Photos by Leslie Minora

The first in a series of escalators that will give visitors a lift from the sweeping lobby to the hall of dinosaurs.

​A Perot Museum of Nature & Science curator wound us through the fourth floor of the partially completed space, calling upon visitors to imagine the 80-foot-long dinosaur that would soon occupy where he was standing. Next to that prehistoric giant will be the 25-foot Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum, that horned dino named after the Perot family, the $185-million museum's namesake and chief donor.

Another reptile will hang from the ceiling, with a wingspan the curator compared to a fighter jet and a true bird's-eye view of view of downtown from the windows on all sides of the museum's open floor plan. Architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis aimed to highlight the "middle ground between nature and architecture," he says. "And everything is connected to the city." And it's really freaking cool.

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Photos by Leslie Minora

The planters were hung by the Midway with care ...

​As often as I can, I take a stroll or bike ride through Fair Park -- I'm lucky enough to live across the street from one of my favorite places in Dallas. And while the landscape is usually the same beautiful, quiet ghost town, recently things have been changing. The Fair is rising. Every day, a new tent pops up, a State Fair sign is resurrected, and ticket booths spring forth from wherever they hibernate for most of the year. No sign of the big 'ol cowboy Big Tex just yet.

Yep, it's almost State Fair season -- the countdown clock is down to 35 days and change -- the best time of year to be a Texan begins September 30 and runs through October 23. If you need a visible sign that the heat from the sun is about to give way to steam from fired-up fryers, here it is: a quick stroll through what's happening in Fair Park. For optimal anticipatory joy, walk or bike around in person.

Care for a corn dog?

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