My first week in Dallas was amazing.
Gunter and I have finally settled in.
My new apartment in Dallas, cowhide rugs included.
I moved to Oak Lawn, which is the local gayborhood (and best gay neighborhood in the country!)
Oak Lawn is very similar to Boystown, Wilton Manors, or San Francisco’s Castro District.
In the heart of Oak Lawn is a street with more than a dozen gay bars and restaurants. At the end of “The Strip” are the iLume buildings, which are the gay dorms: two massive new developments mostly populated by gay men and single women.
The less charitable name for iLume is “the Bathhouse.”
I’ve talked to at least 5 guys that referred to iLume as the neighborhood bathhouse. A guy at Woody’s even told me that he would sneak into the iLume building after bar close and just join random after-parties… which is frightening.
While the first iLume complex may be the more fabulous building, I live in iLume Park: an apartment building that is structured like a boutique hotel for dog owners… which is pretty much perfect.
iLume Park has a gaudy lobby that has a complimentary happy hour every weekday… and breakfast!
The lobby of iLume Park, Dallas.
Purple glass chandeliers in the iLume Park lobby.
The complimentary breakfast spread at iLume Park in Oaklawn, Dallas.
I’m more impressed by the lobby’s Keurig than the free beer and bagels however.
We do have a pool, but it’s much smaller than the pool in the other iLume building:
The pool at iLume Park in Dallas, Texas.
What we lack in pool size we make up in dog parks:
The smaller dog park at the iLume apartment building in Oak Lawn, Dallas.
iLume Park larger dog park with the bone-shaped pool.
Gunter at the outer dog park of ILume Park.
This building is aggressively marketed toward dog owners, so I’m pretty sure all my neighbors own at least one dog.
Our dog parks can get busy, and several of my neighbors have some intense dogs – German Shepherds, pitbulls, Dobermans, Great Danes, Rottweilers, etc.
The smaller dogs are typically more problematic than the huge ones however.
There’s also some howling at night, but the owners are pretty good about shutting that down.
Besides the dog areas, we have some pretty colorful fountains and a purported “Zen garden” that no one uses:
My random favorite fountain at iLume Park. I don’t know why it amuses me so.
The Zen Garden (or “Reflection Garden”) at the iLume building in Dallas.
And it’s not a true dog building unless the patios come with fake turf:
Artificial doggy turf at a patio in Dallas, Texas.
My location is extremely convenient.
Similar to Lowertown – I don’t need to drive anywhere on a daily basis because everything is within walking distance.
There’s a Kroger and a liquor store across the street, a reasonably priced pet store three blocks down, and an entire world of gay bars and restaurants at my doorstep.
Havana Nightclub in Oaklawn, Dallas, Texas.
The only thing I hate about my building is that it doesn’t have recycling – the staff actually looked at me like I was a crazy hippie when I asked about it.
I still cringe when I throw bottles and cans into the regular garbage, but apparently that’s the Texas way.
One downside to living in the gayborhood is that you’re constantly getting scoped out and judged.
I realized this one day when I got lost while making a quick trip to the pet store – I took the wrong side street home, and ended up at a busy intersection on The Strip.
It was lunch time, so the patios of all of the gay restaurants were packed with professionals on their lunch breaks. Then the camera cuts to me: sweaty and unshaven, with my moving clothes on and moobs flapping in the wind.
Awful.
There are also more than a few guys who walk their dogs shirtless just to show off their 8-packs, but thankfully none of them live in my building.
I just started my gym routine back up today, so perhaps I’ll be one of those kettlebell queens soon?
Daytime faux pas aside, Dallas is fun, diverse, and way more sophisticated than Minnesota.
I’m glad I made the move.
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