We’re all atwitter here about the Super Bowl coming to town. It’s always odd/interesting to see one’s own home through others’ eyes–kind of like seeing a photo of yourself and realizing you don’t really look like you imagine. Or hearing your own voice…the less said about that, the better.
I have to shill my book, The Yankee Chick’s Survival Guide to Texas as Yankees descend on us. But I feel compelled to discuss my hometown, too. So many misperceptions out there…
Firstly, the game will not be played in Dallas. It will be in Arlington, which is among the “mid-cities” between Dallas and Fort Worth. (I heard one NFL announcer describing Arlington as being “crammed in” between Dallas and Fort Worth.)
Arlington is peeved that everyone is talking about the Super Bowl in Dallas. They are trying to get everyone to use the term “North Texas.” We also call this the “Metroplex,” a term invented by an ad whiz back in the 1970s.
Of course, the new stadium—we call it Jerryworld—is practically a city in itself. A very expensive city, and it’s gonna be even more expensive for the game. According a story in the The Dallas Morning News, people will pay “$10 for a 16-ounce Miller Lite beer, compared to $8.50 at a regular Cowboys game; $7 for a 32-ounce soda in a souvenir cup, vs. $6; $10 for a Southwest barbecue chicken sandwich, vs. $8.50; $6 for a hot dog, vs. $5.50…”
People also paid $200 to stand in the parking lot and watch the game on big screens, which sounds loony to me. I hope the weather is pleasant for them. We’re expecting temperature in the teens this week. Betcha didn’t know that happened here, did you?
ESPN is broadcasting from Fort Worth’s Sundance Square in front of a mural of a cattle drive. Fort Worth comes by its cowboy reputation honestly—it was on the Chisolm Trail and its Stockyards entertainment district is in an actual former stockyards. I love both Sundance Square and the Stockyards. Nothing wrong with them. But Dallas’ popular cattle drive sculpture on Pioneer Plaza is disingenuous. Dallas has always been banking and wheeler-dealering. The sculpture was controversial when it was commissioned in the early ’90s, but powerful developer Trammel Crow wanted it, so there it is. Dallas is more W Hotel than home on the range. It’s more Prada than Wranglers. It’s a little bit J.R. Ewing, but it’s Erykah Badu as well.
People who skim the surface of the Metroplex often come away with a crazy impression of it as either 1) all cowboys (because that’s what they look for) or 2) nothing but highways or 3) devoid of culture beyond bluebonnet paintings and twanging guitars. And titty bars, of course. We have a lot of those. Blech.
But really, with a little effort, you can find cool. The New York Times ventured into a couple of areas that are coming into their own, coolness-wise: the Bishop Arts District in Dallas and West 7th Street in Fort Worth.
I’ll toss out two insider tips for visitors: my favorite places to meet friends for cocktails are the snazzy retro Belmont Hotel, near Bishop Arts, for a dazzling view of the Dallas skyline; and Tradewinds Social Club a friendly dive you would never find if you didn’t know it was there. I’ll share a few more suggestions through the week and am happy to take questions as well. Just post ’em here.
(BTW, A couple of years ago, I visited Door County, Wis., which necessitated flying into Green Bay. I flew over Lambeau Field during a game and was dazzled by the crowd. It was my introduction to that hometown passion, and for that reason alone, I am rooting for Green Bay. Otherwise, I couldn’t care less. Actually, I’m leaving town Super Bowl Sunday…)
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sophia Dembling and Joy Donovan, Malecia Walker. Malecia Walker said: Yeah, not even Dallas County. RT @SophiaDembling The Super Bowl is NOT coming to Dallas. http://ht.ly/3MTLK #travel #superbowl […]
“Jerryworld” is also known in some circles as the “Death Star”, although I prefer the Jerr’s Mahal.
But better still, Greg Metz christened the longhorn sculpture area in Dallas “Steerassic Park”. I can’t call it anything else.
I remember he also suggested that instead of a cattle drive, the sculpture should be a giant boardroom table. That would have been so great. Would you believe that as many bajillion times I’ve driven past Pioneer Plaza, I have never gotten out and walked around it. I’m a little ashamed, actually.
Enjoyed the post.
As a fellow Dallas writer, I used to really hit the cattle sculpture downtown hard in stories as it really doesn’t reflect the evolving history of Dallas, especially as the trail drive really got established in Fort Worth. The bankers and insurance brokers lived over here. And we all know that those bronze longhorns are only standing where they are because a certain hotel developer didn’t want the city to build a convention hotel on the site so he donated the first steers.
BUT over the years I’ve read several histories involving Preston Road in Dallas, and it apparently got its start as Preston Trail, a people, supply and cattle drive passageway. (More than you want to know but: The Shawnee Trail became one of the major cattle trails to the North, each with a number of branches. It was known as the Sedalia & Baxter Springs Trail, the first trail in Texas used by drovers reaching the main route. It started near Matagorda Bay and passed through or near Austin, and Waco, where it split at or near Waco. One route led to Ft. Worth, and the other to Waxahachie, Dallas, and Preston (near Denison) on the Red River. Here it split again, one route taking you to Sedalia, Missouri, by way of Ft. Smith, and the other through Indian Territory to Baxter Springs Kansas.) The Dallas connection never rivaled the importance of Fort Worth to the cattle industry but the link did exist.
So the sculptures aren’t without historical merit per se.
There are several links to historical perspective such as
http://www.redriverhistorian.com/shawneetrail.html that support the Dallas
cattle drive past.
And you, not too long ago, I wandered through the longhorns when
my daughter Madeline had a friend from Jersey in (inflicted her with many stereotypes, doncha know, including the Robert E. Lee statue in Lee Park) …. and they are pretty freaking cool to walk about.
Have a Super week, ya’ll.
I am enlightened! Thanks, John! And I don’t doubt the coolness of the sculptures up close. I have no excuse for my drive-by relationship with them.