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| St Paul's Lutheran Church |
It’s
been a Fort Worth kinda day. We went to the flea market this morning – the
vendors take over the “small exhibits” barn at the Will Rogers Memorial Center
– it’s much larger than it sounds. On
the way we passed a scene you seldom see in England – a Lutheran tent revival
that, like all the churches here on a Sunday, was packed to overflowing. When I
stopped to take a photo, the attendants rushed over to help me park. I
explained that I only wanted a photo because church attendance in England is falling,
and so it would be an unusual sight for “folks back home”. When they pressed me
to join them (in the nicest possible way), I declined, suggesting that I (not
alone, you understand, but as a representative, though not statistically valid,
sample) was probably the reason for declining congregations.
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| Val at Joe T Garcia's |
After
the flea market, we headed north to the Stockyards – significant historically
because Fort Worth was once the last outpost of civilization before the cattle
drives hit the Chisholm Trail and the plains, bound for the railheads in
Kansas. These days, they are more of a tourist trap. We had lunch at Joe T
Garcia’s, a famous local landmark that has featured traditional Mexican food in
an outdoor garden since 1935. This is the place to go for “real” guacamole and
margaritas.
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| The Opry |
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| Cattle drive |
The
Stockyards area has all kinds of entertainment for visitors. Some of it is fake
(like the daily cattle drive down Main Street), and some of it is not (like
many of the cowboys that drive the cattle, and the White Horse Saloon, where
local musicians play most days of the week, and the Fort Worth Opry that play
just for the fun of it). I’ve heard it said that the American love affair with
Harley Davidson motorcycles is in no small part due to a latent desire to keep
the “cowboy culture” alive. The Stockyards, particularly at night, is a magnet
for both.
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| Cowboys old and new |
Playing
in the Love Shack next door to the White Elephant I found Brad Hines. I didn’t
recognize him at first – he’s lost 220 pounds! It was his voice, and his chewing-tobacco
habit, that gave him away. It’s amazing what lap band surgery can achieve – he
certainly looks much better for it.
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| Brad Hines |
