After departing Lafayette, the next few days were spent enjoying a second miniature reunion with Cathy's immediate family who reside some forty miles north of Dallas. As someone who grew up in close-in, relatively walkable suburbs and has since embraced urban living, I found it a bit of an adjustment. But I also saw the advantages it gave Cathy - beyond proximity to loved ones, of course - and came to realize how choosing a suburban destination would benefit many larger folks:
1) Value-priced hotels. Generally speaking, a hotel located in the suburbs will be less expensive than a comparable property in the city. A rare exception would be a town that is home to a major employment center or family attraction; I suspect that Plano, Texas may be one example that "bucks" the trend of lower-priced accommodations.
2) Free parking. Dallas, like most larger cities, has a city center which as relatively little on-street parking and garages whose charges can add up quickly. Most suburban locations, on the other hand, provide ample free parking often just steps away from your hotel or other destination.
3) "Early to bed, early to rise..." For those whose touring plans are primarily during the day, a city hotel that promotes its proximity to nightlife would not be beneficial. Of course, you may still want to go for a bite to eat or make an impulse purchase. Fortunately, many suburban hotels are strategically placed near restaurants and other useful amenities.
4) Public transportation access. On a previous visit, I did actually visit the city and was pleasantly surprised that a seemingly auto-centric city such as Dallas had a rather extensive transit network of trains and buses. Granted, this option may not always be available everywhere or even desirable. But for those who are comfortable with the choice, it can alleviate the problem of finding downtown parking. Traveling mid-day between rush hour would maximize the chance of having ample space to relax during the trip. Most buses have a "kneeling" feature that lowers the entryway for the customer. Also consider booking a bus tour. This is an easy way to get an overview of the city before deciding where to focus on afterwards. Sometimes it just takes a "drive-by" of a popular sight to decide that it's all you need to see of it.
In contrast to our mostly laid-back stay, our travels through the Lone Star State were more exciting, if unintentionally so. On the way to the Dallas metro, we were so into "the zone" of driving that we didn't
notice that we were practically out of gas. It took a cursory look at the fuel gauge with a range of less than 20 miles to shake us back into reality. We turned off both the the radio and A/C - not an easy thing to do in 90-degree weather - and crossed our fingers that we would not run out of energy. The car literally crawled into the gas station we finally found in Terrell, Texas. The irony of this was that we remembered that this was the hometown of Jamie Foxx, one of our favorite entertainers whose satellite radio station we listened to often that trip.
The other accidental adventure happened on the way to Albuquerque as we decided to overnight in Amarillo. But that's a story for another time.
I would be remiss by not mentioning that the Dallas portion of the trip became memorable for something that happened in Los Angeles. It was here that we all learned of Michael Jackson's hospitalization and subsquent passing. The "King of Pop" would go on to play an important role as we later arrived in Los Angeles.
Note: I had intended to keep a running total of the states that we visited. So this is a chance for me to play a little catch-up. So far we had crossed through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, (a slice of) Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. States visited:8.
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