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National ERG Conference Dallas - 4 of 5
Sep. 17th, 2017 11:59 pmSunday morning we had the breakfast buffet at the Terrace in Atrium I (the other end of the complex, past Media and Counter Offer). We were waited on by the same older gentleman who Gary remembered from our previous trip. I noticed two middle-aged dudes in matching black polo shirts waiting to be seated. At first I thought they might be with the Boy Scouts because of the fleur-de-lis logo, but on closer inspection the eagle was missing and the caption read "Saints". (I later learned the Saints lost badly that day so I suspect they were Not Happy.)
Our destination for the day was the Dallas Freedom Parade (aka Pride parade). We left the hotel around 11:30ish and walked over to a bus stop in front of the Renaissance Hotel across the freeway. This dude was set up across the street with a sign ranting about how badly his wife had been ripped off by an RV dealer, probably to discourage attendees of the RV show in the lot behind him from buying one from that dealer. We caught the bus to the Medical District station, then the Green Line train downtown to St. Paul station, and finally walked around the corner to catch the free M-line trolley to a stop directly across Turtle Creek from the end of the parade route.
There weren't a whole lot of people waiting to watch the parade just yet, so I suggested to Gary that we should stop in to Mattito's Tex-Mex for brunch, so we could sit in the cool bar and have some cold drinks before enduring the heat for a few hours. Brunch was nice; there was a big buffet with quite a variety of enchiladas, fajitas, chiles rellenos, rice and beans, and even a savory fish dish. We could have had Bloody Marys to wash it all down but I took Gary's lead and had Sprite instead. Gary was still quite full from breakfast and decided to skip the dessert buffet, while I grabbed a few churros and a little fudge brownie. I exchanged silent greetings with a table of four nice-looking bearish dudes with a variety of beard colors as I passed by.
Brunch ended at 2:30 and we proceeded across Oak Lawn Avenue to Walgreens for supplies. I got a large Powerade Zero and Gary a can of Arizona peach tea. As we reached the registers I found a fedora hat in burlap (intended to look like a straw hat) with a rainbow band around it, and picked it up to try to keep both sun and sweat out of my eyes. By then it was just after three, and the first units of the parade had made their way to Oak Lawn. We took up station just south of Mattito's for the first few units, and I took off my already soaking wet T-shirt and tucked it into the back of my suspenders. When it became clear there would be no shade there, we moved a little further south and stood at the base of a tree.
After most of the parade had come by, including the Turtle Creek Chorale and LEAGUE DFW floats, we returned to the block by Mattito's where there was a gap in the crowd at the barricades. On the way back, a nice, rather slight young dude of color in a blue-and-white checkered shirt stopped me to tell me he thought I was sexy. I thanked him and continued on my way. The metal barricade made a convenient drying rack for my shirt as well as a place to display the WOOF logo with the hairy dude on the front, just in time for the Dallas Bears contingent to pass by. One of the bears tossed us a dog tag from the Bearracks, which Gary ended up wearing the rest of the day.
Shortly after the Bears, a loud fire truck signaled the end of the parade. We made our way toward Lemmon Avenue intending to visit the Hidden Door, but along the way I asked if we could stop at the Starbucks on the intervening block for some cold beverages and air conditioning, and put my now-dry shirt back on. Gary had a grande mocha cold brew and I had a venti mocha Frappucino. I kept getting brain freeze because I was getting desperate for something cold in my system and drinking my Frappucino far too fast. There was a cute cub in a rainbow T-shirt with a female companion at the next table.
Once we finished our coffee drinks, we continued walking to Lemmon Avenue and checked the bus schedule. Since the next hourly bus was 40 minutes away, I called an Uber to take us the mile or two north to the Hidden Door. The lady who drove us to the Hidden Door ended up pulling into the parking lot, and after we got out of the car the security guard assisted her in getting back into traffic. As expected, the bar was rather full of bears and cubs, and we got into the lengthy but fast-moving line at the bar. I ordered a Coke for Gary and a cranberry and soda for myself, along with a bottle of water apiece. We sat on the little porch just outside the door leading from the pool room, and sipped our drinks and watched the people go by. I especially noticed one dude in a leather vest barely covering his intensely furry chest whose face reminded me of Tim (the Mermanator) from the Chorus and formerly of Captain Smartypants. Gary shared his philosophy about cruising bears: "They're always hot until they speak." There was a wide variety of people out on the patio but no one we knew from prior visits, and I was still feeling a bit overheated, so we finished our drinks and left.
Out of an abundance of optimism, we walked over to the southbound bus stop on Lemmon but found we faced yet another long wait, so I called for an Uber back to the hotel. The driver pulled into the nearby Audi dealership to get out of traffic. He had a sign on the back of the passenger seat identifying him as a Navy veteran, and Gary asked him about his former ship. As it happened, he also served on the USS Saratoga where Gary's brother Vince had served.
We weren't very hungry when we returned to the room, so I stripped down and put on gym shorts. I caught up with Dad by phone, and we surfed the net and bounced back and forth between the Emmy Awards and Sunday Night Football. About quarter to ten we headed down to Counter Offer to pick up a late light dinner to go. I had a shrimp and rice noodle salad and a fruit cup, while Gary had a chicken salad plate, fruit cup, and a cookie. Once we were done eating, we packed up most of our clothes, caught the parade coverage on the news, and went to sleep.
Our destination for the day was the Dallas Freedom Parade (aka Pride parade). We left the hotel around 11:30ish and walked over to a bus stop in front of the Renaissance Hotel across the freeway. This dude was set up across the street with a sign ranting about how badly his wife had been ripped off by an RV dealer, probably to discourage attendees of the RV show in the lot behind him from buying one from that dealer. We caught the bus to the Medical District station, then the Green Line train downtown to St. Paul station, and finally walked around the corner to catch the free M-line trolley to a stop directly across Turtle Creek from the end of the parade route.
There weren't a whole lot of people waiting to watch the parade just yet, so I suggested to Gary that we should stop in to Mattito's Tex-Mex for brunch, so we could sit in the cool bar and have some cold drinks before enduring the heat for a few hours. Brunch was nice; there was a big buffet with quite a variety of enchiladas, fajitas, chiles rellenos, rice and beans, and even a savory fish dish. We could have had Bloody Marys to wash it all down but I took Gary's lead and had Sprite instead. Gary was still quite full from breakfast and decided to skip the dessert buffet, while I grabbed a few churros and a little fudge brownie. I exchanged silent greetings with a table of four nice-looking bearish dudes with a variety of beard colors as I passed by.
Brunch ended at 2:30 and we proceeded across Oak Lawn Avenue to Walgreens for supplies. I got a large Powerade Zero and Gary a can of Arizona peach tea. As we reached the registers I found a fedora hat in burlap (intended to look like a straw hat) with a rainbow band around it, and picked it up to try to keep both sun and sweat out of my eyes. By then it was just after three, and the first units of the parade had made their way to Oak Lawn. We took up station just south of Mattito's for the first few units, and I took off my already soaking wet T-shirt and tucked it into the back of my suspenders. When it became clear there would be no shade there, we moved a little further south and stood at the base of a tree.
After most of the parade had come by, including the Turtle Creek Chorale and LEAGUE DFW floats, we returned to the block by Mattito's where there was a gap in the crowd at the barricades. On the way back, a nice, rather slight young dude of color in a blue-and-white checkered shirt stopped me to tell me he thought I was sexy. I thanked him and continued on my way. The metal barricade made a convenient drying rack for my shirt as well as a place to display the WOOF logo with the hairy dude on the front, just in time for the Dallas Bears contingent to pass by. One of the bears tossed us a dog tag from the Bearracks, which Gary ended up wearing the rest of the day.
Shortly after the Bears, a loud fire truck signaled the end of the parade. We made our way toward Lemmon Avenue intending to visit the Hidden Door, but along the way I asked if we could stop at the Starbucks on the intervening block for some cold beverages and air conditioning, and put my now-dry shirt back on. Gary had a grande mocha cold brew and I had a venti mocha Frappucino. I kept getting brain freeze because I was getting desperate for something cold in my system and drinking my Frappucino far too fast. There was a cute cub in a rainbow T-shirt with a female companion at the next table.
Once we finished our coffee drinks, we continued walking to Lemmon Avenue and checked the bus schedule. Since the next hourly bus was 40 minutes away, I called an Uber to take us the mile or two north to the Hidden Door. The lady who drove us to the Hidden Door ended up pulling into the parking lot, and after we got out of the car the security guard assisted her in getting back into traffic. As expected, the bar was rather full of bears and cubs, and we got into the lengthy but fast-moving line at the bar. I ordered a Coke for Gary and a cranberry and soda for myself, along with a bottle of water apiece. We sat on the little porch just outside the door leading from the pool room, and sipped our drinks and watched the people go by. I especially noticed one dude in a leather vest barely covering his intensely furry chest whose face reminded me of Tim (the Mermanator) from the Chorus and formerly of Captain Smartypants. Gary shared his philosophy about cruising bears: "They're always hot until they speak." There was a wide variety of people out on the patio but no one we knew from prior visits, and I was still feeling a bit overheated, so we finished our drinks and left.
Out of an abundance of optimism, we walked over to the southbound bus stop on Lemmon but found we faced yet another long wait, so I called for an Uber back to the hotel. The driver pulled into the nearby Audi dealership to get out of traffic. He had a sign on the back of the passenger seat identifying him as a Navy veteran, and Gary asked him about his former ship. As it happened, he also served on the USS Saratoga where Gary's brother Vince had served.
We weren't very hungry when we returned to the room, so I stripped down and put on gym shorts. I caught up with Dad by phone, and we surfed the net and bounced back and forth between the Emmy Awards and Sunday Night Football. About quarter to ten we headed down to Counter Offer to pick up a late light dinner to go. I had a shrimp and rice noodle salad and a fruit cup, while Gary had a chicken salad plate, fruit cup, and a cookie. Once we were done eating, we packed up most of our clothes, caught the parade coverage on the news, and went to sleep.