On our way to Austin

We’ve had fun in Fort Worth but oh my, the driving!  We were glad to leave the bridges and overpasses of urban driving behind and set out on the country roads on the last stretch of our journey, to Austin.

It’s a strange landscape though.  Green, for sure, but with industrial bits here and there,

We passed through a town called “Railroad town” or something, where we drove alongside a train for a while.

As you know, someone enjoys this kind of thing but has to keep his eyes on the road, so I take pictures.

But of course, I have no idea what of!

It was an interesting drive.  There were not many occasions when it was a purely rural scene for more often than not there was a power plant or cement works there in the view.

Sometimes, there were more brown housing developments too.

But soon, the urban sprawl ended and we found ourselves driving through old, Western towns where a horse or two tied up to the rail would look perfectly in place.

We smiled as we passed by the Cowboy Bank.

Do they have a ride up service, do you think?

Then there was the Cowboy Church.  I’m sure Cowgirls are welcome too.

We’d passed by several of these ranch signs before I was ready with my camera to snap one as we passed.  What’s the odds of catching one with fish on it in cowboy country!?  Bleh.  Try as I might, I didn’t see another one this side of Waco, either.

By now, we really were out in the country proper.  The long straight road stretched out in front of us and rather than grumble at the lack of interest, we thanked our stars for no urban driving!

Eventually, we crossed the river and into Waco, where we had two things on our list.

My hero spotted we’d arrived at the first when he saw the crowds.

Whilst we are here with Mary, our usual evening viewing is HGTV and particular favourites are Chip and Joanna; a couple who present a programme called Fixer Upper, where they buy a wreck and do it up.

In an idle moment, my hero had googled their business and when we found they were based in Waco, TX, we looked a little closer.

Sure enough, Magnolia Market was there and open today, so we thought we’d stop by.  The thing is, so did half the population of Texas, I think.

We recognised many things from the show, since we’ve seen quite a few in the last couple of weeks.

People were clearly familiar with the programmes and most were carrying armfuls of goods.

In this quiet corner, I overheard a young man telling his wife that he thought he could make something nearly like that.  I smiled to myself…I’ll bet those words were spoken quite a few times!

This couple were trying to decide if their wall was large enough for this sign, whilst the young woman staff member was filling up shelves with goods as quickly as they were emptying.

A license to print money?  you bet. 

The queue to pay was nearly as long as the queue for the loos!

Of course, the use of social media was encouraged and young families seemed to be having a great time here. 

Well, they had thought of everything, including the garden and it was all really well done.

But of course we were not here to shop, so arming ourselves with a refreshing ice lolly from one of the food carts in the yard (they really had thought of everything…), we made our escape and headed a block or two to the other destination on our list.

Bye bye Magnolia Silos!

Hello Dr Pepper Museum.

Dr Pepper is another Waco product and having a fan travelling with us, we were interested to find out more.

But this was a poor relation to the Coca Cola experience in so many ways – not that we’d expected anything quite so commercial. 

But if a manufacturer of soft drinks creates a visitor centre, for which there is a charge, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect a taste?  Not necessarily a whole bottle, not even a whole glass…but maybe just a small, tiny taste?   Not a bit of it! 

So on this hot hot hot day, we didn’t spend long looking at strange and unexplained machines.  We didn’t linger by the old displays with no background.  We did purchase drinks at the soda fountain (but only one of us chose Dr Pepper!) because the queues were nothing like those at Magnolia.  But as a memorable experience, sorry, Dr Pepper, you fell short of expectations.

Back to the car then, parked in the Baptist Church car park next door to Magnolia, where crowds were still streaming in and police patrols were controlling traffic and parking.

We were on the last lap to Austin now.

And look what I spotted!

Of course, this water tower made us smile too.

Austin is the capital of Texas, so the Capitol is there, awaiting our visit.

But first things first.  Dinner at Coopers BBQ.  “It’s all about the meat” as they say here…

All about the image

We set off on a bit of a lengthy round trip today, which was going to take us over into Dallas and around the northern suburbs before returning to Fort Worth.  We have quite strong images of Dallas in our minds, having been hooked on the TV show of the same name some years ago.  I expected a flashy, wealthy city surrounded by green fields.

The sun was already pretty strong and the traffic fairly heavy.  It’s a holiday weekend here of course and unusually, the 4th is on a Monday, meaning that many people are taking the whole weekend off.

We were heading for the George W Bush Presidential Library, because, as you know, we enjoy such places.  The first shocker was the parking charge!  Hmmm…not quite used to that here.

Having purchased our admission tickets, we stepped into a large atrium where soaring orchestral music accompanied a video montage high on the walls above us.  With one notable exception, we’ve always come away from these libraries feeling reflective and admiring of the subject, often recognising that we didn’t really know the half of what they did and continue to do in some cases.  So it was with this optimistic spirit and with an open mind we went inside – let’s find out about the man who is so frequently depicted as a bit of a fool; a bumbler and a lightweight when it came to Presidential qualities.

Well, having watched the introductory video it was clear that the defining moment of his Presidency was most certainly 9/11.  Striking images, those harrowing film clips we all watched over and again on the TV and a large, twisted piece of metal were there to greet us as we stepped outside the theatre.  A wall panel with every victim listed was there too.  We’d guessed that the events would loom large in the exhibit but I had underestimated how affecting they still are.  Feeling uncomfortable, I looked for some hope, some optimism, some wise words to reflect on but right now, I didn’t find any.

Instead, I stepped aside and learned a little of Laura Bush’s library background, her work to get children reading and perused her choice of recommended reading.  I realised that I knew very little about her and had never heard her speak as far as I know, so I was surprised to hear her strong Texas accent and was impressed by what she had to say.

From there, we moved into a section which focused on world events though I felt that much of this exhibition was superficial and lacked detail.  Grand ideas and broad statements, but where was the meat?  What inspired the man and what action did he take as a result?  Where were the details of his childhood, of his student years and the path to the White House? 

There was a brief mention of one particular character in that display but given the long lasting consequences of that encounter, I found it surprising that I didn’t find any commentary on the events or the outcome.

So it wasn’t in the most positive frame of mind that I stepped inside the Oval Office.  Here, a family were photographing themselves in the “hot seat” and I took the opportunity to wander around and view the paintings.  Since we’d recently seen mock ups of other arrangements of this office, I was interested to see the choices that had been made here and noted a distinct Texan flavour to the artworks.  As I did, the docent stepped towards me,

“Come on, sit at the President’s desk and press the red button!”

Oh dear.  I’m afraid that I might have let the side down at that stage.

“No thank you, I’m not bothered about sitting in the President’s chair and I certainly have no wish to press any red button!”  

Po faced?  Me?  You bet!

“It’s not real!  Nothing will happen!  It’s only pretend”

At this point, she recognised an English accent and quickly switched to telling me that “my Queen” had given the Resolute desk to the USA made from the timber of a ship of that name and that President Roosevelt had added the door to conceal his disability.

“Not many people realise he was disabled”, she said.

Do you think I was able to resist continuing the conversation by saying we’d just visited the Little White House last week and yes, I knew about his polio?  Sorry….

So I’m sorry to report but a second Presidential Library didn’t deliver today.  Other significant events including those in the picture above were glossed over in superficial displays about the events rather than go into details about the President’s role in the management of them.

We felt slightly cheated until we ventured across the hall to the temporary exhibit, then.

Here was an interactive exhibition about the Path to the Presidency.  Rather topical, we thought (and of course, intended to be timely in this election year).

One complete wall of the space was devoted to the steps to getting nominated.  Throw your hat in the ring, recruit the family and get on the move were the early stages.

Subsequent advice included kissing babies and working on your firm handshake, and each of these was illustrated by people who did and people who didn’t!

There followed a low tech version of the exercise we’d played in Jackson, to see who could vote and who could not.  Once again, I struck lucky and was given the persona of a white, middle class gentleman.

My hero was not so lucky and had to wait a while before his voice was heard.

The carpet had been woven with details of every election and as we walked along it, I was surprised at how many results had been very close indeed.

What a great way to learn about the process of electing a President!  How glad we were to be able to leave on a high note, too.

From there,  we continued our drive around the Dallas suburbs, dropping by a couple of small shopping destinations before arriving at our next venue.

Here was high security.  No cameras.  No cellphones.  No electronic devices of any kind.  We submitted ourselves to the airport style checks and chatted with the entry security personnel whilst we waited for our transport to the hub.

We were at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, one of two locations in the country where US banknotes are printed.  Once we got inside – it took a while – we were able to walk along a gallery above the factory and see the processes going on in the printworks down below.  Except not much seemed to be going on – apart from small groups of men standing around, chatting and waving to the people in the gallery.  This was not a high pressure operation today but it was interesting and well managed.  We were glad we’d come and have just the one small challenge of finding the FW (for Fort Worth) on a banknote.

I had one last errand to run, to JoAnns. We’ve already been there twice, but this morning, whilst reading a favourite blog, I came across this and needless to say, I wanted to get the pattern.  So, we fetched up at one of the many JoAnns in the district and I found Vogue 9193 there, priced at $30 but with a sign for 40% off above.  I still haven’t quite worked out how I paid only $5.49 for it, but I guess that’s the reason why I was keen to buy it here and not wait until I get home!

As for how I’ll remember Dallas?  Well, I will not forget the never ending freeways, built one on top of the other as in the photographs, with drivers driving at breakneck speed whilst texting, eating, drinking and holding a phone to their ear,  zooming around giving us the heeby jeebies.  Will I remember anything like the Dallas of the programme?  Not really.  The most frequent view from our route was of endless developments of large brown houses with brown roofs, packed fairly close together with almost no garden.

No, I wasn’t that taken with it, I’m afraid.

So we came back to Fort Worth, where the Barbeque in Riscky’s was waiting…

Cowtown!

We’d decided to explore Fort Worth – aka Cowtown – today and with the temperature rising (26C at 10am) we parked the car as near Sundance Square as we could and set off on Shanks Pony.

We wandered around a little but discovered that Sundance Square doesn’t really wake up till 11 or thereabouts so downtown was a little quiet to say the least.

So we focused on other things.

Whilst we’d been looking for a parking space, I’d spotted the Bass Hall and thought it was worth walking back to take a closer look at those angels.

Well, things are bigger in Texas, don’t they say?

We thought that by now, the shops in the Mall should be open, but however hard we pulled, the door wouldn’t open.

So we wandered through the square itself, lingering by the cool fountain, admiring the Cowtown mural painted – or was it mosaic? – to commemorate the Chisholm Trail.

Now, as we stood opposite a branch of the Worthington Bank, I spotted something in the windows.  In fact, in every window of the banking hall, there was a Longhorn hanging there.  I just had to take a closer look!

So I went in.  in my very best English accent, I ooohed and aaahed – because the interior made me ooh and aah!  I’d never seen such a quaint bank, where each teller was sitting behind a desk in a wrought iron enclosure.  References to the origin of the Fort Worth finances were all around me, with bronze cattle, paintings of cattle and yes, those wall mounted cattle.  The staff were simply delightful and having chatted about the weather (well, what else!?) I offered my profuse thanks and left them to their work.

Just down the road was another Fort Worth insitution. M J Leddy’s.  Situated in the oldest department store with “manufactured air” on this side of the Mississippi, we took the opportunity to step inside, to cool off a little and to take a look around.

There was a distinctive Texas style to the goods on sale here and attractive though many of them were, they’d look a bit out of place beyond the State Line I fear.

Maybe not the best footwear for negotiating a Cotswold lane, either?  With a glance at the paraphernalia for carrying such boots around, not to mention all the hat accessories (carrying cases, stretchers and so on) we made our way back to the car to move on to the next thing on our list.

Sacagewea stood outside; she of the Lewis and Clark expedition, whom we’ve encountered on several previous occasions.

On the opposite side was a rather sentimental bronze of a woman with a horse.

We were at the National Cowgirl Museum.

Actually, the building itself was rather interesting, built in Art Deco style and set apart from other museums in the Fort Worth Cultural Quarter.

Inside was bright and fresh.  This purpose-built museum was full of the spirited characters who called themselves cowgirls: women who had proved capable of moving thousands of cattle singlehanded over lengthy trails across the country; who had ridden in rodeos and starred in films as stunt doubles and just one or two who had become household names: Annie Oakley for example.

We really enjoyed the exhibitions and were amazed at how much detail was in there and how much fun there was to be had with some of the interactive features though we drew the line at having a go riding the bucking bronco!

One of our favourite features was about Jessie the Toy Story Cowgirl who, it was decided, would never, ever wear a skirt.  Looks like they found a different model for the sign, then!

#3 on our list was the Science Museum next door, so we hurried through the midday heat and into the cool foyer.  Mindful of the fact we’d had the Cowgirl Museum more or less to ourselves, what we found inside here came as a bit of a shock –NOISE!  Like any Science Museum, this one was a popular place for families and oh my, could we tell!  Not only that, but the exhibits were a wee bit, well, juvenile for us – who was it who said this would be a great place to come?

Actually one small corner made up for the whole of the rest.  After a cold drink and a bite to eat, we made our way to the Cattle Ranchers exhibit.

See?  I’d been so shell shocked by the craziness I hadn’t even taken a photograph until now!

Here, we learned about the business of Cowtown; how the cattle were herded on the plains, brought into town and driven to the railhead.

One exhibit fascinated me: This head dress was exactly as I had always imagined a Native American Chief’s head dress to be.  How interesting to see it at close quarters.

Then came the answer to another small mystery that has reared its head in Fort Worth.

There was a whole display and full explanation of the importance of barbed wire in enclosing the plains.  Not only that, but it seems as though there were more than 500 patented designs with thousands of variations.  Wow.

So that explains why our hotel room number has this design upon it!  (I had wondered…)

A display and explanation of how the trails linked with the railroads was interesting too and as soon as I spotted the Texas and Pacific Railroad up there, I had to wait until the little animation showed the train passing through Marshall.  Well, you understand why, don’t you?

Enough already, then, now we’d done with the Cattle Ranchers story.  We could have joined a crowd to see a presentation in the Planetarium next door but we decided against that and made our way back to the car.

But having solved the mystery of the barbed wire motif on our hotel room plate, yet another puzzle presented itself.  Just what do you think this sign means?

Our final stop for the day was a haven of peace, cool and culture.

A fantastic new gallery with space and natural light in abundance, we took a look around the Renzo Piano Pavilion before crossing the road over to the Kahn building, where there was a wonderful collection of European art.

I particularly liked the Chinese scroll from the 14th century, completed having returned home from a visit.

I guess it was the artist’s version of my road trip journal?!  Nothing new under the sun, eh?

It was a pleasing way to finish our day out and feeling rather weary in the heat of the late afternoon, we headed back to the Stockyards and our hotel.

Our room was just as we’d left it this morning, though: no clean towels or any housekeeping action whatsoever.  So, whilst someone dealt with all of that, my hero and I stepped outside to watch the 4pm show on the street outside.  A crowd was already waiting, enjoying the fine, cool mist from a few fans along the street.

Instructions were given – no sitting down; even children should be standing, and please be careful…

Robert, the Longhorn photographer stood waiting for business in the hope that someone might come along and climb aboard: my WI friend Edna had already told me that she had done exactly that!  Go Edna!!

At 4pm on the dot, here they came: the Stockyard herd of Longhorn cattle.

And sure enough, just to tie up the story nicely, they were led by a cowgirl!

Wasn’t that neat?

On the road again

Another day, another breakfast venue!

No sooner had we set off than it was Texas-time.  We crossed the state line on an ordinary country road though, so no fanfare, no song and dance and just a small, unassuming sign.

Mind you, there was a reminder on every sign from then on.

We had a long drive today and my hero had identified a couple of places worth taking a break.  The first one was in Marshall.

The Marshall Depot was the home of the Texas and Pacific Railroad Museum.

Here, we met Laura who gave us the lowdown and he who knows about such things was quite impressed.

After a quick look around the displays, we ventured outdoors into the intense heat where Laura unlocked the caboose…

This was where the crew had made themselves at home on the immensely long journeys they made and it was kitted out rather like a caravan inside.

The huge engine alongside was there to be explored too.

I could see my seat waiting there, so climbed inside and made myself at home.

I even waved to a fellow driver across the way

Mind you, it wasn’t easy to see where I was going – what a good job the rails are there to keep the train on track.

That was that then, for the T&P.  We thanked and said ‘bye to Laura and set off on our way once again.

We knew we’d have to take the Interstate later, but for now, the US 80 was just fine.

We were heading for Kilgore and the East Texas Oil Museum.

We watched an introductory video in which we learned that this museum had an international reputation for excellence and led the world in its field.

The first few exhibits were focused on life in East Texas when the oil was first discovered.  I admired the way the ephemera had been displayed and yes, it had been well put together.

As we admired the immaculately presented Ford motor car, however, we were corralled by the “Master Docent”, an elderly gentleman who wanted to tell us his story.  We were ready to move on, though, eager to learn about what we’d come here for: oil.  So, at the first opportunity, I did my best to escape.

“C’mon over here!”

He spotted us moving on before he had finished what he had to say.  He was standing by an old ice box; the predecessor of a fridge, and wanted to tell us about how his Mother made him ice cream on the 4th of July.  Thankfully, by now, another family had appeared and with the cover of additional people standing around, we made our escape into the next room.  I felt mean, for after all, the man had a wealth of information to share.  But we had limited time and didn’t really want to stand listening to his ramblings when we’d come to view the museum.

So when we stepped into the next room and heard a voice calling to us and attracting our attention, we looked up for fear of having been followed!  How could he have climbed that lamp post though?

We had nothing to fear.  The museum was set around several dioramas, some of which had “live” action figures telling a story and this chap was introducing the story of how the discovery of oil brought huge changes to this area.

Most were set in a bit of a ramshackle scene which could have used some of the same focus as the first displays.

Some were a bit spooky, like this newspaper editor whose chest inflated and deflated rather extravagantly but who was otherwise lifeless. 

But I think it was the “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” that pushed us over the edge.  It was time to hit the road again and leave the people of Kilgore to tell their story to some less cynical visitors!

Almost two hours later, we were approaching our destination.

Well, it seemed like a good idea…

With the skyscrapers of Dallas shining like the Emerald City on the horizon, we counted down the miles to Fort Worth.

Even the flags are bigger in Texas!

We plan a couple of days fun here in Fort Worth and have just enjoyed dinner at Riscky’s, possibly the first meal I’ve had in ages that didn’t include shrimp!

Goodnight then, from the Lone Star State x

It’s all about the journey

A moving on day today.  We left the Civil War behind – hotel cannons too – and headed west

 

over the Mississippi Bridge into Louisiana.  (Oooops, nearly missed that sign on the State line!)

Sadly, I did miss the big welcome sign but it’s tricky taking photographs when travelling at speed!

There was quite a different landscape on the western side of the river – a flatter, more agricultural scene than we’ve seen at any time this trip.

To begin with, along Highway 80, it was mostly corn growing alongside the road.

But soon, a different crop was there.  We were unsure at first but decided it was soybeans.  I took a photo so I could check once we had access to Google again

The towns were a little scratty, sad to say and it didn’t look as if any of them had hit the big time recently. I think life in northern Louisiana must be pretty hard going if towns like Talullah, above, were anything to go by.

 

Still, it’s always more interesting to stick to the byways and even if the sights are unconventional, we still enjoy the observations!

From time to time there’s a bonus sighting for someone (guess who?)  This train passed us by slowly enough for Mary to wave to the driver (and get a wave in return).  No sooner had we got over the excitement than…

There was another!  (and another wave…)

Our first stop was scheduled for Monroe, LA, where there was an old Coca Cola bottling plant; one of the first, apparently.  But try as we might, we couldn’t find anything of the sort. 

So we moved right along towards our next “highlight” at Gibsland.  Only one problem…you know that railway line?  They were working on one of the level crossings and with only 500m to go, the road was closed!

Seriously closed too.  No sneaking through!

The car in front of us took a left turn down a small lane though, so we followed it and sure enough, we made it across the ricketiest of bridges and into Gibsland.  As we crossed the bridge we could see them replacing the rails.  No wonder we couldn’t cross.

Never say we don’t have adventures though.  We had overcome several difficulties to get here…

Yes, this was the Bonnie and Clyde town.  But having got this far, we decided the place looked so hokey, we’d not bother going inside!

I peered through the windows though!

Oh, and guess what was on the opposite corner of the street?  Another Bonnie and Clyde Museum!

Their car was parked outside the first one though, so we thought we knew which one was the real deal.

Time to move on, then.  But look what we found.  Second time today!

Thankfully it was an easy diversion and before too long we were arriving in Bossier City, just across the Red River from Shreveport, our destination.

I had to take this picture for my British friends, for whom “pants” has an altogether different meaning.  Just think, nearly $15 for ironing three pairs of pants (even if you did get the 4th pair free)

Anyway, though we knew Shreveport to be a gambling destination, the contrast from what we’ve seen today was still a surprise.

We’ve booked Hilton brands throughout our road trip, mostly opting for Hampton Inns until now.  With no Hampton Inn in town, we booked a straightforward Hilton hotel but on our arrival, our reservation had become lost.  Thankfully, on a Tuesday out of conference season, there were plenty of rooms available and since he had to make a new booking for our rooms, we got them at today’s last minute, bargain price: nice one!

Nice view too

Dinner tonight was at the Blind Tiger; the name a reference to prohibition days, I discovered.  Mary and I chose fried shrimp, which was yummy, and it was my hero who did the local thing tonight: he chose a shrimp platter with fried shrimp, blackened shrimp, shrimp ettouffee, shrimp pies with deep fried corn and jambalaya!

Oh and I forgot to say,  Louisiana is a new US state for us and when we stepped out of the car in Monroe, we chalked up #46.   Ker-ching!!