Portland - Chicago - Dallas
- Sep 2, 2015
- 3 min read
Once I arrived back in Portland I had to decide how and what route I would take to get me back to New York for my flight home. I worked out I could take the train back to Chicago then head down to Dallas first. I had always wanted to see Dallas and I had arranged to call into Lonestar Houston to see the head office of my former employer. The train to chicago was nice and relaxing and it was at a different time to when I went in the opposite direction so I saw some different sights. I had a host in chicago called Sabrina and I made my way to her apartment when I arrived. She lived just outside the city centre with a housemate and their cat. I took in some more sights of the city on my 2nd visit like the former location of the Warehouse Club, the birthplace of house music and the 2 streets named after DJ Frankie Knuckles and DJ International record label. Sabrina came out for coffee and a chat the next day and later I booked my train ride to Dallas.
12039716_10152943861756184_8668907848709 12006326_10152943769001184_5821801195780 11822845_10152943769116184_9289159217139 12002962_10152943767846184_7576243444410 12002748_10152945111741184_5066311034201 12006307_10152943768271184_1781099699709
The overnighter to Dallas was nice and easy, I'm becoming a bit of a natural doing trains. Brian my host for Dallas picked me up at the station and took me to the house he shared with his partner Caroline and their dog and cat. It was a perfect distance from the city centre where I was planning to go to the next day. Brian owned a people carrying bicycle like they have in China that he uses to give people rides around the city and to and from the local Baseball stadium when there is a game on. Luckily for me there was a game the next night and he had gotten tickets for the 3 of us and one of their friends. I was buzzing as I really wanted to take in a game before I left the country.
Dealey Plaza is one of the most famous sites in the world. It will forever be known as the site of the JFK assassination. I could feel the sense of history as Brian and I cycled along Main Street following the motorcade route. We turned right onto South Houston Street and were greeted by the view of the Texas School Book Depository up ahead. We continued forward and took the sharp left onto Elm Street and cycled down the slight hill with the 6th floor window of the depository now directly behind us. The was exactly the course JFK had taken on the fateful day in November 1963. Such a strange surreal feeling to be in the same place all those years later on a bicycle. We did the photographs around the Plaza, the infamous Grassy Knoll, the underpass and the perch that Abraham Zapruder shot the 8mm film that became so etched on peoples minds. We took a tour of the book depository and manged to get up to the sixth floor and see the snipers nest that had for a long time been surrounded by a glass wall. It was so creepy looking out of the window down to Elm Street and imagining back to what had happened a few feet away from where I was standing just over half a century earlier. I will remember the feeling for all time.
12039536_10152948941581184_4153868826689 12046820_10152948941606184_4530551032709 12038434_10152948941526184_2469267955198 12039299_10152948941616184_8797493203764 12004779_10152948941426184_5313379130018 12011311_10152948940621184_8265428250392 12020059_10152948940826184_7073353104267 11218159_10152948940671184_3955831125447 12043193_10152948940766184_6401110215952 12038184_10152948940861184_4802725254408 12038315_10152948940926184_2552998073891 12037996_10152948940996184_7569038415188 12009815_10152948941141184_8132857054765 11990670_10152948941196184_8493768668523 12036404_10152948941206184_1516209754570 12002769_10152948941276184_5127071019488 12033063_10152948941336184_5911151785366 11216821_10152948941281184_9150809481755 12039648_10152948940586184_5653587744486
On the night we took in our baseball game at Arlington National Stadium where we watched local team the Texas Rangers beat state rivals the Houston Astros. What an amazing couple of days with awesome, friendly and hospitable people. I loved Dallas.
Comments