Urban Texas Adventures

View of the other ferry heading
back the other way

After miraculously surviving my night in Sea Rim State Park without a gun, I headed towards Galveston.  The highway runs out at the edge of the water.  To bridge the gap between Bolivar and Galveston there is a free ferry that is part of the highway!  You have to wait in a line, but then you drive your car onto the ferry and after the boat leaves the dock, you can get out and wander around!  It was an enjoyable and scenic trip.  It was fun to see the other ferry headed back the other way.  After getting back on solid ground I headed to Houston to meet up with my uncle who was there on business.  After meeting up and having a totally delicious Vietnamese meal, I followed him home to Euless, which is between Dallas and Ft. Worth.  After enjoying the company of his two delightful cats, and playing with his most impressive train layout that runs near the ceiling throughout his house (it’s seriously cool!), we went to dinner and ate the most delicious steak I have ever eaten!  Then we strolled around for a bit soaking up the decidedly western feel of the area.  I very much enjoyed getting to see the quite impressive dancing at one of the bars!

The next day, Uncle Jimmy was my personal tour guide of the Ft. Worth Area.  First, we drove past the stadiums which are totally gigantic!  Then we went to the water garden.  First you walk past a calm pool of aqua water with some gently dripping water around the edges.  Then you go to a fountain that has lots of spouts shooting water up into the air.  Both of these were nice, but nothing too earth shattering.  Then you walk to this other fountain (that word doesn’t do it justice, but I’m not sure what other word to use).  There is water cascading everywhere!  As if the concept of a huge waterfall like structure in the middle of an urban setting wasn’t cool enough, there are stairs that let you walk down into it!  So, you get to be right in the middle with water crashing down all around you!  It’s totally magnificent!

The front

The back

Then we went to the train station.  We could only peek in the lobby part because they were setting up for a fancy event.  We were able to walk around the back and see the trains though.  I must say my favorite part was the huge fan in the bar area that was made by the Big Ass Fan company!  Then we went to the Amon Carter Art Museum.  It happened to be the day of their fiftieth anniversary party.  They had a contest to see who could decorate the best cake celebrating the event.  While all the cakes were quite well done, there was one that stood out.  It was a replica of the building complete with plants and the sculpture out front.  After looking at the cakes, I wandered through the museum and inspected the art.  When the guards started shooing me out so they could close and get ready for the party, my uncle pointed out the true brilliance of the cake that stood out.  He told me to walk around the back of the table.  Well, walking around the back revealed that the cake was not just a replica of the outside of the building!  It was also a replica of the inside!  It had the paintings on the walls, the sculptures on pedestals, the stairs, and even lighting!  It was the most amazing thing!  It was even more amazing when I remembered it was all made out of cake!!!      

The mustangs 

After the museum, we went to my uncle’s friend’s house.  I got to meet her crew of pets.  They had a cat, a large dog, and a ferret.  I was concerned about the ferret when I saw him walking because by his gait it seemed like he may have been missing a leg, but I guess when your body is so long and skinny, you have no choice but to have a strange gait.  After leaving, the scenic tour continued.  Then we went to Grapevine.  We went to see the lake then went downtown to eat.  After enjoying dinner, we waited for the band to start.  While we waited, we had a good view of a man that his shirt open so you could see his gunshot wound.  While it seemed a little strange and unnecessary at first, upon further consideration, I feel that if I had gotten shot and lived to show off the scar, I would as well (. . .perhaps not if it meant not being able to be fully dressed in public, but who can tell. . .). 

Uncle Jimmy in the balloons

The next day we went to Dallas.  Our first stop was at a statue of mustangs that appeared to be galloping through some water.  I must say, they were shockingly realistic looking!  Then we went to the Nasher Sculpture Center.  We strolled around upstairs, then the garden area, then we headed downstairs.  While everything looked nice and new, I was a little concerned about the structural integrity of the building when we started walking down the stairs.  Each stair seemed to move a bit when I stepped on it.  When we got the bottom of the stairs, we realized that the stairs were moving a bit because each step played a note when it was stepped on and the music we had heard at various intervals was coming from the stairs!  When we got down the musical stairs, we saw a huge room with a glass wall and door facing us, filled with orange balloons.  The concept of just seeing a room full of balloons from floor to ceiling was amusing alone.  Then the guards by the door asked if I wanted to go in.  You got to go into this balloon room and walk around!  It was quite the experience!  It was rather loud due to all the balloons having to rub against each other to allow enough room for a person to move through them.  It was kind of fun to be in the middle of the room and be so completely surrounded by balloons that you couldn’t see anything but balloons! 

The Book Depository

After the balloon adventure, we saw a huge stature of cowboys wrangling cattle.  Then we headed to more serious setting.  We went to where Kennedy was shot.  We went to the museum in the book depository.  They give you head phones and talk you through what happened.  It was very interesting and powerful!  It was also interesting to be able to see the exact places and vantage points that were being discussed.        

After washing my car and getting me set up with great directions and tips of other things to see in Texas, Uncle Jimmy sent me off the next morning.  It was so nice to have such a wonderful and kind tour guide!  It was also wonderful to have someone else make a majority of the decisions for a while (although I think I drove him crazy with that)!  It was also nice to get to his house, cats, trains, stereo, and neighbors/friends, not to mention him!