When Lisette lifted up the blinds on her side to take her daily photo of what the view was from outside her window, she was surprised to see a truck parked so close to us, that only the truck and the word "FOOD" could be seen. It'll be good to compile a video at the end of all the different scenes from each morning, although there have been at least a couple of occasions where she's forgotten!
Yeehaw, Fort Worth Stockyards!
We drove immediately to Fort Worth, the 11th largest city in the US, arriving at Fort Worth Stockyards, a historic district that was once a busy hub for cattle drives and livestock trading, becoming one of the largest livestock markets in the country; by 1907, the Stockyards sold a million cattle per year. Fort Worth was an important part of the cattle industry until the 1950s, when auctions started to be held closer to where livestock were originally produced.
We truly felt like we were in the Texas being here, seeing the historic paved streets with saloons, stores selling cowboy outfits, and signs for upcoming rodeos. People also dressed the part, with many visitors wearing cowboy boots despite the scorching heat, paired with shorts and dresses (we're sure a lot of tourists dusted these off to be the planned outfit for this visit). We didn't know initially where to park, but were flagged down by a security guard driving his golf cart, who told us where to go (there's a lot near Billy Bob's Texas). We missed the turn and so the security guard had to stop us again, but he was very patient about it, jokingly saying that he knew we weren't local from our accents, and sending us off with an "Aussie Aussie Aussie!" sports chant.
The Texas Longhorns Cattle Drive
Because it is so stinking hot, we have a routine now to block out all the windows with our insulation if we know we'll be out for a while, but keep the fans running inside to keep the air circulating. It wasn't even 11am, but the sun was beating down on us. When we got to the main street that we'd just driven down, we noticed the road was now closed off, and people were lined up along the street looking like they were waiting for something. It turns out that we'd made it just in time for the cattle drive, which happens twice a day (11.30am and 4.00pm). We had a perfect place to stand right on the curb, and after a brief emcee intro, we saw a herd of Texas longhorns amble down the main street, making their way to us before turning the corner. Their horns are enormous!! So long that they seem to be the width of their entire bodies.
All Things Texan and Western
Toward the end of the street away from where the Texas longhorns finished the cattle drive is Fort Worth Stockyard Station, a large historic district filled with shops and restaurants. There are souvenir shops that have all sorts of cattle gear, including hides, taxidermy heads, and jackets (who wants to be decked in cow hide leather?). We had lunch at Riscky's Barbecue, which had plenty of seating outside, with fans all around us to keep us cool. The folks ahead of us were talking about how they've been coming here for years, so that's a good sign!
Michael ordered a burger and fries while Lisette had the smoked catfish tacos, but didn't realize that it came with fries as well. When the food arrived, we were overwhelmed with how big the servings were, particularly the mountain of fries it came with! So much that we couldn't finish our meals. We need to remember the saying, that everything is bigger in Texas!
Before we left, we stopped at Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky-tonk (a bar that provides country music entertainment). Billy Bob's events include line dancing, concerts, and bull riding inside. Since we were there during the day there was nothing on, but if we wanted to simply go in, it would cost us $4, which would just be to look at the bar, restaurant and gift shop, so we decided to pass.
Other Fort Worth Highlights
Besides the Fort Worth Stockyards, there's a National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame Mural, dedicated to the women of the American West. We just wanted to have a photo op of the cool mural and as there wasn't really anywhere for us to stop and briefly park, Lisette took a pic while inside the RV. When she rolled down the window--ouch! The air outside was as hot as a burning furnace.
One of the most thoughtful and coolest murals we've seen on this trip is called "Where Independence Begins", and it's meant to be explored by hand, as it's designed with the visually impaired in mind. The mural includes 14 statements in Braille that say things like, "You are equally worthy as everyone else", and there's also six buttons along the wall that provide audio descriptions of the mural at each section. It would be awesome for more murals to include these features!
A sculpture we visited downtown was called the "Man with the Briefcase". Standing at 15 meters (50 foot-tall), it's of a businessman holding a briefcase, capturing the essence of worldwide business culture. People may not use briefcases as much these days, but the faceless silhouette of the man could be interpreted to highlight the facelessness of corporate culture, perhaps?
While we couldn't jump into the water, in the downtown area the Fort Worth Water Gardens are made up of three unique pools: the peaceful Quiet Pool, the Aerated Pool (with misty jets), and the Active Pool, where water slides down 38 feet along the steps to the pool below. The pools are very dynamic, but because they're utilizing water, they're also peaceful and mesmerizing. It's a cool spot to simply stroll through to check out the water features and the area in general.
We had a brief stop at the JFK Tribute across the road, which has a bronze sculpture of him, with quotes from his speeches. Fort Worth was where the US President gave his last speech, before he left to go to Dallas, where he would be shockingly and tragically be assassinated later that day.
In a weird juxtaposition, after the JFK Tribute, our last stop in Fort Worth was Harvey Lee Oswald's grave, which sits at the Rose Hill Memorial Park, a cemetery. Unlike most of the other gravestones that include the name, and dates that the person was born and died, all it says is "OSWALD" in all caps. Next to it, is a grave marker that says "NICK BEEF" in the same font, with no additional details. It turns out that Nick Beef is the moniker of a comedian who simply bought the plot next to Oswald's, although it's not clear if this is actually the site that either of them are buried in. What was clear, though, was that someone before us had placed an Aussie flag on Nick Beef's plot! We guess there are Aussies out there somewhere who had the same curiosity to visit as us.
Overpasses to Dallas
On the way to Dallas, we encountered a typical Texan city sight: so, so many highways stacked on top of each other, and people driving manically along, these overpasses. Because we're not familiar with the city and Google Maps is not great at providing notice in advance, it can be overwhelming and stressful to drive on these overpasses in our RV!
But we made it off the highway in one piece, parking conveniently next to Pioneer Plaza, a park that includes bronze sculptures of a cattle drive with Texas longhorns and 3 cowboys on horses. To us, it was reminiscent of the Oklahoma Land Run Monument we saw in Oklahoma City. The artists are different, but they're both awesome bronze sculptures that capture the frenzy and energy of the moment as if it were just a scene frozen in time.
We parked outside of meter hours, so used this spot as a base to walk to various places in downtown Dallas, starting with the nearby Dealey Plaza, the spot where JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963. As his motorcade was going down the Plaza and the infamous grassy knoll, two shots were fired that fatally hit him, and there are two "X" marks etched on the road that show where he was hit. We probably will never know the full truth, and conspiracy theories about who did it will continue.
There's a historic log cabin in the heart of downtown that's easy to miss, and just beyond this is a sculpture of a Giant Eyeball, located in a park that was closed when we got there. It's got a blue eye and is bloodshot, but doesn't have any deeper meaning behind it apparently, rather than just being an eyeball for an eyeball's sake!
Thanks-giving Square is a public space and peaceful spot in the middle of the city, created as a place for people of all backgrounds to pause and reflect on gratitude. Its most striking feature is the spiral Chapel of Thanksgiving with its colorful “Glory Window,” one of the largest horizontally mounted stained-glass pieces in the world. Unfortunately this was already closed (at 4pm) by the time we got there, but there are also really pretty murals and sculptures, including one of our favorites of people of all different backgrounds, in a mosaic that says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
There are a lot of pretty buildings, sculptures and artwork around Dallas, and we both agreed that it was a lovely city! We wound up doing a perfect loop around town, turning a corner and getting right back to the street where our RV was parked.
A Welcome Storm, and Cool Cocktails to Celebrate
While we were walking around, menacing storm clouds had rolled in, with thunder grumbling above us. Right as we got back and it started to rain--yay! It helped to cool things down, and we had a nice breeze giving us some much needed relief from the heat.
Because the parking meter didn't kick in until 7am the next morning, we stayed here overnight, and wandered to the Aloft Hotel across the road for a drink. We rarely drink alcohol, so it was a bit of a treat for the evening!
Route Map
