It is amazing what can be accompished in just one week. I like trips that are so busy that they seem to go on forever. Not always relaxing, but definitely more rewarding. It is kind of odd to put it into terms like this, but on the morning of Saturday, March 29, 2008, I had not yet visited Texas. I had never been to Dallas, Fort Worth, Crawford, Waco, College Station, Huntsville, Houston, San Antonio, Fredericksburg, Uvalde, Johnson City, Stonewall, Bonham, Denison, or Parker. And now just one week later I have seen all of these places. Pretty amazing.
Jackie took me to the Dayton Airport on Saturday morning. My flight was at 8:40 and I arrived the standard one hour early. I love this airport. They are always efficient and it’s easy to get through. In fact, one of my old neighbors (and Denise’s friend) Amy Morgan was helping to see me through the security check. This was a direct flight, so even though I paid out the nose for it, it was great to not have a layover. I arrived at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport at 10:10am, having gained an hour as I traveled west. I was rather disappointed when I stepped out of the airport that the temperature was in the 50’s. I was forced to continue to wear my ugly orange sweatshirt that I had brought along to keep warm for the brief time I was outside back in Dayton.
Bob picked me up in the rented Grand Marquis and introduced me to a new device that he had rented for this trip: the Garmin, which I quickly dubbed as “Judy Garmin.” Throughout the trip, we constantly referred to her as a third party traveling in our car. We wasted absolutely no time in heading to our first destination: Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Here we took in the various sites of the JFK assassination, visiting the museum on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, walking around the plaza, and seeing the JFK Memorial in the area. Further info and photos of our time here can be seen in the JFK posting found here.
Me and Bob at the Texas School Book Depository
The Dealey Plaza Memorial
Behind the grassy knoll fence
‘Filming’ from the knoll ala Zapruder
We also made a weak attempt to locate the Texas Theater where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested based on some info from a clerk at the Depository. However, we were running short on time at this point and decided to try it later in the week. We had an appointment in Crawford to keep.
Crawford of course is the current home of President George W. Bush. We were staying that night in the nearby town of McGregor at the Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast. The inn was lovely and the proprietor Jerry Walters took Bob and I into Crawford in his car and we toured nearly every inch of the tiny town, population 705. There were a few interesting Bush-related sites to see, but nearly 60% of the two-and-a-half hour tour was about what each location had meant to Jerry. That was okay, though, as he was fun to listen to. He was quite an interesting guy, having been Bush’s mailman, an occasional pastor at Bush’s church, and run telephone lines to Bush’s house – and yet still never having had the chance to meet him.
The Lighthouse B&B
In my wall
Bob kicks back in our room
Bob in our ‘tour car’
Sharing my political views with President Bush
No explanation necessary
The place in Crawford where President Bush casted his vote in the 2000 election
Outside President Bush’s place of worship when he’s home in Crawford, the Canaan Baptist Church
Preaching from the pulpit to…
…the choir. Sitting in the front pew where both President Bushes once sat.
Outside the church with our tour guide Jerry
President Bush’s property. The sign said “No Trespassing.” I obeyed.
After he took us back to the B&B, Bob and I headed out to the Coffee Station, the little hamburger dive where Bush had frequented and occasionally mentions in his speeches and interviews. I had a nice turkey cheeseburger which hit the spot after the long day.
Bob and me enjoying Bush-style food at the Coffee Station
Quite a nice place
I had no trouble falling asleep in my little bed nook in the wall inside our room, even though Ashleigh saw it fit to call me at 1:00am to ask me the answer to a trivia question.
Our trip will continue…
Click here to see more of the JFK sites in Dallas…
Bypass the trip and continue with 2008…
What did the president think of your political views??
Aaron
April 10th, 2008
What was Ashleigh’s trivia question?
Chris
April 10th, 2008
Ashleigh’s question was “Is there such a thing as Michelob Ultra Lite” to which the answer is no, it is called Michelob Ultra.
And George Bush said he didn’t care for my strategery.
Brad
April 10th, 2008