Norman to Ft. Worth and back again on The Heartland Flyer
Comments(0) Ursula and I took off a couple of days – Friday thru Monday – and took the train to Ft. Worth. It was an excellent weekend vacation and I would highly recommend the train to anyone who hasn’t tried it yet.
Two round trip tickets cost $80 and the train was very comfortable – cool air conditioning, roomy and comfy seats. Even the food from the “cafe” car wasn’t too bad. We left Norman about 8:45 and got to Ft. Worth around 12:30 but the time hardly seemed 4 hours.
The train station in Ft. Worth
Our hotel was only 6 blocks from the train station and we caught a free trolley there. Nice room and great service. Would recommend it – the Worthington downtown Ft. Worth.
The scene from our hotel window was most interesting. There are modern skyscrapers intermingled with old, historical building to create a unique visual.
We spent Friday afternoon and evening walking around downtown. The Ft. Worth Water Gardens provided a nice (although scary for me) experience. It is designed to walk down into and I’m sure it’s perfectly safe but the rushing water got louder and faster the farther down I went. Ursula was already at the bottom say come on, come on. Lest I face eternal ridicule for being a wimp, I finished the decent and it was a pretty neat thing.
Saturday morning we took a local train to Dallas. It was about an hour ride but once again comfy and cool and didn’t seem long at all. We were going to see the 6th Floor Museum and the Holocaust Museum. The train station was once again within walking distance of those two places. The JFK musuem was interesting, well organized, entertaining and informative. The place was packed, too.
Looking out on Dealey Plaza from the 6th floor.
The holocaust museum was a little disturbing to me. I suppose it should be. They have a railroad car with a huge black and white video screen placed where the door opens. It plays a loop of images and audio. The sounds of the railroad car clanking and squeaking can be heard as one moves around the exhibits. At the end of the tour is a theater that runs all the time with interviews with survivors. It’s disturbing, that’s the best I can say at this time. Too much to process.
We did have some fun there, too.
Sunday was the event we’d come to Ft. Worth for – the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show at the Cowtown Coliseum. Just let me say this about that, save your money. (If you want to see a better, more authentic show go to Pawnee, OK one weekend in June). At any rate, the historic Stockyards in Ft. Worth overall was worth the cab ride. AND I finally got to ride in a stagecoach. And we goofed around in the smothering heat.
Bottom line – I like Texas. Sorry guys but I had fun and would go back in heartbeat.
Marise Boehs
Mel MHerron