I woke up and went straight to the substandard gym. I think they had a stepper, treadmill, a floor mat, and a weight machine that you can only do about three exercises on. But breakfast got good when I saw the Texas-shaped waffle iron. that with some scrambled eggs and cranberry juice made it a good start.
My first stop was south Dallas at the the corner of Industrial and Cadiz, the former home of the Dallas Sportatorium. It's nothing but a grass field now; there's not even a marking to commemorate that this is where some of the bet pro wrestling ever took place. God bless the Von Erichs.
We drove into the West End, which is a declining area, but still a nice small urban section of town. I certainly didn't expect to see the Heart Attack Grill there, I thought the only one was in Arizona. But it was a little too early to eat, so we checked out some museums. We went into the
Old Red Museum before taking the tour of the JFK Museum, which is inside the The Texas School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy. Thanks to mom working with AA, we got 2-for-1 admission. Pretty stellar get. But we got our headphones and took the audio tour, it took me about an hour to go through it. As we were walking across the street to our car, Mom couldn't find her keys. Now while we had been waiting in the admission line, she asked me to go put change in the parking meter. Well, I never opened the car; I just changed a dollar for four quarters in the gift shop. I insisted as gently and firmly as I could that I gave them back. I knew there was a $200.00 fine for losing the rental car key. And we had to get to Plano quickly. I ran around the corner to check if I had left the keys in the car. Then I heard a voice..."I have them." Thankfully, they were in Mom's purse the whole time.
Thus, we began the 30 minute drive north to Plano. As we drove up the road, we noticed the area getting more plush and more sophisticated. It was pretty east to spot the Cruz house, it was the only one with a University of Wisconsin flag waving in the front yard. So I went inside, and was immediately greeted by their blonde goodle, Piper. Very handsome dog, and I'm guessing slightly spoiled too. Not as much as hogan, but hey... I also met Robert, Gavin, and Ian. We headed straight to Chuy's for some Mexican food.
The A/C was a welcome change from the 90 degree heat that day. We got a round corner booth and the chips and salsa came quickly. But Robert also ordered some cheese dip. I thought why would we want cheese. Little did I know what was coming. The waiter proceeded to bring out two bowls of melted nacho cheese topped with bits of tomato, avocado, red onion, and ground beef. We mixed them all in and as I started dipping the chips in and eating them, I knew I was not going to have much room for my actual meal!
That meal was the Comida Deluxe. It was a huge plate with two crisp tostadas dipped in queso, a sirloin taco, two chicken flautas, Tex-Mex chicken enchiladas, rice, beans, and guacamole. Very very good Mexican food, especially for a chain restaurant, certainly better than On the Border. I somehow finished everything except the rice. I especially enjoyed the flautas and the taco. We headed back to their home and Gavin and Ian took me upstairs and they showed me their Wii system and began playing the WWE game. I didn't get to see the end of the match, since we had to go. Ian even asked me when I was going to come back. That was a good feeling. It was a really good visit and I hope I get to see them sooner rather than later.
We drove back to the hotel. While Mom slept inside, I tanned for 90 minutes in 90 degree heat by the pool. After a shower, we got ready for downtown Fort Worth. It's much more of a Western-feeling town than Dallas, which is more cosmopolitan. We drove past a water garden where there was live music going on. Couldn't park though so we kept going. I was disappointed we did not see the Oak Ridge Boys perform, but Mom wasn't interested in dropping $40 per ticket. I would have gladly paid for mine. I would have liked to have heard some live music at some point.
So we headed north of downtown towards the Stockyards. we parked at Billy Bob's and had dinner at Cattlemen's Steak House, which has been around over 70 years. Had a great T-bone and baked potato. What really made this meal unique was the tray of toppings for the potato. There was a ramekin of sour cream, which I had no need for. But then, there was a silver, three-pronged tray of cheddar cheese, green onions, and bacon bits. It's almost like they were telling me "Put all the bacon on your potato that you want!" It was an excellent meal.
We then did some window shopping but I didn't make a purchase at the end. Oh, I would have liked to purchase a cowboy hat or boots, but in all honesty, how many times a year am I going to wear them in Chicago, considering I don't line dance. Two at the most?
So we headed back and I wasn't quite ready to turn in. So I took the car and drove around for 20 minutes. Wasn't exactly sure of my bearings. Another car nearly turned left into me as I was turning right. And we had no insurance. Good thing we got away with that one! I decided to not spend any cash and was feeling really full by about 9:30, so I called someone.
I chatted with the Queen of Queens for two hours straight, during which time, I went back to the hotel and hung in the stairwell for at least an hour. It was too hot to sit outside. I finally went inside around 11:00. I flipped the dials and watched Cool Runnings on HBO till 1 AM and went to bed.
We woke up at 6 and we headed to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, which is about a 40-minute drive south. Seemed we just kept driving south all weekend. There were 1,200 people there or so in attendance, maybe 25 of us were white! The service lasted about two hours, with at least 30 minutes of music alone. Lois Evans did ask the first-timers to stand up and I was ok doing that. Probably shook at least 15 hands after that.
Then Tony Evans came up for the message. He talked about why men are needed in the church. He talked about that men think of church a lot like a prostate exam. It can save your life, but it's a bit invasive and you just want to put it off as long as possible. He talked about the need for spiritual parenting, especially when it comes to male role models. He used an analogy of the master tape vs the copy. The copy needs to have everything that's on the master tape. Likewise, if Jesus Christ is going to be my master, I need to emulate him as much as I can. I loved when Tony talked about how much he loved New York. The bright lights of Times Square. He talked about the good-looking dummies in the store windows that are designed to get you off the street. The Men at Work sign, the starfish.
So we left and headed straight to DFW. We knew we wouldn't make it in time for the early flight to Northwest Arkansas. So we had three hours to kill. We grabbed lunch and maybe I should have had something more unique. But hey at this eatery, called Reata, they had a works burger. Now I'm talking about cheese, grilled onion, guacamole, tomatoes, bacon. It's kind of hard for me to say no to that! The chopped salad at the beginning was a nice start, however.
We connected through NW Arkansas, and I think this was my first time visiting Arkansas. Now we had just come from DFW, one the most plush, luxurious airports in the United States. Then we go to NWA. This was without a doubt the most prudent airport I've ever seen. The entire terminal, both upstairs and downstairs, consists of the following: a bar (as in only a bar), a countertop grill, two restrooms, a magazine stand (as in four small stands that look like the kiosks you would see in the middle of a mall), and ten gates. It was like going from Buckingham Palace to a tent. Nothing wrong with a tent, but I was just looking for something to do or watch or explore.
Well, we sat in that airport for about an hour and took an American Eagle plane. We landed at 5:50 and got in the door around 7:05. Solid A- trip.
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