Mom & Dad & The New Dallas Cowboy Stadium

Well, I have had me a day. I've been up since 4am. I left to get my Mom and Dad about 10 this morning. Traffic was backed way up on I-30, due to all the highway construction by Collins Street.

I got to my Mom and Dad about 11. Loaded them up and off we went. First off my Mom wanted to know where all the nearby fast food joints were. So, I showed them.

Then I drove them to the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium where they posed for me in their Cowboy hats. Then it was off to River Legacy Park. Then the Garden of Angels. Then the River Bottom Bar. By that point my Mom was getting hungry.

Mom asked if we had a Sweet Tomato restaurant. She wanted salad. I told her we were about 15 minutes from a Sweet Tomato. On the way there we passed my favorite Chinese buffet, that being the Super Bowl Buffet. For a minute or two it was debated if Mom wanted to go to the Super Bowl instead of Sweet Tomato.

We ended up at Sweet Tomato. It was my first time. It was good. Not as good as Fresh Choice used to be, but still good.

Mom kept being surprised by how big Arlington is, so after Sweet Tomato I decided to head south, down Matlock, til we escaped Arlington and the Metroplex.

That brought us to Hawaiian Falls in Mansfield. I then got on to 287 and headed towards downtown Fort Worth. Mom and Dad had a little sleep bout about that time.

I showed them some of the new stuff in downtown Fort Worth, like the now defunct Radio Shack Headquarters, soon to be Tarrant County Community College. I showed them the buildings that grew out of the tornado damage from 2000. The last time they were in Texas was soon after the tornado ripped through downtown Fort Worth.

I drove them through the cool new former Montgomery Wards, which has morphed into Montgomery Place. We drove through the "tunnel" and went to Super Target for some extensive shopping that included buying a bag of oranges. That perplexed me. They had given me about a half ton of citrus the day before.

After Super Target I drove them around the "Cultural District" showing them the new Museum of Modern Art, the Kimball Museum, the Amon Carter, the Cowgirl Museum, the Stock Show grounds and then on to the Botanic Garden.

After that I drove them down the very odd brick road known as Camp Bowie Boulevard. Mom wanted to go to a QT for a fountain drink. So, I turned off Camp Bowie, on to 183, and headed north. Right away there was a QT. That turned bizarre when some lady tried to work a scam on us.

Continuing north on 183 we went through River Oaks and then on to NE 28th Street til we got to the Stockyards zone. Drove through the Stockyards, showed them the Prison Break set. Continued on to Samuels Avenue to show them "Old Fort Worth" and all the development that will look down on the new "Town Lake." If it ever gets built.

Then back to the heart of downtown. Showed them the Sleeping Panther statue. And the new Omni Hotel. Mom and Dad both, even Mom, with her bad eyesight, thought those balconies were very disturbing.

I showed them the failed Sante Fe Rail Market that was supposed to be like Pike Place Market. They found that amusing. Then we got on Lancaster and headed under the Mixmaster, got on I-30, then off at Beach Street.

I drove down Scott Avenue and showed Mom and Dad the Mother Nature Shrine that weeps at the damage Chesapeake Energy has done to the Tandy Hills. Showed them the Tandy Hills. Then it was on to Oakland Park and then back on the freeway to deliver Mom and Dad back to their Studio Plus Apartment in Arlington.

Tomorrow I'm picking them up around the same time and taking them north to the Lake Grapevine zone. Lunch of free samples at Costco. Then back to Fort Worth and the Stockyards for All You Can Eat BBQ Ribs at Riscky's.