Ultimate Guide to Your Weekend, July 1-4

Do This!
Saturday the Crow Collection of Asian Art (2010 Flora St.) celebrates Maritime Day, a Japanese national holiday honoring the sea, with free sea-inspired activities for kids and parents. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., you can make salt-water watercolors, koi fish kites and gyotaku fish rubbings. More info at crowcollection.org.

Have you read our counterculture issue yet? After you do, you'll want to check out some of the alternative therapies and businesses we mention, like Adrift Float Spa (8315 Preston Road), where for $89 you can take the ultimate hourlong staycation in a sensory deprivation tank. Or if you're looking for a splurge that's a little more, ahem, interactive, hit up Leather Masters (3000 Main St.) in Deep Ellum this weekend for sexy toys and apparel. 

If you're into fireworks and don't have plans to see them yet, Kaboom Town in Addison is generally regarded as the best free show in town, and this year they'll be pulling out the stops with some top-secret tributes to recently departed musicians. Gates open at 4 p.m. Sunday in Addison Circle Park. For more info, visit addisonkaboomtown.com. Also make sure to check out our complete guide to celebrating the Fourth of July in Dallas. 
Eat This!
Deep Ellum's Filament (2626 Main St.) hasn't been around that long, but it's already made quite an impression. One of their most memorable dishes is their wagyu beef tartare, made with New York strip from Painted Hills Natural Beef, a ranch in Fossil, Oregon. The raw beef is doctored with herbs and a few delicate dollops of smoked mayo, and served with ultra-thin crackers. Tartare is a classic and it makes for a great summer bite.

Interested in brunching this weekend? Let your plans take you to Oak Cliff's mid-century gem, Nova (1417 W Davis St.). The star of their eight-item menu is the shrimp and grits ($15). The grits are cheesy, creamy and just chewy enough, and combined with tomato-based andouille sausage gravy, they make the shrimp sing. If you're looking for salty and savory, there are few better ways to start the day. 

Oak Cliff has some of the city's best restaurants, but it's sort of starved for Asian cuisine. (Can we get an Indian restaurant up in there?) Residents will be happy to know that there's at least one great spot they're overlooking. Tucked in an assuming strip center and doubling as a jewelry store,  Ly Food Market (4440 W. Illinois Ave.) serves cheap and flavorful cuisine from Thailand and Laos. Try the beef larb, made with finely-shredded beef, spices and cilantro and served with lettuce for wrap-making. 
Drink This!
You'd think every beer concept under the sun has been invented by now, but not so, apparently. Martin House Brewing's collaboration with Dallas rockers the Toadies invites drinkers to mix two beers together. Hell Below, a strong black ale, and Stars Above, a raspberry sour ale, are delicious on their own, but they can be combined to create a drink Martin House is calling Purgatory. Pick up a can at your nearest beer provider this weekend and get experimenting.

Cedar Grove (4123 Cedar Springs Road) recently took over the old Dish space, and if you're curious about the new restaurant, now's a great time to pull up to the bar and try one of mixologist Trevor Landry's Spiced Apple cocktails. The drink is made with Larceny bourbon, Nassau royale liqeuer, St. Elizabeth allspice dram, a slice of fresh lime and Bishop Cider Nectar, and it uses a full apple as a garnish. That's one way to keep the doctor away. Nab the recipe here. 

Hear This!
A few years ago, Leon Bridges was a little-known musician making the open-mic rounds in Fort Worth, but now he needs no introduction. The sensation whose music harkens back to the '40s, '50s and '60s will play WinStar Casino (777 Casino Ave.) Friday at 9 p.m. Tickets are $50-$95 at winstarworldcasino.com. 

If your eyes are more closely locked on the future than the past, you probably want to be at RBC (2617 Commerce St.) at 9 p.m. Friday, when Spanish DJs Pig and Dan make their stop. Their European techno and house is dark and gritty, but also totally appropriate for groove thang-shaking. Tickets are $10. To purchase and find more info, visit rbcdeepellum.com.

It's Willie's party without Willie, but the Fourth of July Picnic at Billy Bob's Texas will be fun anyway. Beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, other big names in country music such as Turnpike Troubadours, Shinyribs, Billy Joe Shaver and Mike & the Moonpies will take the stage. Tickets are $20 to $30. See billybobstexas.com to purchase and find more info.
See This!
Getting your kid into private school is a tough task these days; even toddlers are expected to differentiate themselves in the admissions process. But if your kid stands out by say, exhibiting gender nonconforming behavior, is it OK to exploit that to get him or her into a good school? The parents in A Kid Like Jake, playing at Second Thought Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, are faced with just this ethical quandary.  See this very current play for $25 at Bryant Hall (3636 Turtle Creek Blvd.). Buy tickets at secondthoughttheatre.com.

Matthew Posey at Ochre House Theater (825 Exposition Ave.) is back with another original play featuring puppetry, song and dance. This time it's a revival of Buñuel Descending, a collaboration with the Dallas Flamenco Festival that imagines a meeting between Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel Portolés, his wife Jeanne Buñuel, painter Salvador Dalí and poet Federico Carcia Lorca.  Tickets are $25 for its final performances at 8:15 p.m. Friday, and 2:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Buy yours at ochrehousetheater.com.

If you're grieving the end of this season of Game of Thrones, you might just open a history book and read about the War of the Roses; it's basically the OG version of George R.R. Martin's series. Or if you don't feel like turning pages, you could go see Richard III at Shakespeare in the Park this weekend (1500 Tenison Parkway). Shakespeare's history of the rise and fall of the last Yorkist king plays at 8:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $15 at shakespearedallas.org.