Travelogue: Dallas, TX (Day 2)

A hot summer day spent at the gardens. The Dallas Arboretum.

Admissions: $15 for adults. Parking: $10.

Ponds, water lilies, bridges, reflective pool. It’s not a huge botanical garden but enough to spend an hour or two there. Some people just sit on the benches and chitchat like it wasn’t a normal working day. I like that.

  

Seems like a lot of brides get their photoshoots done here.

We ended the tour around the garden at the gift shop, which sells a whole bunch of random things. I bought seeds to bring home: basil, artichokes, onions, beets!

Next up, for lunch, we headed over to Stampede 66. Note: Valet parking is $5 for lunch.

Stampede 66 is a Stephan Pyles restaurant, known for their modern Texas twist in New American cuisine. Their menu consists of lots of small bites.

We started off with their pickled and deviled eggs, with tiny bacon strips!

 

The “faux” gras mousse with jalapeno jelly — This was made with chicken liver. Comes in a jar, with toast points oiled to perfection. I might even like this better than real foie.  I wanted to take the jar home…

Fried oyster taco — $3 for one, the oyster was lightly breaded and fried, which was on point and complementary to the soft taco.

I made the mistake of ordering the pork tamales; not that it wasn’t good, but we were too stuffed to consume anything else. But to be honest, it was rather ordinary.

Honey-fried chicken with mable’s buttermilk biscuits and mashed potato tots. One of the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted. And I’ve had a lot of fried chicken.

It was a perfect lunch on a sunny day after a stroll at the garden.