at this time of year, every thing is in bloom, so it was much more colorful and interesting despite the heat and humidity.

Live Art

We walked it for about forty five minutes until Marisa wilted like a flower and cried 'Enough.'

Our New Turkish Acquaintances

Interestingly, as we were sitting down,  a family walked by, the women with head scarves and they looked Turkish to me, so as the grandfather passed, I said Merhaba (Hello).  He replied Merhaba and we struck up a 15 minute conversation with him, his son, his wife and two daughters.  The son teaches in Houston,  and his parents were visiting for a month and were from Bursa, Turkey.  The parents, of course, as well as the son, want us to come and visit them, both in Houston and Bursa, typical of Turkish hospitality.  We exchanged phone numbers and they also mentioned their son will be a freshmen at the U. Of Texas, Austin, where Mitch is going, so we got his name as well.  It was a nice way to end our visit at the Arboretum.

Globe Amaranth

A Variety Of Colors And Flowers

On the way home, we needed to pick up food for dinner, so we stopped at Beth's favorite grocery store, Central Market, the equal of any market we've been too, including Wegmans, Fairways, and Stu Leonards.  It had everything, great veggies, meats, breads, coffees, the works and, like Stew Leonards, we wound our way around the store, a one way traffic path. We could not pass up some of the goodies for Chautauqua and spent seventy five bucks on practically nothing.

We then hung out the rest of the afternoon at home, happy to be in an air conditioned house.  I watched Jordan Spieth birdy six holes in the last nine to win the Dean And Delucca Open here in Fort Worth, TX, his hometown. As always, skill, confidence, and some luck play into any golfers success.

Relaxing With Dad

Around 5:30, Beth and Rami went out for dinner and a movie, so Evie, Marisa and I drove up to a neat restaurant/deli called eatZi's Market and Bakery, about five minutes away.  They have all kinds of goodies, from ready made meals, I had the half of chicken with two sides, to salads made to order, Evie, and sandwiches made to order, Marisa.  We then brought our food home and settled down in front of the TV to watch the film JOY, a feel good, Rocky like movie about a women who eventually makes millions on QVC, based on a true story.  Marisa loved it and the film emphasizes how persistence, chutzpah, and creativity are necessary for success even though there are often many speed bumps along the way.  Afterwards, we watched a couple of episodes of Blackish, a fairly new series we have never seen.  It looks like it could be pretty good.  And we ended the night with the very first episode of Seinfeld, available through Hulu Plus.  Just as we were finishing it, Beth and Rami returned from their dinner and movie date, so it was time for bed for everyone.