Claudia S.
Yelp
Each year I take a mini vacation during my Easter break. This year, we opted for Dallas. Since I always have to travel on a budget, I do my best to find free/low cost activities. When researching for my trip, I happened upon the Crow Collection of Asian Art. I like to leave an element of surprise in my activities so I didn't read too much on the website, I really just looked at the hours and cost. They suggest a donation of about $7. I wasn't sure how strongly that was suggested as we've all been to those places that call their admission a donation, but are pretty firm when you arrive to collect that "donation".
We arrived a bit early. Since this is located in downtown Dallas, our hotel clerk had warned about traffic. Perhaps traffic was lighter with us being there on Good Friday, but we got downtown a bit before 9 am and didn't have any trouble. There is a bit of construction going on right now, so although there is a valet service for the museum, we did not drive down the street directly in front of the museum. While we were circling the block, we noticed a large parking lot one block away and decided it was very close and offered easy access to the museum. This lot is one of those where you park, then go to a kiosk to pay for your spot. They have an early bird special, but we missed that. It was $5 for 1 1/2 hours or $7 for about 12 hours of parking. I didn't feel like 90 minutes would be enough, so opted for the extra $2.
Since we were so early, we stayed in the car to do some people watching. At 10 am, we hopped out and took the leisurely stroll down to the museum. They have nice outside features: a beautiful fountain, bamboo garden, lampposts topped with Buddha himself.
We got to the front doors and were cheerfully greeted by two employees who had just unlocked the doors. They let us in and explained we were the first guests of the day. They offered a warm welcome, explained that admission was free, gave us a brief overview of the layout, even explained that the restrooms were right there if we wanted to start with that. It was all very friendly -- not pushy. There was a collection box right there, but no one ever made you feel like you have to give money to have a look.
We thoroughly enjoyed the contents of the museum. There are 3 levels, but this is not something huge that will take you hours to go through. Truly, we could have been back to our car in plenty of time for the 90 minute parking.
We took our time and enjoyed their collection. The gift shop is about what you'd expect..a little pricey, which is typical. Other museums are in that same district, which makes it handy.
We spent some time outside on their benches enjoying more people watching. Overall, it was really a highlight to our trip.