So since I arrived in Texas I have been pretty busy; visiting with family, going to the Fort Worth Stockyards on Oct. 1 for most of the day, and doing the usual shopping and having fun, especially with my sister in law.
The Fort Worth Stockyard day was so interesting and we all had a good time. We arrived around 11:30 thinking we would see the earlier of the two cattle drives of the day. My sister in law parked right next to where the drive would take place. Literally a couple of yards from the street, East Exchange Avenue, where it would be. Nothing seemed to be going on, at least no cattle drive. So the three of us decided to walk around in case it was starting a little late.There was a cowboy that the other two were talking to so I walked over to a Longhorn steer that was on the sidewalk tied up with a handler. She said that the morning cattle drive had already taken place. The Longhorn was very patient as people were climbing on him to have pictures taken. That steer is twelve years old and likes to be rubbed under his huge chin. He was there for almost the entire time we were, then he was given a walking break and another Longhorn took his place. People were taking pictures of him on and off the whole time...a real tourist thing to do but we were the tourists so it was something different for sure.
We went to the visitor center across the street and saw a very interesting and informative video of how the stockyards came to be what they are today. Back in the day that part of Fort Worth was a crossroads for cattle drives heading to and from all different directions. Swift and other meat processing buildings started there. The tradition of driving the herd down this street twice a day has continued each day from the late 1800s. After the video we were ready for lunch so we went to a building which houses not only restaurants but many stores for clothes, leather goods and candy. It is a huge building with train tracks down the middle and it is still used as a dropping off and picking up place for a train that goes to and from the actual stockyard. We ate at a place called Risckys for lunch. Sandwiches came with a side of either beans, fries, onion strings or mac and cheese. Kind of different for us to be offered these choices.It was nice to be able to see the different people walking by as we ate. We walked around afterwards and went to the Cowboy museum to check it out. We enjoyed the paintings on the wall especially as you could really see what is important in that area.
So at 4pm it was time for the much awaited cattle drive. We had read that the best place to view it was the front porch of the Visitor Center. So we headed over there (after me calling my sister to see how the Pats were doing as we had no way of knowing). Promptly at 4:10, it started. Quite a few cowboys on horses driving perhaps 20-30 long horn cattle down the street. Over by 4:11! So funny! We were totally expecting it to last more than 50 seconds. They do an excellent job of "selling" that aspect of the area...many people lined the street awaiting the drive...hundreds I would say. A couple of minutes after that, the majority of them were in their cars clogging same street to leave the area. We waited until much of the traffic left and so did we. A fun day, good food and laughs along the way. Stuck in Dallas Cowboy traffic on the way back but we watched people on roller coasters as we sat in that traffic. Six Flags is on both sides of the highway with one side a water park. Only one of us would even think of those rides and it would not be me. People get season passes so they can go there for the many months it is open. Gotta love that they can use parks for so many months...
Today Debbie and I went to Oklahoma. We went to the Winstar Casino (Choctaw tribe)which is heavily advertised as the biggest casino experience in the world. It was a very impressive start as the mile long building is divided into several areas each decorated as a city both inside and out. We started at New York, and also went to Rome, Beijing, Paris and Vienna(never made it to London). Lots of walking, lots of nice people working there and plenty of slot machines to choose from in each "city" that we walked around. Beautiful structures such as an Eiffel Tower, sparkly dragons, Italian fountains with sculptures as well as many water features. On the outside of the Rome casino, lot of sculptures in a facade that would remind you of the shape of the Coliseum...I took a picture of it. New York had a partial Statue of Liberty as well as bridges...in short each city had lots of things to look at as we walked around. So clever!
I especially liked the fact that there was an interactive touch screen where you could look up the name of a slot machine and it would show you where you were as well as the closest machine to you. After walking around for a few hours it was a big help for two tired women to find that! We actually took a shuttle back to the car.
Leaving the Winstar after 8pm, heading towards Dallas, there was a sign that there would be night road work on one of the major roads-635. Four lanes of traffic had to merge into one. At that point we got off the highway and thankfully Debbie knew how to get us around on city roads until a point to get us beyond all that and back on the highway.
One of my favorite things from today is that one of the roads we took to get to Okl. was 35E-N. It made me laugh that it was both East and North at the same time! And of course coming back it was 35W-South. The Garmin voice was so serious saying get on Rte 35East-North! All in all a fun day.
The Fort Worth Stockyard day was so interesting and we all had a good time. We arrived around 11:30 thinking we would see the earlier of the two cattle drives of the day. My sister in law parked right next to where the drive would take place. Literally a couple of yards from the street, East Exchange Avenue, where it would be. Nothing seemed to be going on, at least no cattle drive. So the three of us decided to walk around in case it was starting a little late.There was a cowboy that the other two were talking to so I walked over to a Longhorn steer that was on the sidewalk tied up with a handler. She said that the morning cattle drive had already taken place. The Longhorn was very patient as people were climbing on him to have pictures taken. That steer is twelve years old and likes to be rubbed under his huge chin. He was there for almost the entire time we were, then he was given a walking break and another Longhorn took his place. People were taking pictures of him on and off the whole time...a real tourist thing to do but we were the tourists so it was something different for sure.
We went to the visitor center across the street and saw a very interesting and informative video of how the stockyards came to be what they are today. Back in the day that part of Fort Worth was a crossroads for cattle drives heading to and from all different directions. Swift and other meat processing buildings started there. The tradition of driving the herd down this street twice a day has continued each day from the late 1800s. After the video we were ready for lunch so we went to a building which houses not only restaurants but many stores for clothes, leather goods and candy. It is a huge building with train tracks down the middle and it is still used as a dropping off and picking up place for a train that goes to and from the actual stockyard. We ate at a place called Risckys for lunch. Sandwiches came with a side of either beans, fries, onion strings or mac and cheese. Kind of different for us to be offered these choices.It was nice to be able to see the different people walking by as we ate. We walked around afterwards and went to the Cowboy museum to check it out. We enjoyed the paintings on the wall especially as you could really see what is important in that area.
So at 4pm it was time for the much awaited cattle drive. We had read that the best place to view it was the front porch of the Visitor Center. So we headed over there (after me calling my sister to see how the Pats were doing as we had no way of knowing). Promptly at 4:10, it started. Quite a few cowboys on horses driving perhaps 20-30 long horn cattle down the street. Over by 4:11! So funny! We were totally expecting it to last more than 50 seconds. They do an excellent job of "selling" that aspect of the area...many people lined the street awaiting the drive...hundreds I would say. A couple of minutes after that, the majority of them were in their cars clogging same street to leave the area. We waited until much of the traffic left and so did we. A fun day, good food and laughs along the way. Stuck in Dallas Cowboy traffic on the way back but we watched people on roller coasters as we sat in that traffic. Six Flags is on both sides of the highway with one side a water park. Only one of us would even think of those rides and it would not be me. People get season passes so they can go there for the many months it is open. Gotta love that they can use parks for so many months...
Today Debbie and I went to Oklahoma. We went to the Winstar Casino (Choctaw tribe)which is heavily advertised as the biggest casino experience in the world. It was a very impressive start as the mile long building is divided into several areas each decorated as a city both inside and out. We started at New York, and also went to Rome, Beijing, Paris and Vienna(never made it to London). Lots of walking, lots of nice people working there and plenty of slot machines to choose from in each "city" that we walked around. Beautiful structures such as an Eiffel Tower, sparkly dragons, Italian fountains with sculptures as well as many water features. On the outside of the Rome casino, lot of sculptures in a facade that would remind you of the shape of the Coliseum...I took a picture of it. New York had a partial Statue of Liberty as well as bridges...in short each city had lots of things to look at as we walked around. So clever!
I especially liked the fact that there was an interactive touch screen where you could look up the name of a slot machine and it would show you where you were as well as the closest machine to you. After walking around for a few hours it was a big help for two tired women to find that! We actually took a shuttle back to the car.
Leaving the Winstar after 8pm, heading towards Dallas, there was a sign that there would be night road work on one of the major roads-635. Four lanes of traffic had to merge into one. At that point we got off the highway and thankfully Debbie knew how to get us around on city roads until a point to get us beyond all that and back on the highway.
One of my favorite things from today is that one of the roads we took to get to Okl. was 35E-N. It made me laugh that it was both East and North at the same time! And of course coming back it was 35W-South. The Garmin voice was so serious saying get on Rte 35East-North! All in all a fun day.
so glad you're having a fun time!
ReplyDeletecarol mcd