On the Road: Cowtown

Last Thursday was Flight Attendant Lunch Bunch day here in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. The Lunch Bunch is the name our “founders” gave us several years ago when a group of retired American Airlines DFW based flight attendants began meeting for lunch every month, in order to stay in touch with each other. Our April luncheon was at the H3 Ranch restaurant, a steakhouse just off the lobby of the Stockyards Hotel (c. 1907) in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District.

As good luck would have it, the restaurant was suggested in the book, 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die. Perfect! I could get a little “Road Trip” in, catch up with old friends, and have a great lunch. The book, Texas Curiosities, had an interesting story about a Fort Worth museum that sounded fun, and an Internet search revealed the museum offered a senior discount. I talked my brave friend, Gerry Fix, into going to the museum after lunch, and letting me drive. This was to be my Garmin GPS solo—the first time I’d used it without my husband or son supervising. Gerry is “brave” because I’m directionally challenged; even with two maps and a GPS, I still had us lost two, maybe three times in town.

Hell’s Half Acre

The H3 Ranch restaurant was named for the Hunter Brothers, three Scottish immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1800’s with their parents. These colorful brothers were farmers in Macoupin County, Illinois, until they joined William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, hunting and killing bison to feed the railroad workers building the Kansas Pacific Railway. Later, the brothers operated a very successful livestock commission company with officers [sic] in Ft. Worth, East St. Louis and Kansas City. The Ft. Worth operation was located on the site where the Stockyards Hotel stands today. By 1884, their livestock commission company controlled nearly eleven and a half million acres of land and four hundred thousand head of cattle.

The Hunter brothers liked to toss back a refreshing brew or two at the many drinking establishments in the legendary “Hell’s Half Acre,” Fort Worth’s infamous “bar-and-bawdy-house district.” In the late 1800’s, the area, also famous for gambling, brawling, cockfighting, and horse racing, was the first thing the trail drivers saw as they approached the town from the south. Today, The Stockyards are a popular tourist destination where families enjoy staged cattle drives and shop for Western trappings at the numerous tourist traps. It honestly does have a real, Old West feel about it, and it is fun. One can even ride a real live Texas Longhorn steer, (for a small fee).

From Cowboys to Cowgirls

After lunch, it was off to the Fort Worth Cultural District. The Cultural District boasts five world-renowned museums, including the Kimbell, host to some of the world’s greatest collections traveling through the U.S. However, Gerry and I were going to check out the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, recommended in both of the above mentioned books.

The Cowgirl Museum, established in 1975, is new to Ft. Worth, having moved here from Hereford, Texas in 1994. Dedicated to the women who worked their ranches, drove their cattle herds, and performed in rodeos and Wild West Shows, the museum also pays tribute to women who demonstrate the Western spirit. Inside the Tex-Deco building, Sandra Day O’Connor, Georgia O’Keefe, Dale Evans, Annie Oakley, and Patsy Cline are just a few of the many women celebrated in art, photographs, and videos.

When you enter the gift shop at the Cowgirl Museum, the first thing you’ll notice is a life-sized replica of a beautiful woman riding a great white horse, as if coming through the ceiling over the cash registers. That’s a re-creation of Mamie Hafley and her horse, Lurlene, diving into a 10-foot pool from a 50-foot platform, the way they did it 640 times in Wild West shows in the early 1900’s. As the story goes, Mamie couldn’t swim, but the horse, Lurlene, loved the stunt.

Back to Grapevine

It was a wonderful day—lunch with friends, and two Texas “Road Trip” items checked off. The truth is, I’ve been to the Fort Worth Stockyards a few times before, though never to the Cowgirl Museum. This time was different. I went with an attitude of exploration and a desire to learn. While checking my resources for this post, I began to realize that the more I learned about Old Fort Worth, the more I wanted to know. I also discovered that descendants of some of the Old West’s worst and meanest characters are actually some of today’s Fort Worth Society. Imagine that! I’m starting to really enjoy this place!

Donna

On the Road: Easter Weekend

Easter weekend found Jim and me on the road to Austin to spend some time with our son, Robert, and to celebrate Jim’s birthday. From Saturday afternoon until Monday night, it was a whir of wheels, meals, and allergy pills. It’s springtime in Texas and it might be helpful if we were to post signs at the borders and the airports asking visitors: “Got Kleenex?”

Shortly after we arrived at Robert’s apartment, we were back in the car and off to Austin’s Oasis restaurant. The Oasis is a three-story, Tuscan-style structure perched atop the cliffs over beautiful Lake Travis. Sprawling decks on the lake side provide diners with a spectacular view; inside there’s hardly a bad table in the place, especially considering the restaurant can seat over 2000 people. The menu is predominantly Tex-Mex, and the service is fast and friendly. The courtyard entrance hosts multiple kiosks, giving it the feel of a mercado, while inside there’s live music and dancing. You don’t need a reservation for dinner, but on Friday or Saturday night during warm weather months, be prepared to wait in line for your table.

Sunday morning we attended Easter Mass at the contemporary, friendly St. Albert the Great Catholic Church on the north side of the city. After the service, we dashed downtown to Congress Ave for Easter brunch at the historic Stephen F. Austin InterContinental hotel. We sat on the balcony where we enjoyed a view of the Capitol building, great food, and gracious service. Right after brunch, it was barely a five minute drive to the east side of I-35 to visit the Texas State Cemetery, number 62 on the Texas Monthly “Bucket List.”

Texas State Cemetery, #62.

Texas Monthly did not overstate the significance of this beautiful 21-acre cemetery. The first grave we visited was that of Stephen F. Austin, with its bronze Coppini statue. We saw the graves of authors J. Frank Dobie and James A. Michener, Governors John Connally and Ann Richards, and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, the first black woman from a southern state to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Also buried there are two American Revolutionary War veterans, fifteen signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence of 1836, nine Confederate generals, and a host of other Texans whose lives helped shape the state and our nation.

Among the many monuments and memorials dedicated to Texans, one stood out above the rest for me: the September 11, 2001 memorial. An open circle of granite invites you inside where two unaltered steel columns from Ground Zero stand like sentries. Visitors are encouraged to enter the memorial and to touch the steel columns. On the inner walls of the granite ring, engraved plaques remind us of the times and places that each plane went down. The memorial honors all Texans who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, #51.

We left the cemetery, heading west and then south, arriving at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, number 51 on the “Bucket List,” about 25 minutes later. By then, poor Robert, who had begun suffering while walking through the tree-lined cemetery, was deep in the throes of an all-out allergy attack.

The Wildflower Center was abloom in Texas bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and a multitude of other native flowers, plants and trees. Large, whimsical sculptures of giant insects are tucked here and there throughout the center; there’s even a sculpture of a Texas Longhorn made entirely of hand tools. The Center, a research unit of the University of Texas, is one of five U.S. groups participating in the Millennium Seed Bank Project.

Robert was such a good sport about indulging me and my “Bucket List” goals. The poor guy held paper towels over his nose and mouth in order to escape the pollen. He had to blow his nose so often he began to sound a little like a Canadian goose. Since his allergy medicine didn’t seem to be working, we hurried through the Wildflower Center and drove back to his apartment where he could shower and dress in some non-pollinated clothing.

Back to Grapevine.

The rest of the weekend was much more relaxed. On Monday Robert met us for lunch, and we presented Jim with his birthday presents in the parking lot outside Dave and Buster’s. Then we hugged Robert goodbye and hit the highway back to Grapevine. We love Austin, so the weekend was a perfect start for my Texas Road Trip. I must admit I hadn’t really expected to be so wowed by the Texas State Cemetery or the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. And I definitely was not expecting the sudden awareness and understanding of the pride that Texans feel for their state. I was feeling a bit of pride myself.

Donna

Texas Road Trip

Remember The Bucket List, the equal parts hilarious, uplifting, and heartbreaking ’07 film starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson? They play two old men who, while sharing a hospital room, both learn they have terminal illnesses. Freeman’s character begins writing his bucket list—a wish list of things he has dreamed of doing before he “kicks the bucket.” You probably thought about your own bucket lists for days and weeks after seeing the movie, just as I did.

Last month, Texas Monthly magazine came out with its Texas “Bucket List,” an amusing, quirky list of “63 things all Texans should do before they die.” The article didn’t suggest we visit the obvious Texas icons like the Alamo, in San Antonio, or our state Capitol, in Austin, (because we should have already done those). And it didn’t mention “Jerryland,” the colossal new Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington. It did suggest we “Play Chicken Shit Bingo, in Austin,” and “Eat Calf Fries at Riscky’s Steakhouse, in Fort Worth.” I did say “quirky.”

As it turns out, I’ve already done several of the sixty-three ideas listed in the article. I’ve been to the State Fair of Texas, in Dallas; I know how to ride a horse; and I took dance lessons to learn the two-step. Number 50 was too easy: “Attend a Classic High School Football Game.” I went to nearly every Grapevine High School football game for the entire four years that Robert was there. Number 63 is “Appear on the Cover of TEXAS MONTHLY.” Check.

Cruising around Texas to try some of the things in the Texas Monthly article really does call to me. For instance, for the past 22 years, I’ve wanted to check out the Marfa lights, number 30 on the bucket list, and believed by some to be UFO’s. Marfa also seems to consistently have the coldest temperatures in the state. “Where’s Marfa?” you say. That’s what everyone says, even people born here; and I want to find out.

Surely you’ve wondered, too, what it is about places like Abilene, Galveston, and Luckenbach, Texas that would inspire the classic country-western eponymous hits. It’s certainly not because those names are easy to rhyme.

Some things in the Texas Monthly article actually frighten me to think about—things like number 49: “Drive the Freeways at Night in Houston.” Why? That appeals to me like the idea of tubing down the Amazon while spreading chum ahead of me. Speaking of tubing, number 9 is “Float a River.” Does tubing at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor and the Schlitterbahn count? That urban legend about the water skier falling into a nest of cottonmouths in a Texas river has given me nightmares for forty years.

On the other hand, number 19: “Drink a Free Beer at the K. Spoetzl Brewery, in Shiner,” and number 31: “Have a Drink at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, in Dallas,” look real doable. So, where is this leading? I’ve decided to do a road trip—in and around Texas—incorporating the Texas Monthly “Bucket List” and the books, Haunted Texas, Weird Texas, and my personal favorite, The Wine Roads of Texas. I’m going to see as much Texas as I can, and can afford, while I’m still able to enjoy travel—that would be without a wheelchair or a walker.

Many items in the above sources are seasonal, so I plan to do several short trips—not one long one. That way, I can come home and not be out on the road for days or weeks at a time. Besides, I already have other trips and plans for this year, and I don’t like to be away from home that long.

Got any suggestions for places or things that a person must check out before they check out? Please send them to me or add them to the comments below.

Donna
PS: If you can, plan to meet me at Turtle Creek! I’ll let you know when we’re going.