We were up with plenty of time to make it the rest of the way to Dallas and meet our friend for his lunch break. We saw that Texas was indeed as flat as we had felt it was driving all through the night before. At one point, we stopped to look at some cows and stretch our legs. Other than that, we went straight to Dallas.
A lot of critters in Texas:
We met at a Texas-style steakhouse, which my vegetarian girlfriend found helpful. But it was Texas, so he wanted us to eat someplace "Texasy". The ribs were allright, but I doubt they were Texas' finest. If so, Texas is in trouble, 'cause I've had better ribs in Los Angeles.
If you know her...you'd know how funny this is:
We had planned simply to drive straight through Texas, other than to say hello to our friend, but while Maria was in the restroom, I made the mistake of asking what there was to do around there. He mentioned Dealey Plaza. Wow, I hadn't even thought about that. That is someplace I'd always wanted to go, and I had been so distracted by everything else, I forgot about it. I knew we were going there next...i was even on our way out of town...
It was very surreal seeing the whole square where one of the most significant events in American history took place. I had been seeing video footage of the plaza and the assassination of Kennedy since I was in school. It fascinated me then, and it always had whenever another movie came out about the situation. I can't say I'd really "studied" it or anything, but as soon as we drove into the plaza, I knew right where everything was, and how to get around.
The old book depository is now something else, but the 6th and 7th floors are a museum. "The 6th Floor Museum" tour is where we went first. The corner where Oswald allegedly shot Kennedy from is set up to look just as it did the day of the assassination. It is all glassed in, so you can't look out the window, which is still open like it was that day (there is a pane of glass there, so it is sealed, but just propped open to look that way).
The view outside of the window next to that window looks about the same. The plaza all looks basically the same. The trees have only gotten bigger since that day.
Other than the museum, there are no other "official" things to do there, though there are plenty of people selling some form of story about that day. It seemed all of them were selling the conspiracy story. Especially up on the infamous "Grassy Knoll". The orange marked post is where the conspirators claim one of the other assassins was standing. I hadn't noticed the mark until later. From what I knew of the stories, I knew it was somewhere around there. I was close.
It is strange to experience a place that is so ingrained into your brain, but only from tv or something. I have seen so many plays of the Zapruder film, I can roll through it in realtime with my eyes closed. I knew what the x's on the road were for. Shots 1 and 2, where Kennedy was when he got hit. When we left, we took that same path down Elm St. and out through the bridge.
Then we got back onto the road. East of Dallas, Texas turned into more of what we were used to the "South" looking like. Maria is from Florida, so she's known it her whole life. I am from California, though I'd spent enough time in Florida now to know we were getting closer! Very green and wooded from here on out! The plan was to take a right at Shreveport, and make it as far south in Louisiana as we could before we decided to call it a day.
Every time we stopped for food or a break, people were so nice. I sat and listened to two older ladies speaking Creole(?) back and forth to each other while we ate. I enjoy language, and can usually figure out what is being spoken, but I don't think I'd ever heard the language before.
As we sped past on the freeway through Texas, I saw a strange Bull, so I got off the highway, and doubled back. Turns out there were quite a few strange animals there. Bison, Zebras, Camels, Ostritches, and several other odd-looking cattle of some sort. The place was called "Toontown", and I haven't called yet to learn if they are for shows, breeding, or what. But we stopped and took some pics.
The whole rest of the way, it was getting dark. We had been kind of nervous about what the roads would be like in Louisiana, but it was by far the best stretch of driving we had. It was dark once we went South from Shreveport, but the highway was perfect, and if we passed 50 vehicles the whole time between Shreveport and LaFayette, I'd be surprised.
We stopped and ate at a Cracker Barrel off some offramp, and kept on another hour or so to LaFayette for the night. A buddy in CA text messaged me about staying away from some trouble in a little town called Jena that night. A quick map check told me we were far enough away, and we got ourselves a cheap hotel room while we wondered what to do tomorrow. Welcome to Louisiana...
These longer miles were getting old...we needed to see some more sights...
Total miles traveled were only 545.
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