This post covers our drive home with stops in Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas, and Sierra Vista, Arizona.
Wednesday
This was our all day drive south from St. Joseph, Missouri to Fort Worth, Texas. While driving on a toll road in Kansas, this interesting statue was in one of the rest stops.
Have you ever wondered where the home of the “Ditch Witch” was? Yea, me neither. But I have the answer anyway thanks to a display in a McDonald’s in Perry, Oklahoma.
Just outside of Fort Worth, we had to stop at Buc-ee’s gas and store. This is a must stop on any Texas road trip. It is a travel stop on steroids.
After a long day on the road, we finally arrived at our Holiday Inn Express. The hotel had taken some damage from the winter storm and it felt like we were in some third world country. This was hands down the worse Holiday Inn we have ever stayed in. I will forgo the long list of things we didn’t like, and just show the hallway outside of our room.
Thursday
We started the day with a walk of just under one mile from our hotel to the Fort Worth Water Gardens. Along the way, there were some interesting buildings.
When we arrived at the Water Gardens, we visited the Quiet Water Pool first. Many of the tree roots grew out of the ground and look either fake or like statues.
The next area was called the Active Pool. It was a four sided water fall you could walk down into. It was an overload to the senses because of all of the movement and noise. This was hands down my favorite part of the gardens.
The final area was supposed to be called the Aeriated Pool. Because of the weather, it was full of leaves and was being cleaned by city staff. I called it the City Staff Bathing Pool.
The Water Gardens are an absolute must see when in the Fort Worth area. And they are free!!! Our next stop was the downtown area, another walk of just under a mile. Here are some of the sights along the way.
We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant named Yolk.
Our final walk back to the hotel was also just under a mile. Here are the library and a church.
After walking around two and a half miles, we returned to our hotel and freshened up. Then it was off to the Forth Worth Stockyards. Can you believe we got Sylvia to get on a real live bull?
We had a drink at the Love Shack.
And met the most cross-eyed cat I have ever seen.
Here are two pictures of the general Stockyard area.
And two more of the cattle they drove down the main street, then right past our parked car. Luckily, there was no damage.
And here is a bizarre ceramic eye. I loved it and was repulsed by it at the same time. What would you do with that?
One thing that made me sad was all of the roadkill along the roads in Missouri and Texas. Deer, skunks, raccoons, armadillos, and more. Then I saw this. A book that never needed to be written. Very twisted.
We returned to our third world hotel, had a nap, and then headed out for dinner. Olive Garden was the height of Italian dining in St. Joseph, so realistically, there were no, as in zero, real Italian restaurants. We wanted some good Italian food and found a place named Momma Mia Italian Grill and Pizza just outside the downtown area. It had a pretty good rating on Yelp, and for the first time, Yelp lied. This place was average at best. This left us still craving some good Italian food.
Friday
This was our travel day to San Antonio, with a stop in Waco to see all of the Chip and Joanna Gaines “stuff.” This was Cindy and my second visit to Waco and Sylvia’s first. Our first stop was at Magnolia Table, Chip and Joanna’s restaurant. It was chaos when we were here three years ago and nothing has changed. We went to the “Take Away” (to go) section and the girls got coffee.
Stop number two was at “The Silos” their shopping area that now takes up a full city block, had a mini baseball field, and a church that was built from lumber from an old church across town.
After having more than our share of Chip and Joanna, we headed off to the Homestead Café, a restaurant run by Homestead Heritage, a Christian based religious group similar to the Amish, but with less restrictions. The food is farm to table and is amazing.
We arrived at our hotel in San Antonio in the late afternoon. We stayed at the Hampton Inn that is right on the San Antonio Riverwalk, an area of the city along the San Antonio River with shops, food, etc. This was our third visit to the Riverwalk and Sylvia’s first. There was a giant bull in the lobby, so of course I had to get a picture. Notice my perfect linebacker pose? I’ve still got it.
Our room had a great view that overlooked the Riverwalk. Here is a look at the Riverwalk in the evening with a boat, without a boat, and a carriage on the street just outside of the Riverwalk.
The Burdicks drove down to spend the weekend and visit with us as well. We met them for dinner at an Argentinian restaurant named Dorrego’s. The food, wine, and service were outstanding. We highly recommend this restaurant.
Saturday
After breakfast, we headed over to the Pearl Farmer’s Market at the historic Pearl Brewery.
I found the next picture interesting. As much smack as Texans talk about being their own people and not having to follow the rules. here is everyone staying neatly inside their socially distant six foot circles. Maybe they were all California transplants.
We toured the famous, and very expensive, Emma Hotel, which is also on the property. The rooms typically go for between $600 and $1,000 a night, and that is on the weekdays.
We left the Farmer’s Market and ate down the street at Down on Grayson. Cindy and Sylvia split a salad and I had some steak kabobs. I rarely take pictures of my food, but took one this time because it looked different and was very delicious.
We returned to the Riverwalk and took a boat tour.
We walked down to the Alamo and saw there was some type of event going on. It turned out we were there on the exact day when the siege of the Alamo ended, 185 years ago, with General Santa Anna’s troops storming the Alamo and killing almost everyone inside. This event sparked the saying, “Remember the Alamo,” used to rally troops during the fight to take Texas from the Mexican government.
We walked back to our room exhausted and took a nap. We met the Burdicks for dinner at Acenar Mexican Restaurant. The food and company were quite enjoyable.
Sunday
This was our travel day to El Paso. It was uneventful, which is always a very good thing on a long drive. Our hotel was very close to the Mexican border. The lights in the distance are Mexico.
Monday
This was our travel day to Sierra Vista, just outside of Tombstone, Arizona. Our first stop was in Tombstone. Here are a few pictures of the main streets.
We started with a wild west show that was pretty corny, but that is the norm, so it was OK.
After the show, we took a trolley tour that was filled with interesting information.
Here is the original court house with the original gallows in the back. At least eight men were hung at those gallows.
There was an added bonus when a herd of young deer walked by.
Here is the most haunted house west of the Mississippi River. It has been featured on numerous ghost shows. Look at the three windows on the left, then to the small window to the right of the larger wndow. Can you see the woman dressed in 1800 clothing? Unexplainable!
And in this one, there is a small ghostly child in each of the smaller windows on the right. Very spooky!!
Even more spooky is how we ended up with another picture of Cindy (and Sylvia) in front of a public library.
And finally, Cindy and Sylvia in their finest western clothing.
On the way to our Airbnb in Sierra Vista, we were hungry and looking for a place to have dinner. When we passed this place, I had to talk the girls into stopping.
There was just no way I could drive past “Street Tacos Y Hot Dogs Guadalajara” without stopping. When I think of Guadalajara, I think of street tacos and especially, hot dogs. We stopped and ate there. I had a sope, Cindy had a taco salad without lettuce (they were out!), and Sylvia had a hot dog. It wasn’t the best food we have ever had, but also not the worse. And now we can say we have eaten at “Street Tacos Y Hot Dogs Guadalajara.” And for the record, no one had any serious stomach issues other than what are normal following Mexican food.
Tuesday
This was day 39 and our last full day on this trip. We went to Bisbee, an old copper mining town.
Something we have learned over the years is to almost always take a tour in whatever city we are visiting. Your large to medium cities usually have some sort of Trolley Tour, always a winner. The smaller places usually have something, so it is up to you to find it. In Bisbee, we took the Golf Cart Tour where we toured the city in a 5 seat golf cart. It was Cindy, Sylvia, and I with an older couple. As usual, the tour was interesting and well worth the time and money. Here are some pictures from the tour.
This is an actual copper roof, common in the late 1800’s.
Another one of the most haunted buildings west of the Mississippi and also featured on a ton of the ghost hunter shows. If you look deep into the open front door, you can see a figure (ghost?) holding a candelabra sideways.
This is Cindy and Sylvia on top of the hill overlooking the town.
These pictures are of some handmade sculptures by a local artist.
And this sculpture is……..a……..I don’t think I want to know what this is.
The first JC Penny in the state of Arizona.
Here are the new gates I had designed for in front of our house. They should be delivered and installed next week. Don’t tell Cindy. It is a surprise.
And here is Cindy, you know where.
Here are two pictures of an actual copper mine.
And here is a tribute to Technical Sergeant Arthur J. “Art” Benko and the other 76 servicemen from the Brisbee area that gave their lives during World War II. My hat is off to each and every one of them!
Wednesday
Day 40. The final drive home. The drive was rather uneventful, always a good thing. Once we got to the San Gabriel Valley, it was dinner time and we were hungry. Oh yea, we were in California. As a review, we ate INSIDE restaurants in Missouri, Texas, and Arizona. Still not in California. So we ate outside in the cold with some space heaters. California, the ultimate joke. California and Texas walk into a bar…………….oh, that couldn’t happen unless California was wearing a mask, a face shield, and a haz-mat suit!
Our next scheduled trip is in April when we are going to Palm Springs for five days to see the Desert X art exhibits.
Stay safe until then.