Some events are so incredible that you can’t really describe them in words. In our opinion, a visit to a rodeo is undoubtedly one of them. Such a rousing atmosphere and enthusiasm mixed with pride and attention to detail is simply fantastic.
FORTH WORTH – STOCKYARDS
We visited our first rodeo in Forth Worth as part of a short trip to North Texas and were really impressed. We cannot confirm the impression that animals are excessively tortured here. On the contrary … here, obviously, the human actors torture themselves more than the horses or cows. But you can feel that cowboys and cowgirls joy while practicing the disciplines.
Forth Worth is a really cool town that has preserved the old Wild West style in the Stockyards and maintains and presents traditions. Saloon-style bars and restaurants, a dance hall where you can learn and practice traditional square dancing, and “cowboys” who perform little gunfights for the tourists. And the daily highlight: in the morning at 10:00 AM and the afternoon at 4:00 PM for the Cattle Drive, a herd of longhorn cattle is led through the streets by cowboys, just like in the 1850s. That’s really something!
The evening concert of a local country band in front of the stadium, of course, strengthened the overall impression, and the good mood of the people was captivating. But, unfortunately, we had booked our hotel a bit outside so that we couldn’t stay forever. That’s why we had to return the next morning because we had forgotten to buy our new cowboy hats!
SOUTHFORK RANCH
The next day we visited the famous SF Ranch, which we knew from our childhood. DALLAS – the TV series about the oil millionaire family Ewing! The Southfork Ranch is still a managed ranch with a small museum to the famous series. OK, goal set: no longer JR & Sue Ellen but MK & AK!!!
DALLAS
To take a bit of US history, we drove to the center of Dallas, where John F. Kennedy was shot. Here three crosses on the asphalt decorate the places where the shots hit him. The building is also a museum and an important visitor attraction. One has also not been stingy with installing an appropriately monumental memorial. But beautiful is different. However, it is important to note that the nearby parking lot bears the prominent name and thus can charge prominent prices. Otherwise, we found downtown Dallas rather sobering. If we had had more time, we would have climbed the Reunion Tower, but we can make up for that.
On the way home, we were able to confirm what we had learned so far about the food supply on the local interstates because at every corner between Dallas and Austin, there were (especially to Celina’s delight) Mexican-designed food temples (and, to the parents’ chagrin, heaps of toll roads).