Christmas Cheer at the Gaylord, Texas

Dec 26, 2009

The word magical is highly overused during the holiday season. But I’m going to use it anyway. December at the Gaylord Texan (and the Gaylord National Harbor, for that matter) is downright magical. The hotel is centered around a large atrium that many of the rooms overlook. Mine did. It also had a massive balcony as the room was a one-bedroom suite, which meant I could sit and look out over Christmas train sets, holiday revelers, an enormous tree, and Grinch themed décor. It was really wonderful. The grinchy part was because the Gaylord Texan is hosting a Grinch themed exhibit called ICE! (more on that in another entry).

Santa was there. There was a shop set-up where you could decorate gingerbread houses. Lights were everywhere. And the place was packed when I was there the weekend before Christmas, which was great fun except when it came to dining. There are only 2 casual choices there and both were PACKED come dinnertime. Even room service was on a dreadful delay. My advice. Go for the holidays for sure. But either make dinner reservations or go “off campus” to eat. There are plenty of places nearby. My ten-year-old just loved it and it sure beat having to go somewhere cold to inspire holiday cheer!

Jenny Block is the author of “Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage” (Seal Hardcover, June 2008 and Seal Paperback, March 2009), which has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. She writes a weekly column for the Dallas Morning News publication Quick called “Sex Talk with Jenny Block” (quickdfw.com). Jenny holds both her BA and her MA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University and taught college composition for nearly ten years. She writes for a wide variety of publications and websites, including huffingtonpost.com, yourtango.com, American Way, Veranda, the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Voice, edgedallas.com, literarymama.com, Spirit, chow.com, and ellegirl.com.