DFWTexEx

For us, San Miguel is about relaxing, just walking around, finding cool places to look at art or whatever, getting a bite to eat or coffee, etc. and then hit a pool, hanging out on a rooftop terrace with drinks, siesta etc. Then, a nice dinner, hit a bar, and end with wine on the rooftop again. For that, 3-4 nights is great for us. It may be too much for people who are agenda driven and need a precise, planned list of activities. So, if you need more, you would consider hiring a car and going to see the other historic, colonial cities (Guanajuato, Queretaro, Dolores). Every time we go, we consider going to see another city, but never do. It's just too damn nice in SMA to leave, but that's us. Most people recommend seeing, at least, Guanajuato. There are also cooking classes and such, but we have never done that either. It's funny, on other vacations, we are super active, but in San Miguel, we just let time slow down.

We just did this. Went to San Miguel de Allende for a long weekend. Cool days but sunny enough to let us jump into a really cold pool to freshen up. Had to wear sweaters at night. Ate good food; had good drinks; relaxed. Beautiful place. 2 hour flight to QRO or BJX, then get a car to pick you up. Perfect summer escape.

With respect to Puerto Vallarta, I haven't been in 20+ years, but it's on the list for the next 6 months. We are scoping out places in Mexico for a second home / transition into retirement by working remotely (which I can do from anywhere). So many of our gay friends in Dallas swear by it that we need to check it out even if we are already leaning towards San Miguel de Allende. The infrastructure does sound right for what I need, plus it accessible and on the water. And by all accounts, it is a lot of fun and still charming. Nueces, you are right about Cabo. We have been several times. While the nightlife in Cabo proper may be what some people want, it was trashy and not for us. Cabo was built for tourists and has absolutely no authentic Mexican charm (that being said, the Office restaurant on the beach is fun and the views from houses on Pedragal are amazing). That is the only reason we would go back. We did do a high end adults only AI (Secrets) a few years near San Jose del Cabo and it met our needs for that particular vacation: beautiful resort, great pools and no stress drinking. We took a taxi into San Jose del Cabo one day and it does have some colonial charm (not like the Silver Cities, but ok). There are plenty of art galleries and all that, but it was worth only a few hours and some beers with perfect guacamole and chips on the square. In and around San Jose, you are also near Flora Farms, which is also a really nice escape from the resort.

From KRGV: IT WAS THE PERFECT STORM...What happened yesterday? Far more rain fell than was anticipated. This is because an exceptionally rare event occurred in the atmosphere. Two separate areas of strong storms ran into each other at the same time in the same place, right over the RGV. The first area was expected. Storms from Mexico moved in from the west. The second area of storms from the north was not expected. These storms started Sunday morning along a cold front in Oklahoma. Every computer model said these storms would fall apart before arriving in the Valley, but the very hot and humid air across South Texas kept them alive against all odds. Once the two areas of storms collided, they stalled out and poured. Our fate was sealed. To say it is exceptionally rare to see extreme flooding like this in back to back years is an understatement. No one alive today can remember this happening before in the Valley. Flood events that used to occur every hundred years or so are sadly becoming more common.

13+ inches of rain Harlingen just tonight with more to come. I don’t live there anymore but reports from family and friends are about something extraordinary and dangerous. My sister’s place is about to flood for the first time

Maybe I should learn to spell Santorini.

What Incoterm applies to a deal like this?

When I daydream of places I'd rather be than at my desk working, lots of places come to mind, but one that keeps popping up is the Chromata hotel on Santornia, where we stayed in October 2016. It was as beautiful, interesting and tranquil place as I have been. Floating there at the end of the infinity pool overlooking the caldera with a drink in my hand was perfect. Santorini is getting trashed on this thread for the crowds. Maybe it was because we were there in October instead of July, but except for a terrible few hours in overcrowded Oia, we did not have that problem. We stayed in Imerovigli, a little village about a 15 minute walk up from Fira. Yeah, there were other tourists on the paths, but not enough to spoil the place. We explored, found tavernas, hiked out to the Skaros promintory and otherwise just chilled. In the evening, we could walk into Fira for more bustling nightlife, but never had a problem getting into a bar or restaurant. A sunset catamaran trip let us get in the sea and hang out with a few good folks (pick one with only about 10 people) but otherwise we just relaxed. We didn't even do the wine tastings. The whole thing had a "Truman Show" feel to it because you just could not believe it was real. I understand that there are other cool islands, but don't dismiss Santorni. It really is spectacular.

I agree with this. I am not a cruise person, but ended up on a 3 day company sponsored cruise. It was worst case scenario: Carnival, Ensanada cruise, over St. Patrick's Day and Spring Break, with co-workers. Crowd was a total circus and it was not one of the nice ships out there. But, surprisingly, I had a good time. We had the drink passes, so that helped, but there was plenty of relaxing time, plus party time, plus goofy shows, plus massages at the spa. Can't complain.

So, we checked out Fauna last night. Stephen Pyles has decided to dumb down Flora Street to make it more approachable and casual. Tim Byres of Smoke is handling the new menu that will get released soon. The trend in a lot of cities is that people are staying away from stuffy restaurants. That plus its aggressive menu (not easily digestible for the steak, chicken breast, and potatoes crowd) led to declining revenue, so he is changing it up. Think brunch. But, he is taking the tasting menu to another level in Fauna, a restaurant within a restaurant, that he created around the old private dining room in Flora. He brought in a chef from Mexico City via San Antonia via Quince in SF and Alinea in Chicago, to handle this menu. It's a tasting menu only. It's pricey and requires prepayment of a "ticket" for a single seating. This is the same concept as E in Vegas or Next in Chicago. Only 12 people fit in the room, about the same as Purepecha, the tasting menu restaurant within Revolver Taco. Verdict? Damn good. Worth every penny. The room is smallish and tries to be elegant but with rustic elements, although I think they could lose the big curtains. There is a beautiful plate on the table as you arrive. Apparently, it is from some fancy place in Italy. You look at it briefly and they take it away, never to be seen again. The music is classic Stephen Pyles: all over the place and fun. The coolest thing about the room is the wooden wall as you walk it. You aren't sure what it is, but later you see that it has big sliding doors that open into the kitchen. The doors are closed most of the time, but at a discreet knock, they open and reveal the pass, where each course is completed, with many tweezers, tiny spoons and squirt bottles. The show is beautiful and precise. Above the wall are two monitors showing scenes from nature. I didn't understand why they were there. The food will change all the time, but think 12-14 courses. Each is tiny and beautiful, but they add up to a good meal. We are both big guys and we left full. Highlights: snails accompanied by the things snails eat (salsify, apples, fiddleheads), a bite of "caesar salad" that could have been served at and was clearly inspired by El Bulli, the best uni dish I have ever had, a paloma palate cleanser served in a bowl of grapefruit smoke, an incredible couple of bites of Texas Wagyu, and Dude Sweet chocolates as a treat at the end. The wine pairings (including one sake) were interesting and done well. Service was perfect. With Chef Fernandez in charge of the food, Chef Pyles played the roll of server all night, literally serving dishes and standing in the back quietly like a waiter until he came around to talk to the tables. He was very agitated that the meal did not start on time, but otherwise let the new guy do his thing. Not every course was a home run (the tribute to frito pie without fritos was a bit of miss), but all in all, it was an excellent special night out and this place should be on the list of big nights out in Dallas (so long as "big" doesn't mean a big, loud, see and be seen restaurant).

Both these x1000. The official theme of the anti-Griggs crowds is that he is divisive. Divisive means that he will demand accountability and transparency and not simply let, for instance, the mayor give away Fair Park to his friend from Highland Park or, for instance, give $150 million to VisitDallas with no accountability or, for instance, allow the DPD and DFR pension fund to run amok without supervision. I can't imagine why anyone other than some sort of developer or someone who wants a bridge named after him would vote for Johnson. But, he will probably win.

Her treatment of Rock in his last days, when many people considered him and others with AIDS untouchable, continues to inspire. RIP

Just terrible. No puck handling. Slow. No scheme. We need to turn this around or get lucky.

We get one meal - lunch -- on Isla Mueres this Friday. We want the big platter of fresh seafood to share and to eat it with a beach view. I've seen several places mentioned for that sort of thing on this thread. Is the call Bally Hoo, La Playita or somewhere else?

This is truly heartbreaking. Can't remember when an incident like this has provoked such a visceral response.

What's the surly expert verdict on the new Amex Bonvoy card with the 100,000 point bonus? I am not not loyal to any hotel brand (yet). It's a $450/year card.

What's up with this? We are going later in the month to Playa Mujeres. Based on this thread, we want to take the ferry or a catamaran and go over and spend a day exploring Isla and maybe plan a trip there later. Some folks have recommended that we hire a golf cart driver to show us around and to let us drink without worrying. We have even received some specific driver recommendations. With a few exceptions, I don't hire or enjoy tour guides and prefer to explore on my own. What do the surly Isla experts say? We plan to bar hop some. Would a driver be a responsible choice or overkill? Seems silly to based on the amount of drinking and golf cart driving I have done on golf courses, but this is different, I know. And, while we are at it, what would a 6 hour day on the island look like? The pictures on this thread have me dreaming of some great seafood in a casual beachside hut. What that be La Playita? Would we go to Playa Norte and rent some chairs? What else?

One thing to be said is that those old houses were built like a rock. Can’t even hammer though the walls, need to drill to hang a picture due to the hard wood. This. When we moved to Dallas, we rented a 1950's brick house in the M-Streets/Lakewood area. Our girl dog, who had never been in a Texas thunderstorm, freaked out each time a storm came. After a few months, we bought our 1913 wood siding house in a historic district in North Oak Cliff. Storms never bothered her again. This house is solid. The house had been redone to cheap, rental house standards when we bought it. It was not exactly pretty inside, but we did not have to do anything to live in it. Over the next 14 years, we redid most of the systems a bit of a time and redid the rooms one at a time. We never moved out. I know that a lot of people in our neighborhood prefer the full move out and gut restoration / remodels of their houses. I am glad we did it the way we did. If we had done a full remodel when we moved in, I would already hate it. Our tastes now are much different. As it, the house grew with us and we love it. It will be really hard to leave it.

We have a CSR (I am primary, spouse is AU). We previously had a CSP (primary plus AU). I also previously had a business Ink. I can't remember when we had these cards and all of this is very interesting but also confusing. Can I call Chase and ask about a card and find out if either one of us is eligible for the sign on bonuses before we apply? We use the the Chase Rewards for one nice vacation a year plus rental cars, so it's nice. Most of our spend is on AA cards right now, but am considering the Bonvoy card with the nice signup bonus now.

Very happy with the result. From the beginning, at just about every challenge Kelsey put out the dish I would most like to eat. And, slowly I recognized that not only was it good, soulful cooking, it was pretty damn sophisticated too. Plus, she seemed like a good person who knew how to throw a good party. I'd do a tasting menu at her restaurant tomorrow.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns was my pick for this thread. Hard to describe, but a true "experience" -- not just a meal.

This was especially noticeable in the media stories about the AA flight attendants union demanding the planes be grounded, with a typical angry flight attendant talking about how the safety of the flight attendants needs to be considered. The story ended with "the pilots union believes the planes are safe and does not support grounding the planes".

TL/DR: How can I help my 77 year old mother live with impaired vision? After years of struggles and visits to the Houston Medical Center (Cizik Eye Clinic), UT Southwestern, and just yesterday, the Mayo Clinic, it does not seem like we are going to be able to do anything to restore my mom's complete vision. Ocular hypertension / glaucoma has taken its tool despite all the treatments from the best doctors we could find. The latest setback happened about a week ago when the clarity of vision in "good eye" diminished substantially. We are still processing all of this. She is not entirely blind. She can get up and take care of herself and function somewhat. We know she has to go through low vision therapy to figure out how to do more things. She is mostly frustrated (and heartbroken) that she can't read and thinks she is can't play cards and games with her friends. We need to figure out a way for her to maintain a good and fun quality of life. She is otherwise in good health and active. We are beyond sad but need to be positive and work on this. Anyone out there with tips? I am thinking a bunch of Echos around the house, nest thermostats, other home automation. Can Alexa read books to her? Do we need a subscription of some kind? I am about to do a bunch of research, but am a little freaked out right now, so any help / guidance / tips would be appreciated.

Schutze writes, with some restraint in my opinion, about one of the darkest moments in recent Dallas political history: the trumped up charges that Mayor Rawlings and his city attorney fabricated against Scott in 2015 or so. It was really despicable. Apparently, the DMN is now using that incident against Scott in its coverage of the mayor's race. https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/morning-news-will-lie-about-griggs-once-a-week-until-may-11585756?fbclid=IwAR3xyPhabzUq3Ydwmlmoh2zBtdR_f8PPg7uzMkXINbH-P6pt3LLCO1C53w4

Laredo Taco Company is opening at a new flagship / concept test 7-Eleven store on Sylvan at 30. I went to the soft opening earlier this week. It's way fancier than the gas station Laredo Taco Company spots in the Valley*, but damn, this is Valley food. Excellent! I am from the Valley but live in Oak Cliff. There are all sorts of good taco spots around here and a Taco Deli, but none do a good South Texas style flour tortilla breakfast taco (the closest is the Taco Cabana at Cochrell Hill). I had the papas con huevo, which was made the homestyle way -- not scrambled eggs with something on top -- fried up together in one pan, perfectly seasoned. I don't eat many flour tortillas any more, but these will be the exception. I can't wait to try the picadillo and other lunch items that I hope are also seasoned like they are in the Valley. Around here, the Mexican food is way too often from Oaxaca or other interior parts of Mexican. It's good, just different. This is home cooking for me. If you have been to the Valley, you know Laredo Taco Company from just about every Stripes down there. This is their first spot in Dallas. *The 7-Eleven store itself will be different. I didn't' get to go all the way into the store, but I understand it will have craft beer available on tap for growlers and maybe also wine on tap. There will be a coffee bar, smoothies and kombucha also on tap. Gentrification!