Dallas, Texas is one of my favorite towns.  It is definitely a big city, but it has a Midwestern feel.  This trip to Dallas allowed me to do several of my favorite things: I visited some old college friends, added to my shot glass collection, visited a historic area and saw a great aquarium.
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The Dallas World Aquarium is located in the heart of downtown in the historic West End District.  The first exhibit is called Orinoco - Secrets of the River and it's an authentically warm and humid rainforest so be prepared.  The tour starts at the canopy of the rainforest, with lots of birds to watch for and the occasional monkey.  The tour winds down several levels and each level features various species, all focused around a 40-foot waterfall.  There are sloths, anteaters and bats along the path, which ends at the base of the waterfall where ducks and fish swim around.  Orinoco crocodiles can be found nearby; they are the largest predator in South America.   

Large aquariums feature marine life from various regions of the oceanic world.  The British Columbia tank offers an up-close view of a giant Pacific octopus.  The Dragons From Down Under exhibit houses one of the largest collections of Leafy sea dragons in the world - they are some of the oddest-looking creatures I have seen.  Depending on the weather, there is a South America exhibit that features black footed penguins.  The penguins are always fun to watch and here’s a helpful hint: if the weather is bad outside, the penguins can be seen from the plate glass windows in the gift shop.   The best part, to me, was the manatees, or sea cow as they are sometimes called.  These graceful creatures swim, play and sleep while the world goes on around them.  They also move slowly enough to allow some really great photographs.

The highlight for most of the kids and a few adults (who remember "Jaws") is “The Cenote,” a 400,000-gallon shark exhibit, featuring a walk-through tunnel.  There is a place for sitting, which might feel good if your feet are getting tired.  Hammerheads, stingrays, and sawfish sharks pass gracefully around and over your head.

I collect shot glasses on my travels and my current collection features about 2,200 of them. (Imagine washing 2,200 shot glasses.)  To a collector, the Hard Rock Café glasses are the holy grail of the hobby.  I know you can buy them on e-Bay easily, but that's no fun.  I must see the place to get the glass.  So the first stop was to the Dallas HRC in its new downtown location.  It features the less kitschy, upscale design that Hard Rock is converting to these days.  The food was awesome as always, the Twisted Mac, Chicken & Cheese was excellent.  Here’s a hint, it’s also an AAA Show Your Card & Save partner, so make sure you ask for the discount. 

There are some other great sights to see in downtown Dallas.  I also visited Dealey Plaza and the Kennedy Memorial.  One of my colleagues did a nice review on that area already, so I will refer you to her posting.  One note of warning, there are several individuals that hang around this area who will attempt to offer information regarding President Kennedy’s assassination.  They will claim the information is free, but really want “donations” after the information is relayed.  While the information may be interesting, it may not be accurate.  I have confirmed this by making a telephone call to The Sixth Floor Museum.  They said that these are individual “vendors” and in no way affiliated with the Kennedy Memorial or The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.