Dallas and Houston - Sept 2012

Keith and Graham at Central 214

This weekend in Dallas was a whirl wind quick trip to go to Keith's 25th high school reunion. While there, we decided to cash in on Graham's Christmas gift to us which was dinner at his restaurant and a night at the hotel where the restaurant is located.

Accommodation:
Hotel Palomar - A Kimpton hotel where Graham's restaurant is located. The hotel is very nice with modern decor. We stayed here one night.

Jean and Dick's Chalet - We stayed at Keith's parents house on the Sat night. Can't beat the rate and the service!

Marriott - Keith crashed in Steve's hotel room in Houston - also a good value!

Activities:
We arrived on Fri night just in time to quickly change clothes and head to Graham's restaurant, Central 214, for dinner. Keith had been to the restaurant once but this was the first time for Shawna. We had invited Keith's mother and sister to join us. Graham was able to spend a little time with us at the table. He sent out several dishes for us to try which were all very tasty. We definitely did not leave hungry. After dinner, we crashed in our plush hotel room.

Graham at Central 214

On Sat, we woke early for a day packed with activity. We first stopped by Rebecca's house for breakfast where we had yogurt and bagels. We finally met Thad, Rebecca's husband, and Tucker, her 5 month old baby who is adorable. We also saw Rebecca's sister Jenn for a few minutes as she was babysitting for a few hours that day.  After breakfast, we headed to White Rock Lake where we ran (and partly walked) 9 miles.  It was overcast but the temp was perfect for running. We had hoped that we at least worked off some of our dinner from the prior night!

Rebecca, Keith and Tucker

Sweaty from our run, we then went to Peter's house to see their new pool and to hang out with the kids. We had a light snack for lunch and then hopped into the chilly (it was about 65 degrees outside, 82 degrees in the water) pool for a swim. Keith got more exercise as he battled swimming and diving competitions with Jordan and performed various tricks with her on his shoulders.

We visited with Margaret, Damon and the kids for about an hour and then went to Keith's parents house to take a quick shower before returning to Peter's where we also met up with Khris and his wife Angie.  We all carpooled together to the reunion.  Since we knew the reunion would only have a few snacks, we went to dinner before hand at a great restaurant on Magnolia in Fort Worth.  The reunion was located in the old Texas and Pacific building in downtown Forth Worth which has a tavern with a large outdoor space.  Keith was surprised that he remembered more people than he thought he would and enjoyed catching up with Clark, Chris, Laura, Julie, and Josh.

Keith's 25th High School Reunion

It was great people watching!!  It was funny to see that everyone still hung out in their high school groups: the jocks, the artsy crowd, the nerdy crowd and yes, even the trashy crowd. There were a few women there that based on their attire appeared to be escorts - we guessed that the men they were with still felt they had to make a good impression with their classmates!  Some of the women looked like they belonged on the show GCB.  And some of the people still looked like they were stuck in the 80's.

Shawna, Keith, Khris, Angie

We woke up too early on Sunday when Margaret's kids decided to knock on the door at 6am! They had slept there as Jean had babysat them while Margaret and Damon went out the night before.  We got up around 7 and had a quick breakfast before heading to the airport.  Shawna flew back to Denver while Keith flew to Houston to spend the afternoon/evening with Steve who was in town on business for a few days.

Keith's trip to Houston was quite quick as well - less than 24 hours.  Steve picked him up at the airport and they went back to the hotel before heading to grab a sandwich for lunch and then to the Arboretum for a walk and finally over to Memorial Park for another walk.  Following that was a stop by REI for Steve to get some gifts, then back to Memorial for a run, to the hotel for a shower and then out for dinner....then bed!  On Monday, Keith was up at 4:45am to get a cab to the airport for the flight back to Denver. 

Restaurants:
Central 214 - Graham's restaurant located in Hotel Palomar in Dallas. We had an amazing meal including, octopus, kale salad, arugula salad, zucchini, potatoes, trout, pork chops and a sampler tray of desserts (green tomato pie, creme brûlée, lemon cake and chocolate cake).

Yucatan Taco Stand - A great Mex/Spanish/Cuban place. We shared a few apps (chips with salsa and guacamole, yuca fries and fried plantains) and then had fish tacos and tequila lime chicken salad for dinner.

Rice Epicurean - Keith and Steve grabbed sandwiches at this grocery store.  Very limited options but fairly good. 

Taste of Texas - This steakhouse was recommended by the hotel - about 10 miles from the hotel.  Keith had the 16oz Ribeye with garlic sauce.