The crowd is growing restless with excitement as we hear the clip-clop of horses coming around the corner. We’ve come to Fort Worth for one purpose: to see real, live cowpeople on horseback riding herd over a wild group of Texas longhorns. Yep, we’re talking cattle drive, folks. And Fort Worth is the place to see one — they’ve held huge cattle drives here for years, sometimes endangering the crowd with the near-stampede of wild, excitable bulls.
Well, ok. The cattle aren’t all that numerous and don’t seem very excitable (but they do have very long horns). And, the skeptic would argue that the cattle drive is completely unnecessary and serves only to entertain tourists, but who cares? It’s Texas, after all, and we wanna see a cattle drive, partner.
They even post signs explaining how the cattle
are properly organized, er, driven.
Just look at ‘em go!
Yeeeee haw!! Move along, little doggies. With a little imagination, we could easily see hundreds of cattle making their way to market, like they did back in the day. Nowadays, these cattle are well-cared for and have great names like Freckles and Lucky. I don’t think they need to worry about being served for dinner. Later that night, we watched a guy with a ginormous cowboy hat ride his horse slowly down an empty street. He was definitely not there to impress tourists. This is Texas, partner.
We wandered Fort Worth’s streets and shopped for Western gear. We found it. In abundance.
We stopped into Billy Bob’s, which bills itself as the World’s Largest Honky Tonk. It was fairly empty this early afternoon, but I’m sure it’s quite the spectacle at night — bar, restaurant, bull-riding arena, pool tables, dance floor. The place even has its own information desk in case you get lost doing the Texas Two-Step. I wanted to come back after dinner to do some dancing, but Bill and the kids would have no part of it. Boring old city slickers.
Texas was much greener than I expected, though in the middle of summer, it was plenty hot. Flying into Dallas, we could see plenty of lakes and greenery, but the area was still suffering from high temperatures and a drought. Our early morning flight left us discombobulated — we stumbled off the plane in a sleep-deprived daze. Which state were we in now, Alaska, Hawaii, confusion? Luckily, Bill was able to pull himself together as we drove along interstates 30, 35, and 820, and routes 360 and 183, watching for horses along the way.
* * * * *
Dallas was the sight of one of our country’s most significant and traumatic events — the assassination of President Kennedy. We visited the Sixth Floor Museum, housed in the Texas School Book Depository, the building from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot the President. The museum is exceptional and I highly recommend it, but make no mistake — this is a difficult place to visit.
Seeing the actual spot where Oswald perched and fired those shots was unnerving and unsettling. Watching the footage of the news broadcasts, and seeing the iconic photos of the car, Jackie in her pink hat, and President Johnson being sworn-in, were deeply moving and emotional. On the street below, a solemn white “X” is painted on the road to show exactly where the President’s life was taken. Nearly 50 years after his death, the images in the museum are still vivid and powerful.
And yet, while I was overcome by sadness, I was also deeply impressed by our country’s strength and resilience. Bill and I have only vague memories of the turbulent 60s, but the 50/50 Tour has reminded us of the difficulties that captivated our nation when we were young children. We faced (and continue to face) trying times as a country, but time and again, we have risen to the challenge, helped those in need, and worked hard to heal our wounds. The American spirit is simply not to be doubted.
* * * * *
The undisputed highlight of our visit to Texas was sharing lunch with our friends Mary and Garland. Although they live in San Antonio, good fortune brought them to Dallas the day we were there. We met for TexMex at El Fenix and enjoyed good food and conversation. I asked them what Dallas was all about. Mary said it was about oil, large luxury cars, and fake fingernails. Garland said it was all about YEEEEE HAAAWWWW.
47. Texas
A longhorn