Sightseeing In Ft Worth and the $9,800 Purse

Arlington's ritzy new sports stadiums and Dallas's memorials to tragedy have nothing on Fort Worth.  It is, after all, this is America's Cowtown and it's impressive to visit -- if you know where to look.

Ozzie and Lexie (laughing, I think).

As usual, our Texas Travel Guide and companion map gave us the lowdown on things to see and do.  This day, we picked several of the most desirable sites, did a little extra research on some things not listed and then loaded the dogs into the car for the short 45 minute drive to Ft Worth from Denton.

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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For any of my blog readers who are so inclined (and possibly ghoulish) as to want to find Oswald's grave, here are some of the markers and photographs to guide you.

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.

A very short distance from Rose Hill Memorial Cemetery, along East Lancaster, we passed The Ozzie Rabbit Lodge.  Is it simply an interesting coincidence that Ozzie Rabbit was the nickname given to Lee Harvey Oswald by his Marine pals just before he left the military to join the Communist Party?  I dunno.  Anyway, this Ozzie Rabbit is reportedly a hangout for punks, bikers, hipsters and others who march to the beat of a different drum.   

The Ozzie Rabbit Lodge on East Lancaster in Ft Worth.
No relation to Ozzie Smalley, small white dog with whom we have a very personal relationship.
We did not patronize this establishment.  In fact we did not get out of the car.
This photo was taken out the window, which was hurriedly put up afterward. 

We didn't linger around this area but made our way into the city of Fort Worth to find yet another grave.  This would be the burial place of Ben Hogan at Greenwood Memorial Park.  Lady GaGa (our Garmin's new name) took us directly to the cemetery but alas... she can't find graves!  Wayne being the "all wise" one he is, did not ask for directions so he wandered around hundreds of corridors in the Greenwood Mausoleum before finally asking one of the landscape laborers (yes, you read that right, landscape guy) who could not help but tried -- in another language, of course.

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.

Lady GaGa took us next to see the Will Rogers Memorial Complex that is the site of Ft. Worth's Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show.

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.  

Leaving here, on the drive through downtown Ft Worth to the Stockyards National Historic District, we got a glimpse of Sundance Square Downtown Entertainment District, named for Butch Cassidy. It's a 35 block area of theaters, galleries, museums, night life and fine dining.  We didn't stop or spend any time there as there was just so much business traffic during the day.

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.

Next stop: The famous Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District.  Here we saw the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Stockyards Museum, the Texas Trail of Fame, Livestock Exchange Building, Cowtown Coliseum, the stockyards and lots more. Before we parked, we drove the very short distance to Billy Bob's Texas.

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.

The streets in the Stockyard District are mostly cobblestone. The stops are short and the intersections have dips, turns, stops, starts and bounces.  We heard Ozzie start to vomit. He got car-sick!  Poor baby.  Wayne quickly found a shady spot to park and we got our sick boy out for a walk.

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.

We were surprised to learn this factoid:  Ft Worth is the only city that continues to have daily cattle drives through the streets.  It happens twice every day.  These cowboys are waiting to drive the longhorns.

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!

Chipped Windshield, Texas Tornadoes and Window Shades On The Fritz

The windshield chip.
The size of a dime.

Chipped Windshield
Already mentioned in an earlier post, our brand new coach got its inaugural windshield chip just about the time we crossed the state line from Louisiana to Texas.  The chip about the size of a dime. How frustrating! 
To keep everything in perfect condition on the coach, and the car, we'd have to keep them in a garage and that's not an option so we'll just grin and bear getting all the chips and dings we're sure to get along the way. 

Texas Tornadoes
On the outskirts of Dallas we found a relatively nice campground in the city of Terrell (not pronounced like the Dallas Cowboys Football player, Terrell Owen).  Terrell is the hometown of comedian Jamie Fox and billboards along the interstate proudly boast the connection.  Well anyway, during our week long stay at Bluebonnet Ridge RV Park we enjoyed visits to Canton, Arlington and Dallas.  Everything was going along swimmingly. Then on Tuesday afternoon I was awakened from my early afternoon old folks nap (the one where I literally get into the bed) to the sound of high winds catching the slide cover and throwing the coach out around with a tremendous force.  A quick check of the weather and we found ourselves in the path of one of the many tornadoes twisting their way around Texas.  Within minutes, we had collected Lexie and Ozzie and ran through torrents of rain to the car.  Driving to the rather flimsy campground office we were pummeled by pea sized hail and were trapped in the car.  --- just not where you're supposed to be in a tornado. But we were stuck.  To get to the questionable safety of the office, we'd have to run 50 yards from the car to the office and the hail would surely beat us to death.  It took a few minutes but we remembered the weather radar on the new car's navigation equipment.  We counted the circular tornado icons on the map and watched the bright red pattern of thunderstorms all around us.  All we could do was sit and listen to the hail hitting the car. Lexie and Ozzie were trembling and they weren't alone. 

Needless to say, we survived and were not caught in the tornado itself. I aged three years in thirty minutes that day but lived to tell about it.

Window Shades On The Fritz
On Friday morning we pulled up stakes to leave Bluebonnet Ridge only to find that the automatic shade on the windshield wouldn't work.  The shade was in the "down" position and just wouldn't go up.  Drat! This is where we drag out the 15 pound box of manuals for the various components of the coach to look for a way to fix the problem. It's a good thing we started early as it was near noon when we finally pulled out.  In the end, our broken shade was rolled up by hand and held with straps of Velcro (my favorite material) for a temporary fix.  This repair calls for professional help so we'll go directly to MCD Innovations, makers of the shades.  Fortunately, their factory is in nearby McKinney. They have agreed to "work" us into a full schedule and we'll be able to hookup on site and stay on their campus overnight. 

MCD's headquarters in on 10 acres just northeast of Dallas. This is where they produce hundreds of shades daily for shipment to all the major coach makers. MCD has a big ole Texas ranch house-look building with a countryside setting.  It's delightful. Lots of soft green Bermuda grass and smooth concrete (favorites for walking the babies). White fencing, manicured lawn, flowering trees and a spring-fed pond complete with ducks and geese adorn the grounds. Best of all is the 150-foot covered front porch, complete with big ole wooden rockers. There's a couple of full-time RV'ers on site who serve as hosts and they made us feel right at home. 

The MCD Headquarters Building's front porch

MCD Headquarters in McKinney, Texas

Peggy coordinated everything.

By noon the next day, the shade was inspected and it was determined the roller was not getting "grabbed" by the motor's teeth.  Our technician, Austin, removed the shade and took into the factory for replacement.  Amazingly, I found I had several questions about the care and adjustment of the MCD shades. Austin answered them all to my satisfaction and it looks like we'll be repaired quickly. 

We're on the far end with our car in front.
We've met some nice neighbors here too!

A couple more coaches in for shade service.
All MCD shades are manufactured inside this building

This is Peggy (again) and her husband Jim.
They serve as hosts to visiting customers for MCD.

Dawn and George had a windshield shade problem similar to ours....
except their shade fell while driving.  Horrors!

This is Art and Cathy.  We think our paths surely crossed somewhere last summer and we're looking forward to meeting them again -- maybe in Colorado this summer. 

Ozzie enjoying a treat.
Just thought I'd throw this one in.

Dealey Plaza and Other Dallas Area Landmarks

The GPS makes navigating in large cities so nice. Our Miss Garmin gives so much assistance, but as Wayne says, she does, on occasion, take a "nip" so we don't put blind faith in what she says. 

Dallas skyline coming from Arlington
Reunion Tower (the slender building with a round top) is 560' tall and part of the Hyatt Hotel.

On this day Miss Garmin guided us flawlessly through the maze of highways and streets of downtown Dallas, right to our destination, Dealey Plaza.  


"Old Red" is one of Dallas' oldest remaining buildings and is now a Tourist Information Center.

We found a parking meter space just two blocks from Dealey Plaza, alongside the beautiful old courthouse, built in 1892 of red sandstone.



Wayne is standing on part of the walkway that runs along behind the grassy knoll.

We loaded Lexie and Ozzie into their pink stroller and made our way over to see the sites.  We both have been here during previous visits to Dallas, but we made sure to take plenty of pictures for the blog this time.

Taken from the center of Dealey Plaza. The grassy knoll is ahead on the right.
A white"X" is painted on the street where JFK was shot.

Today, a "Grassy Knoll" banner is posted.
 Someone is promoting a book on the subject. They posted the banner.

Dallas was founded in 1841, the same year the of the first ever death of a sitting US President, William Henry Harrison. Funny how all the other fascinating history of this beautiful, historic city has been overlooked in the pursuit of resolving the riddle of Camelot. 

Tennessee lawyer, John Neeley Bryant, founded the city.  He claimed this exact 640 acre parcel of land and settled here.  The city name was for the vice-president of James K. Polk. The name "Polk" was already taken.  No really, that's what I read.

Bryant caught gold fever in 1849 and went to California, selling land that would become the site of the Texas School Book Depository. Without striking gold, Bryant returned to Dallas, took to hard drink and shot a man in 1855. In 1877, at age 67, he was admitted to the state insane asylum, where he died a few years later. His final resting place is unknown.

But I digress..... 

Interestingly, Dealey Plaza itself is a landmark outside of the distinction being the location of the JFK assassination. The name honors George Bannerman Dealey (1859-1946), publisher of the Dallas Morning News, for his untiring work to revitalize the area of the beautiful triple underpass -- perhaps the last view of John F. Kennedy before his assassination.


Looking back from the grassy knoll at Dealey Plaza

The triple underpass just ahead of the motorcade...

From the Grassy Knoll, we walked back to the School Book Depository Building and browsed around the lobby of the Sixth Floor Museum and gift shop.


The Dallas School Book Depository



In front of The Sixth Floor.
Photos are not allowed inside.  Ummm...

Two large white concrete walls make the JFK Memorial.
It's a real tough memorial to photograph -- too big to fit the frame so we stood on the other side of the street.

From Dealey Plaza we went to see the second most visited site in Dallas: The Pioneer Plaza Cattle Drive located at the intersection of South Griffin and Young Streets. 

This huge sculpture honors the cowboy past by celebrating the trails that brought settlers to the area. There is a native landscape complete with flowing stream, waterfall and a re-creation of a cattle drive in the form of bronze statues of longhorn cattle being driven by three horseback cowboys. The sculpture is believed to be the largest bronze work in the world.

I had read in our Texas Tourism Book about the Dallas Farmers Market being a favorite attraction we took in a visit before we left the downtown area.  It was, undoubtedly, the largest and most well stocked farmers market I've ever seen.  Because parking was available under the sheds, I got out, left Wayne and the dogs in the car, and had a feast of fruit and vegetable samples.  I loaded up with some of my favorites within a few minutes.

Another spot we wanted to visit was the Cotton Bowl. Wayne's dad had played football in the Cotton Bowl during his time at OU in the 1940's.  The stadium, along with several museums and gardens, are all in Fair Park and there was a long line of cars waiting to get in so we just drove around the perimeter. It's almost noon by now and getting really hot so we wouldn't be able to leave the dogs in the car anyway.  Sadly, because the Cotton Bowl is in the middle of the park, it's almost impossible to get a good photo of the stadium. Here is the best I could do:

Hardly visible here, Cotton Bowl is on the white building in the center of the photo.

From here, we headed back to the campground in Terrell.  Because of the early heat this spring, we've been uncertain which way to go when we leave this area. We've been looking forward to touring the state during cool spring temperatures, but that might not be possible this time.....

Bluebonnets, Texas Ranger Baseball and Cowboy Stadiums in Arlington

Texas, a country all it's own, is comprised of seven distinctively different regions.

We came into Texas through the Piney Woods region last week on I-20. The narrow north-south Piney Woods area reaches north from Beaumont to the Arkansas state line.  It's really green this year -- I expect because of the mild, wet winter.  Wildflowers greeted us along the way.  First we began seeing pale peach colored groups of blossoms, some tall grasses topped with tiny yellow blooms and then we started to see bluebonnets, the beautiful, vivid wildflower of Texas.

A few miles west of Tyler, I-20 enters the Prairies and Lakes region that includes the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth.  Already it seems we've left the tall trees and we're seeing more of the lower bushy trees commonly seen on the prairie. Huge areas of bluebonnets are all along the highway through this area. The daytime temperatures are in the mid 80's and on sunny days, it's downright hot. Our plan to tour Texas in spring might be thwarted by Mother Nature.

We're still in process of organizing (and re-organizing) the space in Endie.  As similar as she is to Mona, the little differences have made it a challenge to get settled. Opening the new curb side window shade late last week we found, to our dismay, the canvas is tan instead of black to match all the other shades on the coach -- egad.  I hope the RV Shop will help us get the correction made.

Yesterday we took a break from organizing the coach to tour some of the sites in Dallas and Arlington. Our campground in Terrell is about 40 miles east of Dallas so it should be a nice day trip.

Those famous Texas Bluebonnets grow in huge patches.
Cars stop along the roadside for photographs. 

In Arlington we visited the nearly vacant Six Flags area, though we did not go in, of course. As is customary for us when we're near one, we checked out Texas Ranger Baseball Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys Football Stadium.  It was still early so there was very little traffic.

Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium

From the baseball stadium, we took the short ride (almost a stone's throw) to see the new football stadium. This is the retracting dome stadium that cost about a zillion dollars and put Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones in the national spotlight, again. 



The House That Jerry Jones Built.

Construction of the new Cowboys Stadium was completed in 2009 and seats 80,000 with maximum (standing room) capacity of 110,000. This gargantuan is the largest domed stadium in the world. Originally estimated to cost $650 million, the stadium's final construction cost was $1.15 billion, making it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built.

With so few people and so little traffic, the sidewalks around the baseball stadium sidewalks were perfect for taking a nice long dog walk -- so we did.  After a fabulous local charcoal grilled hamburger, we drove into Dallas.