Jason C. Romero's Website

I was going to write about how Dallas seemed lamer after some guests from Japan came to visit, but I figured out that it’s just lame for sightseeing.

They went to a lot of places that I wouldn’t have suggested, like downtown Dallas, The Old Red Museum, and The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Some of the places they chose were okay, like Mattito’s and the West End Historic District, and my one suggestion, Reunion Tower, would have been great if it hadn’t been closed for renovations.

But it was, and still is, hard for me to think of any places that would have been much better for them to visit. Other than the Nasher Sculpture Center, all I could really think of were malls, like the NorthPark Center or the Galleria.

I don’t think it helped that they really wanted to be able to go somewhere and mill about on foot, like people do in Tokyo, since places like that seem to be rare in the United States in general, much less Dallas. If it had been later in the day, then I suppose I could have taken them to Deep Ellum.

At first, as I said above, this lack of good sightseeing opportunities made Dallas seem lamer to me, until I remembered that it isn’t the sightseeing that makes me love Dallas, but the people, shops, clubs, restaurants, theaters, and museums that I know there.

So, Dallas might not be so great for sightseeing, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a great place. Right?