We have until 5:00pm until we need to catch the shuttle to Globe Life Park for tonight's baseball game, that leaves us several hours to kill during the day.
The weather report keeps talking about a major storm ("damaging" is the adjective they use) so our plan was to just hang at the hotel and wait it out. Outside, though, the weather doesn't look so bad and monitoring the real-time radar on Accuweather.com shows that the storm is passing just to the north of us.
Watch the Video!
Fort Worth, and it's Stock Yards, are only fifteen miles away so we decided to pile in the car and at least drive around to see what we can see.
The sun is still shining as we turn onto Exchange Avenue and a handicapped spot is open in the middle of the block. Apparently, the gods are on our side so we park and get out.
In the back of our parking lot is what's left of the real stockyards, a few cow pens with a small herd of longhorn cattle in them. It's ramped and wheelchair accessible so we start here.
One bull is being frisky and odious to the other cows as he tries to mount, bully, defecate, and fight among the other more docile animals. What a show...
We're not going to be able to see the cows being driven down the street. It happens two times a day but the first one already happened and we'll be long gone when the second drive is scheduled.
It's lunchtime and we're looking for somewhere to tackle our rumbling stomachs. All I can see are the usual 'meh' tourist lunch spots until a sidewalk sandwich board beckons me with a $7.99 flat iron lunch special.
$7.99 is right up my budgetary alley, let's see if it's worth it.
We're at Riscky's Steakhouse. Of course it's western themed. I feel like I've gone back home and ended up at Knott's Berry Farm. The friendly host seats us, we order a couple of ice-cold Lone Stars, and explore the premises.
While I'm taking pictures, one of the bus boys asks if I've taken a picture of the safe yet. No, I don't know about a safe so he takes me back to a standard and sturdy vault in the back of the dining room.
"This used to be a bank," he tells me. The vault must not be that sturdy because the next thing he says is "this was the first bank to be robbed by Bonnie and Clyde." (I can't find any other verification for this, though)
A basket of bread so delicious it's in danger of ruining our appetite is brought out. Not too long after, the food arrives.
The steak, a just-right serving of tender, juicy flat iron is delicious. It's served with a few Texas-sized steak fries and half a slice of garlicky Texas toast. I'd probably pay three times as much for a similar meal at home. At eight bucks, it is a true bargain.
Tim opts for the chicken fried chicken, which is like a chicken fried steak only using chicken instead of beef. It's all really good and we polish it off in no time.
This would turn out to be the best lunch we'd have in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Satisfied, we wander among the shops of Exchange Avenue and notice some raindrops start to fall. It's also smelling very wet so Tim and I head to hang out near our parking spot while Letty does some more shopping. If that 'damaging' storm is about to hit, I want to be able to put Tim in the car immediately.
It never happens so we watch the Grapevine excursion train locomotive turn itself around on the adjacent turntable and disappear in the cluster of shops (that doubles as the train station) across the street before driving back to Arlington for tonight's game.
Darryl Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
Photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2017 - All Rights Reserved
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