Only three miles from downtown but a world unto itself, the North Wynnewood neighborhood in Oak Cliff is proof the 1950s weren't just about insanely grinning pipe-smoking dad figures in beltless trousers next to coral-green cars with cartoon tail fins. North Wynnewood is the best of '50s cool architecture, beautifully maintained for decades by families who never moved, occupied now by a crowd that's younger and more diverse but just as loyal to the neighborhood. Wynnewood sits on 150 acres of gently sloping hills loosely bounded by Interstate 35 South, 12th Street, Vernon Avenue and Illinois Avenue. Low-slung mid-century modern houses were built to standards we can only dream of today, several designed by the architects DeWitt & Swank. Many still look new. The houses, one to one-and-a-half-story brick in the 2,000- to 3,500-square-foot range, occupy large lush lots on artfully meandering streets, with huge backyards, many of them still dominated by those brick and stone '50s barbecue pits the size of small chapels. Crime is low for Oak Cliff. Values are up almost 60 percent in the last 10 years. An active neighborhood group guards against trouble and thinks up easygoing social activities. North Wynnewood manages to be both deeply staid and really interesting without going quite David Lynch — a rare trick in a rare jewel of a neighborhood.

For more than five years, City Council member and former Mayor Dwaine Caraway has been the city's loudest voice against the unchecked menace of dudes who don't belt their pants at the waist. In mid-June, to our inexpressible joy, Caraway announced that he's relaunching his anti-sagging crusade. It's about deference for ladies, he told a packed house at a press conference in City Hall. It's about self-respect. And now, suddenly, it's about health. "Underwear is meant to protect your inner self from your exterior clothing," he boomed confidently. He cited one of the great dangers of saggers who ride DART. "The germs immediately exposed from the body are waiting on the next passenger." Sadly, a planned "Saggin' Summit" was canceled in late June. Caraway said he'd received such an overwhelming positive response, more time was needed to accommodate everyone who wished to participate.

Thanks-Giving Square is a little enigma in the heart of downtown, a tiny, roughly triangular slab of land given over to a sort of park. There are murals there, and a fountain, and best of all a gorgeous, spiral-shaped chapel, featuring a stunning ceiling inlaid with stained-glass. It opened in 1973, with its stated mission is "to offer a place for all people to give thanks to our Creator." It has hosted any number of interfaith events over the years, emphasizing the way gratitude can unite us across religions and cultures. But you don't have to care about any of that to enjoy it. Just sit near the cascading rock fountain and listen to the water rushing gently downhill or stand in the center of the chapel and look up. In a downtown that often lacks beauty, Thanks-Giving Square is a moment of pure poetry.

Two years ago, local skateboarders got a 20,000-square-foot gift: a free, well-lit, professionally designed skate park, one with the very first cradle in Texas. It came courtesy of the city of Irving and SITE Design Group, a company that makes "action sports" parks all over the world. Lively Pointe has since become a center for skateboarders and BMXers of all ages, with all the curbs, verts, hubbas and ledges their grinding, kick-flipping little hearts could possibly desire. Don't worry, parents: As it's a city facility, skaters and riders must always wear pads and helmets. Sweet, dude.

This 35-acre village in Waxahachie makes for the perfect escape from modern society. The Scarborough Renaissance Festival started in 1981 and portrays the year 1533 during the reign of England's King Henry VIII. Festival goers delve into a world of make-believe, encouraged to dress the part of a Renaissance warlock or beer wench and meander through the village where they can engage in everything from jousting matches to "wildly inappropriate poetry," all the while chugging a beer and gnawing on a giant turkey leg.

Why play tennis at Lake Cliff? Because as you approach the courts you pass County Commissioner John Wiley Price's house and that ridiculous Suburban with his grinning face plastered on the side. Because, aside from the spirited pickup game thumping up and down the adjacent basketball courts, it's usually empty. Because if anyone ever is out there, they suck just as hard as we do. Because there are huge, veiny penises spray-painted crudely on the court. Because the net is actually made of chain-link fencing so nobody will steal it. Because very young, unattended urchins ask you if they can borrow your racket, and you basically tell them to piss off. Tennis anyone?

Gone are the days when musician kids sweat it for days leading up to a recital. Recitals are boring anyway. Zounds Sounds founder Marc Solomon knows this well, so he did away with them. At Zounds Sounds, a school of rock for kids, Solomon puts the students up on a real club stage, where actual touring acts perform, and invites them to go crazy. Actually, it's quite a bit more organized than that sounds. Solomon has enlisted the help of Dallas' top musicians who use proper curricula to teach the kids their instruments. The teachers use kids' budding musical preferences to steer them, and eventually they emerge as rock stars.

We all fight through the oppressive summer months each year and when we hit that short span of time when the weather is actually nice, who wants to be inside? Thankfully, the AT&T Performing Arts Center makes great use of the nice weather with its outdoor live music series, Patio Sessions. The shows are expertly curated with top local acts like Daniel Hart, Ryan Thomas Becker and many others performing in front of the huge reflecting pool located on the center's lawn. The series invites you to bring the kids, a blanket, a bottle of wine or two and enjoy the the agreeable weather even if it only lasts for a few weeks.

There are other homebrew events, such as the Bluebonnet Brew-off and various North Texas Homebrewers Association gatherings. But Brew Riot appeals to casual beer drinkers, not just dedicated homebrewers and their understanding companions, with a daylong party in the Bishop Arts District. This past May was the fourth iteration of the annual festival, which has grown year by year. Current homebrewers rubbed elbows with homebrewers-turned-pro-brewers such as Peticolas, Deep Ellum and Lakewood brewing companies and competed head to head in various categories. Credit Go Oak Cliff with fomenting (or fermenting) interest in the work of up-and-coming beer-makers.

It's impossible to top Dallas BrewFest or last year's Brew at the Zoo, though we may be a tad biased. So as far as beer events in which we don't have an interest, the April 14 Big Texas Beer Fest was our favorite by a long shot. It brought dozens of breweries and thousands of happy beer drinkers to Fair Park at a very reasonable price. Especially heartening was the sight of long lines for the great Texas beers (many of which are otherwise unavailable in Dallas) and that the Blue Moon booth and those of other faux craft brewers were all but ignored. Rowdy drinkin' music from The O's and Fish Fry Bingo added to the festivities. There were a few hiccups (aside from the hiccups caused by overindulgence), such as the waiting time to get in and too few food trucks to sate the huge crowd's hunger. But overall, organizers Chad and Nellie Montgomery did a fantastic job and likely will smooth over whatever is in their power to correct. The next one should be even better.