Due to some not-so-fast internet access at my Mama’s house, I am gonna have to hold off on posting the winners of the Pendery’s Chili Blends until tomorrow morning. In the meantime I’m gonna share my Fort Worth “must-sees” with you.
If you’re thinking of planning a trip to Fort Worth schedule for late January/ early February. Not only will you be blessed with temperatures that don’t top 85 degrees (usually) but you’ll be just in time for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. I cannot over-estimate the importance of the Stock Show to Fort Worth. When I was a kid we all got a day off school and a free ticket to the show. If you’re thinking of going check out my January blog post for more details.
I love that our police officers wear cowboy hats as part of their official uniform. I took this picture back in January. How can you tell? Anybody? Cause they are wearing felt hats and felt hats are only for winter. Straw hats are worn in spring and summer. Now y’all won’t embarrass yourself by wearing the wrong season’s hat!
The best Mexican restaurant- hell, maybe the best restaurant period- in the great state of Texas is Joe T. Garcia’s. If you haven’t eaten at Joe T.’s you haven’t been to Fort Worth. I make it a point to get in at least two meals, preferably three, on every visit. If you never believe another word I say, believe this- Joe T.’s refried beans are worth a trip to Fort Worth from anywhere.
Kinkaid’s makes the best hamburger I’ve ever had. The fries are mediocre but the burgers are so big you don’t need ‘em anyway. Kinkaid’s also sells groceries and has stand-up counters for when they are busy at lunch time. We go to the original location off Camp Bowie Blvd- there’s another one over near the mall, but it’s not as good.
Fort Worth is home to several world-class museums, like the Kimball- home of the U.S.A.’s only Michelangelo. But my absolute, hands-down, don’t miss favorite is the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame’s permanent collection contains costumes, boots and gear of some of the finest cowgirls to every ride a horse. And their traveling exhibits are always beautifully curated and though provoking. My heart swells to near bursting when I go through the front doors.
Since I can’t give all y’all a personal tour of Cowtown I picked up a little something at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame gift shop for you. Three lucky cowgirls are going to win this super-cool cowgirl mug with a quote from Cowgirl Connie Reeves.
(I was sorely tempted by a t-shirt that read- “I’d rather be dumped by a horse than a man” and a magnet inscribed “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”)
All you have to to to win is leave a comment on this blog post telling me…anything you want. I’ve got to wrap this up and get to the airport and I can’t think of a thing to ask you. One entry per person please! All entries in by 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 27th, 2009.
Good luck!
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Now I’m for sure gittin’ boots, and saddlin’ ma own horse! Then I’m goin’ to Joe T’s para comer frijoles! Yeehaw to ya, Susie! You’re a real Texas lovin’ Boot Buyin’ New England Goat Roper Cowgirl. Thanks for the photos….
Sorry, but that Cowgirl Hall of Fame just sounds freaking COOL. And I am so not a cowgirl. When you started talkign about it, all I could think of was Cowgirl Barbie, and if there is one.
What a great mug!
Blargh… we all have days like that! I’m so tired that I can’t think of anything to tell you. How about: I’m playing Beethoven’s 9th symphony this week…
Love the saying on the mug! I’m taking riding lessons with my daughter (I will admit that she loves it a bit more than I do) but I love the fact that they have us get the horses ready for the lesson. The grooming and getting the horse ready has really helped me become more comfortable around horses. And I’ve realized that they all have their own personalities.
I am pregnant…and besides being bummed that I can’t saddle up and ride horses with my cousin I read that post of yours about the best mexican restaurant and have just called to inform the hubby that he will be taking me out for mexican tonight! He doesn’t really like mexican food, so I will tell him he has your blog to thank hehehe!!!
My mug should just say “saddle your horse”. I used to jump competitively, but now my horse and I are retired. A friend visited recently who had never seen me jump and wanted a demonstration. Our farm is on the side of a mountain with not much flat ground, but there is an old logging road that goes down the to creek from the house and I’d put a small jump on it for fun (my fun, not the horse’s– to her retirement meant NO JUMPING AT ALL). So I put on a bridle, but lazily skipped the saddle, and rode her down to the creek, then turned and galloped toward the house and the jump. We breezed up the trail and over the jump with no problem, but the road ended at the small log fence that encircled our front yard. We usually break right at the fence, but a limb had fallen off a large tree on the right during a recent thunderstorm, so I decided to break left. I neck-reined and shifted my weight to the left and the horse started to turn left when something in her pea-sized brain said “that’s not the way we do it”, suddenly turned right, and off I sailed into the fence. In my younger days, I would have popped up, gotten back on, and made sure we did it right. But when my husband ran over and reached out a hand to help me up, I said “No thanks. I’m just going to lay here a while.”
I never knew that cowboy hats had seasons. Do they follow the before Memorial Day/after Labor Day rule? Or do they just follow the weather?
i started riding horses when i was just about 7. my folks would take a group of us each summer, several times between july & august. what fun! i couldnt wait each year until i could get to the ranch and see the horses. sadly, all those ranches seem to be gone now. where do kids go now to learn how all about horses and how to ride?
I’ve always tried to saddle my own horse (and unsaddle it). Yesterday, however, my “horse” was our mini-RV which I successfully maneuvered all the way to Herkimer NY and back for a “diamond” hunt. These herkimer diamonds are actually doubly terminated quartz crystals which are perfectly faceted in nature–great fun. The secret to finding them is to let the sledgehammer swinging crowd do all the work. All you have to do is scratch through the fine sand/soil on the ground and the perfect little gems appear–most likely what fell from previous hammering episodes.
Anyway, enjoying the lambcam and hungry for lunch after that mouthwatering description of Texas eats!
Safe travels. . .
your neighbor,
Laura
My roommate my freshman year of college was from Ft. Worth and never once mentioned the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. How could she not have told me?
Great post. Makes me wanna go to Fort Worth. Been to Dallas but not Fort Worth. Won’t let that happen again.
I have a mosquito bit on my foot. It made my foot swollen because I’m allergic. It hurts when I walk. I might take a benedryl to make the swelling go down…
Hmmm, I can say anything I want? Let’s see, something random… did you know that on land beavers can run up to 8mph? We were discussing beavers at lunch today… yeah, we talk about strange things at lunch, lol.
You’re a great ambassador for Ft. Forth!
Since I won’t be vacationing this year, thanks for the little escape and sharing your home town.
OOPS!
I meant Ft. Worth!
Ooooooh! That would help me feel inspired at the beginning of a work day!
Oh wow! Real cowboy country!
I don’t think anyone in the UK wears a cowboy hat!
I have to say that you’ve done a really good job at capturing Texas’ spirit. I live smack dab between Houston and Galveston and I the spirit is close to the same all the way around. (Unless you get waaaaayyyy out there to the point where you’re literally off the maps, but they’re still sweet long as you greet them in daylight)
I feel like a lot of people miss the the charm that’s down here, because up north it is a completely different ballgame. Either way thanks for showing a sweeter side
A horse is something every young girl should have in her backyard. Not only do you get great experience by shoveling all that sh*t, you also learn how to push around something bigger than you are.
Leaving New York City for Hong Kong tomorrow at 2 p.m….
Susan in HK
I’m super-allergic to horses. Someone recently told me that’s a strange allergy to have, but it never struck me that way–I guess because I had cousins who had horses. Generally, though, the rest of the world doesn’t come into contact with horses all that frequently, I reckon. The other reason I never found it odd is that I’ve been allergic to any- and everything furry since I was a young thing–not so much now, but still with the horses.
Thank you for the virtual vacation — there must be a little cowgirl in all of us, right?
If I win one of the mugs, I will give it to my daughter who life is horses and riding. In fact, that is her major at William Wood U. in Mo.!
Again, not posting to actually enter, since I live about 10 miles away from all that fun. It’s cool to see where native Fort Worthians (Worthites? neither sound right) like to go when they come back for a visit! You left just in time. It’s pouring here. Not that I’m complaining.
“true ‘dat…true ‘dat!”
As a Fort Worth native myself, I really enjoyed your pictures from home! I used to go the Stock Show (back when they called it the Fat Stock Show) every year when I was a kid, except for in first grade when I had the mumps (and a Fort Worth Star-Telegram photographer took a picture of my best friend and put that picture on the front of the newspaper. I was convinced that would’ve been me on the front page if I hadn’t been sick!) Glad you had such a great time!!
Cowgirls!! My only baby picture was taken when I was 3 years old, standing in an orchard, in my Cowgirl boots, and wearing my gun belt. I remember that my parents would not let me take my guns along so in the picture I am blowing the smoke off my finger and pointing the other one ready to fire. My favorite show – The Pick Temple Show. Does anyone else know him? I wanted to be on his show so I could ride the pony and shoot the bullfrog off the well. Didn’t make the show but I got to meet him in person at a Carnival. I may be from the East Coast but I am and always will be a Cowgirl in my heart.
Dang, I need one of those t-shirts…love ya, Susan!
As one from Oklahoma most recently before my Okinawa sojourn, I gotta say you really need to check out Sorrell custom boots….High cotton, them boots is…http://www.customboots.net/
I read your blog and learning so mcuh from you and your farm. Thank you so much.
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