ft. worth

i find it interesting that with as many times as i've been to dallas over the years, i've never really spent any time in ft. worth.  i've always lumped the sister cities together, and i'm afraid, in doing so i have done ft. worth a disservice.

don't get me wrong, i've always liked dallas. but what i didn't realize is that ft. worth has a very distinctive personality, and one i was glad to experience.

this was my first post-surgery trip, and for the most part, i was feelin' pretty good.  i may or may not have asked my co-worker to drive me and my boxes the three blocks to the convention center so i wouldn't have to drag them on a cart, and i'm not working the booth just yet, but in general,  i was doing alright.

the event was at the convention center, and we stayed at the 'historic' ft. worth hilton.  it's a registered national historic site, largely because jfk gave his last address and spent his last night there.  definitely cool, but not the highlight of the trip.

we didn't have much playtime on this one, particularly since i was leaving early to head straight to another event, but alana, shannon, and i decided to make the most of what we had, and my last night in ft. worth was a fun-filled one.

the girls were up for joining me on my diners, drive-ins, and dives quest, and the restaurant on the agenda was the twisted root burger company.  anyone who has traveled with me will know that i love a good burger.  it's my comfort food when i'm on the road,  so imagine how excited i was that there was a burger joint on the list!

twisted root is a super casual half bar, half order at the window, style restaurant.  we placed our orders, and instead of giving our names, we were GIVEN names.  alana was erykah badu, shannon was vanna white, i was eva longoria, and we were all 'sweethearts' as far as the cute cashier was concerned.

erykah badu, eva longoria, & vanna white

as you might imagine, it made for some good jokes and good laughs as each order came up and we heard some of the other names that had been assigned.  while we waited for ours to be called, we decided to try the twisted rootbeer flavor of the day, which was strawberry. and for the record, strawberry + root beer = unexpectedly tasty!

our burgers came up and boy were they yummy.  i have to say that the fries and the fried pickles made for perfect complements, but the atmosphere may have been the best part of all.  for most of my first year at the company, every conference consisted of meals at 'nice' places.  while i can appreciate a 'nice' place as much as the next guy, and maybe more than most, if i have the choice, i'd rather be in jeans, in a dive, enjoying a cheap burger, and this place was right up my alley.

he may not smile in photos but he smiles a lot in 'real life'

after dinner we made our way to shannon's house, where i finally got to meet her boyfriend felipe.  having heard so much about him, i was excited to finally put the face to the name, in person.  i was also excited to tour shannon's house, since it was a fairly recent acquisition, and i've been hearing all about the updates and upgrades she's been making. it did not disappoint, and i appreciated the opportunity to go a little deeper with this co-worker who's becoming a friend.

after checking out the house, the four of us headed to the stockyards, and eventally landed at billy bob's. some of you may remember that i visited billy bob's when ann and brian came to visit me in dallas earlier this year.  last time i was there, though, rick springfield was the main attraction, and the crowd demographics were representative of that.  this time is was hats and boots for miles, and i couldn't get enough.  dancing was out of the question for me, but i sure enjoyed watching!

so did alana, who's san francisco sensibilities had never been exposed to anything like it before.  we were enjoying ourselves so much, that we didn't realize how late it was until we closed the place down.

fortunately for me, i could sleep in the following morning before making my way to boca raton, fl for another event.  the morning was a lazy one, and i said my farewell to ft. worth knowing i would be back, in the same hotel, at the same convention center, in less than a month.  how's that for irony?