We drove into Texas late yesterday afternoon, the final state of this trip and a bit of a landmark for me: seeing the signs for Gainesville means I’ve been to 25 of the 50 states in the Union. That’s taken me 16 years. Visiting the remaining half will likely take longer – Wyoming, Nebraska and North Dakota are flyover states for a reason…
We’re staying at the Belmont Hotel, just outside downtown Dallas, for a few nights. It’s a pretty interesting place, celebrating its 70th birthday in 2016. It was designed in the Art Moderne style – a contrast with Art Deco – notable for its emphasis on horizontal lines, rounded corners, and loads of decorative plaster facades. Some good views of Dallas too.
The evening was straightforward: a cracking slab of beef brisket in the adjacent Smoke restaurant and then – I’m not ashamed to say – Al and I got battered drunk in the hotel bar. The bartender – Taylor – sold his office furniture company last year and is setting up a Mescaleria somewhere in Dallas in the next year. My delicate state this morning is largely due to the impromptu Mescal vs Tequila course he ran last night.
Or it might have been the rum.
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