Fort Worth Stockyards, Water Gardens, Cowtown Diner

Day 4 continued - Fort Worth, TX

The original plan was to the do Dallas Cowboys Stadium tour much earlier in the day and spend the entire afternoon at the Fort Worth Stockyards. I'd never been and I was looking forward to a real cattle drive and a wild west show. But... by the time we arrived, we missed everything. Oh-well, better luck next time.

We ate dinner at Cowtown Diner. We chose this place because they make the World's Largest Chicken Fried Steak. (A friend of mine heard about it through an article in D Magazine and Josh and I went with a group of friends and really enjoyed it so we took the family too.)

The Full o' Bull Platter

According to D Magazine: Full o' Bull Platter by the Numbers

4 pounds of cube steak

6 pounds of potatoes

10 slices of Texas toast

10,000 calories

45 minutes to prepare

It's $70 (or free if one person finishes the entire thing). The first time we attempted this, there were 6 guys and 3 girls and we polished off the entire thing including side salads. This time around with 4 guys and 4 girls, we didn't come close. We ate maybe 2/3 and didn't have side salads but instead a super small appetizer split amongst all 8. Let's just say I left feeling much better this time around and have been enjoying some yummy leftovers!

This picture was BEFORE we ate. We looked even more exhausted afterwards.

After dinner we headed to the Water Gardens. As we waited to cross the street, I noticed this awesome photo opportunity.

Sometimes when I see pictures like this, I think FAKE. But this is a raw photo and it really did look like that to the naked eye. Amazing.

Okay, back to the Water Gardens. The park features three pools of water: the aerating pool, the quiet pool, and the active pool. It also has an additional non-water structure which we thought might have a pool on top so we climbed it only to find nothing.

The Aerating Pool

The Quiet Pool

The Active Pool

This pool scares me. The first time we visited the Gardens, it was late at night and I refused to walk down to this pool. The "steps" are not connected and some of them get pretty slick from water splashing. And it was dark. And I knew that 4 people has passed away here before. So I stayed at the top. This time, I walked down it. I stared fear in the face. I'm glad I can say I did it. And I am NEVER doing it again. Done.

GPS got us a little lost on the way home, we drove through a freak thunderstorm that was scary, ended up driving through the airport, and then finally made it home. Exhausted.

Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tour

Day 4 - Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tour

I purchased discounted tour tickets via Groupon because I *LOVE* Groupon and had already thought about taking a tour so why not save a little money, right?

If I had known in advance how unorganized the Dallas Cowboys stadium employees were going to be and how much stress this was going to cause us, I would have just paid full price.  But oh-well, hindsight is always 20/20.

I called in advance to schedule a reservation time but because I was using a Groupon, that was not allowed.  Ok, I can handle that.  

They recommended we show up at 11am so we could beat the crowds and get on one of the earliest tours.  They told me the noon tour at the latest most likely.  Ok, so we show up at 11am.  And there are ridiculously long lines.  But we're told we have tickets so we don't have to wait in that line, go on inside.  But then inside they kept referring us to different people until we came full circle at the front again and now are being told to stand in the long line.  Fantastic, there goes 45 minutes of my life.  I'm now exchanging my Groupons for actual tour tickets and my only options are 2:15pm and 3:15pm - what are we going to do to waste 2+ hours?!  Go shopping apparently LOL.

Once we actually got to start the tour, it was cool.  I would definitely recommend it if you like the Cowboys at all. 

If you purchased Groupons, not going on a weekend during the Summer would be my recommendation.  And probably plan to spend a majority of your day in Arlington.  

If you're just interested in going and don't have Groupons, you can purchase tickets through Ticketmaster and reserve your time which is definitely better.

Ok, enough words.  Time for pictures!

Here's the world's largest HD video screen - it is the equivalent to 2,000 55' TVs!  The little screens are also huge but definitely don't come close in comparison.

There was a soccer game the day before we went so the normal football field wasn't down.  I kind of wish it was there so we could've kicked field goals on the actual field, but it was also neat to see how they change from one field to the next.

You get access to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders locker room.

As well as the Dallas Cowboys locker room.

And you get to play dress up with their clothes!

The pre/post game interview room

The entry way from the locker room to the field

And you get to play on the field for as long as you want!

Even though they weren't Cowboys fans, I think they still enjoyed the tour.

Alice in Wonderland at the Gaylord Texan

Day 3 - SummerFest [Alice in] Wonderland Adventure at the Gaylord Texan

The Gaylord Texan in Grapevine has different decorations/exhibits throughout the year.  Josh and I went during Christmas time to see ICE! (2009 theme was Dr. Seuss) so we figured the family would enjoy going to see the SummerFest exhibit featuring all things Alice in Wonderland related.

Josh looked like the ultimate tourist and documented the entire trip with photos and video.

The main atrium was filled with art made of a variety of mediums...

The Cheshire cat made out of flowers

A sand sculpture of Alice at the dinner table

A balloon dragon

Some ceramic tea pots 

A hookah caterpillar

and much much more.  (I obviously don't know the story well since I can't tell you the importance or relevance of any of this stuff.)

There were a ton of different great photo op places so we stopped to take pictures of course.

The lovely ladies looking pretty

and the handsome men of course too

We purchased tickets to go through a 3D black light maze.  It was really fun but the neon colors and the spinning vortex tunnel eventually gave us all queasiness/headaches.  I wish pictures could show you what it was like but they really do it no justice.

You'll just have to either trust me or go check it out yourself.

We also purchased tickets for their "Drink Me" program where we got special Alice in Wonderland themed cocktails.  The final drink was the Mad Hatter Tea which was a long island iced tea but instead of regular vodka they use sweet tea vodka.  If you're a fan of sweet tea vodka like I am, you should order this the next time you're at a bar.  

We took pictures with the Alice in Wonderland characters

The dandeLION - check out her face

Jeremy smoking the hookah caterpillar's hookah

And the Queen - she made us curtsy/bow to her and refer to her as "Her Majesty"

Josh LOVES photography so he took some fantastic photos of waterfalls...

Isn't it amazing how his photo captures the movement?

And then no one could resist ending the fun with photos with a gigantic cattle brand...

Downtown Dallas

Day 2 - Downtown Dallas Attractions

First, we went to one of my favorite restaurants - Cowboy Chow.

Isn't the Texas shaped croûton super cute?

Then we visited my brother, Gary, and he was able to give us a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.  No pictures allowed though for security reasons.  It's really neat - you can see cash being counted, sorted, and shredded (when it's too old/dirty) and see the door to the vault containing millions!

I had to go back to work for the afternoon so I sent them to the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art.  I didn't know though that they were setting up for a wedding rehearsal that night so they were limited to what they could see.  They'll just have to come visit again so we can all go see it!

We finished the day off with shopping at Galleria Dallas (because what's a trip to Dallas without shopping, right?)  and then a Cajun dinner at Razzoo's.

Frisco RoughRiders Baseball Game

Josh's family came to visit us in Dallas for a couple of days.  I planned out a ton of activities for us to do in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  Time to be a tourist/tour guide!

Day 1 - Frisco RoughRiders Baseball Game (minor league team)

I already had tickets to go with my family and Josh so we just bought more tickets and it worked out perfectly.  (We bought the McDonald's Family and Friends package - 4 tickets, 4 hats and 4 McDonald's meals for $40 - a cheap and fun outing that pretty much pays for itself!)

Welcome to Dr. Pepper Park.  It's like a mini city inside - super cute!

Josh and I sporting our new hats!

You can even rent out the "Riders Pool Zone" and have a pool party/BBQ while enjoying the game.

I really like that there's entertainment after every inning.  It makes slow games go by a little faster and makes exciting games just that much more fun!  There was a hula hoop race...

... and we chose this game specifically for the ZOOperstars!  They're a sports entertainment show made up of inflatable animals named after sports people.  We saw Nolan Rhino, Mia Hammster, Manatee Ramirez, and Mackerel Jordan.

Yes, he really did eat a ball boy.  And then he proceeded to spit out his clothing and then eventually him.

We had to stay alert since we were sitting along 3rd base and several foul balls came close to us...
One came right at us - I saw it coming directly at me and let me tell you, it's SCARY!  Pat was awesome and tried to catch it so it wouldn't crash directly into my face but the balls are going so fast they go right through hands and he's lucky it didn't break his hand!  It whizzed right over my shoulder (of course I ducked thankfully!), hit the seat behind me and bounced back to Pat and Gary's row.

Here's Pat proudly displaying the ball... (you could see where the bat hit the ball and where the ball hit the chair).

It was an exciting game that came down to the 9th.  Sadly, they lost but it was still fun.

Camping at Caddo Lake State Park - Part 2

Our bedroom - messy after only 5 minutes!

Jennifer and Matt in front of their tent they didn't end up using.  (All the bugs took shelter underneath it and in the rain flap so it wasn't put together for nothing!)

And now for a game of "Where's Matt?"