Texas - The Lone Star State
Archers Holidays, June 2014
Today we were headed to Fort Worth, which was about 45 minutes away. We had bags at 7.15am, bus at 8.15, so headed down to breakfast at 7am. It was the same as yesterday but one of the toasters was broken and they had run out of fruit, not to mention spoons, but hey, we weren't expecting breakfast at all and you know we're glad of anything.
The drive over to Fort Worth was pretty short and the bus pulled up outside of the Fort Worth Stockyards Visitors Center. Patrick then walked us over to the Stockyards as there were way more bathrooms over there! He knows bus passengers. We headed into the only shop open and had a look around. There was some nice stuff, and a friendly lady, but it was pretty pricey. Of course, there wasn't any stuff for bears, though they did have a few bears.
We took a few photos, and watched a bride in her cowboy boots get photographed, before we headed back to the Visitors Center at 10am, to meet with our walking tour guide. Peggy introduced herself and told us about the history of the Stockyards. The largest stockyards were in Chicago, Illinois, but the ones in Fort Worth were the second largest in the USA. They moved cows, pigs, goats, horses and mules through here.
There were dividing fences and the wranglers used to walk along the top of the fence rather than get in with the animals. They needed good balance otherwise they could be in trouble!
There are now railroad tracks running through the Stockyards. This is a tourist train - the Grapevine Vintage Railroad that, sadly for us, only runs at the weekend. I can imagine it's pretty cool to have a steam train head into here - what a sight!
The buildings were originally wooden, but after a spark from a passing train set the wood alight they had to rebuild the yards, this time using concrete and brick. They even used brick on the floors, which proved a brilliant idea for keeping clean when they needed to be hosed down. A brick manufacturer moved into the area to supply the yards and, as a result there are a lot of bricks used throughout the town, sometimes to clad the wooden buildings or to rebuild them.
They have some pictures on the walls of how it used to be. They were a bit faded, sorry, but I think you can just about make them out. The truck shows how they used to move cattle before the railroad got to town and opened up the industry.
There were a lot of hogs (pigs) and sheep sold through the stockyards - more than thirty-three million hogs and fifty million sheep! Can you imagine? They were moved through the yards via their own subway that passed underneath the routes the horses, mules and cattle would take. Below right you'll see some traffic lights. These were not for the sheep and hogs, but for the little tourist train that now runs at the weekend (darn, we missed that too!)
To the side of the Stockyards is now a large parking lot. In its day there were six railroad lines running through here, to bring animals into or take them out of the yards. To the left was the Armour & Co Meat Processing Plant, while to the right was tht of the Swift & Co Plant. Both are now pretty derelict, suffering from fires and some demolition over the years.
The photo (below right) shows the brick floor very well. The brick industry and bricklaying became so important in Fort Worth that the local cemetery has a special section for those in the brick trade. From the ground you can see the overhead routes that the horses and cattle would take. It dead ends now as a part has been removed to allow the tourist train to pass through the Stockyards, but when the yards were working, the larger animals could pass through the yards through designated routes.
Below right you'll see more of that brick floor but you'll notice how shiny they are? Nowadays, there are a lot of parties held here and this is one of the party-rooms. They are set up for weddings and the like, with cowboy boot and flag decorations, whatever is required.
Outside we went to look at more storage yards, we were a little surprised - to say the least - when we spotted a longhorn bull all saddled up and ready to ride. Seems he's used for a photo opportunity in the town, offering folks the chance to have their photos taken.
We saw some folks doing this, but they'd gone before I got the chance, as we continued our tour.
We found mules in the pens, which wasn't that big of a surprise.
However, I have to admit, I really wasn't expecting to find a reindeer here!
I met a few more regular animals such as this horse and more longhorn cattle.
Then there was another surprise as we found a couple of camels!
The white building (below centre) used to be the Bank. It's now a western clothes store, but the vault is still inside - we would check it out later. The river (below right) is a hidden gem - it's behind the buildings on a bridge you wouldn't even know was there.
There's a large auditorium here in town, home of many a rodeo but also some famous musicians have played here. It was built in 1907-1908 to provide a permanent exhibition hall for the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show, which was held here for the next thirty-four years. In 1911, my favourite President, Theodore Roosevelt spoke here, even Enrico Caruso in 1920! The Stockyards sold the building to the City in 1936.
The statue (below centre) is of The First Bulldogger - W. M. "Bill" Pickett, who originated steer wrestling. Bulldogging is leaping from a horse onto the steer and wrestling it to the ground.
There's a hundred years of history displayed on the wall and inside there's the rodeo stadium. Rodeos are still held each week. Apologies for the state of my hat - it did not want to just sit on my head and look cool! Stoopid hat!
We went inside the Livestock Exchange. It became known as the Wall Street of the West and was designed to house the many livestock commission companies, telegraph offices, railroad offices and other support businesses.
We passed through this old gate that many a cowman had passed through in years gone by and this took us to some of the yards where stock was held. It's still pretty extensive.
They keep a small herd of Longhorn Cattle here.
From here, a few guys, dressed like cowboys, drive them through the main street each day. As the cattle headed out for today's drive, Peggy said goodbye to us as this was the end of our tour. It was a great tour and covered quite an area. Well worth it, I thought.
Out in the street we took our places to observe the mini-cattle drive through the street.
Check out the horns on some of these! You wouldn't want to get too close in a crowd!
It was cool to see (and imagine how it used to be) though I guess it would have been heaving with cattle and folks way back when. Still it's nice to get an idea.
The street cleared and we passed this car with cool horns on the hood (bonnet!) Then we headed for the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. There was a little trouble as some of our passengers were turned away - entrance with Archers/Cosmos was supposed to be free, not the $5 entrance fee, but someone didn't get the memo. Some walked away, some stood their ground but soon Patrick arrived to sort out the problem - which he did!
It's a big barn structure, and all down one side is the Hall of Fame with saddles, photographs and memorabilia of famous cowboys of Texas. It wasn't the most exciting exhibit and I didn't recognise anyone anyway, so we didn't look for long.
I joined these cowboys having a cookout out on the range, but the conversation was a little slow and I'm not that keen on beans anyway. Colin joined in too - you may have to squint to see him!!
They do have a large collection of western vehicles here though - this isn't all of them! Below is a Hay Cart circa 1910, and 1800s grain wagon and an oil tank wagon from the 1890s.
The Dump Wagon (below left) enabled the driver to dump the load without getting off the wagon. The car is a 1933 Cadillac V-8. They had a line of smaller, lighter carriages too.
Below left is an 1872 Topless Surrey. Below centre is a circa 1870 Opera Bus, a four-passenger vehicle, usually privately-owned. Below right is a late 1800s Laundry Wagon and a 1920 Milk Delivery Wagon.
They had a circa late 1800s Produce Wagon (below left), a circa 1900s Photography Wagon (below centre) and a hearse, built circa 1650, which was probably built in Birmingham, England, which is not far from me back in the UK!
They had more wagons sitting on top of various walls around the place, as well as some snow wagons with skis instead of wheels. I had to almost sit on this ted-size pony (there were big 'don't touch' signs so I thought I'd best not!)
The Museum wasn't the most exciting place we've visited so I dropped one Ted for that and another for the jobsworth attitude stopping some of us from going in. There's a small gift shop at the entrance but I didn't buy anything.
Outside, we found a couple of points of interest. The first was this Chisolm Trail marker, which marks the location of the Great Eastern Cattle Road, which was commonly known as the Old Chisholm Trail. Over 400 of these markers were placed across Oklahoma (Indian Territory) from 1990 to 1997 to mark the exact trail from Red River Station to Kansas.
The statue, below centre, is of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker, born in 1845 to an Anglo mother (taken captive in an 1836 raid) and a Comanche Chief. His mother, Cynthia Ann Parker was reclaimed by Texas Rangers in 1860 and his father died soon after, making him Chief. He resisted many attempts to force his people onto reservations until the harsh winter of 1875 forced him and his remaining people to the reservation at Fort Sill. He became the liaison between his people and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, encouraging them to take up farming, ranching and education. He raised his profile through personal appearances until he died in 1911. He is buried at Fort Sill.
Through with history we decided to go visit a few gift shops and I had a great time playing with this cute fluffy herd. Unfortunately I wasn't persuasive enough and none of them got to come home with me - a decision I regret now.
We found a shop that sold a million, well, quite a few, different flavours of salt water taffy, trouble is, once you bought a bag you had no idea which was which until you were eating it! There was also a lovely fudge counter, but it was very expensive, so we didn't buy any!
I found a great Davy Crockett hat too - I thought it would be perfect for the Alamo, but I was overridden, again. Sigh. Why take me to shops if you won't buy me anything?
I did manage to get a drink though! Dave found this ominous looking bottle of bacon soda and, I have to say, you really could taste the bacon! It was the most disgusting stuff I've ever drunk! Fortunately, I'd opted for a bottle of real Dr Pepper. Originating here in Texas, this was to the original recipe with sugar, not that evil corn syrup slime they use nowadays. Can't say as I could tell the difference, but it was so much better than bacon soda. Who knew? (Well, anyone sensible if you ask me!)
Across the road from the Stockyards is this railway turntable (so that tourist train can leave again!) There's also a water tower to re-water the steam engine. There's a wooden maze but no one wanted to have a go!
We just had enough time to explore the little town. We decided to take a look at the Fort Worth Stockyards Hotel at the heart of the National Historic Stockyards District. A two-storey frame building was built here in 1904, with saloon, billiard rooms and furnished rooms for rent.
Part of the structure was retained in 1913, when a three-storey brick addition was added. Hotel amenities were included such as suite rooms with baths and private bathrooms, community bathrooms and even ceiling fans in each room as well as steam heat from the basement in the winter.
In 1982, the building was restored to its former glory and operates as a hotel. Bonnie and Clyde stayed here in 1933 and Bonnie's revolver and other artifacts can be found in the suite named after them.
We headed into Booger Red's Saloon here - they have saddle stools here. Apparently, the Buffalo Butt Beer is famous here!
We decide to stick with Rahr's Blonde beer, though it was bigger than we anticipated and the glasses were like goldfish bowls - heavy too! When we went back outside we saw one of the town cowboys out on the town. Cute horse!
Dave wanted a hat so we went into the former bank store and he found one that didn't make him look like a dork (it's a miracle!) While in here we checked out the bank vault Peggy told us about - seems they keep their boots in here now. While we were shopping I did find me a new (and better) hat and some cheap tat for my pals back home too.
I spotted a couple of famous names on the sidewalk as we headed back to meet the bus - Jay Silverheels and Clayton Moore - on the Texas Trail of Fame. These guys were Tonto and the Lone Ranger. The picture (below left) was on the wall inside the Visitors Center which was back where we started. Soon the bus arrived to take us to our hotel.
I liked the Fort Worth Stockyards. We probably spent enough time there, but I would've liked to ride the little train, not to mention the big steam one, so coming for the weekend would be good. That said, we saw enough and weren't rushed so it was a good day. We piled into our bus and headed for the hotel.
We arrived at the Radisson Fort Worth Fossil Creek and entered a really large lobby area with a big fountain! We had a nice welcome of a bottle of water and a ted-size chocolate chip cookie, before heading to our room. Blimey, that was a trek! It was a long walk to the room, but it didn't kill us.
The room was nice - two beds, but they were only full-size ones (not what I'm used to!) with a desk, large TV (never had time to notice what channels were on but I think there was an extended collection. The bathroom had a lot of towels and nice toiletries, so no complaints there. We had to call down for the WiFi password, and while it did intially connect it kept dropping the connection, hence the dropped Ted. The view wasn't awesome, but I can live with that.
At 4.45pm we headed down to the bus for our optional of a Mexican dinner, line dancing and a live band. We arrived a short drive away at Joe T Garcia's Restaurant for our Mexican meal. We weren't sure what to expect with dinner as this was an optional we'd signed up for with Archers. It looked like a nice place, but on entering we found it was a bit manic. We got a table together and joined three fellow travellers. We were given tostada chips and salsa but - used to Chilis they were a bit hard and a bit well done, if you ask me.
Then the chaos started. We had a round table for six and, instead of a couple of courses, a huge variety of food was delivered to the table, stacked high - mostly meat-orientated, rice with chicken, a plate of meat and vegetables and chicken tacos with salad. We did get a few veggie things - including cheese quesedillas with hot sauce, tortilla chips, enchiladas with - yuck - guacamole - and sour cream, and salad. There was a LOT of food. The problem was it was all delivered at once, put in any free spot on the table, and when there wasn't a spot, they just piled one dish on top of another. On the big table, you couldn't reach across, or even see what was there. Sadly, a lot went uneaten and it didn't stay hot for long either - there was nothing to keep it warm and cold plates to eat from. In defence of the food - had it been hot - it would have been very good. Sadly, it was a lukewarm mess so they dropped a Ted.
Getting a drink was a nightmare too. Soft drinks were included so we got those, but ordering a beer was very slow - three reminders and twenty minutes later one arrived. Then getting a refill on the Coke took ages. We did try to be nice to the servers, but they obviously worked on throwing everything at the coach party and then going back to their real customers, who did seem to be having a good time - calmly getting a small amount of food at a time. If our dinner had been better paced so much would not have been wasted - such a shame really.
Dessert was a big disappointment too. A pecan turtle thing (caramel and nuts) in chocolate, and they were pretty big, but sooooo sweet and sickly. Very few people could manage a whole one, even I struggled! (Though, of course, I did manage it!)
Someone from our group later reported they'd been outside into the restaurants lovely garden - we didn't even know to go an look! - and that there were tons more people outside too. These guys clearly need more staff, or not to take coach parties, because we too are paying customers and not folks that will never pass this way again, so who cares how we treat 'em. Trouble is, we travellers talk to other people - and have food blogs! It's stupid to weaken your reputation with such poor service. Big mistake!
On the plus side, while we were eating I mentally designed a table with a rotating round heated section in the centre (like Indian restaurants using tealights). The outer edge obviously would not rotate so your plate didn't keep wandering off! A second tier in the centre wouldn't go amiss either. What do you think? Too late to patent it now!
As for Billy Bob's Texas, this was a pointless stop if you ask me! We paid $2 and headed inside. It's basically a bar, with pool tables.
We'd come to watch - and even participate in - the line dancing, which was already underway. We watched for a while as folks moved forwards, backwards and sideways. Some folks even bought drinks. I got bored so went for a look around. I found this guy - an Arctic Grizzly from Alaska in the 1960s. I reckon given half a chance he'd have left with us!
I did attempt a little line dancing myself, but I don't think it's my forte. Same as photography doesn't seem to be the assistant's.
Around another corner I found a bull-riding stadium, with bleachers all around. It was quiet the night we were there.
At 8pm a band - Grand Central - came on stage. They were a bit loud and the keyboard player seemed to have Eric Morecambe's problem of playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. I got a couple more pictures around the place - this sparkly glitter ball...er, saddle! I even had a go on this motorbike game in the lobby.
They had a little bit of a Hall of Fame thing going on with hand prints on the wall. To be fair I hadn't heard of most of them, but of course I recognised Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.
By about 8.30pm, many of our fellow bus travellers were starting to congregate in the lobby area and we were all looking a bit bored, if I'm honest. I don't think we'd been so glad to see Patrick when he came to tell us the bus was here! Sorry Billy Bob's, I really don't think we'll be back.
It turns out there was a restaurant and bar in our hotel lobby and - in hindsight - we would probably have eaten there! We were swayed by Patrick and the joint Archers optional dinner and entertainment. Sadly, it was a pretty awful evening and an optional that so wasn't worth it. There was another one coming up in Louisiana - we were glad we hadn't signed up for that one!
We drove back to the hotel and soon went to bed. zzzzzzzzzzzz