Ft. Worth and Dallas, Texas

I've spent quite a bit of time in the Ft. Worth/Dallas area over the past year getting our long-time customer Coppell, TX up and running on the .Net version of our software. And to my surprise, just a few weeks after our "go-live", I found myself back again to upgrade them to the latest release... what we call our "Next Gen" version of our software. While I was looking forward to a (well needed) week in the office and I was excited to spend some quality time with my new Husband....I can't complain too much. I love visiting Texas, the food is great and my customers are some of the nicest people I know. And...I needed the airline miles to hit Platinum status for the 2012 year.

I just happened to find myself back as the Texas Rangers were battling the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. While they were playing game 6 and 7 in St. Louis, I was still able to enjoy the excitement and buzz you only feel when "your" team is on the verge of a world championship. Everyone was excited. My customers even grew out their playoff beards in support of the team. I, for the week, became a Texas Rangers fan.

On Thursday night, I went to Ft. Worth to visit the world's largest Honky Tonk...Billy Bobs! It is truly an amazing place. There is a full sized Bull Riding ring inside of the bar. They offer free line-dancing lessons every night (I got there too late for this, however). And they bring in musical acts several times a week.

While I went to watch the Rangers game, I was pleased to find out that Rodney Atkins was performing LIVE as well. And...there was no cover! Talk about a great deal! So, I had some BBQ and found myself a spot next to the bar by one of the many TV's yet still in sight of the stage to see the concert. There were two performers before Rodney came out, and both were good. Rodney Atkins played about 6 songs to an audience of now more than 1000 people...and mostly acoustic.



Anyways...the concert was great and I was sad to see it end. But, it wrapped up just in time for the final innings of what turned out to be a VERY entertaining ball game. So many times, the place was ready to erupt in celebration. Unfortunately, the Rangers blew their chances. I stuck around a little while longer to watch the line-dancing and two-stepping (they sure know how to dance down in Texas!).



Friday, before I left for the airport, I was able to squeeze in a trip to my favorite BBQ Pit in the world...the Hard Eight BBQ. I had a chopped brisket sandwich and bought a bottle of hot-sauce for Mike before making my way to DFW for my trip home.