Doing Dallas, So to Speak

So enough of the “when I was young” narrative. Today we went to see some things that didn’t exist, at least in their current form, 30 years ago.

First off, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. This museum is named for H. Ross Perot, the Texas magnate who didn’t win the presidential election. His children donated 50 million dollars to the new museum, which opened in December of last year. Like its namesake, the museum is interesting, over-the-top, and demands attention. The building was designed by architect Thom Mayne, who won the Pritzker Prize for the San Francisco Federal Building in 2005. Depending on who you listen to, this is either a giant leap for Dallas architecture or the most ridiculous pomposity possible. Either way, it was entertaining to my teenage designer-in-the-making.

The museum itself is a hands-on science museum that covers all kinds of topics from cells to minerals to energy to fossils. There is a nice section that shows the habitats of Texas, which was interesting to us as visitors to the state. Also, the earthquake simulator was a hit. I’d been warned that school groups swarm the place until early afternoon, but had also heard that lots of schools have Easter Monday off. So we took our chances and found out that the place is, indeed, swarmed by school groups in the morning, even on Easter Monday. Still an interesting experience!

One thing that hasn't changed since the 80s is my inability to get to a place downtown without any detours. Even with a nice little map app on my phone, which lists directions both in written-out sentences and with an actual map, I can't find my way out of a paper bag. I so remember the panic of driving downtown as a teen knowing that if I made one wrong move I would never find my way to my destination. Somehow always made it though. I'm afraid I may have added a ticket for not paying the North Dallas Tollway toll to yesterday's poor driving offenses, because I could not figure out where to pay.

We came up with suggested names for this sculpture--
Naked Break Dancing, Naked Twister.
Andrew joined in, but kept his clothes on.

While it made for a full and rather expensive day, we also took in the Dallas Arboretum. We’d seen weather reports that showed rain for Tuesday and Wednesday, so thought we’d better take our chance while we could. The Arboretum opened in 1982 and has continued to grow. It takes up one portion of the land surrounding White Rock Lake, a lovely recreational area in northeast Dallas. The site is centered around a house built in 1939 by a man who had a vision for botanical gardens in Dallas—I’m not sure that his original plan included creating the gardens at his home. The home is furnished and open for visitors as part of the visit. The gardens are just beautiful—the tulips had gone wild and the azaleas were in full bloom—and with 80 degree sunny skies it was the perfect way to spend a couple of hours escaping a nasty early April in Michigan. People were everywhere, with young children reveling in the beauty and several photo shoots for weddings and quinceaneras.

There was still time to get back to the hotel for a swim before meeting friends for dinner; Allison managed to wheedle her siblings into swimming with her again today. I’ll give Andrew huge points today for doing some things that weren’t his first picks and for having a good time (or pretending to) in spite of it. I’m hoping he can keep this attitude up through a couple of other experiences we’ll be having!

Then I took a few minutes to get ready to go out for dinner. The kids came up from the pool to find me putting on a skirt and makeup. They laughed out of the sheer madness of it all. I was a tad defensive—I was going to meet friends who always looked good, and I wanted to look nice too. At the restaurant, we first met up with Peggy. Peggy was same as ever—tall and lithe—but wearing jeans and a short-sleeved Polo shirt. Granted, I haven’t seen her in 10 years, but I’m not sure I ever remember seeing her in jeans. She laughed at me too. Not sure why I'm surprised by changes. I did not request my standing high school order of fried mozzarella sticks and a virgin strawberry daquiri, so why would everything else stay the same?

Holly came from work, a bit more dressed up, gorgeous as ever. We decided that we all look exactly the same as we did in high school. This may say more about the decline of our vision with age, but honestly they both do look about the same! I’m kicking myself that I was too interested in hearing what they are doing to think of taking a picture. It was so good to catch up with them and find out what is happening in their lives.

Honestly, between the fun with friends and the weather, I'm ready to dig up my "Don't Mess With Texas" bumper sticker, slap it on my minivan, and start looking for houses.

Back to the hotel where the kids watched “Wreck-It Ralph” and I researched what to do tomorrow since it is supposed to rain. We’ll see how this goes. Guess I’d better take off that makeup; maybe I’ll use it again sometime this year. You never can tell.