Adults Only

What to do, eat, and see during your kid-free summer weekend getaway in Plano

The kids had their time in March with Spring Break, but now it's your turn to let loose and have some fun. Even if you only have a weekend to spare, spend it enjoying all that Plano has to offer — sans kids.

From mouthwatering food to live music, adventurous activities, and unique shopping, here's an idea of what you can expect to explore:

Taste of Plano Foodie Pass
First thing's first: Sign up for this free, mobile-friendly "passport" program that showcases more than 80 Plano eateries offering special discounts and other perks.

Simply filter by cuisine type or browse the entire list of participating restaurants for a tempting variety of food and special offers that can be redeemed when ordering. Once you arrive at your chosen eatery, check in on your mobile phone using the saved passport link.

Accumulate points for checking in at participating restaurants and redeeming coupons, then cash in your points for awesome prizes provided by Visit Plano, such as tote bags, coolers bags, drink tumblers, T-shirts, and stickers.

After checking in to 20 restaurants, you'll be automatically entered into the Fit for a Foodie sweepstakes:

The first place winner will receive a certificate for a charcuterie board-making class for six led by the executive chef at the Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West and $500 in restaurant gift cards.
The second place winner will receive a one-night weekend stay at the Hilton Dallas/Plano Granite Park and $250 in restaurant gift cards.
The third place winner will receive a one-night weekend stay at the Dallas/Plano Marriott at Legacy Town Center and $100 in restaurant gift cards.

Fowling Warehouse
It started as a one-lane mashup of football and bowling while tailgating at the 2001 Indy 500. Today, fowling is quickly turning into a national sensation.

Here, you can reserve a lane, join unlimited open play, or book the entire VIP lounge if you're feeling fancy. On Friday and Saturday nights, the warehouse is reserved exclusively for those 16-and-up.

Go Ape Treetop Adventure Course
Go Ape in Oak Point Park takes scenic to new levels — literally. Navigate 40 crossings more than 27 feet up and fly from treetop to ground on one of the four ziplines, one of which crosses over Rowlett Creek.

The high-ropes adventure course takes 2-3 hours to complete and is located in Oak Point Park & Nature Preserve, Plano’s largest park. It's all within easy driving distance from anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Legacy Hall + Lexus Box Garden
Legacy Hall is a large food hall that offers 20 artisanal food vendors to satisfy your appetite. These restaurants range from old-fashioned Texas barbecue to vegan eateries.

While the food at Legacy Hall is the obvious draw, the Lexus Box Garden is an outdoor venue that will elevate your experience to the next level. This al fresco concert hub is a focal point for various events, including live music performances, movie screenings, and community gatherings. You can find everything from big game-watch parties to local and national artists to special “mix tape” nights featuring talented DJs.

Legacy West
Located in the heart of Plano, Legacy West lets you shop all your favorite brands and dine at more than 20 delicious restaurants.

Besides labels like Coach, Fabletics, Golden Goose, Tumi, Vuori, Johnny Was, and West Elm, and eateries than range from Shake Shack to Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, you'll often get to enjoy live music, pop-up shops, and more.

Legacy North + Plano House of Comedy
Still hungry? Cross the Tollway to Legacy North, where Mexican Sugar, Seasons 52, RA Sushi, Ebb & Flow, and more await.

Stop in at the Plano House of Comedy for the best in stand-up comedy from performers who have appeared on Netflix, Comedy Central, HBO, and more.

Spa Habitat
Three locations — Legacy North, Downtown Plano, and West Plano — give you triple the opportunity to grab some R&R at this truly organic spa.

Take your pick from relaxing massages, beneficial facials, luxurious body wraps and scrubs, and safe and efficient hair removal, all in a relaxed and down-to-earth setting.

Downtown Plano Arts District + McCall Plaza
Once a traditional business area, this dynamic destination offers an array of art galleries, event venues, unique shops, and specialty service providers such as dance studios, tattoo parlors, salons, and spas. There are also plenty of restaurants, which include seafood, barbecue joints, pizzerias, and other exciting flavors.

McCall Plaza is an outdoor performance space located in the heart of the Downtown Plano Arts District. This venue is conveniently located among the various bars and shops in the area, as well as immediate walking distance from the downtown DART station.

Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West Hotel
Make it a true weekend away by booking a room at this design-forward hotel, which is within walking distance of top dining and shopping options and is just minutes away from the best of North Dallas and West Plano.

Photo by @TravelingNewlyweds

You don't need to share your food on this getaway.

Rent a cabana at the rooftop pool or gather with friends for light bites and libations at Whiskey Moon bar. Then sink into your pillowtop bed, look out the floor-to-ceiling windows, and enjoy a great night's sleep.

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See all that Plano has to offer and start planning your next visit here.

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Movie Review

Spanish film La Bola Negra showcases unique slice of gay history

Photo by Carla Oset/Netflix

Miguel Bernardeau and Guitarricadelafuente in La Bola Negra.

For a long time — too long — gay characters in movies tended to appear as either side characters with no real stories or as tragic figures who were usually unable to express their true selves for fear of what the world at large would think. That has changed in recent years, but the remnants of the past can still haunt, as the new film La Bola Negra demonstrates.

The film takes shape in storylines involving three different men: Carlos (Milo Quifes), a young man in Granada, Spain in 1932 who wants to join an exclusive casino (aka social club); Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente), who unwillingly joins the military during the Spanish Civil War in 1937, only to have desires aroused in him when he’s asked to guard an enemy detainee; and Alberto (Carlos González), an out gay man in 2017 whose inheritance from his recently-deceased grandfather opens up a world he knew nothing about.

The film goes back and forth between each man, detailing how they handle their individual situations and the complications that arise in their individual lives. Along the way their stories are deepened through people they meet who either welcome them with open arms or shun them for various reasons. While tragedy bonds their stories, so too does hope, resistance, and love.

Co-director/co-writers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, along with co-writer Alberto Conejero, have expanded Conejero’s play, La Piedra Oscura, which was inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca’s unfinished play, La Bola Negra. Lorca, who was killed during the Spanish Civil War, had only finished four pages of the work, his first to feature an openly gay protagonist. It’s clear there’s a desire by the filmmakers to honor the legacy of Lorca as both a playwright and a gay man, and the seriousness of their pursuit is evident throughout the film’s 160 minutes.

Calvo and Ambrossi do little handholding to guide viewers through the three distinct stories, an approach that mostly works but occasionally leads to confusion, especially as more characters are added to the equation. None of the stories are overly complicated, but they take their time with each, making the long film feel even longer. Only Alberto’s story contains any kind of development that might be considered surprising, making it tough to fully engage with the other two.

Where the film does come alive is when it brings in two well-known actors for brief-but-fascinating stints. Penélope Cruz plays Nené Romero, a singer who entertains the troops and further expands Sebastián’s mind. Glenn Close pops up as Isabelle Durand, a scholar of Lorca who helps Alberto with a unique discovery he makes in his inheritance. Both actors bring up the level of the film significantly through their performances.

Quifes, Guitarricadelafuente (the stage name of Spanish singer Álvaro Lafuente Calvo, no relation to Javier), and González all put in good work in their roles, even if none are overly engaging. They are often overshadowed by supporting actors like Cruz and Close, as well as Miguel Bernardeau as Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, the captured soldier; Julio Torres as Alberto’s partner, and Alberto Cortés as Lorca, who brings a symmetry to the film as a whole.

La Bola Negra — which means “the black ball,” represented both literally and figuratively in the film — is an ambitious film that becomes a slight victim of its filmmakers’ aspirations. Although each of the three stories contain interesting elements, a strong emotional connection is lacking overall despite good-to-great performances.

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La Bola Negra is now playing in select theaters; it debuts on Netflix on December 2.

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