Dallas Day 2

On day two we decided to go to the Dallas Farmer's Market to walk around first.  We'd heard that the farmers gave out free samples of their fruits and veggies, so... we like free stuff!

First we met up with my dear friend Natoya Hill and her daughter Ciera.  Natoya and I met while in our Master's program at the University of Little Rock and we also worked together for a time.  After Verizon Wireless bought Alltel, Natoya decided to move to Dallas for a new adventure.  Ciera will be the little girl that you see in some of the pictures.

Dallas Farmer's Market has been open for 60 years and is one of the largest markets in the U.S. for farmers to sell fresh fruits and vegetables year-round.

We sampled pineapples, grapefruit, strawberries, honey, watermelon, cake, popcorn and other local products.  Jule and I brought home some blueberry, watermelon, cinnamon, coconut (and other flavored) popcorn, honey flavored with mint and lemon and clover, and a big bag of sweet pineapple!  Just writing about the pineapple is making my mouth water for it.  I'll be headed to the refrigerator soon!

Next we decided to stop by the Dallas World Aquarium!

After seeing this alligator, Jule has decided that she wants to learn to wrestle them.
I'm quite sure he weights about 500 lbs / 226 kg.  Maybe more.
She is crazy.

The Manatee is an endangered species and seeing one is breathtaking.

They're called "the elephant of the seas."

After the aquarium we TRIED to go to the top of Reunion Tower, but it was closed for renovation.  :(   Here's a picture of it though.  It's a popular place to see the whole Dallas skyline. 

Later that night Wimee and Natoya and I TRIED to ditch the kids to go to dinner by ourselves at The Cheesecake Factory, but the kids were persistent so we had to drag them along.  And (this is for Jule's memories) we reminded them constantly that we tried to get them to stay at the hotel and watch movies.  Each time Marissa would say something like "My legs are tired" I'd say "Well, your legs would feel good if they were on the couch at the hotel."  We love to give the kids a hard time.

But anyhow, I oftentimes write about good food.  The Cheesecake Factory is truly, in my opinion, one of the best places to eat in America -- as far as chain restaurants go.  The menu is superb even though they are most famous for their delicious cheesecakes.  Here are some of the things that we ordered and shared at the table...

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps (Wimee and Dylan)

Pasta Carbonara

Caramel Chicken

Even though Jule and I didn't order any cheesecake, here's a view of what the dessert counter looks like at The Cheesecake Factory!

This concludes our trip to Dallas.  We spent Thursday driving, Friday and Saturday sightseeing, and Sunday driving back.  Part of our drive back was in a horrible thunderstorm, but we made it safely!