Saturday, Day 5

Howdy, y’all!

OK, I admit it…I’m a slacker.  It’s Sunday night and I’m just now writing Saturday’s recap.  I’m going to pretend that it’s Saturday and start where I left off yesterday morning, though…

The bed didn’t sucker me back in for a nap…I knew that if it did, the day would be toast.  I packed up all of my stuff and left it in the room while I went to the 6th Floor JFK Museum.  The hotel shuttled me there and I discovered how close it was.  I expected to spend about an hour there but the audio tour (which was included with admission; it was downright weird seeing everyone - and there were A LOT of us – walking around not really talking to each other, listening to their headsets) took almost 90 minutes (and that’s if you didn’t pause between sections to look at the photos and such more closely).  When I walked out it was noon – checkout time at the hotel!  Rather than wait for the shuttle to come for me, I decided hiking it would be faster and I could come back afterward to see the plaza (and the grassy knoll).

They were nice and let me collect my belongings without charging me for delayed checkout and I headed back to the Daly (sp?) plaza and then on to Pioneer Plaza where they have a HUGE collection of cowboy and longhorn statues roving over a rather large section of a park.  I saw a young couple taking pictures of each other and offered to take their picture together (they returned the favor by taking my picture…at least I have a few shots of me while I’m having fun!) before leaving downtown Dallas.

I’ve been driving a lot this week (1500 miles on the rental so far this week!) and I spent quite a bit of time walking around Dallas so my ankle is giving me fits, but did I let that stop me from visiting my final scrapbook store?  Of course not!  Three shops I didn’t have on my list were highly recommended to me but I didn’t have enough time to get to them (and I probably have enough stuff to complete a scrapbook for this trip) so I don’t feel too badly about missing them.

My next stop was the Texas Civil War Museum.  They bill themselves as the largest Civil War museum west of the Mississippi – but I’m pretty sure that’s because it’s the ONLY one west of the Mississippi!  They had some interesting artifacts but I liked it mostly for its movie (where I could sit down and prop up my feet!) and their rather extensive collection of 1860-1900 ladies fashions.  Amputation saws and cannonballs hold no fascination for me.

Then it was time to head to my hotel in Fort Worth.  I had missed seeing the afternoon cattle drive through the Stockyards due to spending more time than anticipated in Dallas but I would have two more chances to see it before leaving Fort Worth, so that wasn’t a big deal.  (Sorry, I just had to grab a Margarita from the hotel bar before continuing…back to the story…)  Driving into the hotel parking lot, I saw cowboys…on horses…leading a couple of longhorns!  Too cool!

The Hyatt is nice; they have the hottest water and the best water pressure in their showers of any hotel I’ve stayed in on this trip…but I digress.  Once I had dropped my bags, I headed to the Cowboy Hall of Fame…only to discover that they are closed for the whole weekend due to a private event!  Come on!  The whole weekend?  This was the only “museum” I planned on seeing while I was here so I was a little bummed…what a “”drag” (which I was told comes from the cowboys at the back of a herd “riding drag” – as in no fun at all…ar, ar, arrr)!

I decided to meander through the area and see what else moght tickle my fancy.  What should I find but longhorns for photo ops!  Yep, I’ve been on the back of a longhorn…a very tame one…and I have pictures to prove it.  I have to say that getting into a saddle wasn’t all that hard (although I felt a little sorry for the cow when my weight came down on his/her back) but getting off is a whole other story!  My poor old leg isn’t as flexible as it once was.  People laughed.  Heck, I laughed!  I think the cow groaned in pain.

I wandered around looking for Billy Bob’s (the biggest honkytonk in Texas) but decided that the signs lied and turned around when it looked like I was leaving the stockyard area.  I got the hotel in Ft Worth (although it was twice as expensive as non-downtown  Dallas hotels) because I intended to drink in the Stockyards (at Billy Bob’s) and wanted to be able to just stumble back to my room – but there were lots of other bars there, so, ok, it might not be at Billy Bob’s…no big deal.

It was time for my dinner reservation at the H3/Booger Red’s Steakhouse/Bar and it was only a couple of blocks from the hotel, so off I went.  The steak was awesome, the table-made guacamole was fantastic, and the Margarita hit the spot!  I ate so much my belly hurt.  Then I stood up and forgot all about my belly as my ankle gave out. 

I limped back to the hotel to put my feet up and decided that I would take a short nap before hitting the bars – after all, if a hotel gives you ear plugs (along with a shower cap and the other normal amenities) there must be a reason (I had read reviews that the bar noise might keep me up most of the night) and I would wake up when things started hopping…it was only 8:00 and bars on a Saturday night wouldn’t get busy much before 10, right?

The next thing I knew, it was 6:15.  AM.  I guess the short night in Dallas caught up with me and I didn’t need those ear plugs.  Thus ended my Saturday…and my explanation for the delay of my daily recap.