Vicki's 2014 Visit - Part 2

The best laid plans of Mice and Men . . .  Get the drift?  Vicki requested that we visit the American Indian Museum in Oklahoma City and since I'd seen several ads on TV about it, I secured the address, entered it into my Garmin and we headed off nice and early on Monday, March 24.  The trip was uneventful, the weather was nice and we got to Oklahoma City in good time.  However, when we got to 900 N. Broadway, there was no museum - it was a very upscale bicycle shop.  The young men inside said "the museum isn't open yet" and when I looked at my watch, they said "it's still under construction."  The office, however, was upstairs and we went up there and chatted with two lovely ladies who said the museum would open in 2019!!!  Hopefully, I'll be alive in 2019 and we'll try again.

So, we went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial which was stunning, breathtaking, sad and beautiful.  So many emotions, tears filling my eyes when seeing the tiny chairs.  These photographs don't begin to do it justice.  Absolutely amazing!!!

The last two above are at St. Joseph's Church just across the street.

After a quick lunch at Blu's BBQ, we headed to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.  It was definitely not what we expected have heard so many superlatives about it. In my humble opinion, the museums in Fort Worth are much better, if smaller. We were in and out in about 90 minutes but I did catch a few photos of some things:

So, having our day cut short due to one museum not being open for five years and the other being less than what we'd heard [in our opinions], we decided not to stay in Oklahoma City and instead headed east to Tulsa.  After a little dinner next door at Ruby Tuesday, we're now in our PJs at the Best Western.  Our plan for Tuesday is heading further east, going through Broken Arrow and Muskogee and heading to Little Rock or thereabouts.  Do tune in, if you've a liking.

Vicki's Visit to Dallas 2014 - Part 1

Well, Vicki arrived on March 19th and after a few days of catching up, we headed out, and since Vicki had just gotten her eyes examined, we headed to Lenscrafters at Willow Bend and picked out her new glasses.  What do you think?

On Saturday, we retrieved Steve for a visit to The Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff.  We had our "first meal" at Lockhart BBQ and it was very good.  The brisket was the best but the sausage was very good.  The ribs - well, Angelo's in Fort Worth has much better ribs.  After that we did a little shopping and walking around.  Vicki found this:

Dessert was in order so we walked over to Emporium Pies!!  Oh My Goodness!!!!  Killer Pies!!!  Below is Vicki's Apple Caramel, Steve's Snowball [coconut cream] and my Key Lime.  Absolutely amazing!!!

Still walking around, we moseyed over to Ten Bells Tavern and had a libation and shared a Creamcicle Pancake.  Sorry, no pic of the pancake.  Below, coffee, beer and mimosa.

Saw this on the way to Ten Bells Tavern and just had to snap.

After The Bishop Arts, we headed over to Clyde Warren Park which underwhelmed me.  It's nice but should and could have been much larger.  Not really big enough for a concert of any substance, but a nice transition from one end of town to the other.  Here's Vicki in front of the mosaic at the DMA:

On Sunday, Vicki and I did laundry and planned our OK City etc. trip.  Jay was lovely enough to take us to dinner at Chamberlain's Fish Market:

So, off to bed early in order to get an early start to Oklahoma.

February Fun!

Here in Dallas, the weather has been nice at times and nasty at times, but the nice far outweighs the nasty, in my humble opinion.

On February 3, my Number One Son, Steve, celebrated his 50th birthday.  However, the actual party took place on February 8 in Fort Worth where the celebration of his First Annual Half Century Grub/Pub Crawl took place.  We gathered at the Downtown Hilton and the stretch limo arrived promptly at two  o'clock.

Limo with Some of the Friends

Steve made all the arrangementsl and our first stop was Angelo's Barbecue which, he says, is his first memory of Fort Worth.

Steve preparing for the chow down

Black Forest Cake from Swiss Pastry Shop

Lidia

Proud Mother with Steve

Glenn and Lidia

Beer is served!

Pat and Barb

CAKE!!!

Jason and Crew

Bottoms Up, Pat and Barb!

Glenn and Steve

Of course, when he was a child, the bear was much bigger!  So after, ribs, brisket, sausage, beer and cake, we all piled into the limo to head to our next stop.

J&J Oyster Bar which has moved from its original spot to the Taco Bell [when Steve was a child].

The day was beautiful so oysters and beer were enjoyed outside.  Glenn experienced his first oyster here and it was quite a event!  I wish I'd had my camera pointed at him to commemorate this occasion.

Again, we piled into the limo to head for our next destination.  Steve had the driver make a swing by our old home on Genoa.  Then, the limo driver got confused and made several wrong turns.  We arrived a little late at the final Grub destination[s].  The Original Mexican Cafe and Lucile's Stateside Bistro which is across the street.

The "kids" went into The Original for wonderful Mexican food, and I crossed Camp Bowie to Lucile's to meet Kendall Rojas, an old and very dear friend.  Phyllis Brown and Sandy Clark joined us and we had drinks and shared memories - making new ones.

Kendall, Me, Phyllis and Sandy

Sandy and I were old friends from Colonial Country Club golf days and Gold Cup Golf Tournament trips to Las Vegas.  Then, we all sold real estate for Wm. Rigg.  Fun times!!!

After their dinner, the "kids" joined us at Lucile's - some for their magnificent martini's but others, Steve, were too full to even sip!!  Here's Kendall with Glenn teaching him, Italian, I think.

Here's where Old Mom begged off from the Half Century Celebration.  Kendall and I went to Axiom Sushi for dinner and more talk, and the "kids" limo-ed back downtown for some more Pub Crawling. For more and better photos, check out Steve's blog:  www.thesummerofsteve.blogspot.com

After a really fun-filled day, I crawled into my bed at the Downtown Hilton and had a somewhat good night's sleep. This hotel was the last place John F. Kennedy slept before he was killed in Dallas. Very eerie.

Awoke early on Sunday to heavy fog and since there was nothing planned, headed back to Dallas.

Today, MY birthday, is going to be spent quietly - blogging, reading and enjoying the sunny weather. Celebration will be after my doctor's appointment on 2/20 - I want to make a good impression there.

So, Happy Birthday to Me!