Troll in Downtown Dallas, Texas

Reunion Tower in the background. There always
seems to be construction going on in downtown!

People around the world know, or at least think they know, Dallas. Mostly what the old-timers around the world know however, is the fictional TV show Dallas where J.R. held sway and was shot and the younger people only know Dallas and the state of Texas from old western movies they've seen. Actually, the real Dallas is the 9th largest city in America and is a financial center for the oil, cotton, technology, health care and banking industries. It is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other city in America except New York City and Houston. In 2014, the population was 1,281,000 folks, give or take a couple. And believe it or not, it is pretty much like most of the other big cities in the world, just a little bit friendlier perhaps.

Lil Dude was born and raised in the Dallas area. He has travelled extensively all over America and the world, but like all native Texans, Texas will always be his home no matter where he travels.

Driving in downtown Dallas. Mostly empty streets
on a early Saturday morning.

Early one Saturday morning, he decided to take a little tour of downtown Dallas to see how much it has changed since he was a little kid who on special occasions got to ride the trolley car "into town" from across the Trinity River in Oak Cliff where he lived. That was a long time ago and not much remains the same, but it still felt like home!

Now a museum, this used to be the
"Old Red Courthouse" which was built in 1892.

Walking around an empty downtown Dallas. It
was eerily quiet.

The building behind Lil Dude is the Chase Tower.
55-stories tall, it is known as "the building with
a hole in it."



Downtown Dallas at night.
(photo by Creative Commons)