Fort Worth, TX

THUR., MAY 26, 2022 thru TUES., MAY 31, 2022

On Thursday, May 26th, we traveled 106 miles north on busy I-35. However, the highway was empty between towns with only cattle and ranches. We arrived at Silver Creek RV Resort on the outskirts of Fort Worth. Nice campground, but it’s hot… and there’s no pool! Temps are in the mid-90s. Too hot to sit outside so we hunkered down inside and enjoyed Happy Hour with Cheryl & Joe in our tiny home later in the day. In the evening when it cooled off I went for a walk. There are a few transient sites here but mostly extended stay sites. There were some beautiful views overlooking hills and a pond, but those views can only be enjoyed from the dog walk area… at least the dogs get to enjoy them! There’s only one negative to the campground. We were here for 6 nights and there was a pervading smell of manure the entire time. It wasn’t really a problem since it was too hot to sit outside and windows were closed with the A/C on. Not sure if this is an all-the-time-smell or we were just unlucky this week. Anyway we can add this to our list… when at campgrounds previously we’ve sometimes had trains sound like they’re coming through our living room, woken up to hearing dinosaurs roaring (there was a fake dinosaur park next to a campground in Breaux Bridge, LA), heard an auto salvage yard start screeching at 4:30 in the morning every day for a week at a campground in Houston, and now… manure. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows! 

Friday, May 27th, we visited the Fort Worth Stockyards. Rather than the “running of the bulls,” every day they have the “moseying of the steers.” You think it would be hokey, but instead it’s just so cool! There’s about 20 longhorn steer they walk thru the streets. The Drovers make sure the steers stay where they’re supposed to as we’re all trying to get photos. Awesome to see. Gary put a short video together that tells the story…

Before the cattle drive, we visited the Stockyards Museum located in the historic 1899 Livestock Exchange Building. We learned Fort Worth was the third largest stockyards in the nation during the 2 World Wars. And during WWI, foreign governments purchased draft animals making Fort Worth the largest Horse and Mule Market in the world. The museum was filled with interesting artifacts. 

We walked a little further up the street to the historic Cowboy Coliseum (1908) where (my brother) Andy and (sis-in-law) Linda’s grandson still ropes at rodeos on weekends here. Fabulous building that we were able to go inside and wander around. Afterwards we walked down Main Street and appreciated the charm and character of this great town and generally lapped up the atmosphere. We appreciated all the honky tonk signage, the brick lined roadways, and the boot shops. One boot shop in particular we had to visit… M.L. Leddy. They’ve been making boots since 1918, and my grandfather worked for years in the San Angelo store. Cheryl, too, was familiar with this bookmaker because her company sold leather to them, and she was educating us on the leather used in the boots. Some price tags on custom boots were upwards of $5,000. 

We visited the historic Stockyards Hotel… “welcoming guests since 1907” with it’s old west charm and once-upon-a-time frequented by Bonnie & Clyde. We had lunch at the adjacent restaurant, H3 Ranch. Gary & I remembered eating here years ago with my parents. We visited the new Hotel Drover, so named to honor the legendary cowboys who drove cattle to market across the plains. It’s a modern hotel with a Texas southwest flair. Gorgeous! Lastly, we wandered back thru Stockyards Station and the shops, although we did no shopping. Then came home and rested. The heat tires you out! Another fun day with the Hannafords!

Saturday, May 28th, we drove out early (leaving at 9AM) to visit the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge to do a hike. The Refuge covers over 3,600 acres and includes over 20 miles of hiking trails, making the park one of the largest city-owned nature centers in the US. We explored the visitor’s center first and got a recommendation from the staff on a good hike. We hadn’t gone very far when we encountered a fork in the road. Hmmmm which way to go? Yea, let’s let the Stapp who is directionally challenged decide the route. That should work well for all concerned. Hee hee. We walked about 2.25 miles cobbling together our own hike. It only felt like 5 miles with the heat. lol. 

Sunday afternoon, May 29th, the four of us visited two Art Museums. Both free and located in the Fort Worth Cultural District. First up the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Mr. Carter, at the suggestion of his friend Will Rogers, collected 400 works by Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, two of the greatest artists of the American West. That was the beginning of this American Art Museum which now includes Georgia O’Keeffe and John Singer Sargent among many others. The museum is considered one of the nation’s major repositories of American photography. It also has a really interesting art installation in the foyer. Sewing thread that is painted colors of the rainbow is strung up in a pattern that catches the light. It took 3 people 10 days to do the art installation. It’s huge. 

Afterwards, we walked half a block to the Kimbell Art Museum, known for its 1972 building designed by Louis Kahn, “widely regarded as one of the outstanding architectural achievements of the modern era.” Natural light enters the museum through narrow plexiglass skylights along the top of a curved barrel shape and is diffused by aluminum reflectors. Therefore natural light is mostly used to display the art. It’s interesting but looks very 1970’s. I’m sure it was cutting edge at the time. The collection at this museum was smaller but world class with masterpieces by Matisse, Monet, Cezanne, Picasso, and others. There’s a second building designed by an Italian architect that incorporates a glass roof system that seems to float above wood beams and concrete posts. It houses art from Asia and Africa and had an interesting curved staircase (optical illusion) to the lower level where the theatre was. Visiting these two free museums was a perfect activity for a hot day!

On Monday, Memorial Day, the Hannafords and us headed into downtown Fort Worth early to avoid the heat. First stop was to visit the Water Gardens designed in 1974 by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Three of the four water gardens were operational. One was positively scary! Photos don’t do it justice! The scary one was called the Active Pool. When it was first designed, water flowed all around the stairs leading down to the pool at the bottom. No railing to hold on to and you’re walking over varying shapes of stairs with spaces between them. Four people were killed here. A young child fell in and the remaining family members tried to save the child. All four perished. They closed down the waterfall, modified it, and re-opened it. It’s still a bit scary. It’s a strange feeling walking down the steps to get down to the pool area… even with no water flowing over the stairs. Unnerving! Gary walked down the steps the way you’re supposed to. Cheryl & I did a more circuitous route that was less scary. The remaining two water gardens were much more tame. We were also treated to seeing a young 16-year old Hispanic woman having photos taken for her Quinceanera at the Water Gardens. So beautiful! 

Gary put a short video together of the Water Gardens.

From there we headed to Sundance Square which is a pedestrian friendly shopping/gallery district and home to the beautiful Bass Performance Center. The exterior is truly gorgeous…

We also walked over to see the historic County Courthouse. Lots of charm in downtown Fort Worth. Once again we ran out of time to see everything and would totally come back to this area. 

Next up we move about 50 miles north to Hickory Creek (outside Dallas) and a Corp of Engineer park and see family!