2/15

We liked Abilene, especially the warm weather and the Grace Museum, which is a beautifully restored old hotel. No rooms available in Fort Worth, so J got the deal of the trip for us at the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas: $99 per night, and the 3rd night was free. A spacious, well-appointed room on the top (30th) floor. Everyone was still talking about the Super Bowl: the terrible weather and the fact that the NFL booked our entire hotel. Did some sightseeing including a sculpture museum and the Trammel Crow Asian museum. Apparently the tough economic times have not hit Dallas: road and building construction everywhere. On Sat afternoon, we observed a large site with 2 tall cranes moving concrete around the site, 2 pumpers, and at one point 15 concrete trucks in line waiting to off-load. Someone was paying some serious OT. One of J's friends recommended burgers at a restaurant that serves them only on Sun and Mon. Great. We finished them off with house-made ice cream: French sea salt and carmel. Delicious. We are now at the former Texas Hotel, where JFK spent his last night. Local restaurants were all booked last night for Valentine's Day, so we ordered a pizza.