THE place to getaway to!
Everyone has a different definition of romantic getaway. My girlfriend, Lacey Brutschy, and I love a weekend marked by lazy mornings in a super cute air b and b rental, lazing around the beach, and wiling away the afternoon on the water in a tiny rented boat.
But when we don’t have time to get out of town, since we live in one of the greatest and most vibrant arts cities in the world, we love to do an art themed staycation. So, in honor of our five-month anniversary (and to congratulate ourselves for not Uhauling just yet…) we had a kick-ass, luxury, arts-themed vaca right in our own backyard!
We started out by checking in to the centrally-located and incredibly staffed Renaissance Dallas Hotel. From the moment we pulled up out front, we were treated to the kind of customer service that I dream of. Though the hotel was at full capacity, we were checked in with virtually no wait and the front desk clerk was charming and kind.
Our room had a bathtub and a cozy reading/writing chair so both by girlfriend (bathtub fan) and I (chair I can curl up in fan) were very happy. After getting settled in, we spent the afternoon working side by side at our computers (typical) before heading out for the evening.
We made our way to the Wyly Theater for opening night of Dallas Theater Center’s production of “Colossal.” By the time you read this, you likely won’t be able to see the show.
But, I have to tell you, it was one heck of a performance about a young man who chooses football over dance, falls in love with his teammate, and ends up in a wheelchair because of making a bad choice on the field in the name of protecting his heart’s desire. Needless to say, I cried.
Dallas Theater Center is known for cutting-edge theater and they just keep on bringing it.
Saturday morning was devoted to room service and work before heading out to the Dallas Art Fair where we were once again wowed by Dallas’ incredibly secure spot in the art world. The annual event takes place at the Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G.) and is packed with more prominent works and galleries than you can takes in one afternoon. So we made a plan to head back the next day.
After grabbing a cocktail at Stephen Pyles just around the corner, we made the quick drive to the Winspear Opera House (aka AT&T Performing Arts Center) for the Dallas Museum of Art’s “Arts and Letters Live” series to see Billy Collins and Aimee Mann. It was literature and music nerd paradise and Lacey and I were in absolute heaven.
Collins read from his work and Mann sang and the two of them bantered about the artistic process and all things literary and musical. It was seriously divine.
After the show, we returned to the Renaissance for dinner at Asador. We didn’t know what to expect from the hotel lobby venue. But we were blown away by what Chef Brad Phillips had in store for us.
We started with pork belly with kimchi and quail eggs and an exquisite charcuterie board with Prosciutto, venison salami, wild boar salami, Cottonwood River cheddar, and Deep Ellum blu cheese. Then we indulged in a perfectly cooked tenderloin, an onion stuffed with potatoes au gratin, decadent mac and cheese, roasted Brussels sprouts, and scallops with sunchoke and venison hash. And somehow we managed room for an over-the-top crème brulee.
Asador is no typical hotel restaurant. The food is fresh, local, and inventive. We will be back.
The next morning we wistfully said good-bye to our lovely digs, grabbed coffee at one of our favorite Dallas haunts, Murray Street Coffee, and finished up our wow-worthy weekend with another stroll through the Dallas Art Fair.
If you have the chance to do Dallas, do it. And if you haven’t celebrated your own city with a staycation, give it a whirl. Sometimes, the best travel treats are the ones in your very own backyard.