Last night I searched Trip Advisor for some ideas of things to do in Fort Worth and between us we decided we would visit the Ft. Worth Stockyards. It's not too far of a drive and it sounded interesting.
We left Bentley about 9:30 this morning and made the 35 minute trip with no problem. As we entered the Historic District the roads changed from paved to brick, the storefronts had an old cowtown look and you could see a rich history here. The area was full of shops, restaurants, the Ft. Worth Livestock Exchange where the Superior Livestock Auction is held, and many other things to see and do.
We found a place to park that was just outside of The Stockyard Station, a covered area that has a number of shops, restaurants as well as a train stop for various trips, including one to Grapevine, TX. We walked through the station area making notes of the shops we might like to visit before we leave.
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| Stockyard Station - covered area with shops and a train stops here on weekends. See the tracks. |
We walked out on to Exchange Street where the the Fort Worth Lifestock Exchange is located. An impressive building that also houses the Superior Livestock Auction. There was an auction going on and we were able to peek in the windows and take a few pictures. Dean said he had seen something like this on TV before but wasn't sure if this was the same place. A gentlemen standing next to us said, it's the place!
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| Fort Worth Livestock Exchange |
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| Car on Display out front. Several people used it as a backdrop for pictures. |
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| These pansies were beautiful. |
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| Closeup of the entrance to Fort Work Live Stock Exchange. |
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| Superior Livestock Auction - live auction was going on inside. |
We walked out the back of the building where the cattle are penned prior to the daily cattle drive held down Exchange Street at 11:30 and 4:00 each day. There was a viewing area up a short flight of stairs in order to see the cattle below. We walked through this interesting turnstile to reach the walkway. We enjoyed watching the cattle. The cowboys who lead the cattle drive were also grouped in the area waiting for the event to take place.
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| Turnstile we had to walk through to get to the upper viewing deck to see the cattle in the pens below. |
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| Cowboys that will lead the herd down Exchange Street. |
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| We enjoyed watching this guy as he drank from this stock tank. |
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| Then he had to scratch his head and neck. |
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| Then I guess he thought he'd see if he could take this guy on - but soon gave up and walked away. |
Once we finished there we walked back out to the street and found a place to set until it was time for the cattle drive to take place. Here are the pictures I took as they brought them down the street.
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| It was pretty cool to be this close to these large horned animals. Of course they do this twice a day so they are pretty calm. |
We were both getting hungry so once the drive was over, we walked several blocks away to the Horseshoe Hill Cowboy Cafe. I checked Trip Advisor for restaurants in the area. This one had rave reviews on their chicken fried steak.
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| Horseshoe Hill Cowboy Cafe - The Chicken Fried Steak is GREAT! |
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| Inside - had to get this picture of the old pay phone. |
We both really love CFS and thought it sounded good. After our waiter seated us and gave us our menus I asked how big the steaks were - he showed us with his hands and he said often people share them. Yes, that's what I was hoping, by the size he showed us! It comes with mashed potatoes and we ordered an additional side of roasted cream corn. Wow, we got a lot of food and I was so glad we were sharing it between us. It is the best chicken fried steak I've had in many, many years. I always thought Treva Vance who operated Treva's Cafe in Oswego for many, many years had the best chicken fried steak but this might outrank even hers. It had such a light breading; I could cut it with my fork; AND it was seasoned nicely. There is nothing worse than getting a CFS without any seasoning. The potatoes and pepper gravy were wonderful, as was the charred/roasted creamed corn. Oh my! We both splurged today and also ordered sweet tea. We typically do not purchase a drink due to the additional cost but it just sounded great with this meal.....and it was!
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| They brought the steak on one large plate and gave it to me to divide it between the two of us. I gave Dean about 2/3 and some of the potatoes. Excellent meal! |
Afterwards we stopped at several of the shops and looked but neither of us found anything that we liked well enough to buy. I even looked for women's taco socks Misti!
We saw this bridge on our way home. I thought it was interesting and attractive.
I think I nodded off a few times on the way back. We made a quick stop at Walmart for a few things and headed back to Bentley. I told Dean I was going to take a quick nap. I might have slept 15 minutes of the 30 I set in my chair but I felt better when I got up. The weather is perfect. It's in the mid-70's with a nice breeze. We set outside for quite awhile. I came in to begin working on the blog - mostly to get the pictures downloaded to the computer.
I stopped long enough to fix taco salads for dinner. A nice light meal after that big lunch. Later we took a walk around the park and managed to get in a mile before the sun set.
Another great day!
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| As the sun was setting it lit up the sky with these pretty pink clouds. |
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| Grove of trees. |
What a fun day in Ft. Worth. We did the exact same things you did many years ago. Isn't the cattle drive so much fun. I think that was my favorite part.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I keep forgetting to tell you that I love your Bible sayings at the end of the posts. Gives me inspiration each time I read them.