It was March of 2011, when Fred and Lupe flew into Kansas City from El Paso by way of Dallas. We had some relaxing days visiting before getting into our van for a road trip to Dallas. Now you may ask, why didn’t we just meet them in Dallas. My answer to that is “And what fun would that have been?” We were off to visit Maria, Derrick and Alex. It was our first visit to their beautiful home.

House of Blues Dallas opened in 2007 in the historic White Swan Building at the crossroads of Dallas’ West End and the newly established Victory Park development. The building dates back to the 1920’s when it housed a White Swan Coffee processing plant. This unique and histor rich building continues to celebrate and showcase art and music.

A little info about House of Blues.

As we passed the back of the building there were several VERY large trucks and MANY people dressed in black unloading musical stuff. Live music is performed most nights. There are several music rooms with the largest one holding 1625 people.

The menu cover was carved wood.

The House of Blues serves southern-style food and the service, the day we were there, was terrible! It was so bad they took 50% off our bill. Steve and Fred had coleslaw which was made with blue cheese. It was really strange. Even though we did not enjoy the food, the building was eye candy with all of the art.

One of our stops was The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The plaza is located on Houston street between Elm and Commerce. In 1993 it was designated a National Historic Landmark District. A well known feature of the plaza is the grassy knoll, which rises from the north side of Elm Street. The museum examines the life, times, death, and legacy of President John F. Kennedy and is located at the very spot from which Lee Harvey Oswald, according to four government investigations, shot and killed the President on November 22, 1963. as his motorcade went past the building.

The Sixth Floor Museum was a walk back into time with films, photos and a reconstruction of the room where Oswald stood when he took the shot.

We stopped at the 8.0 Bar for drinks. The bar was located in the historic Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. The Square is a 55,000 square foot place to hang out with friends while enjoying live music or an outdoor movie. The Square has fantastic fountains, giant umbrellas, and a state of the art sound and light system. It was a fun public space! The 8.0 Bar had a unique and flavorful menu, wine list, as well as a special drink menu.

The Fort Worth Stock Yards was our next stop. There were more than a hundred shopping, dining and entertainment venues. Because of this, The Stockyards National Historical District is one of Texas’s most popular tourist destinations.

Just a short distance from the Stockyards is Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant. We arrived on this spring evening to lots of people standing in line to get into Garcia’s. It was a 45 minute wait to get to be seated. We took our place in line and enjoyed a spring breeze. We could see the patio with a very large fountain. This is a mom and pop operation, handed down from generation to generations over eight decades. After being seated we found they had a well oiled kithen operation, that kept the Mexican dishes and margaritas flowing. It was worth the wait to eat at the busiest and best known restaurant in Ft. Worth.

After a fun visit we headed back to Kansas, where we enjoyed a few more days together before Fred and Lupe flew back to Dallas and on to El Paso.