Last week I traveled to Dallas, Texas. It’s usually my favorite week because A) It’s usually 70 degrees and a little humid, B) The hotel gym is amazing and usually empty, C) The food is amazing, and D) It’s a quick fly in Tuesday, fly out Thursday trip. But guess what, none of these things happened. I started off the week sick again, but this time I had a fever, chills, achy body and the worst sore throat in years. I looked like a zombie and felt like I had been run over by a semi truck. I could tell I had a fun week ahead.

We flew out early on Tuesday morning and when we arrived to Dallas it was about 40 degrees, the warmest it would get all week. I opted out of my usual first day workout in the amazing gym for a 3 hour nap, hoping I’d feel better. Unfortunately I didn’t, and so the rest of the week I was sick as can be, in 20-30 degree Texas, and nothing I ate tasted delicious. However, I was able to get some pictures, and I have some reviews of the normally amazing tasting restaurants we ate at. I was even able to attempt a workout on Thursday, key word is attempt.

More importantly, it snowed while we were in Texas, something I never thought I’d see. And coming from Cleveland, you’d think there was a 10′ blizzard the way that everyone reacted. We even shut down our show early because of the “dangerous” weather.

Hotel

aloft – I loved staying at aloft. It has got to be my favorite hotel out off all the ones I’ve stayed at for work. The hotel was created from an old industrial building, but is still very modern and chic. The gym actually makes you want to work out and the lobby looks like a club. aloft hotels are all over the place, and I recommend staying at one just to check out the scene.

Restaurants

Daddy Jacks, New England Lobster & Chowder House – The best place in Dallas to get seafood. The same gentleman is always there and he remembers everyone that comes in to visit, even if it’s just once a year. I can never decide between the Shrimp Scampi and the Pasta Linguini with Shrimp, so they create a mix of the two and I love it.

Texas de Brazil – Quite the expensive meal, but you never leave hungry. I’ve been to the one in Dallas every trip, and tried the one in Vegas, both times I leave at the perfect moment before I have to get rolled out of the restaurant. The salad bar is huge and has more options than you could think of. After you stuff yourself with lettuce, staff comes around and offers you slices from different kinds of meat. You can choose what you want, and how much you’d like. The trick is you never know how much you eat, until you’re stuffed.

wxyz Bar – The last night we stayed in, mostly because we didn’t want to walk outside in the cold. It was easy to grab some appetizers, hang out at the bar and people watch, all in the convenience of the hotel. No online menu, but we had a range of food including: edamame, chicken mac & cheese, 4 cheese personal pizza, wings, and pot stickers. All good, all different taste buds.

So there we go, another trip down, and another week of horrible Cleveland weather avoided. The upside to all this traveling is that I haven’t had to fill my car with gas for 3 weeks, $180 in my pocket, so I call that a win in itself. This week is my final trip for a while, a short stint in St.Louis, a city I’ve never been. Hopefully the snow stays away!

Have you been to Dallas before? Craziest thing you’ve seen in Texas? How do you keep your immune system safe while traveling?