TEXAS: THE LONE STAR STATE
BY CLAY
LARROY
There is nothing more
exciting than traveling.
Whether you are going for a road trip to see something new in your own state,
or heading off to somewhere for the very first time to visit a city you have
always dreamed of, there are some travel
basics that you should know. Travel in the
off seasons from November to April, to avoid crowds,
save money and enjoy temperate weather. In those months, many families with
children cannot travel due to school commitments, making many tourist
attractions much less crowded. This may also result in lower costs for airfare
and hotels. When
you are ready to plan a vacation contact me!
DALLAS, “Star of Texas”
Dallas
History
As a frontier post of the
Wild West, Dallas established its reputation as a place for entrepreneurs and
go-getters.
Dallas County was named
after US Vice President George Mifflin Dallas. The little settlement along the
river grew from 430 people in 1850 to 2,000 a decade later. Though the Civil
War years of 1861-1865 brought difficult times, Dallas grew during
reconstruction, drawing Southerners in search of rich farmland.
In the 1870s, two major
railroads met at Dallas and inspired the city's rapid development as a trade center.
In 1907 the Neiman Marcus store put Dallas on the fashion map. The Federal
Reserve Bank was established in 1911, and WWI established Love Field for
aviation training, while the Army trained soldiers at Camp Dick, on Fair Park.
While the whole of America
was sinking with the Great Depression, a prospector named Columbus Marion
"Dad" Joiner struck oil in 1930 about 100 miles east of the city.
Businesses formed or moved to Dallas, banks made loans for oilfield development
and the Big D was the financial hub for the oil boom across Texas and Oklahoma.
Dallas, though, will always
be remembered for one, if not two, shootings. The first and most shocking
occurred on 22 November 1963, when President J F Kennedy was assassinated in
downtown Dallas. The second shooting may only have been fictional but, when JR
Ewing was shot by an unknown killer in the TV series Dallas, fans across the world
were devastated.
Visitors coming to the
very modern city today can't help but be intrigued with the possibilities of
star sightings, too: Dallas has been home to actors Luke and Owen Wilson; singers
Norah Jones, Erykah Badu and Jessica Simpson; and Dancing with the Stars
celebrity, billionaire Mark Cuban. Star-struck film fans can also locations for
Hollywood films that were made here, including Silkwood, Places in the Heart, RoboCop, and Born on the Fourth of July.
Today's Dallas is a
glittering, cosmopolitan city - little like the humble camp John Neely Bryan
started in 1841. Big fun, though, awaits on most every corner today in Big D.
Did you know?
- The integrated circuit computer chip was invented in Dallas in 1958. It would later become the microchip.
- The Highland Park Village Shopping Center in Dallas became America's first shopping center when it opened in 1931.
- Bonnie and Clyde are buried in Dallas after being killed by police in Louisiana in 1934.
Did you know?
- The integrated circuit computer chip was invented in Dallas in 1958. It would later become the microchip.
- The Highland Park Village Shopping Center in Dallas became America's first shopping center when it opened in 1931.
- Bonnie and Clyde are buried in Dallas after being killed by police in Louisiana in 1934.
City
Attractions in Dallas
African-American Museum
One of
the rare modern buildings at Fair Park, this cross-shaped museum of
ivory-colored stone stands out not just for its beautiful contemporary design
but also for its commitment to the preservation and exhibition of
African-American materials of artistic, cultural and historical value. Among
noted collections is the Billy R. Allen Folk Art Collection. Through its four
vaulted galleries, the Museum fully details African-American art and history
from pre-colonial times to the present day, with permanent and temporary
exhibitions.
Telephone (214) 565 9026.
Website http://www.aamdallas.org
Dallas Center
for the Performing Arts
Within this stunning new
complex, opened in late 2009, are four venues staging myriad entertainment.
There's the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, home to the Dallas Opera and
Texas Ballet Theater, as well as touring Broadway shows and the like; the Wyly
Theatre, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas, serving as
home for the Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Anita N.
Martinez Ballet Folklorico; the Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park, a
performance space spreading over 10 acres with gardens, trees and a reflecting
pool; and the Annette Strauss Artist Square, another outdoor performance space.
Dallas Museum of Art
The spacious permanent
collection galleries at the Dallas Museum of Art, also a building designed by
I.M. Pei, cover different types of art from ancient to modern times, from the
Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, with 23,000 works of art. Of particular
significance is the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection of Impressionist
paintings, a collection numbering 1,400 pieces. Many visiting exhibitions from
prized collections around the world include such treasures as the golden
Tutankhamun mummies from Egypt, the works of Marc Chagall, and much more. Among
myriad programming interests are Arts &Letters Live, lectures, gallery
talks and tours, concerts and performances and classes. The museum shop is
worth a visit for unusual gifts and souvenirs.
Dallas Zoo
Children and adults love
to spend time at this 95-acre preserve noted on Interstate 35 South by a
towering bronze of a giraffe. It's the largest zoo in Texas with a long
history.
Dealey Plaza and the Sixth
Floor Museum
The Texas School Book
Depository was a rather ordinary building in downtown Dallas until the infamous
assassination of US President John F Kennedy on 22 November 1963 as he
travelled in an open limousine through Dallas on a pre-election visit.
Lee Harvey Oswald, the
24-year-old local who was accused of the crime, had a filing job at the
depository. The deadly shot was fired from the sixth floor of the building,
which is now the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza documenting both the
assassination itself and the life and times of JFK. This includes a
minute-by-minute account of the action, the investigations and the various
assassination theories that followed. The Plaza itself is simply an outdoor
grassy area on the north side of Elm Street, where curiosity seekers gather at
all hours of day and night.
Fair Park
Fair Park's 111 hectares
(277 acres) was created in 1936, for the Texas Centennial Exposition. There may
be too much to do in one single day, as it comprises museums, concert
facilities, theatres and other venues. It is best for tourists to choose what
they wish to visit in advance and combine that with a stroll through the park,
as the central promenade has murals and sculptures.
Some of the main
highlights include Texas Discovery Gardens, the recently and magnificently remodeled
Hall of State, the Texas Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Music Hall at Fair
Park. New to the assemblage is the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park. In late
September and October, Fair Park comes alive with thousands of visitors daily
to the State Fair of Texas.
Fountain Place
In such a landlocked city,
this square is made all the more attractive by its impressive water displays
and its calming trees and streams. There are 172 'blubber fountains' (low
dome-shaped fountains), while the Central Court Fountain has 360 fountain heads.
Around 2.25 million liters (0.5 million gallons) of water pass through the
plaza, and at night, colored lights play on the shimmering cascades. The huge,
60-storey glass building is part of the design and is based on a prism, a favorite
theme of architect I M Pei, who also designed the glass pyramid outside the
Louvre in Paris (France, that is, not Texas). There are other designs by Pei
around the city and discovering them makes a good theme for an unusual
exploration. They include Dallas City Hall, which houses Henry Moore's largest
bronze sculpture, the Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center and Dallas Museum of
Art.
Telephone (214) 855 7766.
Website http://www.fountainplace.com
John F Kennedy Memorial
The actual JFK Memorial is
nearby Dealey Plaza in downtown, just on the other side of the huge, old red
brick courthouse, at the Dallas County Historical Plaza. This stark, square,
open-air memorial was designed by New Yorker Philip Johnson, a friend of the
Kennedy family. An unadorned white stone platform serving as a solemn reminder
of the country's devastating loss, it is visited by hundreds of thousands of
people every year, and a commemorative ceremony is held every November 22. This
year's will be the 50th anniversary of the tragedy.
Klyde Warren Park
Finally, Dallas has
welcomed with open arms its first urban green space of true size. While there have
been small pocket parks here and there for years, the downtown area lacked a
park where people could spread out a picnic blanket, relax and play. Opening in
late 2012, this 5 acres deck park built over the downtown freeway has become
exceedingly popular, day and night. Every day, there are park programmers that
may include yoga, pilates or boot-camp exercises; knitting circle, mah jong or
poetry reading; concerts or plays. On the north side of the park, you will find
reading racks and chess tables. If you're a walker or jogger, it's about half a
mile around the park's perimeter. Food trucks are frequently parked around the
park's edges, offering anything from Vietnamese food to barbecue sandwiches to
cupcakes. In late 2013, a new restaurant called Relish & Savor is scheduled
to open, with both sit-down and take-out facilities. The park offers free Wi-Fi
connectivity, too.
Telephone (214) 716 4500.
Website http://www.klydewarrenpark.org
Nasher Sculpture Center
Downtown Dallas' cultural
wealth got yet another boost in 2003, when the Nasher Sculpture Center opened
near the Dallas Museum of Art. Here you'll see what is essentially an
indoor-outdoor art museum and a serene oasis of visual beauty that serves as
home to the collection of 20th-century sculpture belonging to the late, beloved
art patron and Dallas developer Ray Nasher. There is a lovely flow between
interior galleries and the garden, opening to the sky and filled with dramatic
installations and native foliage. Among dozens of artists whose work is
featured are Claus Oldenburg, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Joan Miro, and Jeff
Koons. An on-site café offers catering from Wolfgang Puck's company.
Perot Museum of
Nature and Science
Opened in 2012, this
nonprofit educational organization in the Dallas Arts District thrills
children, students, teachers and families with stunning exhibits in a 180,000sq
ft museum with five floors of public spaces and 11 exhibit halls. There is a
complete children's museum within, which includes an outdoor play area.
Extraordinary elements include a vast, glassed-in lobby and adjacent rooftop
deck; a 298-seat theater with numerous projection capabilities; and a lovely
café. The building itself is jaw-dropping, thanks to the work by 2005 Pritzker
Architecture Prize Laureate Thom Mayne of the firm Morphosis. The museum is
named for the Perot family, who donated $50 million for this museum's creation.
It's wise to purchase admission tickets online and in advance as the museum
frequently sells out and visitors without tickets are often turned away.
Wilson Block and Swiss
Avenue Historic Districts
The Wilson Block is an
entire block of houses on Swiss Avenue, which Henrietta and Frederick Wilson
acquired in 1899. They proceeded to build six homes on the land. The
Preservation Center, based in the Wilson House, their own Queen Anne home, is
open to the public and introduces the district through walking tours, film and
a resource library. The district contains many houses from the same period,
another particularly striking one being the Arnold House.
Further out, along Swiss
Avenue (beginning at block 4800) is another historic district, the Swiss Avenue
Historic District, from La Vista to Fitzhugh Avenue. Here visitors can see more
early 20th-century mansions in various styles, such as ‘gingerbread', ‘prairie'
(after the school of architects developed by Frank Lloyd Wright) and
Italianate.
REFERENCE SITES:
I'm thrilled, I'm grateful,
I'm blessed. I played for the world's greatest professional sports team in
history. Once a Dallas Cowboy, always a Dallas Cowboy.
Bob Hayes
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