Audioguides Dallas

Dallas has no natural port, no significant river, no obvious geographical reason to exist where it does -- and yet it became one of the ten largest cities in the United States through sheer force of commercial will. The Texas railroads chose it, then oil chose it, then banking chose it, and each time the skyline grew accordingly. Dealey Plaza, where John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, sits just west of downtown, and the Sixth Floor Museum in the former Texas School Book Depository has become one of the most visited history sites in the country.

The Dallas that surprises visitors is the one off the tourist circuit.

Deep Ellum was the blues and jazz district in the 1920s and has cycled through abandonment and revival several times since, arriving at its current iteration as a walkable strip of live music venues, murals and craft cocktail bars. The Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff -- once thoroughly overlooked -- is now the neighbourhood that food writers send each other to. Texas BBQ here means brisket with a bark, Tex-Mex means enchiladas with a pool of chili gravy, and a kolache from a Czech-Texan bakery is the only correct breakfast.