Dallas, Texas

Even though I have grown up in suburbs that sit just an hours' drive outside of downtown Dallas, I have surprisingly not spent much time in Dallas. Every so often we'll go down there to see a concert at the American Airlines Center, or go to the Dallas Museum of Art, but we never spend large amounts of time down there exploring- so, when I had the opportunity to tag along with my mom to stay in a hotel that sits right in the center of downtown Dallas, the night before the Christmas parade (which you can read all about here) I was thrilled! I don't remember exactly how many stories up we were, I think we were sat on the tenth floor, but I do remember that we were high enough up that the cars and people looked the size of ants.

Our room had a balcony, which looked directly out to some of my favorite buildings in Dallas' famous skyline- Reunion Tower, the Green Building, and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. I have really only ever seen these buildings from far away when we're driving on the highway, so to suddenly be at eye level with them was crazy. They seemed even taller, that close up! I took a bunch of pictures that night, which I thought I would share with you now...

My mom and I

When I came back in from taking these pictures, my hands were absolutely frozen (despite wearing gloves) due to how cold the wind was, but it was definitely worth it. The view was breathtaking- I could have sat out on that balcony for hours.

-Melissa P. Cooper