Sprawling like sinuous tentacles across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, navigating the deeply-threaded freeway system takes nerves of steel for a newcomer. The traffic can be fast, furious and relentless, the wide profusion of lanes gob-smacking and the soaring trajectory of the flyovers border on heroic.

I’d clocked up over 2500km on my road trip from Chicago, but driving into Dallas was the biggest white-knuckled ride of all. Once you have conquered the city’s intense road system, an easily digestible and agreeable downtown awaits. There’s no question that Dallas’ tragic legacy as the assassination site of President John F. Kennedy is a visitor magnet.

Seen by some as the city’s great stain, Dallas has reluctantly learned to accept its role in history, and it pays tribute to JFK’s life and death with aplomb. Housed in the Texas School Depository Building, the Sixth Floor Museum only opened to the public in 1989, 25 years after the catastrophe, in the very location where Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly gunned him down.

The area where Oswald is believed to have crouched by the window and pulled the trigger is encased in plexiglass, piled high with the same sorts of boxes that would have been there on the fateful day. It’s an eerie sight. And it’s all the more sobering to stand alongside the next window, just metres away from Oswald’s window, with the same aerial perspective on where the presidential motorcade rolled by.

But this savvy museum goes much further than just serving up a window view on history, meticulously unwinding the facts and theories that still embroil one of the USA’s darkest days, which altered the nation’s course.
The first part of the museum showcases JFK, both the man and his times, exploring the social currents that shaped the 1960s including the Civil Rights struggles and the Cold War.

Even Marilyn Monroe gets a mention, with respect to JFK’s foibles. You could while away hours consuming the comprehensive displays that deftly delve into the Warren Commission, its findings and the multitude of conspiracy theories that still provoke intense debate today.

It’s sobering, balanced and still quite fascinating. Footage from the famous Zapruder film, central to the Warren Commission, is extensively highlighted. The first shot to hit JFK in the upper back and exiting by his neck was probably survivable, but it’s that second shot to the head that is particularly grisly.

You can actually see brain tissue fly out of his head, as his body slumps, while Jackie tries to scramble out of her seat. It is heart-wrenching footage. Emerging from the museum into the blazing Texas sunshine, I took a walk along the Grassy Knoll above Dealey Plaza – without spotting any suspicious individuals brandishing a brolly.

Gazing across the Elm Street scene where the motorcade purred by, in the shadow of the Book Depository building, the sweep of the street looks so much smaller in the flesh. But there is a certain something about the site, an unmistakable sense of presence swept over me.

A white X painted on the road, literally marks the spot where JFK was fatally shot. It’s incredible how many dopey tourists risk life and limb to snap a selfie standing on the spot, as traffic zooms through the area. Oh, the irony.
The downtown district has some soothing pocket parks and my runaway favourite is Pioneer Plaza, which pays tribute to Dallas’ early settlers.

Beautifully landscaped in native plants and trees, with a babbling stream, man-made cliffs and waterfalls, the highpoint is the spectacular re-creation of a cattle-drive in bronze, with longhorn steers being driven by cowboys on horses.

Not dissimilar to the striking impression of Las Vegas improbably rising out of the desert, as you drive into Dallas across the pancake-flat Texas prairieland, The “Big D,” beckons as glittering, swanky skyscrapered city.

Reunion Tower has been a lofty skyline fixture for forty years, its glitter-ball dome lights up like a giant pincushion at night, which slowly rotates. Like Sydney Tower, it looks decidedly retro now. I ascended the dome to watch the July 4 fireworks, alongside hordes of locals who spontaneously exclaimed, “Love You ‘Merica”, as the starbursts and cannons spangled the night sky.

The Big D’s tallest tower is the Bank of America Plaza, spanning 72 storeys and strikingly illuminated in green argon tubing around its edges. If you’re a culture-hound, the 68-acre Dallas Arts District is a feast for the senses, with a cluster of art venues and design marvels.

If you’re short on time, prioritise the Nasher Sculpture Center, an indoor-outdoor celebration of mixed-media sculptures in a space small enough to take it all in, but big enough to keep you enthralled. Founded by private collectors, Raymond and Patsy Nasher, they commissioned Renzo Piano to create their striking museum, cleverly crafted to ensure all the sculptures are shadow-free, including pieces from Pablo Picasso and August Rodin.

In need of a retail fix? Head to the home of Neiman Marcus, founded in Dallas in 1907 to serve oil rich Texans. Fast forward to the 1960s and the city practically invented high-end department store shopping with its fancy downtown flagship store, complete with vintage escalators, luxury goods, and a few high-end cowboy boots.

The Neiman Marcus annual Christmas catalogue is the stuff of pop culture legend. It recently featured a $20 million submarine, for the man who has it all. Adjacent to downtown, Deep Ellum district is contemporary cool.

This former warehouse district is hipster central, with seriously funky wall murals, offbeat furnishings stores, trendy eateries, art galleries, folk-art shops, and vintage resale shops.

For the ultimate in luxury shopping, check out the glamour-puss hotbed of Highland Park, where all the ultra-luxury boutiques huddle together in a villagey setting. Check your credit card limit, before getting out of the car.
For a complete scene change, I headed to SMU, home to the George W. Presidential Library.

The agenda of all presidential libraries is the same: to prove how great the office-holder was. After entering the library, I found myself in the “gift hall,” ogling the swag of presents bestowed on the First Couple by foreign heads of state. Top prize for the most daring would have to President Berlusconi who presented Laura Bush with a particularly erotic snake necklace.

As you’d expect the 9/11 attack plays a central role in the exhibition gallery, with heart-wrenching videos clips and personal accounts. As one of the lovely attendants remarked to me, as we watched the horror of the World Trade Centre’s implosion, what really strikes you is that all of the on-lookers in lower Manhattan are watching the terror unfold with their own eyes.

There were no smartphones to wield back in 2001. Today, such an atrocity would prompt an ungainly sea of smart phones to be mawkishly flipped on to record every excruciating moment, from every angle, flooding social media in real-time.

An engaging feature is the Decision Points Theatre, which contains a “situation room” simulation in which participants watch videos of actors explaining the biggest issues that confronted President Bush during his tenure. Position papers are flashed on screens, snippets of video are shown, and then you have to choose between two courses of action. It’s certainly thought-provoking and gives a unique insight into the administration’s mindset.

But the biggest crowd-pleaser is the perfect replica of the Oval Office. Nothing has been left to chance. Every statue, every painting, the furnishings chosen under his tenure have all been meticulously recreated. Unlike Bill Clinton’s replica of the Oval at his presidential library, you can even get your photo taken, at no charge, sitting at the Presidential desk.

Back in downtown, if you’re looking to kick up your heels, Texas-style, Gilley’s Dallas is a honky-tonk institution, showcasing country music headliners, plenty of beer and a monstrous boot-scootin’ dance floor. Tuck into the city’s best steaks at Bob’s Steak & Chop House, feted for its humungous-sized cuts of prime rib and sirloin with smashed potatoes, in a dark mahogany dining room with white table linens. www.visitdallas.com

Where to stay? The gleaming Hyatt Regency Dallas opened 40 years ago and is every bit a city icon as the adjoining Reunion Tower. The silhouette of the hotel screams Dallas glam and is instantly recognisable to fans of the 1980s soap-opera TV hit show, Dallas.

The soaring atrium with its thrilling glass elevators seemingly bursts through the ceiling, as the tall limbs of the Reunion Tower shuffle into view, as you’re whisked up to your guestroom. Request a downtown-facing view and you’ll be rewarded by the most unparalleled panorama, staring straight down on Dealey Plaza and the Grassy Knoll. My eyes were transfixed on the site.

High-end dining is headlined by Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck. Staff are outgoing and effusive, and accommodations are comfort-personified. https://www.hyatt.com/

Save 40% on admission to the top 4 Dallas attractions, handpicked and packaged together by buying a Dallas CityPASS, including Reunion Tower, The Sixth Floor Museum and the George W. Bush Presidential Library. www.citypass.com