Traveling Home and Airport Lounges

Our vacation has come to an end and today is travel home day.  We'll be traveling via DFW and are looking forward to using our free lounge access that came along with a recent credit card acquisition.  

First stop at DFW is for free lunch/dinner at The Club DFW!  

Next we ride the automated people mover to transfer terminals and check into minute suites for a brief nap! Thanks for connecting it, Dad! 

Our access gives us one free hour at Minute Suites.  When we first attempted to check in, they were all full, but the door is right by our gate so we just sat down outside anyway and asked them to let us know if something came open.  It did and we were able to spend an hour chilling in private.  

If the timing was right, Wifey could see this being useful for a quick private conference call for work etc, but overall an hour in this small room with "daybed", desk, and tv ... not really that nice of a perk.  Also, the food here isn't free :(  Totally lame! 

 

Historic Fort Worth

One evening Hubby worked through lunch and made it home just in time to leave for the 4:00 cattle drive.  Hubby drove, of course, and saved our day by parallel parking just up the road from the historic downtown Fort Worth Stockyards.

Wifey enjoyed the cattle drive.  Hubby ... tolerated it.  For future tourists, we recommend arriving about a half hour before the cattle drive so you can make sure and get a spot on along the side of the road.  By the time the cattle come through, there will be multiple rows of folks lined up along the road and will make it tough to see, particularly if you're shorter than average.  :)  

Howdy Partner!

Waiting for the Cattle Drive to begin!!! 

Not Hubby's idea of a good time!

Laundry - Homewood Suites Medical Center

One perk of the Homewood Suites is the free laundry facilities.  Wifey did laundry several days during our stay and only encountered another guest using the machines one time.  The laundry room is key card access limited and includes 2 washing machines and 4 dryers.  Laundry soap and other sundries are not provided but are available at the front desk for purchase. We did not explore this option but purchased a full-size bottle of detergent from a local store.  Since we're traveling by car, we can just bring the extra home and presume it is much more cost-effective than the convenience of small supplies at the front desk! 

Thursday Explorations

Wifey began her Thursday explorations with a google map destination of a nail salon a bit south of our hotel.  Along the way, she enjoyed a beautiful running/walking trail.  Sadly, just before reaching these beautiful trails, she ended up wandering through some wet grass resulting in slightly soggy and grassy tennis shoes.

Bridge over non-troubled waters

 After arriving at Aria Nail Bar, she gratefully accepted a plastic bag to keep her shoes contained and enjoyed a pedicure and nail repair.  Thankfully, she had carried alternate shoes in her camera bag and didn't have to suffer the annoyance of soggy shoes the rest of the day :) Aria is a new nail bar (about 3 months old) and offers a 20% discount on services before 3 pm.  Check it out if you're in south Fort Worth. 

After her pedicure, Wifey continued wondering around and stumbled across the following Keller ISD school bus!  She graduated from a Keller ISD HS a ... er ... a few years back!

A quick pit stop to quench her thirst with Creme Brule boba tea.  Have a tea reffic day! 

After a running lunch date with hubby at Chick-fil-a, 

wifey spent the afternoon at Whistle and Sway salon having her roots resolved.  Le Sigh! 

Panoramic view of the walking trails along her walk home!

By the time her color was finished, the day was mostly past and wifey returned 'home', finished some laundry (walking several miles in a day yields pretty icky clothes :)) and got cleaned up awaiting dinner date with Hubby! 

Wifey voted for Mexican and Hubby voted for "authentic".  An hour of googling later, we decided to try out Benito's on Magnolia Avenue.  It had the benefit of being highly ranked in various lists of Authentic Mexican food in Fort Worth and also being within 1.5 miles of our hotel!  #win 

Quick Spanish Lesson

roasted Jalapenos

Jalapeno something or another - ask Hubby :)

Tamales

Quesidillas

We enjoyed our dinner date and would cautiously recommend Benito's to someone visiting south Fort Worth.  Cautiously ... because you have to order your own chips/salsa/queso ... which we didn't. 

#DateNight

Heim BBQ

Heim BBQ is a new-ish destination for BBQ in Fort Worth.  For us, it was conveniently located about a mile from our hotel.  We actually chose this dinner destination after reading an article on Eater Dallas.  Wifey narrowed the choices to Heim BBQ (#8) or Angelos (#1).  Of the top 20 DFW BBQ restaurants, only 4 are in Fort Worth.  Hubby chose Heim and the plans were made!

On the day we planned to head out for some Texas BBQ, Wifey was walking around Magnolia Avenue and stumbled across none other than... Heim BBQ!  She couldn't wait to come back that evening.  Hubby had made an excellent choice. 

Condiment Options - Wifey opted "none of the above"

View from our table!

Wifey's pulled pork sandwich

Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage, CAB Brisket, Emmas Pinto Beans, and Green Chili Mac'n'cheese