Road Trip: Dallas Edition

Technically, it wasn't a road trip. And thankfully so, since Dallas isn't exactly close to Atlanta. I was out in Dallas for the weekend on a business trip. A large international conference was being held there and I had a poster to present. It was a very long weekend with a lot of information to digest. The days began at 7 and didn't end until 6 in the evening. Then there were dinners with colleagues and many mini-meetings filling any remaining minutes of free time. It was certainly a whirlwind of activity! I am grateful for the time spent with a group of my colleagues that wasn't work-related. I very much enjoyed getting to know some of them on a more personal level. And I look forward to continuing to grow those friendships. Much like taking my high school friends to YoungLife camp, getting people outside of their normal circumstances and almost being forced to spend time with them opens the doors for all sorts of deeper conversations. And when you get back home you have this shared experience that breaks down some of those walls people are quick to put up, especially in the work place. I just hope I will be a good steward of these new friendships! Dallas is a city very similar to Atlanta. Everything was very spread out and sort of split into smaller neighborhoods that weren't easily navigated by walking. We took taxis out each night for dinner. And because everything is bigger in Texas, this usually meant stretch limos and stretch hummers. Yep, true story. We got picked up in a stretch hummer one night and were given a tour of the city. We also ate at some great restaurants including one featured on one of my favorite shows, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: Twisted Root Burger Company. We had milkshakes (which they even had "adult" versions) and burgers. Mine was a guacamole and green chili burger with pepper jack cheese and a side of ancho-chipotle ketchup made in house. Probably the best burger I've ever eaten. We also had some Texas BBQ at Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse, some great Tex-Mex at Uncle Julio's, and a fancy Latin inspired meal at La Duni. All of the food was really good and we had some great servers which it all the more memorable.