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MORE GREETINGS FROM DALLAS, Texas (TX) USA
Today was a day for taking in Dallas.
The weather forecast had again not been good so when we woke to a few showers and cloudy skies – and a forecast of thunderstorms throughout the day – it looked like we would be getting wet !
However the gloomy skies cleared fairly quickly and by 10am it was another hot and clear day.
As most of you will know, 22 November 1963 was a monumental day for Americans and the city of Dallas with the assassination of John F Kennedy, the 35th President, as his motorcade travelled along Dealey Plaza. There have been numerous conspiracy theories but our tour today would cover the landmarks of the “official” theory – Dealey Plaza, the grassy knoll and the Texas School Book Depository from where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shot (or shots ?).
A wet and cloudy start
The Dallas downtown streets are very quiet on a Sunday so it was a pretty quick walk down Main Street from our hotel. The Museum in the old Book Depository building is obviously a popular choice and it was the first time we have queued anywhere on this tour. Whilst the rest of the building is still in “normal use”, the 6th and 7th floors are now a museum to the events of the day. The audio tour takes you through the background of Kennedy’s election and the tension of the times – the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Civil Rights movement etc – to his visit to Texas and the events of the day. It was really well done. And by the time we had finished our visit, the “grassy knoll” was covered in tourists !
Texas Book Depository building – the window on the right, 2nd from top floor
At the Grassy Knoll
The assassin’s view
Next stop was Reunion Tower. Adrienne had obviously decided that she was doing her best to deal with my issues with heights this tour so off to another tower ! But while we were waiting for the lift, the sign said that it was the “15th tallest in Dallas and the 402nd tallest in North America” – so it was hardly worth the worry ! Mind you, at the top I was still keeping away from the edges ! But the views were good and the cafe revolved while we stopped for a drink and a snack.
From Reunion Tower – not much traffic on I 35 !
Next stop was the Nasher Sculpture Garden and Dallas Museum of Art. It was stinking hot so the air-conditioned Museum was a welcome stop. We wandered around the American galleries for a while and then headed back to our hotel mid afternoon.
Reflections in Renaissance Tower
Sculpture Garden
Though we had not intended driving today, Adrienne was still desperate to find Hot Tamales – her favourite cinnamon sweet – so she tracked down a nearby Costco. It also gave us a chance to test out the nearby new “cloverleaf” expressway contruction zone which gave the Tom Tom a bit of a workout ! So we ventured out south of Dallas a little but unfortunately no Hot Tamales !
This evening we had sorting and packing to organise for our flight home so we just had a couple of drinks and some dinner in the hotel lounge.
Still have a couple of things to do tomorrow before we head to the airport for our late flight home.
And the final Today’s Trivia – The town of El Paso, Texas is actually closer to California than it is to Dallas, Texas !