Washington Outhouse Landing Thought Not To Fly In From Fort Worth

I saw this this morning on Facebook, via Tacoma's Queen V, which had me thinking, before learning the details, that this was yet one more interesting Fort Worth outhouse installation.

But, why would Queen V in Tacoma be seeing this?

Well, turns out this outhouse took flight a couple days ago during a big, bad windstorm which battered Western Washington.

I do not know in what town and on whose house this outhouse landed.

The reason I assumed this was in Fort Worth was because of the number of times I have seen similar such things in what is known as the Outhouse Capital of the World, with more outhouses per capita than any other major town in America.

Having more outhouse per capita than any other town in America is yet one more Fort Worth claim to fame which has cities Far and Wide Green With Envy regarding Fort Worth.

Most Fort Worth parks have no modern facilities, no restrooms, no running water. But do have picnic tables and outhouses, with no place to wash ones hands.

Even Fort Worth's only real tourist attraction, the Fort Worth Stockyards, considers indoor plumbing to be a luxury. We have blogged about this a number of times, most recently in Is Indoor Plumbing An Imaginary World Class Fort Worth Luxury?

That most recent blogging about Fort Worth's paucity of indoor plumbing was prompted by some foolish nonsense in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about some mundane thing in Fort Worth being "World Class" and thus worthy of being considered for something I don't remember. The Amazon HQ2 location? Maybe that was it.

Most of Fort Worth's city parks can not be accessed by a sidewalk. Because Fort Worth has the fewest sidewalks per city street mile than any other major city in America. But that's a whole different issue than the Fort Worth indoor plumbing shortage....

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... 

You Know You Are Back In Fort Worth When....

On Wednesday I was in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro zone for the first time in a couple months.

The night before making the long trek to D/FW I wrote a blogging and set it to auto-publish at 10 Wednesday morning.

At some point in time after that someone with the extremely unique name of Anonymous posted a comment which struck me as amusing due to title of the article to which the comment had a link.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why Does Fort Worth Star-Telegram Not Recommend Rejecting Trinity River Vision's Bad Plan?":

You know you're from Fort Worth when...

______________________

Now, the reason I found the "You know you're from For Worth when...." title amusing is because when I was in Fort Worth I drove into Quanah Parker Park and saw what you see below.

When I saw the above I remarked, "Well, you know you're back in Fort Worth when you see an outhouse in a park". This particular Quanah Parker Park outhouse seems badly placed, even for the Fort Worth norm of badly placed outhouses.

I have been in Wichita Falls now for nearly six months. I have yet to see a single outhouse in a Wichita Falls Park. The Wichita Falls parks have modern facilities, including running water with drinking faucets. What a concept.

Quanah Parker Park does have one feature that most Fort Worth parks do not have. That being running water in the form of a drinking faucet.

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.....

A Saturday Evening River Legacy Bike Ride Appalled At Way Too Many Outhouses

The River Legacy Pavilion Restroom Facilities

It's been a few weeks since I've been to River Legacy Park, in Arlington, on a Saturday evening.

Usually River Legacy Park is very busy on Saturday evenings. Tonight, that was not the case.

Usually, on Saturday night, there is something going on in the River Legacy Pavilion. I've seen many a wedding celebration take place there, and reunions, and company parties, and other big get togethers the nature of which I was unable to determine.

Ever since the River Legacy Pavilion opened, and events started taking place there, I have been appalled by a couple things.

One thing that appalls me is there is no running water. No sink. Yet there is a big BBQ type pit where cooking meat products takes place.

In addition to no running water, there are no modern restroom facilities at the River Legacy Pavilion.

There are modern restroom facilities an inconvenient distance from the Pavilion.

Inside the River Legacy Pavilion Looking Towards the
Row of Outhouses

I know it would be difficult to engineer a modern restroom facility at the location of the Pavilion, due to the fact that this area floods. I have seen it under water twice. The existing modern restroom facility is elevated above the potential flood level.

River Legacy Park is one of the nicest parks in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. River Legacy Park would be a nice park in any city in America.

Except for this vexing modern restroom facilities and running water problem.

I don't understand why there is such a cavalier attitude at this location on the planet about something like modern restroom facilities and having running water available where people BBQ and picnic.

Is this cavalier attitude some holdover from the days when the South was way poorer and sort of behind the more advanced development of the North?

I have previously opined about this Outhouse Issue. I recollect verbalizing my appallation regarding the dozens upon dozens of specially designed Dallas Cowboy outhouses that are installed in the parking lots surrounding the stadium. A stadium that cost more than a billion dollars. It seems a little ironic to have that humongous futuristic stadium surrounded by dozens of outhouses.

At River Legacy Park, the Pavilion outhouses are not the only outhouses. Another line of outhouses is near the modern restroom facility, due to the fact that that modern restroom facility is not all that big, and so, likely, requires the extra outhouses to handle the crowds that crowd River Legacy Park at times.

There are more outhouses at the Collins Street parking lot on the north side of the Trinity River. This area also floods.

But, I really think the fact that these areas flood is not a legitimate excuse for not building modern restroom facilities like modern cities do in modern parks in more modern parts of America.

That also flood.

New Temporary Buildings Arrive At The Tandy Hills For Tomorrow's Brush Bash

BRUSH BASH UPDATE FROM DON YOUNG:
Unless there is heavy rain the Brush Bash will go as planned. Please arrive between 9 and 10 am. We plan to start work at 10. Lunch break at Noon. Thanks again for supporting Tandy Hills Natural Area.

No, that is not a picture of my latest Outhouse discovery in my popular "Outhouses of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex Series."

I believe these are temporary Outhouses brought in for a special event, which to my mind is the proper use for such things, in contrast with Jerry Jones' mind which thinks surrounding the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium with specially made Dallas Cowboy Outhouses is a good idea.

The special event I believe this pair of Outhouses have been installed for is tomorrow's Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

It is supposed to start being stormy here in North Texas sometime tonight and all day tomorrow. I don't know if the source of the incoming rain is the same storm that is hitting California and today my mom and dad in Phoenix.

I'm sure it will end up being dry tomorrow. I think Mother Nature looks fondly on the Tandy Hills and those who are trying to restore the hills to their old style prairie glory.

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McLendon Tipped Over In Outhouse

TXsharon sent me an Outhouse photo yesterday. It doesn't fit my particular Outhouses of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex Project.

These Outhouses are not in a park and they are in Wise County. I think Wise County is outside the Metroplex. I think that's where Decatur is.

The details of the Outhouses spotted by TXsharon are a bit skimpy, but I believe they are at a Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale gas drilling site.

Because, and again I repeat, skimpy details, but I think this is a Chesapeake Energy operation because apparently Aubrey McClendon was using the Outhouse on the left when TXsharon sent in a Monkey Wrencher to knock it over.

TXsharon was hoping to get a shot of McClendon climbing out of the fallen Outhouse, but drill riggers started running towards her and her Monkey Wrenching gang, so she took this one picture and high tailed it out of there.

TXsharon, obviously, is one of those Texas Wild Women you've been reading about lately.

The Outhouses Of Dallas/Fort Worth: Part 4

I have slacked off on my popular Outhouses of Dallas/Fort Worth series of bloggings.

My one longtime reader may remember me being perplexed by the 100s of Outhouses I saw surrounding the new $1.1 billion Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington.

I'd long been appalled by Outhouses I'd see at Arlington's wonderful River Legacy Park.

I thought my Outhouse series would be limited to Arlington. And then I remembered the unfortunate Outhouses I'd seen in Fort Worth, so I expanded the Outhouse search to include the entire Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. This is going to be a long series. And take a long time.

I'd mentioned in the previous blogging that I went to Gateway Park today with 3 purposes. The third purpose was to take an Outhouse picture. A couple years ago Gateway Park added some very well done, nice-looking soccer/rugby fields. They also added a cement enclosure which holds 4 or 5 Outhouses.

There are a couple other Outhouses, like the one you see in the picture, at various points on the parking lot. The last time I was at the soccer/rugby field a rugby tournament was going on. The parking lot was full. I had to park elsewhere. There was food for sale from several vendors, tacos, BBQ.

But, no Modern Restroom Facilities, or running water with which to wash ones hands. The Outhouses appeared to be heavily used. As in there were lines. Beer was likely being sold.

Regarding what initially got me on this Outhouse fixation, that being the 100s of Outhouses that surround the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, I have yet to hear from anyone telling me if other professional sports stadiums in America are surrounded by 100s of Outhouses.

The only professional sports stadiums I have personal experience with, other than the ones in Arlington, are the Seattle stadium's parking lots, where I do not recollect seeing any Outhouses. I'm thinking those picky, uptight Pacific Northwest sorts with their snooty ways would not look kindly on 100s of Outhouses being stuck on the parking lots of their new stadiums.

Texans are way more easy going. And way more used to Outhouses, I guess.

The Outhouses Of The Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex

I've decided I need to expand my documenting of Outhouses to urban zones of Texas beyond Arlington.

So, my popular series of bloggings of "The Outhouses of Arlington" is now "The Outhouses of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex."

My working hypothesis is that the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan Area has the highest per capita number of Outhouses of any metropolitan area in the developed nations of the world.

The Outhouses you see in today's picture are located by Fort Woof in Gateway Park in Fort Worth. There is an even longer line of Outhouses in Gateway Park by the new soccer fields. I will photo document those at a later date. Is getting rid of the Outhouses part of the vision in the Trinity River Vision's upgrade of Gateway Park?

I have been to parks in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that have modern facilities. Cedar Hills State Park, for instance. No Outhouses. All the parks I've been in around Lake Joe Pool have modern facilities. So, I know it's not impossible to build a park with modern facilities here.

I am early in my Dallas/Fort Worth Outhouse research. So far it seems Arlington is Outhouse Central. Veterans Park in Arlington has one restroom with plumbing and no Outhouses. So far, near as I can tell, Veterans Park is the exception in Arlington.

Not having modern facilities is sort of unfriendly to visitors. Arlington seems to sort of be chronically unfriendly to visitors. Arlington is home to an illegal towing racketeering operation that targets visitors.

Ooops. I got off subject there. Back to Outhouses. Now, I have not been to all that many professional sports arenas. I'm curious to know, are there other NFL football stadiums that are surrounded by 100s of Outhouses like the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington is?

Do the other NFL teams have custom made Outhouses with the team logo and name embossed on them, sprucing up their parking lots?

How much did all those specially made Dallas Cowboy Outhouses cost? How much does it cost to maintain them? How much would it cost to build permanent modern facilities? Am I the only one who finds it goofy to stick 100s of Outhouses around a $1.1 billion stadium on parking lots where you charge people $40 to park?

The Outhouses Of Arlington Texas Series: The Outhouses of River Legacy Park

Yesterday I toured the Dallas Cowboy Stadium's Outhouses. And blogged about it. In that blogging I made mention of outhouses in my favorite Dallas/Fort Worth park, that being River Legacy Park in Arlington.

Today I decided to drive to River Legacy Park to continue my Outhouses of Arlington Texas series.

I was barely on the road when I saw a big blimp. No, I am not talking about a plus-sized person in the Albertson's parking lot. I'm talking about a Goodyear blimp type of big blimp. A couple miles further and it appeared to be hovering above the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

I was talking to Tootsie Tonasket on the way to River Legacy. Tootsie directed me to take pictures of the blimp after I was done with the River Legacy outhouses. Which is what I did. You don't say no to Tootsie Tonasket.

But, back to the River Legacy outhouses. The pair you see in the picture serve the River Legacy Pavilion. You can see the Pavilion in the background behind the outhouses. It is a very nice structure, with some glaring omissions. There is no sink or water faucet. There is a nearby drinking fountain, which would seem to indicate it would be possible to have running water in the River Legacy Wedding Pavilion. I have seen a dozen or so Saturday weddings taking place over the years in the River Legacy Pavilion. Usually with meat products being BBQed on the provided BBQ pit.

There is a modern facilities type restroom in River Legacy Park. It is built on a knoll, due to the fact that a large area of River Legacy, including the Pavilion, can go under water during a major flood of the Trinity River. I have seen that happen twice. The outhouses are evacuated prior to an incoming flood.

I know building another knoll and putting another restroom on it would be more expensive than outhouses. But, isn't it the right thing to do in such a nice park? In such a nice city as Arlington? And it would set a good example for Jerry Jones. Maybe he'd decided that real restrooms might be a nice thing to provide his customers who pay $60 or more to park on his lots and use his outhouses.

I wonder why Jerry has not thought of a way to monetize the Dallas Cowboy outhouses? He sells Party Passes for $29. I'm thinking a one use Potty Pass for $5 seems reasonable.

Dallas Cowboy Cadillac Outhouses & Other Unsanitary Eyesores

We are looking at a Tailgate BBQ Party taking place this afternoon on the east side of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium before a high school game. This Tailgate Party was taking place on one of the Cowboy's parking lots. Not on one of the Texas Ranger's lots, that are also used by the Cowboys.

What got me back to Arlington this afternoon was something I saw when I drove through this area on Friday. As in I was amazed and appalled by all the outhouses. Some were in the parking lots, some were on the grass at the side of the road. Some were solo. Some were lined up. I saw a truck with a load of outhouses. I don't know if he was delivering or removing.

The outhouses on the Texas Ranger's lots were particularly tacky. Bright blue with a big sign saying "NATIONAL PORTABLE TOILETS" and some other stuff, with a toll free number to call and a website address, rentnational.com. Also attached to the outhouse was another sign that said "PUBLIC RESTROOM".

Public Restroom? As opposed to other outhouses that are Private Restrooms?

Now, the Texas Rangers are on real tough financial times. Their owner, I think his last name is Hicks, has all sorts of money woes. So, I guess he can be forgiven his low rent outhouses.

Which brings us to the outhouses on the parking lots of the new $1.1 billion Dallas Cowboy Stadium. When I first walked on to the most expensive parking lots in the world I was distracted by the wonderful smell of a Texas BBQ. BBQers in the Cowboy's lots get to park on grass parking strips. I thought that was interesting.

That is the Ballpark in Arlington on the left in the background. You can see a couple of the blue outhouses in the Ranger's lot with the BBQers parked on the grass in the foreground on the Dallas Cowboy parking lot.

A short distance from the BBQers I came to my first up close look at a Dallas Cowboy Outhouse. I was immediately struck by how much more substantial the Cowboy Outhouses are than the Ranger's. And then I saw something that really struck me. These are outhouses specially made for the Dallas Cowboys, as in molded into the plastic that makes up the outhouse is a Dallas Cowboy star and the word "COWBOYS".

And then I realized the Dallas Cowboy Outhouses are made in the Cowboy team colors of silver and blue! The Dallas Cowboys, like the Texas Rangers, also have signage that refer to their outhouses as Restrooms.

Now, maybe I am way off on this, but to me a Restroom has running water and a sink. The Dallas Cowboys may have bought themselves the Cadillac of Outhouses, but these are not Restrooms.

Which leads me to another thing. How does it make sense to spend $1.1 billion to build a stadium and then surround that building with outhouses? You have people spending $40, or more, to park, then $100s, some $1000s to watch a game and you provide outhouses in your parking lot? Would it not have made more sense to have built actual real Restrooms? The stadium was built with the knowledge that the football fanatics have tailgate parties before a game. Why were Restrooms not built for them?

It's not like all these outhouses don't cost anything.

And don't get me started on the sanitation issues. Well, I guess I started myself. So, you have all these people BBQing, having a picnic. They use the outhouse. Nowhere to wash their hands. Maybe they have hand sanitizer back at the Tailgate Party.

I can understand the use of portable outhouses at some types of events, like a 2 day festival. But this stadium is a permanent facility. A Super Bowl may be played there. A Super Bowl surrounded by 100s, or is it, 1000s of outhouses. And nowhere to wash your hands.

I have been vexed by outhouses in Arlington previously. Like in River Legacy Park. Which I consider the best park in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. But River Legacy Park needs to lose the outhouses. There is a pavilion in River Legacy Park. Used for weddings. Serviced by 2 outhouses. There is running water (not hot) there, though, so you can wash your hands.

I dunno, maybe a wedding with outhouses is a perfectly normal thing in the South. Seems sort of outdated and early last century to me. I know most of America got indoor plumbing a long long time ago. Maybe Jerry Jones owns an interest in an outhouse business.