Texas - The Lone Star State
Archers Holidays, June 2014
We woke up at the Dallas Indigo Hotel and headed down to the second floor for breakfast. This was a surprise inclusion, but we're not ones to pass up "free" food! Breakfast included bagels, toast, cereal, orange juice, coffee and fruit. The toasters were busy - normal for these trips - not sure why they can't speed this up, but toasting stuff is always a nightmare.
Our printed instructions said be on the bus by 8.20am for an 8.30am departure. Once onboard, we were introduced to our driver, Rodney (below, with our bus), and our Tour Director, Patrick Neilson. Patrick gave us a quick run through of his Tour Guide resume.
We got an overview of the history of Texas but I won't bore you, you can look it up (or more likely not). There were also some population statistics and some bad jokes.
There were people on our bus from the United States, Canada, Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom, maybe other places. If I'm honest, Patrick did seem a little brusque to start, though I think he was just exerting his authority to keep us all in line.
We arrived at Southfork Ranch at about 9.30am, the on location home of the 1980s TV show Dallas, which is now in production again. You enter through a pretty big gift shop and through that to a little museum. At the entrance there was a collection of impressed hands and feet of the stars of the show - of course, I had to photograph Larry "JR" Hagman's for you (below centre)!
Some of the items on the wall were replicas, like this picture of Jock Ewing from the original show and a wooden replica of JR's belt buckle. There was a small memorial display to Larry Hagman and his JR Ewing character. They do have the actual prop gun that was used to shoot JR in the original series in one of the most hugely speculated about TV episodes of all time.
There's a huge map of the Ewing family tree - it looked very complicated! Remember the Poison Dwarf? Little Lucy Ewing was pretty tiny and Radio disc jockey Terry Wogan gave her the charming name. Below centre is her wedding dress. Being a ranch they have a bunch of saddles from the show on display too.
In 1978, when Dallas first hit the screens, gas grills (barbecues) were pretty innovative and an industry pioneer Ducane were asked to make a luxury version for the Ewings, which they called the Ducane Southfork. The Ewings loved to throw parties and barbecues, though if you asked Terry Wogan, he'd tell you they held them on their driveway - you'll see that later! It's tiny!
They have a bunch of original scripts signed and/or annotated by Larry Hagman and, of course, a family photograph - though I'm not sure I remember that furry chap on the left by JR!
After the mini-museum we headed outside to catch a tram, pulled by a John Deere tractor, driven by me (well, okay, I got in the back and let Mike handle it). Below right is a platform that used to surround an oil derrick that used to be on display here. Seems it was sold off but they didn't want the platform surrounding it so it's still here!
They have multiple flagpoles up here too, and rotate the flags to represent all the countries that have broadcast the show and continue to do so. They have a fairly small rodeo arena used in the show whenever they needed to attend a rodeo. I'll bet it looks huge on screen! It's really not.
They have some of the cutest Ted-size miniature horses in the grounds. Aww. As we were driven over to the main house, we passed the building used as the Ewing Oil Office.
We headed down a tarmac driveway and pulled in to the side of the Ranch House. We got off the tram. There's a bandstand here as they host a lot of weddings. We were led into the garage where a member of staff told of their open house policy and gave us a history of the house and its role in the famous television series. Did you know, this house was not the first Southfork Ranch in the TV show? No? Well, go take the tour and they'll tell you all about it.
To the right as we left the garage was a leather-lined walled office. JR's Office. There was a beautifully carved wooden bench here too.
We got a glimpse out to the left over the patio and pool, while to the right was the family dining room. Fancy, isn't it?
Here's the lounge - with the painting of Ewing daddy Jock Ewing over the fireplace.
There's an opportunity to take a drink with JR at the small bar in the lounge - he was a little two-dimensional, I thought. Down the corridor on the right is Lucy Ewing's bedroom! Bit self-centred to have a picture of yourself on your bedroom wall isn't it? Well, not for a bear, obviously. Then we passed Bobby's bedroom. You'd think with all their money they could afford separate houses, wouldn't you?
We headed upstairs and out onto the balcony - flashy eh? Overlooking the swimming pool and a great view of the ranch. This is the life!
Heading inside we were in JR's bedroom - with a picture of Sue Ellen on the wall (seriously?), a huge four-poster bed and two very fancy bathrooms.
Out on the landing we found a huge Waterford crystal chandelier. There was a very slidy-looking bannister there too - so I just had to. Well, wouldn't you?
Back outside I took a closer look at the pool. I'll bet it looks much larger on TV but still, it's bigger than mine in Florida! Had to put my paw in - nice and warm, but it was a really hot day.
As we walked the grounds we met this cute little guy. No, not me, the horse! We also saw some of the stables - this was the Stud Barn. It was around here we found JR, Miss Ellie and Jock Ewing's gravesite. Well, for the show anyway - this isn't real, you know.
We passed this white carriage, which I guess they use for weddings. We headed inside their second store, Lincolns and Longhorns where I tried on some hats, but they weren't really me. The car is the Lincoln Continental driven by Jock Ewing in the show from 1978 to 1982.
Thought we better get a shot of the front of the house so had to walk back around. It's surprisingly small - for Texas anyway. I wouldn't mind it though. I almost forgot to take a photo of the driveway too. Why? Well, because if Terry Wogan is to be believed, this tiny concreted area is where all the best Ewing barbecues were held for all their prestigous guests from the Cattleman's Association or whatever. Terry regularly suggested that a rich family like the Ewings really ought to have a better venue for a party! Love it! We had a quick chat with another cute horse too.
Elena's Cottage is a set from the new series of Dallas.
As we neared the end of our time at Southfork Ranch, we passed one of the new series sets - the Party Barn. It seemed pretty quiet though. I couldn't leave before I got a picture of the longhorn cattle and one last look at the rodeo stadium.
The gift shop was pretty large. There were some nice pin badges of Southfork Ranch and a few magnets, pens and the like, but they also catered for the more upmarket end with jewellery, fashion and - of course - Stetsons. Most of the stuff was fairly expensive, but that's to be expected. They have a lot of party folks visit so it's probably easier to part them from their money.
That said, the access was awesome. We had free rein to wander, without supervision, throughout this currently used TV show set. No grief, no hassle. For that, they kept their five Teds. Great job guys!
We got dropped back at the hotel for a lunch break. Patrick told us the building opposite (below left and centre) was where Jack Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald on 24 November 1963. We also got the chance to check out the Dallas skyline and find somewhere for dinner. Which we did.
We met back at the hotel to rejoin the coach for our transfer to Dealey Plaza - site of the assassination of President John F Kennedy on 22 November 1963. I'd read so much about this place over the years, it was good - and sad - to actually be here. The world was changed that day.
We arrived at Dealey Plaza at around 2.15pm. Patrick walked us across the road to take a look a the Texas Book Depository from the outside. This is the location from where Lee Harvey Oswald fired shots at the Presidential Motorcade. I won't say from where he assassinated the President as I'm not convinced that's what happened.
We crossed the road and headed down to the site where people lined the route on the day. I recognised the underpass where the car drove off, at speed, after Kennedy was hit. Having seen and read a lot over the years about the Kennedy Assassination, it was quite moving to see the spot, just over half a century later. It is still attracting crowds.
I took a photo (below right) of the pillar from where where Abraham Zapruder shot a home movie of his President and gained notoriety when his film caught the incident on film, providing significant evidence of what happened.
We saw the grassy knoll but, on this day, I was the only suspicious-looking character in the neighbourhood. There are crosses marked on the road to indicate wear the President's car was when the shots were fired. Some very stupid tourists would stand on these crosses - in the middle of a three-lane highway, with busy traffic - just to have their photos taken. Nice. I thought I'd get a photograph of me on Zapruder's pillar.
At two-thirty we headed inside the Sixth Floor Museum. Inside they handed us an individual audio tour headset and set us up in the lift to the Sixth Floor. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed on the Sixth Floor, from where shots were fired, so I had to drop them a Ted (it's a rule!) but as it was mostly information boards and photographs, there wasn't a lot to photograph anyway.
We took our time to read the boards and watch the various movies they had in place. We could have probably spent another half an hour to an hour as we didn't have time at the end to listen to all the items, and certainly couldn't listen to the additional information. We did have ninety minutes though so it would have to do.
The tour included how Kennedy got elected, his actions as President, the assassination, the funeral, the aftermath and his legacy. There was also discussion of the Warren Commission - the Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, as well as the many varied conspiracy theories which continue to this day.
At the end of the tour we got to go up onto the Seventh floor and there we were able to take photographs, including out of windows directly above the Sixth floor.
The trees have grown over the last fifty years so the view is not the same, but I can't help thinking the straightforward shot would have been as the motorcade approached the Texas Book Depository, and not as it left. What do I know?
It was a great museum, but lost a Ted for no photographs - don't see why you can't, to be honest there's little there to photograph. I guess considering the events that occurred, it's unseemly (or would take too long to get people through?) The included audio tour was good but we didn't have time to listen to everything. We saw footage that was new to me, as well as movies - like that from Zapruder - that we have seen over and over. I saw scenes from the funeral that I hadn't seen before.
I was glad they didn't skirt over the conspiracies and braced the various alternatives out there. Will we ever know the truth? Doubtful. It was very informative - with moving footage and a lot of billboards of information alongside the audio tour. It is good that you can go to the floor above and see what Oswald saw on that day (albeit changed over the years). Back down to the ground floor there was a small gift shop (there was another store across the road but we were too tight on time to check that out). It's a moving place and I'm glad that I've been as I have been interested in American History for years and this was a significant event.
Our next stop of the after Dealey Plaza was a visit to Pioneer Plaza. This was a-ma-zing! It celebrates the trails that brought settlers to Dallas.
There are native plants and trees alongside a flowing stream and the awesome recreation of a cattle drive with a lot of bronze longhorn steers, driven by three cowboys.
Each piece of bronze was created by artist Robert Summers of Glen Rose, Texas. Isn't it unbelievable?
Alongside Pioneer Plaza is Pioneer Park Cemetery, actually four cemeteries combined. Four Dallas mayors rest here and it is the location of a Confederate War Memorial.
It's just an amazing piece of memorial artwork. Beautiful.
We returned to the bus and headed back to the hotel. We passed the Dallas Morning News, a red oil derrick structure and the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
When we returned to the hotel there was great news at reception! Our bag had returned - woohoooooooo - I had my cowboy hat back in time for our visit to Fort Worth! Phew. Not to mention the assistants got a change of clothes.
We had agreed to go to the Press Box Grill for dinner, in part because they had a veggie burger for Di, but mostly because they had a $3 16oz Pilsner from Austria - Trummer. The service was irreverent, but good and fast (it wasn't busy as we were in early after the long day yesterday).
We ordered beers and burgers all around. They arrived quickly and were good! Paul and I had cheeseburgers, Di a veggie burger and Dave had a Texas burger. The fries were great and it was all so hot! More beers later and the whole bill came to about $45 for three humans and two bears. Pretty darned good if you ask me.
We didn't stay too late as we were heading off to Fort Worth the next day.