DFWTexEx

Laguna Bob's* ceviche and a cold beer at sunset for the win. *Wahoo Salon forever

I feel like I have been level headed through this thin:, sheltering, masking up and generally being cautious based on my standards but not overly emotional about it. That being said, I would call this person out immediately and tell the store to kick him out even if caused the end of any social or professional relationship I had with him.

On a different thread, I said that I would have asked him to score my life. The music from Cinema Paradiso is my favorite. And I can't count how many nights I poured myself a drink and sat back and listed to Yo-Yo Ma playing the music of Morricone, one of my favorite albums of all time.

Oak Cliff Brewing at Tyler Station has been hosting the actual Fletcher's Original Corny Dog truck on rotation. Next time is July 15,

Many tasting rooms have opened but they are by appointment only. Like Dangit said, be sure any travel plans are refundable if you are heading to CA.

For us, Bbbop in Oak Cliff's spicy chicken is the best in Dallas. Perfectly fried, juicy and full of flavor. It's pretty much the only fried chicken we eat now. It's won "Best Fried Chicken" in Dallas from whatever magazines and we agree.

Ventured out this weekend in Oak Cliff to the Fiesta on Jefferson and the Lowe's in Cockrell Hill. The demographics here definitely tilt to low income Hispanics. 100% masks at both places. From what I can tell on local social media, the tide has turned and people are being shamed for not wearing masks or social distancing.

Same with Sandwich Hag. Some members of staff there had compromised immunity so she did everything right. Customers had no contact with employees. You had to stand back from the window to talk to them, etc. It was somewhat draconian. But, the virus still got in and they had to close. I don't know if there is an answer.

I have no idea what Louie's is as a night spot any more. 25 years ago it was fantastic. But, on our post Memorial day trip we had an early lunch there. Because of the size of the place, you can sit outside as far away from anyone else as you like. Totally socially distant. Servers should be wearing masks now. The crab stuffed jalapenos were legit and the fish tacos were good enough. Some of the best moments in my life are also on SPI. Shit. Since we can't go anywhere now and since the drive from Dallas is an easy 9 or less hours now (and may include a stop in Lockhart for some meat), we may just need to get a place there. I'd never use a lakehouse, but I would go down there just to sit and watch the waves.

We were down there the week after Memorial Day. It was hot but the breezes were cool. The water was awesome. Not a lot of people masked up walking around, but fair amount in businesses. Cameron County has a mask order now (didn't then), so that will be different. At restaurants, we only ate outside, which is easy to do there. And in each place we were pretty far away from anyone else. The fried fish sandwich at Clayon's was a winner. Overall, it was fun. I grew up down there and am biased, but it's by far my favorite beach in Texas. The only downside is the bridge traffic, which is often unreasonable. Do not plan your trip to get there on a Friday or leave on a Sunday. Someday, they will build the 2nd bridge that they have been talking about for 40 years.

Yeah, count me in on no indoor dining for a while This sucks because I miss it and I would kill to eat at the new version of Revolver: La Resistencia. Purepecha delivered one my favorite meals of all time, but he couldn't have that room and the taco bar and fill them up only 50% so he combined the whole thing into a fixed price experience. It sounds really good. 8 people per seating. I wonder if we booked it with only 8 people I knew and trusted. The mask is part of the server look and feel of the place so I know they will be covered. We will do patio dining if we are distant. We sat one of the tables outside of Nova t the far end of the row. No one close to us. That was the first non takeout meal we have had since March. Server was masked up and it felt fine. But, as Lando said, with the heat, that may not sound fun any more. Oh well. 2021 it is. We will see what restaurants are still around. Boulevardiere, a favorite of ours for sure, just reopened. We will get takeout soon or maybe go early and sit on the patio if its not full. But, for the first time, I noticed a serious price increase. Maybe that has been the case, but I had not seen it at other places (Taco y Vino's pandemic special was a price drop, for instance) The Boulevardiere burger, which I have long said is the best restaurant burger in town, is now $23! It was $18 prepandemic after it was $14 when the restaurant opened. If that's what it takes for them to make it, so be it.

"So, let's see if we have this straight: People will not face penalties for refusing to wear a mask because everyone should be free to make his or her own choices. Business owners, however, can be fined for not demanding that individuals wear masks in their establishments because...."

EDIT: as weird as it sounds, the order only applies to people arriving by airport. So, the driving trip may be back on. NM Executive Order June 2020

We were planning a driving trip to New Mexico in July for the specific purpose of finding cool weather. But it looks like NM still has a 14 day quarantine (do not leave hotel room / house rental except for medical reasons or something like that) for people coming from out of state (except for business travel), per order this week. I am not sure if I want to plan out a trip and book a place to stay and hope the quarantine ends by the time I go. I won't go knowing I will be breaking the rules and risking some bigger issue even if there are people out there that will be happy to lie there way around it. I don't know, for instance, how I can fake a business trip if my husband and dogs are with me.

We have always spent a lot of time on our porch. During the pandemic, hanging out with neighbors outdoors has been terrific. But, with the Texas heat blast coming, this is becoming less attractive. I'd like to buy something to keep us cool and am not interested in misting systems. We live in Dallas. I keep getting pointed to evaporative air coolers. I read that they don't work well in areas with high humidity, but I don't know if that just applies to using them indoors and if 60% humidity is too high. Thoughts? I am not trying to cool a big area, just keep 4-6 people cool enough to not melt in the evening. Thinking about something like this: Outdoor Swamp Cooler

I grew up on Luby's and never stopped loving it. Some of is simply nostalgic, but I do think the food holds up well for what it is. I'd put the CFS up against anyone's. My LuAnne plate with either the little rectangle of crispy fried fish or liver and onions has been a go to for just about all my life. I hope they do find a buyer and find a way to keep it all alive.

To be clear, when it has come to refunds and credits and all that for the 10 or so flights I cancelled, American was terrific. And I think how they addressed the AAdvantage stuff was fair. I am definitely taking advantage of the million miler credit card credits this year. I didn't mean to slam them generally, but I do think that the better they do in communicating and building trust, the sooner people will be buying more tickets on their airline.

First post-pandemic flight this week. I'm in Dallas, so it's AA. 1. I picked a mid Sunday morning flight to TPA. It was less than half full as of Friday night, empty rows around me in Main Cabin Extra. 2. AA had social distancing, no middle seat policy (with exceptions) through May 31, my flight date. And they announced a program that would notify fliers who booked on flights with lots of space if the flights got full so they could rebook if uncomfortable. 3. No "plane is full" notice received from AA. Arrived at gate. Plane is full. 100%. Every seat. No upgrades available to front cabin. 4. Mask required to board and while on plane. 5. Full uniform AA pilot on my row, no mask and no intention to put on a mask. I nicely asked him about it and he grudgingly went to his luggage in overhead bin and got a mask. I am locked in with AA and am rooting for them to come back strong, but this was not an impressive showing. I get that this hard for them and everyone, but at least they should follow their own policies. We need to be able to trust them.

Pretty sure it's the best walkable place for a quick but good jury duty lunch. I did the same thing when I was there for 5 days. Great stuff. I hope it is still there.

All of this. That Unfair Park blog was classic Dallas. As was City of Ate.

I don't watch the press conferences and tend to ignore news stories about feuds and bitchiness. So, I am good with Jenkins' handling of this. I may not agree with each decision, but the decisions seem thoughtful. Pretty sure he is not JWPs water boy now. Price has been pretty vocal opposing the shelter in place orders and helped limit Jenkins' authority.

We are in no hurry. But we have great outdoor space and space for neighbors to talk to us while we are on the porch, so we're lucky. If I were in an apartment building, I may feel differently and I may feel differently when the weather isn't as beautiful as it has been. For, now we are good.

Nova opened unexpectedly last night with an announcement on Facebook. Takeout only. The owners are hustling the orders to the cars. Limited, menu but the highlights are there, including my favorite pizza in Dallas. We jumped on it and got a hummus and Jimmy's 4 meat pie. So good. A taste of pandemic life. Lucia opened too with fairly elaborate meals for 4 (or 2 meals for 2) of pork or pasta to take home and finish. I'd love to try it, but we don't need the meal for 4 or leftovers. Maybe, we'll stop and get just the salumi and a bottle of wine. Actually, that sounds perfect.

We walked up the illegal pedestrian bridge across the Trinity, along I30. We intended to just go up the ramp a bit to get near the barriers, but the blockade appeared to be down so we got all the way up (we chose not to go onto the part of the bridge that could collapse at any moment). It was a perfect view on a beautiful day. Our dogs had a good adventure. No one got closer than 20 feet to us. A cool distraction. Well done!

My doc turned me on to it. Prices are lower than negotiated insurance costs (at least for me).