Day 22: When Boston meats Texas.

Thankfully OKC to Dallas is only a 3 hour drive so we got to sleep in a bit today.

Before embarking on the three hour drive though dad and I decided to sample a southern chain that seems to catch a lot of flak. We went to Waffle House for breakfast. I must say, maybe we got a good one but, I’m not sure why this places catches so much crap. It was excellent! I got a pecan waffle, biscuits and gravy, and a side of bacon. Dad got a breakfast sandwich of egg, bacon and cheese on Texas toast and some hash browns. We both agreed that the food was great, the place was clean and the waitresses were positively pleasant. We would definitely go back to one if the opportunity arose.

So now that were were full we started the relatively quick drive to Dallas. Another bucket list day for dad as we were about to see the home field of his childhood favorite Dallas Cowboys.

So we checked into the Motel 6 at around 1:30 and chilled for about a half hour or so then headed to see the stadium. We ran into a few rain showers but nothing too awful. When we pulled into the area where the stadium was it reminded me a lot of Pittsburgh. At&T stadium and Ballpark in Arlington were about a 15 minute walk away from each other.

We parked in a Walmart across the street from AT&T stadium and walked over. I got a few pictures of dad in front of the stadium sign and with a statue of Tom Landry. He wore has Patriots Superbowl Champion t-shirt proud as we walked into the Cowboys’ pro shop. The store was absolutely ginormous. Everything truly is bigger in Texas. They had Cowboys everything from hats to shirt to slippers to chair and everything else. Dad picked out a Dallas hat and a t shirt. The rain had started again as we walked out and headed toward the Rangers field. I turned around and got a few more pictures of the outside of AT&T stadium as we walked away. Unfortunately for us the Rangers were off today so we only got to see the outside of the stadium and go into their pro shop. Again, just like the Cowboys’, this place had everything from Rangers’ steering wheel covers to shot glasses to playing cards. We browsed around a bit then decided we were getting hungry so we headed back to the car. Before we headed off though we decided to check out Walmart. We were curious to see if the Walmart in Texas was any better or worse than the one in Saugus. Spoiler alert, it was worse. The people were weirder, they were slower, and they sold cowboy hats like they were baseball hats. And I do not mean the football team Cowboy hats, I mean “yeehaw hey howdy hey” cowboy hats. Although I will admit dad and I had fun trying them on and looking absolutely ridiculous. I’m sure all the locals thought we were obnoxious but it was a riot. So after we gawked and mocked the locals we headed over to Lockhart Smokehouse BBQ.

Being from the north neither of us had ever had true southern barbecue. Well, we have now. I don’t remember where I saw this place but Lockhart’s was freaking amazing. I got a pound of brisket and bbq beans and dad got a half pound of ribs, a sausage, and bbq beans. It was hands down, bar none, the best bbq I have ever had in my life and dad definitely agreed. The brisket was like butter. I could have eaten just the charred pieces. I didn’t even need any meat that’s how good this was. The flavor was out of this world. The smokey char was just indescribable. I’m sitting here writing this and I can still taste it. That’s how good it was.

So I’d say Dallas was a success. Dad got to see Dallas stadium and we being big sports fans we both liked seeing the Rangers field and food lovers we both LOVED Lockhart’s. We are onto explore historic Beale street in Memphis tomorrow so I best go get some rest so I’m fresh for the 7 hour drive tomorrow!