Buffalo Burger or Long Horn T-bone?

Sometimes it's crazy how different things can be away from home. USA shouldn't be that far off from Sweden I think but hell yeah, it is. Sure, this trip wasn't about amusement to that big extent but one have to eat no matter what.
I was really happy that I could upgrade my ticket going out, from Economy to Business. If not, I would have been in trouble for real. I didn't have time to prepare all material for all sessions to come during the week, for example a 100 page training material that was completely messed up when I opened it on my computer with Windows 7. For most airlines, there are NOT more seat space on a big Airbus flying over the Atlantic than the normal flights between Gothenburg and Stockholm. So instead of enjoying free Champagne and movies I spent 4 hours adjusing documents for work. Really glamorous!!! But at least I was ready for what I was supposed to do during the week when I arrived in Dallas.

Fortunately Sunday was an extra day to try to adjust to the US timezone. I arrived in the middle of the night Saturday, local time and completely passed out as soon as I got into my hotel rool (add 7 hours for Swedish time, and no, I didn't sleep on the planes at all).
Sunday turned out to be a very nice day, +20 and sunny. So me and Tobias (my colleague) met up before lunch and headed out for some adventure. First stop Southfork Ranch.

 

Neither me nor Tobias are Dallas (TV series) fans but still, something to see that is a part of history. We got there and the parking lot was completely packed with cars. In a big hall in one corner it sounded like an event going on. We thought it could be an information session about Southfork so we headed that way. Just before we entered a huge policeman walked up to us asking "Are you guys going to church?"

 

I think that mass would have been very interesting to attend even if I'm not the least religious. It sounded like they had a blast, lots of Hallelujas and even a band playing. I'm not sure how well received we would have been though. Lets put it this way, if we'd gone in, we'd been standing out (or perhaps glowing) among the rest of the crowd.
It still was a fun visit to Southfork even if it looks a lot more spectacular on TV than in realaty. A nice Ranch it is but I expected it to be bigger.

 

Anyway, we got our lecture and a few anecdotes before we could take a stroll around the farm. A few horses and of course the Long Horns were outside. I think the cows were the most fun for that whole visit.

I also took the opportunity to buy a real cowboy hat at the Southfork Ranch. I doubt I'll ever use it but it is a nice hat and it will at least look good in my bookshelf!

 

 

Then we headed to Down Town Dallas. We were recommended to go to the Kennedy 6:th floor Museum. On the way there we passed another church with a huge neon sign outside with the text "give satan an inch and he will be a ruler", there was no chance to stop and go back for a picture... Hysteric statement I think, but a lot of fun.

DT Dallas was really empty. Or in general there were very few people out all around the clock, a lot of cars but there were hardly any people to be seen outside just walking around. So it felt quite strange to stroll around in Dallas. 

 

We skipped the Kennedy museum. We just walked passed the building and got a lecture from some guy selling DVD's with the new researches about the assassination. A really interesting story, that's for sure but those 10 minutes felt enough and we settled with looking at the building (red brick building pictured behind the blue-feeted horse) then continue the walk around town in search of something to eat.

 

Buffalo Burger was on the menu and of course we had to try that! Really nice I must say, tasted a little different compared to regular beef burger. Even if it was the lunch menu the portion was huge, and as always the drinks was even bigger. A bucket of Cola with a free refill is absolutely standard.

On the other side if the street from the restaurant it was a shop looking like a place to buy souveniers from Texas. Correct but also, they had a huge selection of boots. And with the dollar exchange rate these days it was too tempting to leave them all there in the shop.

 

It was hard just picking one pair. In the end these were my choice. A bit showy but not too flaring. I really would have liked to keep them on straight away but they need soles before I can use them... So that needs to be fixed. Anyway, I got myself an awesome pair of boots to a really nice price. At least half compared to Sweden.

After the Burger and some Shopping we headed back to the Hotel to get ready to go out and watch Superbowl. Nope, I'm not interested at all but since it was happening while we were there, and Tobias wanted to see it we headed out to find a suitable bar to watch it. And I don't mind watching people watching sports and have a few beers with that.
Unfortunately the Jetlag got the better of us and around halftime both me and Tobias almost fell asleep in the bar. But I must say I actually enjoyed it, it got interesting after a while. Of course, Tobias had to explain everything happening in the game for me, else I wouldn't have been able to follow but still, it got interesting.

Then the rest of the week was all about work! Long and hard days but still very rewarding so all hard work prior to the WS was well worth it, even the hours spent on the plane preparing the presentations. It will be an interesting project. And hopefully this wasn't the last trip over there... These few days was only an appetizer, at least when it comes to the food. Even if we skipped the place the locals said to be "thee" place we got some really nice steaks and chunks of meat. They sure know how to cook meat in the US.

 

We also found some time to go shopping after work. My main focus (Since I already had the hat and the boots) was to get ready for BBQ season. Last time I visited Dallas I bought Hickory Spice since I love that smoky flavour. I didn't find the one I really wanted but there were a huge selection and I got a bunch of different stuff! BBQ is going to be awesome this summer.



 

 

Marinades, chili sauces, BBQ Glace, Rubs... I guess the hard part will be to find some suitable and affordable meat here in Sweden though. But I suppose anything goes, chicken, pork...

 

It's just a shame there's still weeks and weeks before it will be nice enough to have a real BBQ party here in the Void Mansion! (so, since I've boosted up already I guess there will be snow here until midsummer now)

 



 

Then there were an endless selection of sauces and chili-mixes building on the jokes about chili that it will move the stomach. Fun to some extent and the Ass Blaster was the first I saw. Peter's suggestion was to serve this one for next weekend when it's his birthday... If he wants it I'll fix it! :O)

 

And what is more American than Spray Cheese and Beef Jerky?

 

I've never really realized how good Beef Jerky tastes. Of course there's an endless selection of that as well but the two different I tried was very different from each other but still really nice both of them. So next mission is to figure out how this is prepared and I'll start making my own!!!

 

 

Me and Peter joked a bit before I left that I shold buy a hat for the cat as well. Didn't find one and he sure as hell didn't like the ones I got. He just looked really pissed and his fangs (he's a vampire cat) started to hang out, when they do he'll bite!

So even if it was a job trip to USA we had some time to hang out and look around also. That's always nice because it feels a bit disappointing to travel for hours and hours and only see the Office on location. And of course, this trip as well as mine and Peter's USA vacation a few years ago really just fed the urge to explore USA. There are so many things to see and everything is extremely huge. Really fascinating I think! Wonder when I will find the time to do it though!

Cheers
E

NP: SIN STARLETT - Throat Attack