Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas
March 28th-March 30th
The cold, rainy weather followed us south from Arkansas so we spent our first two days in Texas in a Studio 6 (an apartment version of Motel 6-nice and very reasonable.) Our first impression of Texas was the road work at the border in Texarkana. The detour was so confusing that we missed the welcome center and the welcome to Texas sign. Then crossing Dallas was like a game of Frogger with 5-lane interchanges. Fabien was busy snapping photos of the skyline and crazy roads as I was zipping across lanes of traffic trying to find the right exit. We were happy to arrive in one piece and to have a dry, warm bed for the evening. We did the laundry (lots of muddy clothes from diamond hunting), and regrouped for the following days.
We started by visiting Fort Worth, or “Cow Town.” Fort Worth was made famous by the big cattle drives at the beginning of the 20th century. Since the weather was grey and rainy, we started with a couple of museums in the Cultural District. The Fort Worth Science Museum had an interesting exhibit about the cattle industry. We learned about the history of the big cattle drive trails and the invention of barbed wire, saw lots of spurs and safely experienced a stampede in their IMAX theater. From there we went to the Cowgirl Museum (what I went for.) We learned about how the image of the cowgirl has been romanticized in movies and advertising and what their lives were really like. We also saw costumes, photos and videos of women rodeo riders. Next was the Stockyards District, the real old west.
There was a cattle drive with about 20 longhorns- they do it every day for the tourists. We also tried on some cowboy hats and checked out the elaborate boots and some of the western stores. We finished the afternoon with a beer at the White Elephant Saloon.
Unfortunately the weather was still cold and gray on Wednesday so we went to Dallas to see the 6th Floor Museum at the site where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The grim day set the mood for a grim story. The museum was fascinating though with extensive exhibits on JFK’s presidency, the assassination, conspiracy theories, etc. We parked in a historic building reconverted into a parking garage. The small spaces were squeezed into 6 floors with a very steep ramp. We parked on the roof and ended up picnicking there after visiting the museum (it was too cold and windy outside.) We took a walk around downtown Dallas after lunch. The downtown was disappointing- there were a lot of abandoned buildings mixed with some new attractive architecture. The parking lots showed signs that a lot of people were working there, but we saw very few shops and restaurants and mainly homeless people on the streets. We imagined that most people who work down there, park in the garage of their office building, eat lunch in their office and drive home through the ubiquitous traffic every evening. Perhaps it was the weather that contributed to the atmosphere.
Since the forecast looked promising, we moved from the motel to a campground about 45 minutes from Fort Worth, Cleburne State Park. By the time we arrived, the grey clouds had blown over and we had some late afternoon sun and warmer temperatures.
Tags: BIG TRIP 2011, In English 2005-2006, Texas
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