Remembering Mom & Dad Herding Fort Worth Stockyard Longhorns With Sister Nancy In A Dress

Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day that are a tad special.

The first photo I know for sure was taken in October of 2001. Mom and dad's first visit to Texas to see their eldest son.

Mom and dad's second visit to Texas took place in January of 2009, which is how I know the above is from the first visit, due to January being cold, whilst in October it can still be shirtsleeve weather in Texas.

Both of mom and dad's visits to Texas included visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards, which is where we are in the above photo, watching the Fort Worth herd of longhorns pass by. An event which takes place twice a day.

That is mom, on the right, watching dad try to take photos of the herd with his Olympus digital camera. During their visit mom repeatedly instructed dad to take a photo. I doubt those photos ever made their way off the camera.

Both mom and dad visits to the Fort Worth Stockyards also involved going to Riscky's BBQ for All You Can Eat BBQed Ribs.

That is another way I know this photo is from 2001. We were sitting outside at Riscky's. In 2009 we were inside, because it was cold.

I would link to my Eyes on Texas website webpage of the Fort Worth Stockyards, which included photos of mom and dad's visit, but, I have decided to terminate my Eyes on Texas website, after letting it live for a couple decades. I no longer update that website. Thus it has become dated. I no longer enjoy fiddling with HTML code. So, bye bye Eyes on Texas.

I have no clue if the above photo was taken on a day in September, or October. I can see the photo has stamped on it "JAN 64". But, that likely is when the photo was developed, not when it was taken. Photo taking was quite primitive, prior to the invention of the digital method of photo taking.

I do not recognize the car behind us. I do know the location is the front yard of 1027 Washington Avenue, in Burlington, Washington.

On the left that would be me, with my little brother, Jake, next to me, then our then extremely little sister, Jackie, holding on to Jake, with big sister, Nancy, in one of the rare instances of her being photo documented in a dress.

This photo would have been taken about six years before the arrival of our final baby sister, Michele....

Down Memory Lane With Siblings & The Fort Worth Herd

This morning's Microsoft OneDrive memories are what you are seeing here. I don't quite know where Microsoft is finding these photos. 

In the big photo you are seeing me and all but one of my siblings.

The youngest sibling had not yet arrived on the planet.

That would be my little brother, Jake, on the left, sister Jackie next to Jake, me next to Jackie, and sister Nancy next to me, in one of the rare photo documentations of Nancy in a dress.

Today is brother Jake's and Hank Frank's happy birthday.

To the right of the photo of me and my siblings the first three photos are from the first time mom and dad visited me in Texas. October of 2001. A month after the notorious date of 9/11.

In those three photos we are at Riscky's BBQ in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

In the middle photo that is mom, on the right, watching dad trying to take a photo of the Fort Worth herd of longhorns and cowboys passing by.

I think the memory at the bottom right is a look at the Wichita River, viewed from the Wichita Bluffs.

And that concludes our journey down memory lane for the day....

Creepy Elsie Hotpepper Message About Fort Worth Slaughterhouse Hotel

The creepy message you see here was sent to me via Miss Elsie Hotpepper.

Apparently a deal has been finagled between the city of Fort Worth and a hotel developer to develop a new Fort Worth Stockyards hotel on the site of the long closed Swift Armor slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant.

I do not know if it is Elsie Hotpepper who thinks it sounds creepy to stay at a hotel built on a slaughterhouse grounds, or if someone sent Elsie this message, which she then forwarded to me.

However, due to the well known delicate nature of Elsie Hotpepper I suspect it is she who finds this hotel to be potentially creepy.

Personally, I don't find this all that creepy and I don't think it would bother me to stay in this hotel.

Now if this had been the location where Fort Worth conducted its hangings back in the days when locally such punishments took place, well, that might be a bit creepy.

Ever since my eyes beheld the location of the former Swift Armor operation I thought it to be one of the most interesting things I have ever seen in any town anywhere, wondering what caused this? And why has this rubbled mess not been cleaned up, what with it being at the location of what I thought then was the town's only tourist attraction?

I long ago made a webpage about that rubbled mess which I called The Stockyard Ruins.

When I first saw that which I came to call The Stockyard Ruins I thought they looked like what photos of Berlin looked like at the end of World War II.

A day or two ago I asked someone if they knew how these buildings came to be such ruins. Not realizing til a few minutes ago that I had already asked that question and years ago got an answer, from someone named CM Waring, which I then added to the info on the webpage about The Stockyard Ruins...

The Stockyards Ruins were victims of arson fires, 2, in 1971 and 1973. The amount of animal fat in the buildings left the fires unable to be extinguished. They just let it burn out. I was long interested in how the ruins got in the state it's been for decades. I had to do plenty of digging to get that info, and I couldn't tell you where I finally found it. It was not easy.

A few years ago a FOX TV show called Prison Break used part of The Stockyard Ruins, turning one of the ruins into a Panama prison, complete with barbed concertina wire, guard towers and military vehicles. This is also photo documented on my The Stockyard Ruins webpage.

I wonder if the Armor Hotel will actually get built on the site of The Stockyard Ruins. Or will it turn into yet one instance of Fort Worth vaporware?

Is Indoor Plumbing An Imaginary World Class Fort Worth Luxury?

When one goes out for lunch at a restaurant in a modern American city one expects such restaurant in such city to have indoor plumbing.

One does not expect, in a modern American city, to see an amenity, such as indoor plumbing, touted as a feature, along with hamburgers and hotdogs.

And then there is that modern world class city of Fort Worth, implausible future home of Amazon HQ2..

I have been asked a time or two from people from other locations, well, west coasters, if Fort Worth is really as backwards as I describe it.

As in is Fort Worth really a town with city parks without running water or modern restrooms? With no public pools? With miles of streets without sidewalks? With a downtown ghost town? With no real newspaper? With wanton corruption and bizarre lunacy in instances such as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, more commonly known as America's Biggest Boondoggle?

When I am asked such questions, I have to be honest, and tell the asker that yes, Fort Worth is as backwards as I describe it.

For instance, there really is only one location in Fort Worth which is remotely unique and remotely tourist attraction worthy. That being the Fort Worth Stockyards.

And in the Fort Worth Stockyards one finds multiple examples of Fort Worth's backwardness in the indoor plumbing area which gives one a good idea as to why Fort Worth is known as the Outhouse Capital of America.

I am not sure, but I think maybe BIG BALLS OF COWTOWN may no longer be in business. But, while those BIG BALLS were in business, and if they still are, BIG BALLS lets its customers know they can expect to find Indoor Plumbing inside instead of an outhouse out back.

And the Cadillac Cantina is proud to let you know they have Indoor Restrooms in addition to drink specials.

For the final two examples I do not remember the names of the establishments. One of which features the Indoor Restrooms feature and drink specials, along with some special air conditions.

And another which proudly features Indoor Plumbing along with fried potatoes and hot dogs.

Is there any other town in America where one can find this type thing in one of the town's tourist attractions?

Even downtown Fort Worth is sadly lacking in modern public facilities to facilitate the comfort of the few tourists to visit that underdeveloped space. Even when the impossible to find Sundance Square finally appeared as a plaza, after decades of confusing the town's few tourists with its non existence, Sundance Square Plaza has no modern restroom facilities.

Sundance Square Plaza does not even have that Fort Worth standard non-modern world outhouse option.

So,  is it any mystery why Fort Worth's favorite son, J.D. Granger, uses any form of outhouse he finds, when the need strikes, no matter how primitive it may be... 

Does Anyone Know What We Are Saving The Stockyards From?

There is a Fort Worth effort afoot to Save the Stockyards.

This effort afoot has a Facebook page appropriately titled Save Our Stockyards.

What is it the Stockards are being saved from?

I'm not sure.

All I know for sure is the City of Fort Worth, in cahoots with a California based developer, is wanting to do some developing in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District zone.

I've never been able to get a clear, consistent answer to what these developing plans entail, as in what is proposed to be removed, and where will all this development be taking place?

I have been told that the actual Stockyards are to be removed. I find this real hard to believe, as the actual Stockyards, the old pens with a boardwalk crossing the length above the pens is the most unique part of the Stockyards.

I've long thought the Stockyards sort of turns its back on the part of the place I think is the most unique. The access from Exchange Avenue is a bit tricky to find. You go through a revolving gate which is adjacent to where the Fort Worth Herd spends most of their time. Or you can access actual Stockyards from the north, to the east of Billy Bob's.

Above we are on the aforementioned boardwalk above the actual Stockyards, looking south at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Are the above actual Stockyards part of what is proposed to be removed? If so, count me on board the Save the Stockyards bandwagon.

Look Inside Fort Worth Stockyards Renovated New Isis Theater

This morning Elsie Hotpepper directed me to that which you see here, on Facebook, photos of "An abandoned theater in the Stockyards of Fort Worth built in 1930s and forgotten since 1988."

The theater being talked about is the New Isis Theater, with its reader board, for years, promising the New New Isis would be opening soon, ever since I first saw this eyesore soon upon my arrival in Texas, late in the previous century.

I have mentioned this Stockyards eyesore many times, in various venues, over the years, including multiple mentions on this blog you are looking at right now, for example...

The Fort Worth Stockyards New Isis Theater Travesty & The Baker Hotel In Mineral Wells Travesty

and

The New Isis Theater In The Fort Worth Stockyards Is Still Not New After All These Years.

The blog post about the New Isis Theater still not being new, after years of claiming it would be re-opening soon, included the following interesting information from a guy named Robert....

Dear Durango Texas,

As an FYI - The New Isis Theater is currently in the architectural phase of renovation. This will probably take 3-4 months and the renovation approximately 14-16 months. Hopefully we can achieve a look which will remove us from your expertly crafted list of Stockyard buildings in need of repair. You could be very helpful in this process by informing your web viewers that the original seats from the inside of the theater are available for those who would like to purchase a piece of history. These will need to be replaced because of they are only 16 1/2 inches wide compared to modern theater seats at 21". (a testament to the decline of our culinary tastes over the last 70+ years.)

Regards,
Robert
The New Isis Theater

The blog post which let us know the New Isis Theater renovation would be completed in 14 - 16 months was from way back in October of 2011.

Did J.D. Granger and America's Biggest Boondoggle take over the New Isis Theater renovation? Is that why in 2016 the New Isis Theater looks like that which you see below?

The above photo is what the interior of the renovated New Isis Theater looks like in 2016. This is one of the photos in the Jonny Goodday Facebook post which Elsie Hotpepper directed me to.

How did this theater get in such bad shape? Why is this boarded up eyesore allowed to continue blighting Fort Worth's best tourist attraction, the Stockyards, decade after decade?

Heading West To Fort Worth's Best Tourist Attractions & Uncle Julio's Enchiladas With Boondoggle Bridges

I dropped in on Fort Worth's two best tourist attractions today, those being the Botanic Garden, before visiting Uncle Julio's on Camp Bowie, and then the Fort Worth Stockyards.

I came across multiple Asian tourists enjoying the Botanic Garden. The language being spoken was Asian, but I can not tell what brand, be it Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean or any of the other Asian flavors.

In the photo you are looking at a guy who had caused a herd of turtles and koi fish to get all excited taking bites out of the piece of bread he was holding above the water. On the 5th and last slice a big turtle snapped the entire piece out of  his hand, which caused a frenzy in the water as turtles and fish battled  for bread.

Why are the Botanic Garden's turtles and fish so hungry?

Fort Worth's Botanic Garden is the first thing I discovered in Fort Worth, soon after I was exiled here, which I thought I'd never seen anything like it, done so well. The Botanic Garden really is a gem. A lot to see and explore.

Today I came upon a memorial to Charlie Company that I'd happened upon for the first time way back in 2009. Eventually I got back to my computer where I soon learned I'd blogged about my previous visit to the Botanic Garden's Charlie Company memorial in a blogging titled Charlie Company Memorial in Fort Worth's Botanic Garden. It is a rather poignant memorial.

Leaving the Botanic Garden I headed west to Uncle Julio's. My new form of mechanical vehicular transport informs me what direction I am heading. But, I already knew I was heading west. I have not yet figured out why being informed of the direction I am heading is of any use.

Arriving at Uncle Julio's a half hour past noon I was not happy to see a lot of vehicles parked on the road and in the parking lot. I figured there would be a long wait, which would have had me going somewhere else. But, I figured wrong. The interior eating zone was packed, but the outdoor patio was not.

You can  see the unpacked Uncle Julio's outdoor patio above, with Big Ed being very uncomfortable due to two blondes insisting on sitting on his shoulders. I don't understand why more people did not opt to eat outside. It was very pleasant, with overhead fans making a breeze, and, as you can see, plenty of shade.

After an hour with Uncle Julio I headed back east, intending to see if I could find any evidence of America's Biggest Boondoggle's three bridges being  built slow motion over dry land. This coming October it will be a year since bridge construction began with a TNT bang.

Well. I drove past what I think will eventually be a big traffic circle. I saw a few pier like things coming out of the ground which may be bridge supports. But, is this all there is after this much time? Driving through that area  I have no clue where the ditch will go that will go under the three bridges. Where are the other two bridges? I found no other construction activity.

Continuing on I drove through Fort Worth's #1 tourist attraction, the Fort Worth Stockyards, which I think is the best tourist attraction in the D/FW zone. And is the only thing I take out of state visitors to that impresses them as being something not seen back in their own home zones.

Fort Worth really should put more effort into improving the Stockyards. I saw there has been some sidewalk work done since my last visit. The lighting at night needs a lot of work. And get rid of any boarded up eyesores, like the New Isis Theater, which has been "Opening Soon" since before I arrived in Texas in the last century. And demolish that ugly Wells Fargo bank eyesore. How did that get construction approval?

There were a lot of tourists touring the Stockyards today. And Riscky's BBQ was packed. Made me want  to stop for the all you can eat beef ribs. But, I had just been to Uncle Julio's and was not hungry.

Leaving the Stockyards I headed north on Highway 156, also known as Blue Mound Road. My initial location in Texas was in Haslet, a tiny burg way out in the country, at that point in time. Early upon arrival  in Texas, when getting our bearings, we did not yet remember place names, so, heading to downtown Fort Worth, one would ask what route you taking? The Freeway or Tijuana? Yes, we referred to Fort Worth's Blue Mound Highway 157 Road as Tijuana. None of us had ever seen such a road with so much delapidation in full view. This was before we discovered other roads in Fort Worth, like Lancaster and Berry.

I digress.

So, it has been years since I have driven by my original Texas location. Two things shocked me. One was Tijuana, in even worse shape than it was when I first saw it. The other shocking thing was to see how much of what had been open land is now covered by houses. Houses as far as I could see.

I drove past my first Texas abode with very little looking  familiar. I continued on to Golden Triangle Boulevard. West of I-35 Golden Triangle is still  a potholed mess, despite all the new houses and side roads. East of  I-35 Golden Triangle has been turned into a modern boulevard.

With landscaping.

Crossing under the freeway was like leaving a third world country and re-entering America. When I lived in Haslet  the drive east on Golden Triangle was lonely. Not a busy road. This is no longer the case. The closest grocery store upon my arrival was Krogers in Keller. Now there is an Albertsons on Golden Triangle well before you get to Keller, along with a lot of the usual fast food joints and other developments.

Continuing on into Keller I headed south on Rufe Snow Road, which has been totally rebuilt since I last drove it from Keller.

The remainder of today's road trip was over ground I've been on in recent times.

So, what is the deal with The Boondoggle's bridges? Anyone know? Anyone know exactly where that flood diversion ditch is going to be dug? Almost a year after that big TNT bang celebrating the start of the building of three bridges in slow motion and what I saw today is all there is to see?

Bizarre. And just a little pitiful.....

Are We Having A Showdown At The Fort Worth Stockyards Cattle Pen?

Big Ed emailed me asking why I'd not opined about this.

With the this to which Big Ed referred being the info contained in the article you see part of here, screen capped, titled Showdown: History and the future face off in Fort Worth Stockyards.

Recently something called the National Trust for Historic Preservation put out its annual list of what they considered to be America's Most Endangered Historic Places, with the Fort Worth Stockyards on this year's list.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation apparently thinks a $175 million project planned by Fort Worth's Hickman family, partnered with a California developer called Majestic Realty, is an "insensitive development" which threatens the historically significant Fort Worth Stockyards.

I don't know where in the Stockyards this proposed development is to take place, but one paragraph in the article tilted me to being against this development....

“It certainly ought to be a wake-up call to [Majestic owner Ed] Roski and the mayor that trading those cattle pens for modern-day restaurants and retail is foolish,” Murrin said. “Our national and international reputation is what tourism in the Stockyards is based on. It’s not just preservation for preservation’s sake. It’s good business.”

This project wants to take down the part of the Stockyards which is a stockyard? That being the cattle pens and the walkway that takes you above the cattle pens? That walkway is what the cowboy is standing on in the above photo.

And the cattle pens are where the Fort Worth Herd lives when the Longhorns are not in Trail Drive mode.

I was hoping this proposed development was an improvement, not something destructive, because the Fort Worth Stockyards could use some work.

Much has improved since I first visited the Stockyard, but many boarded up eyesores remain, such as the New Isis Theater.

Why does the city not do something about the New Isis eyesore is a question I have been asking since late in the last century.

The sidewalks in the Stockyards could use some work.

After dark the lighting in the Stockyards is terrible.

It has long seemed to me that Fort Worth sort of turns its back on its one and only actual tourist attraction that people in other parts of the planet actually know about. Visit the Stockyards on any summer Saturday and you will run into a European or two or three. Often Germans.

The Fort Worth Stockyards Is Proud Of Its Indoor Plumbing

Yesterday I discovered something which has caused me to further worry that my memory faculties are failing.

Maybe not failing, but definitely not as sharp as they used to be.

For years I have been mentioning my bum puzzlement regarding Fort Worth's apparent love of outhouses.

I remember a few years back documenting the astounding Outhouse Farm of acres of outhouses, awaiting placement, located in Fort Worth's Homeless People District on Lancaster Avenue, and visible from I-30.

As recently as yesterday I blogged about the Fort Worth outhouse phenomenon in a blogging titled Seattle Got Embarrassed By Something Which Should Embarrass Fort Worth.

That same day I opened my web editor to check something on my Fort Worth Stockyards webpage. When I was looking at the list of HTML files, looking for the Stockyards file, I saw an HTML file named outhouse.html.

What is outhouse.html, I wondered to myself?

I opened that HTML file to find that which you see part of above, screen capped.

Apparently, years ago, I made a webpage about the multiple instances in the Fort Worth Stockyards of restaurants, saloons and cantinas informing their potential patrons that their establishment featured indoor plumbing.

I remember, when I saw all those signs, thinking how do these people not realize this is embarrassing? It's like saying, yes, we are a backward third world location, but, dang it, we have indoor plumbing.

I remember thinking I could not imagine a business at my former location on the planet, on the west coast, feeling the need to inform people they had indoor plumbing, due to the fact that for a long, long, long time, in other parts of America, indoor plumbing has been the norm, not the exception to be pointed to as an exceptional attribute.

I updated my Fort Worth Stockyards Indoor Plumbing webpage, with some needed changes, to make it more current, what with the original originating well over a decade ago.

Ironically, unlike other Fort Worth locations, like city parks and the Panther Island Pavilion best waterfront music venue in the world, I have never seen an outhouse in the Fort Worth Stockyards.....

With Mom & Dad At Riscky's BBQ In The Stockyards Watching The Fort Worth Herd

I came upon that which you see above a couple days ago whilst looking at webpages I'd not looked at in a long time. That is my mom, on the right, looking at my dad, on the left, trying to take a picture of the Fort Worth Herd ambling their way through the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Our herd viewing vantage point was from the outdoor patio at Riscky's BBQ where we were having the all you can eat ribs along with other Texas delicacies.

The webpage on which my mom and dad appear is titled FORT WORTH HERD IN THE STOCKYARDS. On that webpage there is a link to another webpage, with that one titled FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS VIDEO on which, if I remember right, if you watch the video, and pay close attention, you may see Elsie Hotpepper.

The above photo was taken during mom and dad's first visit to visit me in Texas. I believe this was in late October or early November. I know the year was 2001, shortly after 9/11.

Also anchoring the time frame in my memory is I remember driving mom and dad south on I-820 when something came up in the conversation which had me picking up my phone and calling my sister's number in Arizona.

My favorite nephew Jeremy answered.

Jeremy was 14 or 15 at that point in time. Jeremy was home alone and being a bit nervous. It was from Jeremy we learned that America had begun its bombing of the Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan. This was Jeremy's first experience where he was old enough to understand what was happening when America was starting up one of its ubiquitous wars, hence the being a bit nervous.

Seems like only yesterday, but that phone call to Jeremy took place almost 14 years ago.

The last time mom and dad visited me in Texas was in January of 2009. On their first visit, mom could still see. On the last visit mom's macular degeneration had rendered seeing very problematic.

I called mom and dad on Saturday and learned my dad is about to get a pacemaker installed. I don't think mom and dad will be taking any more roadtrips to Texas. I probably should be taking myself on a roadtrip to Arizona....

Record Texas Snowfall Keeping Me From Town Talk This Last Day Of February

That which you see here was the big headline this morning in the online version of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on this last day of the second month of 2015.

Prior to moving to Texas from the moderate climate of the Western Washington zone of the Pacific Northwest this was not the type headline I thought possible in the Dallas/Fort Worth part of Texas.

I was to learn my pre-conception about D/FW's weather was erroneous soon upon arrival in the little hamlet of Haslet, at the far north end of Fort Worth.

I had left Washington six days prior, with rain falling heavily til I crossed the Cascades into Eastern Washington.

When I arrived at my new location in Haslet I was appalled to find rain falling harder than I had ever experienced in Washington, with flooding seeming to be inundating the landscape everywhere I looked.

About a week later I was in the Fort Worth Stockyards, at the now defunct Riscky Rita's all you can eat Mexican food lunch buffet. When I arrived at the Stockyards, and entered Riscky Rita's, the temperature was pleasantly in the 70s.

When I had had my fill of Riscky Rita's Tex-Mex I was shocked upon exiting to the outer world to discover the temperature had dropped a lot of degrees, with a strong wind blowing making it feel even colder.

This was my introduction to the concept of the Wind Chill Factor.

I remember running to get to my vehicle to escape the cold.

That night the temperature dropped to 15 degrees. We did not know how to turn off the water to the barn and the pool. We did not know what we needed to do, other than keep faucets dripping.

By morning my introduction to the Ice Storm concept had arrived, coating everything, including the two cows in the pasture, with a layer of ice.

I was mortified that I'd somehow gone from the Banana Belt climate of the Skagit Valley to what now seemed to me to be what living in Alaska must be like.

And then a few short days later the temperature returned to being in the 70s, which was my introduction to the Texas weather concept of extreme weather changes within short time frames.

Which brings me to the present, February 28, 2015. Once again rendered immobile by a coating of slippery ice covering much of North Texas.

I won't be going to Town Talk today....

Cowboys Want To Stop California's DreamVision From Ruining The Fort Worth Stockyards

Last night that which you see here showed up via my primary electronic communication device.

Apparently the Dallas Cowboys are upset about their favorite playground, that being the Fort Worth Stockyards, where one finds the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplexes most concentrated collection of cowboys, being potentially damaged by a California developer.

In the past couple days I have heard a time or two reference made to some sort of theme park coming to Fort Worth, this being a supposed 5,000 acre, multi-billion dollar development, by a California developer called DreamVision.

My reaction to reading that DreamVision is claiming it wants to make Fort Worth the family entertainment capital of the world involves some eye rolling, along with other gesturing.

Yes, it seems possible landlocked Fort Worth, with its beautiful bodies of water, including the pristine Trinity River, along with its mild weather, cool summers, warm winters, could easily supplant places like Orlando and Anaheim as the family entertainment capital of the world.

Googling "DreamVision Fort Worth" I came upon an instructive article via WFAA titled "Proposed Fort Worth Theme Park" part of which I will copy below...

FORT WORTH — Fort Worth is no stranger to fun; just look to the ongoing Stock Show and Rodeo.

But a 5,000-acre theme park would be a game-changer.

That's what Fort Worth-based The DreamVision Company will reveal Monday, according to a news release. Its website alludes to plans for a sprawling attraction in Cowtown, complete with golf courses, hotels, and more

If this whole concept sounds familiar, there's good reason. We spoke to DreamVision's CEO Rick Silanskas in 2013 after his company held a huge event downtown and announced similar plans, which have not yet come to fruition.

"We want to see Fort Worth become the family entertainment capital of the world," he said then.

Perhaps this time around, DreamVision will turn its dreams (and visions) into reality.

So.

We find out Monday if the family entertainment capital of the world is going to be located in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Are there 5,000 acres of land available for developing in the Stockyards zone? I would think not.

Before the Dallas Cowboys, and others, in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex get themselves all twisted with worry about the California destruction of the Stockyards, let us review some Fort Worth history of these type grandiose pronouncements and their actual reality.

Early this century we had the Fort Worth Dunce Confederacy's Santa Fe Rail Market debacle, sold to the public as the first public market in Texas, modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market, but which was, in reality, a small, food court type failure which did not last long before closing.

Also early in this century we had the Fort Worth Dunce Confederacy foisting a "public works" project on Fort Worth which would allegedly turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. This was called Trinity Uptown, which then became the Trinity River Vision after an un-needed flood control aspect was added to the project in order to try and secure, unsuccessfully, federal money for what is now know, years later, simply as The Boondoggle.

Then we had the Cabela's Embarrassment, where Cabela's convinced the Dunce Confederacy, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram went along with the nonsense, that being the bizarre idea that a sporting goods store would give Fort Worth the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas. The Dunce Confederacy fawned all over this con job, giving all sorts of tax breaks to Cabela's.

I blogged about the Cabela's Embarrassment several times, including a blogging titled Fort Worth and Cabela's and another titled The Top 15 Texas Tourist Attractions With #1 Not Being Cabela's Sporting Goods Store.

And then there was back in 2009 when another Fort Worth theme park development was announced. I blogged about that one in Fort Worth Glacier Peak Bearfire Resort Vision. And needless to say, no one is skiing down a fake mountain at the Glacier Peak Bearfire Resort, because it never was built.

I suspect never being built is the same fate that will come to DreamVision's possible plan to turn Fort Worth into the family entertainment capital of the world, with no theme park ever built, and the Fort Worth Stockyards remaining safe in its currently slightly neglected state....

Christmas In The Fort Worth Stockyards With Dancing Cows, Pete Delkus & Too Many Fort Worth Police

Last night, that being the third Monday night of the last month of 2014, I found myself in the Fort Worth Stockyards, making my way to the vicinity of Booger Red's Saloon, home of Buffalo Butt Beer, when I came upon a raucous scene I had not anticipated.

Being face to face with one of the most notorious faces in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Pete Delkus.

The premiere Weather Drama Queen of North Texas.

I have lost track of the number of times I have been peacefully minding my own business, watching some television show on ABC, to find the show suddenly interrupted by Pete Delkus excitedly informing me that a rotating cell has been detected some long distance from my location, that may drop hail or spin into a tornado.

Anyway, Pete Delkus was surrounded by a lot of Dancing Cows. And a mini-orchestra providing music, with a couple singers singing. It really was a festive affair. You can watch a snippet of the festive affair in the video below.

As I stood watching the Dancing Cows a nice young lady asked if I would like some hot cocoa. I politely declined. She then asked if I would like some cookies. I said yes please, saying I hope one is white chocolate macadamia nut. To which she replied one was, with the other one being a plain ol' chocolate chip cookie.

Soon after escaping the Dancing Cows and Pete Delkus, to continue on my way to Booger Red's, I came upon a poster informing me that the Dancing Cows with Pete Delkus mayhem was a Chick-fil-A Christmas thing.

Which explained the Dancing Cows and the event being a Toy Drop Off.

This also explained the long line of cars, with Santa and his Helpers taking packages from the cars in exchange for hot cocoa and cookies.

One thing of note which bothered  me about last night's visit to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

That being there seemed to be, to me, way too many Fort Worth police cars stationed around the Stockyards. I have been in many a tourist attraction over the years and I do not recollect ever seeing such a heavy handed type police presence at what would seem to be an innocuous night in the Stockyards. I have never noticed multiple Fort Worth police cars during daytime visits to the Stockyards.

Or was there an ISIS terror threat about which I was unaware? I did notice two Fort Worth police cars parked on Main Street, at the Exchange Street turn into the Stockyards, parked near the long abandoned New ISIS Theater.

Methinks if the Fort Worth police think a heavy handed police presence is needed, then park your police cars somewhere out of sight, get out of the car and walk the Stockyard beat.

And now for your viewing pleasure, Dancing Cows & Pete Delkus in Christmas Festive mode in the Fort Worth Stockyards, with heavy police protection...

A Beautiful Veteran's Day In Skagit County Got Me Thinking About Being A Texas Tourist

Spencer Jack's dad, my favorite nephew Jason, emailed me the above picture a few minutes ago, with the subject line "Beautiful Veteran's Day in Skagit County."

It is a beautiful Veteran's Day in Tarrant County, too. But not quite as scenically beautiful as Skagit County.

I just used my computer based temperature monitoring device to learn that Mount Vernon is currently being chilled 3 degrees cooler than Fort Worth is being cooled at 49 degrees.

Before I got distracted by the temperature I mentioned that Skagit County is a bit more scenically beautiful than Tarrant County, but got distracted before adding, just like Mount Vernon is more scenically beautiful than Fort Worth.

Mount Vernon has a beautiful, clean, clear, big river running through town, Fort Worth has a modified river which looks sort of like a big ditch as it passes by downtown Fort Worth.

Mount Vernon has an actual mountain in town, called Little Mountain. Little Mountain would be considered a big mountain in Fort Worth. You can hang glide from the top of Little Mountain. There is nothing to hang glide from in Fort Worth. You can go wakeboarding though, in a dirty lake with a cable to drag you around the lake. No such contraption exists in Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon has a Skagit River Vision you can actually see, while Fort Worth has a Trinity River Vision where today we learned we will soon be able to witness three bridges magically rising vertically from the ground.

Mount Vernon has a couple grocery stores in its downtown, one of which I greatly miss, that being the Skagit Valley Co-Op. Fort Worth has no grocery stores in its downtown, and nothing exists in the entire Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex like the Skagit Valley Co-Op.

Mount Vernon is served by a mass transit system which takes you all over Skagit County. Fort Worth has a mass transit system which takes you to some locations in Fort Worth, but not all over Tarrant County.

What got me off tangent from my original  intent to comment on the picture my favorite nephew Jason sent me?

Back to that picture. What we are looking at in the foreground is known as the Skagit Flats, one of the most fertile, productive agricultural areas in the world, growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables and flowers. Before diking made the Skagit River behave itself after it left the mountains, the Skagit Flats would get flooded when the river was in flood mode.

In the middle of the picture is something you can not find in Texas. A volcano. The Mount Baker volcano is that white spot sticking up above foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Mount Baker is an active volcano, which means you can see steam spewing from its crater at times.

Mount Vernon would be to the right in this picture, the town I grew up in, Burlington, would be in the middle, I think, maybe more to the left than the middle. As you can see one does not live far from the mountains when one lives in Western Washington. One also does not live far from saltwater. If we went left in this picture, heading west a few miles, we'd run into saltwater, maybe Swinomish Channel which runs past the tourist town of La Conner. Or Padilla Bay.

Having lived a long time in an actual area which actually attracts a lot of actual tourists and has actual  tourist towns, like La Conner, is one of the reasons my eyes roll when I read something ridiculous, such as downtown Fort Worth gets over 10 millions visitors a year. I wonder if those 10 million visitors are the same 10 million a year which were supposed to make the Fort Worth Cabela's the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas?

Maybe in Texas visitor and tourist don't mean the same thing.

But, the thing is, when you live in an actual tourist destination and then live in an area which is not an actual tourist destination you can tell the difference. One big tell is the number of out of state license plates one sees. In a tourist zone at times it seems like every other vehicle is from out of state. Or Canada.

The only location in Fort Worth which seems like an actual tourist attraction, due to the number of foreigners and out of staters one runs into there, is the Fort Worth Stockyards. In Dallas, Dealey Plaza seems like an actual tourist attraction, albeit a sad one. I don't think many non-Texans head to Arlington to Six Flags Over Texas, not like which heads to Anaheim to go to Disneyland.

I have not headed to Anaheim to go to Disneyland for over two decades, Christmas of 1993. It has been two years since I've been a tourist anywhere, well, I have been to downtown Fort Worth during that time frame and apparently that is counted as a tourist.....

Perplexed By Caution In Fort Worth's Gateway Park Before Town Talking

With the temperature nearing 100 it was HOT enough today for me to return to Gateway Park to roll my wheels on the mountain bike trails for the first time since we got rained on and muddied here in usually quite dry North Texas.

On Thursday when I drove past Riscky's BBQ in the Fort Worth Stockyards I saw that misters had been added to the outdoor eating zone.

I don't think I've been to Riscky's BBQ in the Stockyards since way back in January of 2009, with my mom and dad. My parental units thought it too cold at that point in time to eat our ribs in Riscky's outdoor eating zone.

Today I was thinking a mister or two along the Gateway Park mountain bike trail would be a good  thing.

In the photo my handlebars are at my favorite Saturday pre-Town Talk photo op location, perched perilously at the edge of a cliff above the beautiful green Trinity River. At this location the trail takes a right, away from the cliff. But there is no directional signage pointing the way. Today I saw a lot of tire tracks not taking the right, instead rolling their wheels along the edge of the cliff. I imagine this has resulted in a temporarily terrorized biker or two.

I found a spot to stick my bike off that trail and got out my camera to take a video walk along the cliff's edge. You can watch that below if you don't suffer from acrophobia.

I saw something else today which puzzled me. That which puzzled me you can see below.

In the area pictured above in the past couple months the brush along the cliff's edge was removed, for the most part, and the mountain bike trail was moved away from the cliff about 30 feet. At this location the mountain bike trail was not at the cliff's edge, like the location of my favorite photo op.

The yellow caution tape cautioning people to be cautious extended a much longer distance than what you see in the picture. So, why the caution tape at this location?  Did someone walk off the edge of the cliff?

It's a bit perplexing.

After having myself a mighty fine time in Mother Nature's natural sauna I was off to Town Talk where I found big packs of all natural chicken legs, pineapples, romaine lettuce, pomegranate ginseng soda, brown rice, flour tortillas, extra sharp white cheddar cheese, cherries from my old home state, Wenatchee Washington, to be precise, and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

Will The Heritage Conceptual Plan Improve Or Destroy The Fort Worth Stockyards?

Among my Facebook friends are a couple guys who contribute much to the preservation of that which needs to be preserved of the historical sort in Fort Worth.

Lately the object of historical preservation concern has been the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historical District.

I have long opined that the Fort Worth Stockyards is the best tourist attraction in the D/FW Metroplex, and that the Fort Worth Stockyards are the only part of Fort Worth which is remotely unique, as in not found elsewhere.

I have also long opined that it seems to me that the city of Fort Worth, as in the town's city government, does not do enough to improve the Stockyards.

Although, I must admit, during the course of my time of observing the Fort Worth Stockyards there have been many improvements. Things like artwork of the sculpture sort. Improved amenities for visitors, like more seating spots, more shade and misters.

And the tacky carnival rides have long been gone, replaced by a nice looking hotel.

However, there are many things about the Fort Worth Stockyards which could use some fixing. The long abandoned New Isis Theater eyesore comes to mind. Along with other abandoned buildings which have long been boarded up. Really, would it not take just a little effort and not much money to make those abandoned buildings look worthy of a National Historical District?

Back to those aforementioned Facebook friends. Lately they have been talking about the controversial private development known as the Fort Worth Stockyards Heritage Conceptual Plan.

You can check out a power point presentation of that plan by clicking the link in the above paragraph.

When I checked out the plan I was a bit surprised to find that it is a much more ambitious plan than I realized. I thought the idea was just to develop the big open space to the east of Billy Bobs.

Well, the open space to the east of Billy Bobs is just one part of the three part plan, with that east of Billy Bobs part of the plan being called the Stockyards North District. That district includes stores, restaurants, offices, a hotel, an entertainment lounge, with all of this centered around three acres of something called Festival Green.

Another district of the plan is called the Marine Creek District. This is to the south of the existing Stockyards and includes activating the mule barns, whatever that means, plus more stores, restaurants, 250 parking spaces and office space.

The third district in the plan is the Swift-Armor District, that being the area to the east of the existing Stockyards which I have long called the Stockyard Ruins.

The Stockyard Ruins, I mean, Swift-Armor District will include more office space, a hotel, more restaurants, two residential areas, a parking garage with 450 spaces, along with surface parking with 500 more parking spaces.

Will the Swift-Armor District preserve any of the Stockyard Ruins? I hope so. I'd never seen anything like the Stockyard Ruins before I moved to Texas. They look like photos I've seen of war zones. Like Berlin at the end of World War II.

The concern over the Fort Worth Stockyards Heritage Conceptual Plan is that the actual concept of the plan may not pay proper homage to the actual heritage of the Fort Worth Stockyards, possibly destroying that which makes the Stockyards unique.

From what I have seen of the plan and what with my limited understanding of it, I can sort of get behind the Stockyards North District part of the plan. I'm not so sure about the Marine Creek District part of the plan, and I really don't like the Swift-Armor District part of the plan, unless it somehow preserves some of the Stockyard Ruins.

What I really think will happen is this plan will peter out and never happen, just like the countless failed attempts to restore the New Isis Theater to its former glory.....

An Ozone Alert Has Me Touring Fort Worth's Industrial Wastelands

Today I was not of a mood to drive to any of my regular locations to engage in my regular daily walking or biking or hiking activity in order to have myself some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

One reason I was not of a mood to drive anywhere is because I got myself plenty of aerobic stimulation, via swimming, this morning. Another reason is the area I am located in is currently being blessed with an Ozone Alert, with members of sensitive groups being advised to avoid exposure.

Since I am very sensitive, though not in a sensitive group, I decided it best to limit contact with outdoor ozone infested air, because my eyes were sort of burning earlier this morning. After being outside swimming, I had to resort to eye drops to abate the burning.

Rather than drive anywhere I decided to walk across the street to Albertson's to get a bag of carrots. This is not a long walk, thus limited exposure to Ozone.

Walking to Albertson's I pass the industrial wasteland you see above. With multiple warnings regarding the dangers posed by this industrial wasteland. This particular industrial wasteland is one of my two nearby neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Extraction Sites.

Of my two neighborhood Chesapeake sites only the Albertson's one is clearly visible in all its industrial wasteland glory. The other Chesapeake site is further from the road and somewhat blocked by a brick wall.

As I walked past this industrial wasteland I wondered to myself whether Fort Worth is the biggest city in the world to have so many pockets of industrial wasteland, such as the above, within its borders.

I suspect it is a fact that Fort Worth is the biggest city in the world to have so many pockets of industrial wasteland.

Fort Worth seems to have an industrial wasteland surplus.

The area from the north side of downtown to south of the Fort Worth Stockyards, is largely industrial wasteland. This particular Fort Worth industrial wasteland is what the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle was touted as fixing, prior to the Boondoggle morphing into an Entertainment Production entity creating the world's only urban waterfront music venue with inner tube happy hour floats and 4th of July parties.

My favorite Fort Worth industrial wasteland is the area I call The Ruins of the Stockyards. This industrial wasteland is so scenic it has been used as a set for TV shows in need of something that looks like a third world prison....

Live Gun Fights Saturday Night In Fort Worth's Stockyards Station

Stockyards Station is in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

In Stockyards Station tourists find a collection of shops selling a variety of goods, mostly Western - Cowboy - Texas themed.

Along with several restaurants.

Plus the Tarantula Trail runs right through Stockyards Station.

This morning I learned, via the ad you see above, that, in Stockyards Station, tourists can also experience "Live Gun Fights."

The Fort Worth Stockyards is one of Fort Worth's few unique tourist attractions.

Actually the only other tourist attraction in Fort Worth I can think of that is remotely unique is the Water Gardens in downtown Forth Worth.

Soon, in Fort Worth, the world's first new drive-in movie theater of the 21st Century will open, giving Fort Worth one more unique tourist attraction, the likes of which exist in no big town any where else.

All these unique tourist attractions, plus having regularly scheduled Saturday night "Live Gun Fights" are likely just a few of the reasons Fort Worth is considered, by the citizens of planet Earth, to be One of the Greatest Cities in the World.

Seriously though.

Saturday night Gun Fights?

In your town's #1 Tourist Attraction?

Are tourists encouraged to bring their own guns and join in on the fight?

In an era where we are experiencing an awful lot of worried yammering about gun control, due to what almost seems to be an epidemic of tragic gun enabled mass murders, it really does not seem to me that having regularly scheduled "Live Gun Fights" is a good idea, even though this is the town which thinks it is Where the West Begins........

While I Was Out Of Town Fort Worth Again Became The Envy Of Other, Older, Larger Cities

I've been out of the Dallas/Fort Worth news orbit for less than two weeks. Somehow, during that short absence, Fort Worth's Fort Worth Weekly got infected with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram propaganda virus.

That being verbalizing, in print, the absurdly weird idea that anything in Fort Worth is the envy of other, older, larger cities.

Just the "envy of" verbiage makes me cringe.

Below are the first three paragraphs from this week's Fort Worth Weekly cover article titled Second Annual Visionary Awards....

Here’s a conundrum: How can Fort Worth have such an incredible array of art-related institutions and not be an “art town”? (At least not yet.)

Yes, there are arty aspects of the Fort that are the envy of many other, older, much larger cities. The tri-headed brilliance of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Kimbell Art Museum, and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth make Fort Worth the museum capital of not just Texas (sorry, Dallas; sorry, Houston; sorry, Austin) but arguably the entire Southwest.

So why isn’t Fort Worth considered an art town? Why would an established visual artist tell an up-and-comer seeking career advice to go to Dallas? (Names have been removed to protect the innocent. And the guilty.) Are Fort Worthians simply too enraptured by their Cowtown heritage to care about anything not bovine or floral, forcing progressive artists out of town?

I'm thinking that maybe Fort Worth is not considered an art town, or, really, even considered, by most Americans, to be a town they know anything about, because Fort Worth really is not on the American radar screen.

Example.

Flying back to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, from Phoenix. At the terminal, prior to boarding, the announcements are along the line of "Zone 3 Flight 348 to Dallas now boarding."

While taxi-ing, prior to takeoff, the pilot announces that due to a tailwind we are hoping to land in Dallas a few minutes early.

About a half hour before landing the pilot informs the passengers that we are about 200 miles out of Dallas, where the temperature, in Dallas, is 64 degrees. Upon landing we get a welcome to Dallas.

Fort Worth was not mentioned once during the flight.

Same thing happens when one flies to Seattle. You hear no mention of Tacoma, even though the airport is the Seattle Tacoma International Airport. However, the population of Tacoma is barely over 200,000, while Fort Worth's population is approaching 800,000.

Regarding Fort Worth's "art" scene.

Well, I admit I am a very poorly educated, ill read moron, so it really is no mystery why I'd never heard of Fort Worth's museums prior to moving here.

I do recollect, soon upon moving here, being in downtown Fort Worth,  wondering where Sundance Square was, well prior to learning there is no Square in Sundance Square, and being amused by signs pointing to the "Cultural District," wondering why in the world would a town designate an area as its Cultural District?

I think a really good measure of how far below the national radar Fort Worth flies is the fact that there really is no iconic image of Fort Worth that anyone, anywhere, sees and instantly knows it is Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Stockyards sign does not count, because of the dead giveaway of having the town's name in that particular, sort of, iconic image.

The Fort Worth Weekly article asks "why isn't Fort Worth considered an art town?"

Well.

Have you looked at the town? Really looked? And compared what you see to what you see in towns that have a more elevated reputation?

I'm guessing a town that might be thought of as an "art town" might pay attention to something as basic as landscaping. Other big towns, with which I'm familiar, pay attention to the aesthetics of how their town looks.

In the Phoenix metro area every freeway exit that I saw is landscaped. Roads are landscaped. The entire area  is landscaped.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, the freeway exits to the town's only well known tourist attraction, the Fort Worth Stockyards, are un-landscaped, weedy, littered eyesores.

This type thing, that being littered eyesores, are not the type thing that causes envy in other, older, much larger cities.

Or so it seems to me.

Already The 2nd Tuesday Of November With The Fort Worth Stockyard Ruins Ruined By Chesapeake Energy

The view from my primary viewing portal on the world on this 8th day of the next to last month of 2011 seems to have an odd golden glow going on, even though the sky is totally overcast with the sun's light filtered through a thick layer of vaporized H2O.

After the sun finished its daily lighting duties on Day 7 of the next to last month of 2011 rain fell in copious amounts for a short duration, accompanied by a little thunder and lightning.

Watching Dancing with the Stars Pete Delkus did not directly interrupt with any dire weather warnings, except during commercial breaks, when he did inform us that there was some potential tornado action possible somewhere within his viewing range.

All appears wet this morning in the outer world. Currently heated to a balmy 70 at my location. I see no hill hiking in my future today.

Changing the subject from the weather to the destruction of one of my favorite Fort Worth locations.

The Fort Worth Stockyards Ruins.

I did not know, until this morning, that Chesapeake Energy had purchased the 18 acre site of the former Swift Armor meat packing plant at the east end of the Fort Worth Stockyards, way back in 2007, hoping to develop the property as yet one more drilling site.

Chesapeake supposedly spent around $700,000 removing asbestos from the site, along with $30,000 a month on security. Security which I've only noticed way back when the FOX TV show, Prison Break, used the Stockyard Ruins as a set, turning the Stockyards into a Panama prison.

Chesapeake gave up on the idea of drilling on the Stockyard Ruins land, then looked into turning it into some sort of headquarters. That was deemed too expensive. And so now the Fort Worth Stockyard Ruins are going to be demolished so the land can be redeveloped.

The Fort Worth Stockyards will never be the same. But, they may be better with the Stockyard Ruins gone.

I'm going swimming now.