Ozzie and Lexie (laughing, I think). |
Fort Worth began as Camp Worth when, it 1849 Major Ripley Arnold chose the site because of it's desirable location at the confluence of two forks in the Trinity River. Major Arnold named the site for his recently deceased former commander and Mexican War hero General William Worth.
Our first destination today is one not included in the travel guide. It is, in fact, one destination that is never in the mainstream tourism publications. It's the burial place of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Oswald is buried at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens on Lancaster Avenue.
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Oswald's grave is very near the west side fence of the cemetery. It is fewer than 30' from the roadway and is beside the stone of Nicholas Beef. |
The granite memorial has the name "SHANNON" on the front. The front is not shown in this photo. Oswald's grave is directly across from two unusual and beautiful black granite markers for REYNOLDS. |
Fort Worth is America's 16th largest city by population and is nicknamed Cowtown. We passed several beautiful old buildings that were either uninhabited, for sale or totally abandoned and some lucky ones being renovated.
The building on the left is absolutely huge and beautiful. I don't know what it is. |
This beautiful old building is for sale. It too has been left to run down. |
Sadly, at least to me, these beautiful old buildings here too seem to be falling into ruin while new, glitzy ones are being built on the adjacent property. There was no one at the Visitors Center except a parking attendant who did not speak English and could not tell us where the Visitors Center was (it was right behind him but it was un-manned).
Will Rogers Memorial Center No one is here. It is all locked. |
More of the Will Rogers Memorial Center -- vacant and locked. |
Wayne is returning from his attempt to gain access or get information. This tower can be seen from miles around. I don't know how tall it is. |
Humorist, Will Rogers He was not a Texan. He was from Oklahoma. |
We did stop long enough to take a photo of the mansion known as Thistle Hill.
Thistle Hill is the last survivor of the cattle baron era of Fort Worth. |
The sun is high and warm. Cold beer is waiting inside. $2 admission. We have two furkids with us. Did we go in for a drink? Nope. We ain't leavin' these puppies for nothin'. |
World's largest honky-tonk with 4,800 square foot rodeo area. It also has 600 feet of bar rails and a 1,650 square foot stage for performances. |
It was mid-afternoon and the sun was hot. We left the car in the shade, loaded Lexie and Ozzie into their stroller and took a walk around the Stockyard District.
... and we saw....
The Texas Trail of Fame is more than 100 bronze inlaid markers that honor men and women who made significant contributions to the Western way of life. Honorees include Roy Rogers and Dale Evans but I never found their markers.
As lovers of good leather work and fine cowboy boots, we ventured into the corner store of M.L. Leddy, famous saddle and boot maker. Surprisingly, I asked for, and received permission to bring Ozzie and Lexie into the store in their pink stroller (Ozzie says real men can ride in pink).
M.L. Leddy store front. That's Ozzie's head -- he's looking for Wayne. |
Anybody who knows me knows I'm thrifty so you can imagine the look on my face when I picked up a crocodile handbag with a $9,800 price tag! It wasn't even locked behind bars! There were also several $8,000 saddles on display (please don't sit on them though). Wayne pored over belts, buckles, boots and hats. We bought nothing.
At the intersection of Exchange and Old Main Streets. |
The Cowboy Coliseum houses the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show. |
This old warehouse serves as the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. (I guess there's a Hall of Fame for everything) |
Fort Worth Livestock Exchange building and grounds. |
We purposely waited the last hour before 4 p.m. to see the afternoon cattle being driven down the cobblestone street, whiling away some time in the museums and gift shops. Imagine our surprise and disappointment to have our camera batteries die just before the drive began! We did not have extras with us. Duh. We found a bench under a shade tree in front of the Livestock Exchange and watched about 20 longhorns being driven by about 10 men in cowboy hats on horses. One of them let out an occasianal "yelp" to the cows. I couldn't help but wonder if the same cows walk down the street twice a day every day. Ummmm.
Our last sightseeing visit today would be the campus of Texas Christian University. We drove around the campus and a few of the nearby neighborhoods, which were very nice. This would be a good place to live it it were not so hot here in summer.
The stadium is being enlarged, |
A good bit of the campus looks like this with nice shaded lawns. |
Returning to Destiny Dallas RV Resort in Denton we passed the absolutely huge Texas Motor Speedway. Exhausted and uninterested in car racing (of any kind), we had no interest in stopping, but did take note that there were hundreds of campers in the adjacent campground area. We've been seeing "Welcome Race Fans" banners around town so I suppose a NASCAR event is in the makings. I think I read that this facility is the second largest in the country and hosts both Indy and NASCAR races. Goleeeee!
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