I spent some of my time in north Texas, as well as a little day trip into Dallas. While my friend Colette was there for some dog training, I had time to see some of the sites around the area, touring about with my Grom motorcycle and walking about. But first, let me tell you about the day trip we took into Dallas to see the George W Bush Library.
Oval office replica
We had use of a car for the day so we decided to drive into Dallas to see the sights. Unfortunately, the day also was full out rain, so things like Dealey Plaza where JFK was shot were nixed pretty quick. We decided to visit the George W Bush Library, as it had been recommended by others. GWB isn’t my favorite president, but he presided over the USA in interesting times. I was interested to see how his legacy library would tell the story of those days.
Deerfoot trail (Calgary) is nothing compared to Dallas freeways
Texas freeways have their own quirks like exits to the meridian roads that come in to your left as you drive down the meridian. The one way roads are fine, but when it’s a two way road, you’re expected to yield to the traffic coming off the freeway. The problem is seeing someone coming up behind you on your left on the off ramp is a bit challenging. But these had nothing on the maze that is the downtown set of freeways that come together in something that looks like an anatomically correct heart with the freeways being arteries coming off of it. There is no love lost between me and this road network. The rain had traffic backing up with the googles trying to take us around the traffic jams by dumping us on the downtown streets. The problem was, the instructions were often just too late or too unclear to be in the correct lane to get to where you were going. Had googles just left us on the freeway we’d have been fine, just a little slower getting there. As it was, after two exits off the freeway and back on going the wrong way we finally got on the freeway and stayed there until we were close to our destination. Googles failed on heavy traffic in heavy rain in downtown Dallas.
Pushing the Bush
We get to the GWB Library and find at least that there is lots of parking, free it turns out but we didn’t know that going in. But just when I thought the stress of getting there was over, I find out that the library has one of my most favorite things to come out of 9-11, a security screening with metal detectors. Really, this is a potential terrorist target? Of course, I’m carrying my pocket knife, the potential threat that I am, so off I go back out in the rain to the car to drop off my knife and head back in.
The situation room, real deal.
Of course the library has a spin favorable to GWB, but there is some humility and balance in the events displayed. While the replica oval office is a bit cheesy for offering photo ops of you sitting at the fake president’s chair, the situation room is the real deal, salvaged and re-built at the Library during Obama’s term I believe. You can even sit on the chairs, the real ones sat on at the time of Osama bin Laden’s assassination, which didn’t happen during GWB’s reign. Perhaps if he’d not decided to fight two wars at the same time he’d have gotten ObL instead, but we’ll never know now.
WTC column remains
The one display that made it worth coming through the traffic and the rain was the WTC beam remains. I may never make it to NYC to pay my respects to those that died needlessly as victims of fanatics. This at least was a monument I could gaze at and think of all the lost lives, nevermind all of us whose lives were changed forever by terrorism brought direct to the USA in the most spectacular fashion.
I went through the rest of the library doing a lot of mental eye rolling at the “war on terrorism” and the war on Iraq. To think, the USA had probably an all-time high of good will following 911. Pretty much everyone was willing to follow GWB’s lead on taking out the Taliban – but the Iraq war was the WTF event of GWB’s presidency, ending up squandering away most of that 911 goodwill. But hey, that’s just my opinion – I never sat on one of those situation room chairs at the time those decisions were made. Perhaps they really were hornswoggled into believing Saddam was a nuclear threat.
Cache does a water retrieve
After our half day at the museum, we travelled north to Bonham. My friend Colette was meeting her dog trainer, for some field trial training. Field trials are essentially a fancier and much more complicated version of a (in this case) bird hunting dog. The roots of the sport are the functions of a hunting dog. The dog must retrieve, in a specific order, ignoring any distractions along the way. The sport requires the dogs to develop skills way beyond what a simple hunting dog needs, but the basics, like the dog must go in a straight line to the bird, the dog must go only when commanded, and the dog must retrieve the correct bird are all the same.
Bois d’Arc RV Park
We were camped at Bois d’Arc RV Park campground just north of Bonham. The campground was okay. It was good for being close to Bonham – you could walk to a grocery store from there. The place is fairly new – the facilities are all in good shape and clean. On the downside, being beside a major intersection meant more road noise with heavy vehicles accelerating from a stop. Plus, the short term sites at the campground are all by the main campground road. The gravel road is surprisingly noisy even with cars going by slow.
Bonham courthouse
I was free to go off and do some exploring while Colette went off to field trial training. I took the motorcycle into Bonham and explored the central part of town. The courthouse is the central attraction, a fairly large building for a town this size. It sits on a green space covering a city block. The rest of the central district surrounds this building, with a mix of modest old buildings.
Central Bonham business strip
Like most towns, the central business district has had the life sucked out of it by new development on the edge of town. The businesses here didn’t seem to be doing too bad, but you can see there are empty spaces in what are some nicely kept up buildings. Seeing construction in the area and what looks like newly restored old buildings, it looks like there is life again in the area. From a tourist perspective, the central square is worth hitting for a look at the courthouse and the surrounding old building vibe.
At the entrance to the museum
My next stop was the Sam Rayburn museum. I didn’t know anything about Sam Rayburn before going here, so I was in for an education. Sam was a Democrat of a different era, back when Texas voted as much for the person’s values as the party’s values. He was huge in getting rural development done in the States, like electrification, and rural road improvements. What struck me was how he was a unifier, getting things done by hammering out consensus between parties. All I can say is the USA could really use another Sam right now.
Inside of one of the Fort Inglish log cabins
Right next door to the museum was Fort Inglish, the founding seed of Bonham in 1837. There are three original 1830’s log cabins and a part original/part recreation of the fort stockade. It’s a pretty good museum. I was particularly impressed by the well preserved horse buggy displays. Being here reminds me this area was settled a good fifty years before the west, so you see a lot more of the pre-motorised era artifacts in this part of the world. The two stops here could easily gobble up a half day of browsing, and the cost is a donation, so not an expensive afternoon out either.
Lake Bonham park looking towards the boat launch
In my explorations around town, I discovered Lake Bonham Park, a $20 per night lake side camping area with electricity. It was only ten minutes from our first spot and much nicer so we decided to move over there for the rest of our stay in the area. It certainly was nice to look at birds and fishing boats on the first day of spring, compared to what I’m used to up north of everything being frozen solid.
Luna Azul margarita
Our last day in the area required a revisit to Luna Azul Mexican restaurant. We had been there once as a group on the recommendation of the other dog trainers, and was it a good one! A peculiar quirk of the place is the free Margaritas. Why free you ask? Well, Bonham is a dry town and you can’t sell booze here, one of the less charming things about the southern culture. But nothing says you can’t give booze away, so thus the free drinks. They are being really careful about not tying the booze to having to purchase a meal, lest anyone accuse them of charging indirectly. So while it is possible to drop in for a free drink, it’s kinda on the honor system that you order a meal and keep your drink count low. But the booze was secondary to the food. This was some of the best Mexican I’ve had, that is saying something having just come back from my journey down the Baja. Even if you’re in for a dry lunch, Luna Azul is definitely worth a visit.
Old horseshoes in the Inglish Museum
So my time in Texas was coming to an end. Spring had sprung and it was time to slowly start working my way north again. Texas is a big state. I’d be making two more stops just getting out of the state. Join my next time as I travel north west in Texas!
