Day 35--Austin, TX to Dallas, TX

Today, I drove the 200 miles or so between Austin and Dallas. After leaving Austin around 8:00am, I first headed to Ft. Worth, only stopping in Waco for gas and a drink on the way. In Ft. Worth, I first checked out the Stockyards National Historic District. I arrived there around 11:00am, in time for the 11:30am daily cattle drive down Exchange Street, which is the heart of the district (I believe there's also an afternoon cattle drive). The cattle drive was brief and I thought it would be a significantly bigger spectacle, but since I love bovines (as food and as creatures to look at), it was still pretty cool.

I walked around the Stockyards district for a bit, walking into a few of the western stores, and then went to Riscky's Steakhouse to get their 10 oz. Ribeye Lunch Special. Riscky's looks the role for a steakhouse in that area. While my steak was perfectly adequate for the price of $12.99, it was not spectacular.

After lunch, I headed to the Kimball Art Museum, which is the most highly regarded of three museums (the others are the Amon Carter and Modern Art museums, which are also highly regarded) located on a stretch a couple of miles west of downtown and south of the Stockyards District. The Kimball was a nice small museum. I didn't pay for the special exhibit which meant admission was free (it is for everyone for the permanent collection). I didn't have a chance to visit the other museums in that area.

I then headed to Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. It was pretty quiet mid-afternoon on a hot summer weekday but seemed like a nice place. I stopped into the Sid Richardson Museum, which is a small collection (~39 paintings out of a total collection of around ~105 are on display) of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell paintings. It was pretty nice and also free  (the art museums in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area all seem to be manageable sizes, nice collections, not too crowded, and low/no cost, which makes them very nice).

After Sundance Square, I drove the 30 miles into downtown Dallas. I parked by the Sixth Floor Musuem and that was my first stop. The Sixth Floor Museum is located on the sixth floor of the former Texas Book Depository Building, where Lee Harvey Oswalt shot President John F. Kennedy on 11/22/1963 (although the museum does mention the various existing conspiracy theories and that even now, a majority of Americans don't believe the official story). The Sixth Floor Museum is very good. It is more expensive than other attractions in the area ($14 for a student ticket, which still isn't bad) but provides an informative audio guide that provides supporting information to the displays of text and photos. No pictures are allowed on the Sixth Floor.

After visiting the Sixth Floor Museum, I walked over to the Dallas Museum of Art (was able to do so since its open until 9:00pm on Thursdays. I was there from about 5:15-6:15. I would have spent longer but I was tired), which seems to have a wonderful collection of artwork, including some very nice impressionist and post-impressionist pieces (there is a Van Gogh there among others) (and is also free and not too crowded).

Here are some pictures of downtown Dallas, which is largely not that descript (Fort Worth has significantly more character):

I was pleasantly surprised by both Fort Worth and Dallas. My one complaint is the driving--Dallas has crazy drivers (high speeds, aggression, and lots of cars don't mix well), iPhone GPS isn't as reliable there as elsewhere, and signage is often poor, especially in downtown Dallas (Ft. Worth does much better in this regard).

I'm spending the night in a family friend's pool house (they are away but generously offered their pool house) north of downtown. Tomorrow, it's on to Arkansas (spending some time at Hot Springs National Park and staying between Hot Springs and Little Rock).

Next Stop: Benton, Arkansas (not in proximity to Bentonville, AR, home of Walmart)