Exploring Dallas Food While Riding DART Rail

I live in a historic district of Dallas called Oak Cliff. It is neither poor nor rich nor rundown. I hope that developers do not swoop in and ruin this this part of town. I like the neighborhood and the people in it. I like that my neighborhood looks out for each other. When places gentrify, or God forbid, someone "develops" an area, sometimes those slowly built up networks of neighbors and businesses get ripped out in the name of "Progress".

Living near a DART Rail Station is very convenient for me. The trains are dependable and safe; although, certain stops attract panhandlers, especially the downtown stops. Some of the stories they use to ask for change can be entertaining. Occasionally, someone gets on the train and starts working the crowd for money; but, I have not seen that tactic actually work.

I have no idea how dependable the buses are. Having lived in this town a while I know the reputation of the bus system punctuality is not stellar. The buses are always full; but, that could mean that the riders have no choice. Reputations are not always deserved. I may have to find out soon the way the price of gasoline keeps moving upwards.

[I have recently used the bus system. The buses are nice, air conditioned. The city could improve (maintain) a few roads, which might help the bus system more than anything else.]

There are three DART rail lines that connect a huge parts of this city and surrounding towns. The Red Line runs from Oak Cliff to Plano. The Blue line will get you to Garland or South Dallas. The Blue line is the one you take to Deep Elum and Fair Park. The Green Line will connect you to Carolton and Denton. They all will get you to Downtown Dallas which is really growing residence wise. Union Station is where you transfer to Fort Worth or Amtrak.

For those of you not familiar with Amtrak, that is a rail line I can take to get to the rest of Texas; and, if you have to, wander the rest of the US before coming back home.

For me, this means that there is a world of restaurants, farmers markets, and food that can be reached without having to drive in the obnoxious downtown traffic. Unfortunately, this is Dallas. Some places you have to drive to.

Now, one of the really great things about Dallas is that the world is arriving daily. I am beginning to wonder if the US is becoming a nomadic culture.

Californians and whatever we call people from the East Coast are finding that their money goes further here, although most move to Austin real fast. Personally I think Galveston is a better choice. Galveston has more fresh fish and less state politicians. Oh yeah, there is a lot of international business done in Dallas; and, just about every culture you can think of is represented in this city. So, not only is there a lot of food, it's all different. Of course, Dallas is not New York City; and, that is just fine with me.

What has started as an interest in what I was eating has turned into a hobby, has led me to test the waters of writing on Hubpages, and now I am enrolled in a culinary program in the middle of downtown Dallas. I have some idea of where I am going in the program; but, I have learned that plans never survive the first step.

I know I will share more recipes here; but, I am finding the program to be revealing many unanticipated facets to this industry. Some of it will be old news to people; but, I won't know the difference, or care.