The Domain Shopping Center
Aug. 15th, 2007 07:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebSunday we went out to eat Jasper's Backyard, a restaurant in the Domain. Before then, all I knew about the Domain was what I've heard (not much, and not necessarily true): It's a new shopping mall for rich people somewhere far away, north. They have the only Neiman Marcus in Austin. Also, they have a shop where you can have afternoon tea.
It's not very far after all, right at the intersection of 183 and MoPac. And it's huge. It stretches between two MoPac exits; it would take quite a while to hike the whole thing, let alone go shopping and actually buy stuff and carry it around with you.
My first thought when we drove in is that they tried to make it look like Main Street, USA and that it was therefore creepy. It reminds me most of Las Vegas and Disney World: a giant cool setting made possible because of lots of money. Las Vegas gets its piles of money from gamblers. Disney gets its from high ticket prices plus sponsorships. Where do these guys get their money?
It's really quite beautiful. It really looks like the main street of a small town, only clean and beautiful (and expensive). It has brick crosswalks. It has gardens made up of probably 90% native plants. It has big sidewalks and beautiful stone buildings lining both sides. There are sculptures. There is a huge outdoor gas fireplace, with fire, in the middle of August.
I totally want to go hiking along the roads here sometime when the weather is good.
Oh, yeah, there are stores, restaurants, and condos. From what I could see, what was inside the stores was of little interest to me. I did kind of like the food at Jasper's Backyard (which is totally indoors and elegant, by the way), though it's very rich and not good for every-day eating.
It's not very far after all, right at the intersection of 183 and MoPac. And it's huge. It stretches between two MoPac exits; it would take quite a while to hike the whole thing, let alone go shopping and actually buy stuff and carry it around with you.
My first thought when we drove in is that they tried to make it look like Main Street, USA and that it was therefore creepy. It reminds me most of Las Vegas and Disney World: a giant cool setting made possible because of lots of money. Las Vegas gets its piles of money from gamblers. Disney gets its from high ticket prices plus sponsorships. Where do these guys get their money?
It's really quite beautiful. It really looks like the main street of a small town, only clean and beautiful (and expensive). It has brick crosswalks. It has gardens made up of probably 90% native plants. It has big sidewalks and beautiful stone buildings lining both sides. There are sculptures. There is a huge outdoor gas fireplace, with fire, in the middle of August.
I totally want to go hiking along the roads here sometime when the weather is good.
Oh, yeah, there are stores, restaurants, and condos. From what I could see, what was inside the stores was of little interest to me. I did kind of like the food at Jasper's Backyard (which is totally indoors and elegant, by the way), though it's very rich and not good for every-day eating.