Thursday 17th November – Dallas in a day

Turns out we’re even late when we’re heading to stuff that’s important to Simon too!  We arrived back at GMG for 1pm having intended to be there by 1230 pm so we didn’t miss the famous people!  More hanging about outside occurred.  There were different cars outside to look at though, including a Black El Camino on a low-loader, the latest project to be finished at the GMG and waiting to go to auction:

We weren’t alone in our geekdom, we met a father and daughter duo who were also waiting to meet Richard Rawlings and crew as well as other fans who were happy to give us some tips for places we should see near where they came from.  For example, apparently there’s a place in Florida called ‘Wishy Washy’ or similar where you see pretend mermaids swimming in a really deep spring and it’s not to be missed!  I was starting to get bored and hungry after an hour or so of waiting around.  I was worried we’d somehow missed our window of opportunity and Simon would be left disappointed.  Finally, after an hour and a half of waiting we spotted the main man in one of the garages and pounced on him when he came around the front fence to collect a vehicle.  He signed Simon’s T-shirt with a silver pen and posed for photos, but he was clearly in the middle of something as he had to rush away straight after a brief chat.  However, Simon was happy with the encounter and swore never to wash the T-shirt again to preserve the signature of his hero!

Simon and his long lost American Cousin Richard Rawlings

Mission accomplished we could move on to our next Dallas Highlight – the John F Kennedy sixth Floor Museum in THAT book depository downtown.  The traffic in Dallas is shocking.  It may be because they are carrying out a lot of roadworks all at once.  But it’s not only the volume of traffic; the road surface itself is horrendous so despite our best efforts the RV was being rocked and bounced all over the place.  Once we’d worked out how to get Downtown we searched for parking opportunities.  Lack of parking garages with sufficient clearance height meant that we had to go for the double parking meter option again for a maximum of two hours.  We got as close to the museum as possible… then the race was on! 

Simon has helpfully circled JFK's position when the fatal shot struck

In the museum, you get given a headset for the ‘self-guided’ audio tour that begins once you leave the elevator on the sixth floor.  There’s a ‘no photos’ rule on this level (though try telling that to Simon!) but you are allowed to try and recreate the angles from the seventh floor (right).  Because everyone has a head-set on I really felt immersed in the story as it unfolded.  I learnt so much more about the incident and I liked the fact that the Museum did not shy away from the conspiracy theories and actually took time to explain why certain theories arose and try to disprove them.  For example, the most famous theory relates to a second or even third gunman on the grassy knoll.  This theory seems to stem from initial witness accounts that contradict each other about WHICH direction they heard gunshots coming from (and how many shots they heard).  Seeing Dealey plaza first-hand it made sense straight away that, due to echoes from the surrounding high-rise buildings, it would be easy for people to believe they heard gunshots from a variety of directions.  The exact location by the window that they describe as ‘the most important crime scene of the 20^th Century’ has been sealed off in a glass case, preserved frozen in time with boxes stacked as they were when Lee Harvey Oswald used them to hide behind.  Pretty momentous stuff, it was incredible to have seen it with our own eyes.

Our two-hour parking window was not nearly long enough!  I would definitely advise dedicating a whole morning or afternoon to the museum alone, we had to skim over some of the exhibits as we wanted to spend time outside in Dealey plaza itself having learned about the significant locations on 22^nd November 1963.  (It was complete fluke that we ended up visiting so near to the anniversary of the assassination!)

The window Oswald fired the shots from is the square window, second row down on the right of the arched windows

The view from Elm street looking back towards the window

The view down Elm Street towards the knoll on the right

Me on the grassy knoll - the white podium I am leaning on is where the most famous footage of the assassination was filmed from

X marks the spot - the view from the knoll of where JFK's motorcade drove by

Having taken time to view the scene of the shooting from different angles we just had enough time to speed-walk back to the RV via the JFK Memorial Plaza.  How can I describe it?  Having been to the Museum and seen the memorials for Lincoln, we were pretty disappointed!

It may not be his burial place (that’s in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia before you turn to Google) but for such a popular President who died in such shocking circumstances it felt drab and soulless.

We reached Harvey with one of our meters having expired by a couple of minutes.  But no ticket or traffic warden in sight, phew!  The day was far from over yet. It was getting dark as we drove the route down Elm Street (the only nightmare here was the awful traffic) and continued through Dealey plaza, as the motorcade did on that fateful day in 1963 and made our way, with rumbling stomachs, to the Gas Monkey Bar & Grill for Dinner.

For anyone wondering… yes, this is another strand of the Gas Monkey Garage Dallas empire! We weren’t too sure what to expect but took a seat on a bench in an outside eating area and perused the menu.    It was time for me to assess another potentially great American sandwich – the Texas Beef Brisket!  We sat next to a very friendly Texan couple – Karen and Shaun Buckley – who we got into conversation with.

We discussed our trip but also discovered that Karen is handy to know being an Estate agent, so if we ever decide to put down roots in Texas she can sort us out some prime real estate!  The sandwich itself came - 

I'm going 7/10 for this one - lovely tender beef & soft bread, but somewhat overpowered by pickles & the spice within the BBQ sauce. Good points for ambience, not sure about the tray thing though... didn't keep it warm for long enough, or it may have just been me gassing and letting my food get cold?!  

Simon also enjoyed his BBQ ribs along with a couple of beers.  The night got even better when a great band, Ashmore, came on doing rock and blues covers on a large outside stage, for example Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Tom Petty and Guns N Roses to name a few.  The lead guitarist was incredible, not just on guitar but some vocals as well.  We were enjoying a rare night out… but questionably not as much as the majority of Harley Davidson’s Canadian Management Team who were there!  They had been visiting their counterparts’ stores in Texas for the week and attending a conference.  They were due to fly home to various parts of Canada the following morning so this was their final blow-out of the week…. And they were making the most of it!  We got on with them like a house on fire.  Maybe it was the beer and cocktails flowing (though I was sober as designated driver) but we were handed cards with their contact details so that when we reach Canada we have several contacts en-route, not just for accommodation if required, but also if we want to see some Harley's close-up!  We made sure we got some video footage of us all having a good time as the chances are they may have forgotten all about us by the time we arrive in Canada in 2017…. Or by tomorrow?!  They invited us to take the party on elsewhere but we resisted the temptation – it was easy for me as I was keen not to leave it too late for the 45-minute drive I had to do back to the campsite and we’d had a long but excellent day.  It had been a rare but great night out meeting some lovely people.