Dynamic DFW

View of the Texas School Book Depository Building (far left) where it is believed Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated JFK from a sniper's nest on the sixth floor. Photo courtesy the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade pulled onto Elm Street in downtown Dallas, preparing to end what had been a highly successful campaign stop. Suddenly, a shot rang out and the president slumped to the side. A second shot rang out and the scene devolved into chaos as the motorcade sped to get out of the line of fire and onlookers dove for cover or scattered. Autopsies would later reveal that the president was shot twice: Once in the throat and once through the skull . Check out this cool interview with Henry Wade who was the Dallas County District Attorney in 1963. Eye witness testimony, along with amateur videos and photos, led to confusion about where the shots were fired from and whether there was a second shooter. Some say they saw a...

View of AT&T Stadium from Lot 13 One of the largest draws to the Dallas area for out-of-towners is AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Dallas Cowboys fans still refer to the complex as “Cowboys Stadium” or “Jerry World” in honor of billionaire Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. But the move to rename the stadium in honor of corporate sponsor AT&T is a huge financial plus for the Cowboys that is expected to draw $17-$19 million per year with 5 percent going to the City of Arlington, according to this Dallas Morning News article . Let’s face it, after the great Super Bowl Debacle of 2011 , the stadium could use the image makeover. Side view of the HD display board. I was fortunate to check out the stadium when my alma mater, Texas Christian University, squared off against Louisiana State University in the Cowboys Classic on August 31. Although my Horned Frogs were ultimately defeated, it was a heck of a game and I am excited to watch the mostly-sophomore team grow over the next c...

Visitors to Dallas know that Dealey Plaza and Elm Street is the site where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. But in their casual exploration of this area, they may notice a red brick building whose elaborate design (including turrets and terra cotta wyverns ) contrast the utilitarian design of the surrounding properties. Built in 1892, the Old Red Courthouse looks like a storybook castle. This may account for its popularity as a wedding spot (what bride doesn’t want to feel like a princess?). But as cool as this building looks from the outside, the inside is definitely worth a visit for history buffs, Dallas tourists, or really anyone with a sense of curiosity. Pictured above is "Little Maggie", the frozen margarita machine invented in Dallas. The former courthouse is now home to the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture . The museum features highlights and low points of Dallas County history, dating from prehistory to modern day....

I’m going to be completely upfront and say that I have a personal connection to the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance. I began volunteering there in 2012, and I currently assist with special events as well as work a monthly shift at the front desk. So let me tell you about why I am so passionate about this little museum. Many of our World War II Veterans and Holocaust Survivors are now in their 80’s and 90’s, and beginning to die out. As time has distanced us from the events that occurred during the Holocaust, it has become easier for Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists to spread their lies. Today, in many parts of the world, people believe that the Holocaust never happened or was exaggerated for some sort of political gain. For this reason, the preservation of history is more critical than ever before, and the Dallas Holocaust Museum offers visitors the chance to connect with the real stories of local survivors. Founded in 1984 by a group...

Near Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial there are a few other historical burial sites that the Uptown Dallas Public Improvement District has designated as part of the Uptown Trails Cemetery Tour. The nice thing about these cemeteries is that they include informational signs so that visitors who don’t opt for the Dallas Historical Society’s tour will still have some exposure to the history and famous residents of each graveyard. Today’s post will focus on Calvary Cemetery. According to a signpost at the entrance, the cemetery was established in 1878 following the land’s purchase by the Bishop of Galveston.  This was not the first Catholic cemetery in Dallas, and the oldest dated headstone remaining is for carpenter P.T. Clark, proprietor of the Railroad Planning Mill, who died on April 22, 1877, suggesting that the cemetery was in use prior to the acquisition by the church. The style of tombstones in Calvary Cemetery are diverse. Many of Calvary Cemetery’s graves b...

View of the entrance to the Museum of Biblical Art from the Boedeker Street side. If you ask average North Texans where to go locally to see great works of art by renowned Masters, they’ll probably point you to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth or the Dallas Museum of Art in the Arts District. But there’s one more museum to add to the list and it’s in an unexpected location. The Museum of Biblical Art, located on Park Lane just behind NorthPark Center, appears closed from the street with one entrance blocked off and heavy wooden doors shut against the blistering Texas heat. I had been past the plain, sandy-looking building many times thinking it wasn’t open until I read the hours on the museum’s website . However, once inside the building, there is a much more welcoming vibe. The only photos allowed inside the museum are of the "Tapestry of the Centuries" mural by Vladimir Gorsky. I like to surprise myself when visiting new places, so I have to admit I ...

The Dallas Uptown skyline looms behind the Freeman's Cemetery Memorial. I like this view because of the combination of past and present. On the corner of Lemmon Avenue and North Central Expressway lies an often overlooked piece of Dallas history. I myself drove past it several times in the years I lived in Dallas without realizing what I was driving past. From the outside, it appears to be nothing more than a green space or park intended to offer a little scenery. But those willing to walk up and examine it closer will find that the fenced off green area is actually a stark reminder of the city’s troubled past. These photos show the walkway toward the central monument. The figures pictured in the middle represent freed slaves.   A plaque next to Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial states that the area near what is now Uptown was once home to a settlement of freed slaves following the United States Civil War that was known as Freedmantown. In 1869, an acre of lan...

View of the Wilson House from the front yard illustrating the wraparound porch and rising turret. Today (July 26, 2013) marks the 23 rd  anniversary of the  Americans with Disabilities Act  (ADA), so I thought I would focus on a piece of Dallas that is ADA accessible and totally free. Initially, I was going to try to visit the statue of communist icon Vladimir Lenin mentioned in the book  Texas Curiosities  (published in 2000). According to the book, the statue was located in front of the Lover’s Lane location of Goff’s hamburgers, facing west, with a small plaque at the bottom that said “America Won”. I quickly learned that Goff’s Hamburgers relocated to its current Hillcrest Road location several years ago, and  Roadside America  reports that the statue was auctioned off on  eBay  in 2004. That’ll teach me to use a 13-year-old guidebook. So instead, I turned to  tripadvisor.com  for recommendations. That was where I sa...

Living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is a bit like being married. When you first move here from another state (California, in my case), everything seems so new and amazing. They call that the "Honeymoon Stage", and after a while it tends to fade into a happy contentment with occasional resentment. Let's face it, when you live and work here long enough, you tend to be more focused on the potholes and less so on enjoying the quirks of our funky metroplex.  With this blog, I am hoping to reignite that Honeymoon Stage for the jaded and intrigue the newbies with places to go and things to see that they may never have considered. The majority of this blog will focus on Dallas County, but I will expand my wanderings outward as I go. I am currently enabling comments, on the blog, so feel free to share anything you think I should check out!  My plan is to write about a mix of tourist attractions, bars, restaurants, shopping and all the other things that make this area unique. ...