Aquarium Tunnel Dallas Aquarium

Live Large. Think Big. This is Dallas’ new slogan. People from all over the world, especially Filipinos, will have a taste of the “city built on big dreams, blazed trails and an attitude that all things are possible” as they troop to Dallas for the much-awaited title bout between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey.

But, there’s much more to love in Dallas, the top leisure destination in Texas. As described in a website, “The city offers a thriving culinary scene, leading arts district, countless luxury accommodations, professional sports, trendy entertainment districts and endless shopping opportunities.”

Dallas is accessible from many North American destinations. The DFW International Airport in Dallas, with almost 1,800 daily flights is the third busiest in the world while the Dallas Love Field Airport is just a few minutes from the uptown area where the hotels, restaurants and shops are located.

Known as the Big D, Dallas has a reputation for being stylish, fashionable, luxurious, and prosperous, short of being flashy. After all, this is where Fortune 500 companies like Exxon Mobil, JCPenney and Texas Instruments come from. In Dallas, subtle meets extravagant as simple Texan grace punctuate towering skyscrapers and lavish infrastructure. Dallas is a blend of modernity and sophistication with its hotels, restaurants, night spots and tourist attractions that are sure to make anyone fall in love with the city.

Dallas hotels range from regal to chic. The elegance of Adolphus and Fairmont equal the modernity of the Rosewood Crescent Hotel, W, and Hotel Zaza.

If you are looking for fine food, Dallas offers numerous restaurants that not only serve steaks and barbecues as Texas is known for, but a wide array of American, Asian, Italian and Mexican cuisine. Some of the more popular food choices are Charlie Palmer’s, Kirby’s Woodfire Grill, Ocean Prime, Palm Restaurant, The Place at Perry’s, Sambuca 360 Plano, Truluck’s, Villa-O and Arcodoro & Pomodoro. 

Dallas is also an artist’s haven, the No. 1 city worldwide for art lovers according to the New York Times. The Dallas Arts District is the largest urban arts district in the whole USA. Dallas boasts of its world-class performing arts groups such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Many interesting museums also abound in the city top-billed by the remarkable Dallas Museum of Art.

There’s also the Dallas Holocaust Museum with its extensive collection of audiovisual materials about the holocaust, the Meadows Museum that houses the largest and most comprehensive selection of Spanish art outside of Spain, and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza which has President John F. Kennedy’s memorabilia. There’s also the Cavanaugh Flight Museum, the Crow Collection of Asian Art and the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture.

Still for art lovers, the Dallas City Arts Festival every first week of May showcases cultural, performing, visual, and culinary arts at the historic Fair Park. The annual Shakespeare Festival of Dallas is also to watch out for. Because Dallas is the artist’s paradise, there are plenty of first-class, top-rate performing venues such as the House of Blues, the AT&T Dallas Performing Arts Center, the Dallas Children’s Theater, and the Pioneer Plaza. 

For the young ones and the young-at-heart, the Dallas Aquarium and Zoo are the places to go. And of course, a trip to Texas is never complete without a visit to the Mesquite Championship Rodeo to see real cowboys and old-fashioned Texas food.

For those passionate about sports, Dallas is home of the Cowboys (football), the Mavericks and the Rangers (basketball), and the Stars (hockey). And come March, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao faces Former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium.

The stadium is a $1.2 billion state-of-the-art facility in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys Stadium will host the NBA All-Star Game, the Super Bowl in 2011 and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in 2014. The largest and most expensive HD video board, where 40,000 to 100,000 spectators can get a good view of what they’re watching, is definitely a must-experience.

So, head on to the next big travel destination. Live large, think big in Dallas, Texas.