Weekend trip to DFW from Kansas (Dallas, Austin: how much, hotel, house)

[jason87x]

Hello. I live near Kansas City, Kansas and will be visiting the metroplex to check out various things (small events, nothing by itself huge) and see what all the hype is about (good expectations).

My question is, if I leave next Friday at 10:00 am, and take I-35 the entire way, how bad will traffic be on I-35E from say, Denton and further south? The first event I'm trying to make is near 35E and Walnut Hill Ln, around 7:00 pm. Easily doable? I would guess this to be a reverse commute direction, but with all the growth there, how much time would it take to get from Denton to inside 635 like that?

Also, is my assumption that it would take 8 hours to get from KC area (Olathe near I-35) to the edge of the metroplex correct, for those that have driven it before? Also, I hear Oklahoma cops are extremely crooked, will I need to stick to 65/70 mph the entire time on I-35?

[ChristieP]

OK cops aren't crooked, but they do enforce the speed limits. I usually stick to 75 on the interstates in OK and TX and have never had a speeding ticket.

[RockyJoe817]

Unless there is a major traffic accident; the traffic does increase south of the 35 split by UNT. You should be fine and going with the flow of traffic to your destination.

[jason87x]

Cool. My friend and I going to a meeting that Friday night, and probably a show at House of Blues on Saturday (KC does not have an HoB, unfortunately), checking out Oak Lawn, and shopping. Good ideas?

[RockyJoe817]

Note: These notes were taken from a previous city-data.com/forum/dallas entry.

For food recommendations,
Big Al's is my favorite BBQ place. It's in an unassuming location on Inwood just south of Lemmon Ave in Dallas. Just a bit northwest of downtown. Delicious!!

For great local restaurants, I'd recommend pretty much any place along Henderson Avenue in Dallas, again just north of Downtown east of US75. The Porch is great American food (BBQ sliders, Mac & Cheese, fish, burgers, cobblers), has a patio and is laid back & friendly. Victor Tango's has great drinks and a small but good menu. Capitol Pub has a great patio & a good brunch menu. Sushi Axiom is good, as is Tei Tei. All of these places are reasonably priced and in a fun neighborhood with lots of bars if you want to grab drinks before/after dinner.

Bishop Arts District is in North Oak Cliff and also has a ton of great indie restaurants. It's in a cute neighborhood called "the Dallas of Austin" for it's liberal vibe and rolling hills. Bolsa, Tillman's Roadhouse, & Eno's Pizza are my favorites down there. The Belmont Hotel is nearby and has a good BBQ restaurant Smoke, as well as the patio with a drop-dead view of downtown Dallas. Super friendly people; they'll take good care of you!

You should also check out the Uptown neighborhood just north of downtown, south of Henderson. Mi Cocina is a slightly upscale (as in, people dress up a bit) Tex-Mex place in the West Village part of Uptown that is a Dallas legend. Great strong drinks- get the Mambo Taxi margarita. Village Burger Bar is good too and Casey the bartender is awesome. The Loon is a total dive and Dallas institution that is across Lemmon from MiCo- must go there!! You could even watch the Cowboys game there if you wanted. Also in Uptown are some other fun casual restaurants- St Ann's Court has an awesome patio and is really fun and good. The Nodding Donkey is a great sports bar, kind of small but tv's are great. Go early. TABC is a bar with a good small menu and big patio.

If you want to splurge on a fantastic streak dinner one night, try Bob's Steak & Chop House or Nick & Sam's.

Meddlesome Moth is in the design district and has a "beer bar". It's probably 40' long and has spouts pouring beers from all over the world. The Ginger Man in Uptown also has a great beer selection.

Not knowing your interests, other fun things to do in Dallas are:
-Nasher Sculputre Garden & Museum
-Dallas Stars hockey game @ American Airlines Center
-shopping at NorthPark Mall or Highland Park Village
-go for a run on the Katy Trail or around White Rock Lake
-go for a hike at Cedar Hill State Park
-visit the Dallas Arboretum
-see live music at The Granada, The Palladium, Kessler Theatre, House of Blues, etc.






Another vote for the 6th Floor Museum as it's something distinctively Dallas. It's at the site where JFK was assassinated and is devoted to his last days.

The Sixth Floor Museum:
Home | The Sixth Floor Museum

[livnluv]

If you are going through OK be prepared for toll roads...a lot of times I don't carry cash and have been in a bind before..

[jason87x]

Yep I'm taking a good chunk of the KS turnpike to begin with, and I would assume I-35 in OK probably had tolls, the ones in OK are cash too like KS, right? I've heard most of the toll roads in the metroplex don't have cash booths (efficient, but the bill would get mailed to my PARENTS' house, lol) so I'll probably avoid those.

[xS☺B☺s]

Just keep checking the traffic map as get in Denton. It could be no problem or it could be jammed for miles.

Keep in Mind 35 is 5 lanes wide there and if you're not in the right hand lane well before you reach your exit you may not able to get there.

AND ...

Study the map of 35 just south of Walnut Hill. If by chance you miss the exit, the highway splits right after Walnut Hill - so be aware. Avoid loop 12. That is all dug and a mess. And avoid 635 at rush hour - that's just hell. Drive through city - much nicer and more scenic.

[jason87x]

Well I made the trip this past weekend. OK and KS turnpike were a breeze, only storms got in my way!

I like how people down here can actually drive. I'm not kidding, in KC area people drive like morphine infused molasses. The hustle and bustle was appreciated, though I liked how I could still get places quickly (on the freeways, anyway). However what's with the roads being so bumpy? And some merge weirdness like how 183 SB ending that left lane just sort of crashes into the right lane of I-35E. Frontage roads are very convenient I must say tho.

We also visited Stonebriar Mall, Willowbend Mall, and Grapevine Mills. Stonebriar was meh, Willowbend was pretty neat, liked the high end stuff and awesome food court. GM was way too crowded and reminded me too much of our Great Fail of the Great Plains in layout and outlet tackiness (was made by Simon Properties as well).

[RockyJoe817]

183 SB (Carpenter Frwy) and I-35E around Mockingbird, Yes, you have to ensure you are in a lane that does not merge so that your flow of traffic is not affected. I learned that one the hard way myself.

Stonebriar Mall, Willowbend Mall, and Grapevine Mills. As you said the nicer of the two malls in the Frisco area was developed from the beginning as a High End store mall only. It was supposed to be nicer than the Galeria mall. A few years back the developers were about to be sent to court for not keeping up on that contract. These three Malls are the newest ones (approx. ten years old now) in the metro before everything turned back to the outlet strip mall. Similar to the shops in Allen.
Grapevine Mills is and always has been an outlet mall. It beat out the Irving mall that was going to be built on Hwy 635 near Valley ranch/Las Colinas. A Home depot and Sams Club eventually were built on that property instead.