Kid #1 has an internship in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this summer, so we drove south for a visit. He’ll be finishing up in three weeks, but we waited until after Kid #2 finished his internship in Emporia, so we could all go.
We brought Ali with us, so we reserved a 2 bed, 2 bath Airbnb near downtown.
Friday, July 19
First things first: I found a super cute coffee shop about a 5 minute walk from our house. I heard the owner talking – it used to be a house, but the city zoned the area (including this house) as commercial, so they bought it and fixed it up.
After a quick walk with Ali and breakfast, we visited The Sixth Floor Museum, which chronicles the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. It was interesting timing since it’s been barely a week after the alleged assassination of former President Trump.
We learned about JFK’s priorities and the background of Lee Harvey Oswald, who allegedly fired shots which ultimately killed JFK. This is the sixth floor window where it all happened.
There was in-depth coverage of the assassination including the events leading up to the drive down Elm Street. We watched the video of the caravan, listened to and read the media coverage including Walter Conkrite’s famous newscast.
My favorite part was how the media dealt with the news. We saw the “wire” which told people to “stay off the line,” the radio and tv coverage, and this exhibit of all the cameras used to document the event, both by journalists and bystanders.
Then, two days later, Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald which created yet another breaking news story.
Scott and the boys liked reading about the actual investigation, which led to conspiracy theories that are still ongoing today.
Below, is the famous “grassy knoll” where witnesses claim they heard gunshots, raising suspicion of a second shooter.
We ate lunch at Jack Ruby’s Saloon (complete with a $2 mystery beer), and then on to The Eye.
This giant eyeball was made by Chicago-based artist Tony Tasset. He created the 30-foot fiberglass sculpture back in 2007, and it has sat in the middle of Dallas since 2013. According to the artist, it doesn’t have any meaning. It was placed on the land of the Dallas’s first skyscraper, built in 1909 (and torn down in 2012).
Then the boys played a round of disk golf at Fritz Park, while I stayed home with Ali relaxing.
I only had access to news channels, so I watched coverage of the CrowdStrike technology outage which disabled airlines, and affected banks, emergency lines, TV networks, grocery stores and retailers, including Starbuck’s mobile app. How are people supposed to order their coffee in advance? 😱
I later found out this technology outage affected my work, as our email platform was affected, thus leaving us unable to send any emails or newsletter to our members for a few days.
Steak, salmon, salad, fruit and chips for dinner. Wine, scotch, and ice cream for dessert.
Saturday, July 20
The boys played another round of disc golf this morning while Ali and I took a morning walk and hung around the house. I found another local coffee shop within walking distance (and a small little dog park).
There was also sofa and big chair seating, a kid’s play area, a record player and a cute table made out of an old post letter box.
After lunch, we headed back downtown to the Dallas World Aquarium. We bought tickets yesterday. We arrived and found a line that extended outside and around the building. People in line said they had been waiting for an hour. There was no separate window for advanced ticket holders, so our only option was to stand in line. It was 3 p.m. and the aquarium closed at 5 p.m. Quick math indicates we may only have 30 minutes inside.
There was no information on their website about refunds and Scott was getting pretty irritated (we had spent $130 on tickets for the four of us). I called while and eventually was assured that a refund process would start within 1-2 days and it would show up on our credit card in 7-10 days. We shall see…
Our afternoon has suddenly opened up. We headed to the Museum of Illusions, but they were sold out until 6 p.m. That left Reunion Tower, which ended up being cooler and a lot more fun than we originally thought.
Reunion Tower is 470 feet high and has a 360 degrees view of the Dallas area. We spent about an hour up top, watching a maze of freeway traffic on one side and marveling at the downtown buildings on the other. From almost 500 feet above street level, we were able to see the Sixth Floor Museum and Elm Street, where JFK was assassinated.
We even saw a proposal at the top of the tower! ❤️
During our walk to and from the tower, we saw a reconstruction of the cabin from the area’s first resident, John Neely Bryan and the JFK Memorial Plaza.
Dinner was at Chet’s Dallas, a cool restaurant famous for their old fashioned drinks (and they were delicious!
Sunday, July 21
Typically, I wouldn’t write about the drive home, especially when it’s on I-35 through Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, but as we were driving Papa texted us with 🚨 Breaking News 🚨 President Biden had dropped out of the 2024 Presidential election!
President Biden has been urged to step down after the unfortunate June 27 debate with former President Trump. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the democratic nominee. This is an unprecedented move, as a party’s presumptive presidential nominee has never stepped out of the race so close to the election.
One Kansas Girl 