7. Dallas Tour, The JFK Tour, AFP4 & Cowboy Stadium
We are visiting our niece and her family. They recently
moved here from Wisconsin. Her father (my brother) is also here (from Wisconsin).
We wanted
to tour Dallas, looked up a tour “Trolley Tours” and went to the location.
There are people selling tickets to tours of the city and tours named “JFK
Tour” that deal with the assassination. The signs say a tour is $20 per person
however after my brother sweet talked a young gal we got both tours for the
price of one.
These tours start at Dealey Plaza which is where the assassination took
place and it tempting to take pictures of the former Texas School Book Depository, etc. (and I
did) but I’ll save those for later since we took both tours.
Dallas Tour
The Margaret Hunt Bridge spans the Trinity River. The center
arch is 400 feet high and the bridge is 1870 feet long.
From Wikipedia “The Trinity River
Project is a public works
project undertaken in the 2000s in the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. Its goal is to redevelop the Trinity River. The project aims to turn the river's path
into a collection of sports fields, trails, nature centers, and recreational
opportunities. At 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) (including the Great Trinity
Forest,[1] which at 6,000 acres (24 km2) is the largest urban bottomland forest in the
world), it has been billed as the largest urban park in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_River_Project
There
is what I think, is a unique park in that it is three city blocks long and is
built over the Woodall Rogers Freeway. (not much of a picture, but there really
is a park there.)
Another
unique park was the “Bark Park Central”. Talk about Texas hospitality (fro
dogs). The 1.2 park is built under a freeway and is 80% grass. Lots of doggy
watering holes, showers, trash cans and dropping disposal centers, even benches
for the pet owners to sit on. Great art work too!
There
are several modern skyscrapers. Here are a couple, and, a strange piece of art.
There are various districts in the town, Arts, City Center, Convention, etc. There the Dallas Pedestrian Network which is a system of tunnels connecting buildings, garages and parks. There are shops and restaurants located in the tunnels. The picture (left) is one of the access points to the tunnels. The Hotel (right) is the Adolphus, a grand hotel built by Adolphus Busch (Budweiser) and opened in 1912.
JFK
Tour and the 6th Floor Museum
We
did the tour and then went to the museum. I’m combining pictures in this write
up. The tour and museum deals with the events of the assassination of John F
Kennedy. The building then known as the Texas Book Depository was where, from a
corner widow on the 6th floor, Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal
shots. The box seen in the window is there to demonstrate how he might have
steadied the rifle.
Photography
is not allowed on the 6th floor but you can take pictures form the 7th
floor.
Looking
down from the 7th floor approximates the view Oswald had. There are
“X’s” on the street sowing where the car was when the shots were fired. The
trees were much smaller 50 years ago and did not block the view.
Oswald left the 6th floor an downs walking down
the steps when stopped by a policeman , he was identified as an employee and
was allowed to continue on his way. He took a cab near to where is lived, got
out and started walking from there. By the telephone pole is where Oswald shot
and killed Office J. D. Tippit.
Oswald walked down this street going into a store to avoid
the police. His action’ seen by an employee, aroused suspicion. The employee
follow Oswald to the theater where the police captured him. In this theater is
where Oswald was captured. According to our tour guide it took seven policemen
to subdue him. During the apprehension
process one Oswald thrust the barrel of
his pistol into the stomach of a policeman as he pulled the trigger the
policeman shoved the portion of his and, between the thumb and forefinger
stopping the hammer from hitting and discharging the bullet. Painful but it
saved the officers life.
This is the house that Oswald rented a room in. The widow of
his rom can be seen. It is in front of the chimney. Click on the picture to
enlarge it.
There are various stories and conspiracies theories concerning these
events. What our tour guide told us was Jack Ruby received a call from one of
his dancers. She needed to borrow some money to pay her rent. Jack agreed to
meet her at his night club where he could get money from his safe. After giving
her the money he saw activity at the police station and wandered over to see
what was going on. Oswald was scheduled to be transferred at least an hour
before Ruby arrived at his club. As fate would have it, Oswald's transfer was running late which allowed
the two people, Oswald and Ruby to be in the same place at the same time. And,
he believed that the shooting was spontaneous. Ruby was known to have a short
temper and was supposed to have been nicknamed “Sparky”. True or untrue it made an interesting story and was
delivered dramatically by our guide.
Lockheed Martin and Air Force Plant 4
Our niece works at Lockheed Martin arranged a tour of the
plant where the F-35 fighter is being assembled. Unfortunately for security reasons we were
not allowed to take pictures. It is known as Air Force Plant 4 and is managed
by Lockheed Martin. It is a hugh facility, the main building being just over a
mile in length. Opened in 1941, it has
been used to manufacture the B-24 bomber, followed by the B-32. If you se
interested you can read more about AFP4 at:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/afp-4.htm e or untrue it made
an interesting story and was delivered dramatically by our guide.
Over the years many other aircraft were produced here. They
include the B-36, B-58, F-111and F-16.
Although we couldn’t take pictures, thanks to google I was able to find a few
pictures online that were similar to what we saw.
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AT&T (Cowboy)Stadium
This is the $1.15 Billion dollar stadium built by Jerry Jones and opened in May 2009. While mainly known as the home of the Dallas Cowboys it also hosts many other events during the year. It has the world’s largest HD video display, we were told the cost for the video alone was in the order of $40 Million dollars. It can seat 80,000, with the maximum capacity, including standing being 105,000. You can tour the facility. Self-guided tours are: Adults $18.50, Seniors and Children $14.50.
Strange, but the tour stared and ended by going through the gift shop. Kind of like being at Disney World.
The stadium, video screen, looking up at the video screen and field level suites. The person or company that leases these suites also gets the first two rows of seats directly above the suite. They also get to mix with the players, attend after the game functions, etc. Poverty sucks!
Cheer leader locker rooms anyone? Beware of the camera man.
Players Locker Room and Press Room
Miller Lite Club One of the areas where suite owners & guests get to smooge with the players and celebrities.
Here is where the Cowboys run onto the field.
On the field
There are more pictures of the stadium at: https://jackbarbic.shutterfly.com/8461
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