Home again home again jiggedy jog

July 18 - 21

We went to Dallas on the first leg of our trip home in order to

• visit Leah's friend from high school
• drop three of the kids off at the airport to go their separate ways.
• visit our friend who had moved away to go to Dallas (if you can believe someone would do that)
• spend a short day in Dallas to become acquainted.

We dropped Leah off with her friend while we killed some time at a close-by mall, which had an ice skating rink inside.

Soon it was time to drop some of them at the DFW airport. Each was taking a different flight at almost the same time of day. We made a round trip of the airport and got each to his/her respective terminal on time. Another logistic accomplishment. To exit the airport you must pass through a toll booth to pay for the privilege of dropping someone off at a terminal.

Now we are left with one child, but still had the luggage and accoutrements of all of them to carry. We checked into the hotel and ate on Lover's Lane. Yes, that's the actual name of a main thoroughfare in one of the best residential districts of Dallas. After dinner we visited our friends; somehow their children had all grown up from toddlers and kindergartners.

In the morning we toured downtown, including the square where Kennedy was assassinated in 1962. Then we went to see the very impressive bronze sculpture assembly of a cattle drive at Pioneer Park in the middle of the city, where there is also a cemetery that dates to the beginning of the 19th century. Here are some pictures on the Internet of the statues.

We enjoyed a trip to the (almost) top floor of the JP Morgan Chase Tower Building. There is a beautiful (air-conditioned) garden overlooking the city. In addition, we visited the board meeting rooms and what I would call the club room on the same floor.

After lunch we hopped on the (free) M-line trolley ride. The vehicle dates from the early 20th century and the conductor narrates the trip out and back. No air conditioning of course, but very interesting, not to mention unique.

The Children's Medical Center was our next stop, where there is a model train layout in the lobby to entertain the patients as well as their families and strangers, like us. When you take the virtual tour of the hospital, the 9th frame (you can go there directly) shows the "trainscape."

After Dallas we were seriously on our way home. Shreveport, Louisiana looked interesting; so we stopped to look around. The glassed-in tropical garden at Barnwell Memorial Garden and Art Center was not easy to visit in the heat of a 95-degree day, but the setting on the Red River was beautiful, and there was a nice photo exhibition. We then visited what is probably the best-kept secret in Louisiana: the R.W. Norton Art Gallery. Originally the collection of a rich oil family, the Nortons, it is now a free admission jewel. Next time you're in Shreveport, don't miss it. The museum is situated in the middle of a huge garden.

Our last stop before reaching home was the Mercedes Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, AL. We waited too long to reserve spaces in the factory tour; they fill up early. But we visited the museum and visitors' center, which are very interesting.

We arrived home on Wednesday, July 21 -- 2000 miles later.

Texas in Summer?

July 16 - 18, 2010

One of the nice things about traveling in a van with a carrier on top is that it doesn't fit into garages where valets prefer to park it. Our hotel had valet parking only, but we would never have to wait for our car, as it would be parked right in front of the main doors in the "15-minute registration" parking spots. That's also an advantage if you need to retrieve something from the car.

We checked in and immediately prepared to go to the rehearsal dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant, about 4 blocks from the hotel, all our extended family was already there: Martha and Anita, Jay and Trish, Bev and Sandy, and of course Elise and Joe as parents of the bride. Everyone else was unknown to us except for our nieces, the bride, Beka, and her older sister, Dani and her husband. It's nice to see families at happy occasions.

During the course of the evening we saw the obligatory slide show, which was a lot of fun, and then the hosts asked the guests to offer the group their comments, if desired. for the most part, the Texans complimented the bride and groom on things that Texans seem to enjoy: hunting, guns, sports, cattle, ranches, oil, and the like. I felt compelled to make a few remarks about how the couple could and should emulate Joe and Elise for the type of people that they are -- the way they live their lives. I hope that I said something that was useful.

The hosts had timed the evening so that we could experience the famous Congress Avenue bats. The grounds of the restaurant sloped down to the river (which they call a lake) just down-river from the bridge. Hundreds of people lined the railings at the top of the bridge, above us, and several tourist boats circled the pylons of the bridge, waiting for the bats to swarm.

Nature was not cooperative, and after about 45 minutes we had seen fewer than 15 bats, the boats had all left, and we decided to give up. Oh, well.

Back at our hotel, we turned in for what should have been a great night's sleep, but there was a fraternity party in the hotel, in spite of the hotel's posted "no parties" notice. A couple of our party slept through, as we might expect, but several of us spend a lot of the night putting up with loud music and people running and shouting in the hallways.

But it was up and out the next morning, as I had reserved space on walking tours of the city. I knew that many of our party would either sleep in or prefer to go to the pool, given the rather high temperatures. Thus, I made reservations for 1 on the tour, with the understanding that we might have 1 or 2 join me. As it turns out, Moshe was the only one who braved the elements.

We were out before 8:00 looking for a breakfast venue, since our walking tour was to start at 9:00. Remarkably, in the nearly one mile from our hotel to the start of the tour, not a single restaurant was open before 9:00 AM. We finally asked people who looked local where we might find breakfast. We ended up in a nice little restaurant on Congress Ave. where we had a very tasty breakfast.

The walking tour started at the Texas State Capitol with a description of the building and the manner of its construction. By this time it was about 88 degrees Fahrenheit. We walked for nearly 2 hours around the downtown area learning about history and politics, ending up at the Driskill Hotel, with its legends of spirits, as well as boom and bust. The Driskill is where the wedding would be held that evening.

Glutton for punishment that I am, I had registered for the 11:00 walking tour of a residential block in the downtown area. By this time Moshe was done in and he went back to the hotel, hoping to accompany Leah and Joe to the firing range. Now around 95 degrees, the heat could not daunt me! I spent the next 2 hours learning yet more about Austin. I wish we had more tours like that in our town. I think that being a docent for such tours would be a lot of fun.

At the end of the tour Yoyi called me with the news that we had changed rooms. Resourceful that she is, she had complained about the noise, and the hotel moved us to a quieter floor and gave them several vouchers for the hotel restaurant.

As if that weren't enough, Leandro had not been out on the town yet. I still wanted to see the inside of the capitol building and maybe some other things. The two of us walked to the capitol and connected to one of the very informative free tours. Afterwards we walked to the museum of Texas history. By that time, I was so beat that I could barely walk. Leandro went through the museum while I had a light lunch (at 2:30) and sat down with my feet elevated. I suppose I had walked about 10 miles by the end of the day.

The wedding that evening was lovely. The Driskill was only about 6 blocks from our hotel, but we had to drive, given the temperature. The service, quite short in duration, was conducted by a family friend, after which was a very short photo session. We all enjoyed dinner and dancing. The food was sumptuous; everyone commented on how good it was. One guest confided in Yoyi that she had never before experienced so lavish a wedding.

I must admit that I didn't get some of the dancing. As I grow older it becomes more and more incomprehensible. But somewhere along the way, Elise forewarned me, "Get ready. There's going to be swing selection very soon. We expect you to dance." Sure enough, when it was played, I danced with Leah, and Elise eventually cut in near the end of the song. We were the only dancers, and we got a nice round of applause at the end.

I guess I'm just not used to it, but I was blown away by the cost to park our car. Austin is not a major metropolitan city, but the valets charge as if it were.

• Our hotel charged $26 per day.
• The restaurant (rehearsal dinner) charged $6.
• The Driskill charged $14.

Yikes.

We all slept well in our new rooms on Saturday night.

Sunday morning, we all went across the street at 9:00 to a small restaurant to have a birthday breakfast in honor of Moshe. They had an interesting selection of American and Mexican breakfasts. I had smoked salmon, among other things. I was expecting "nova," but it was a large filet of salmon, smoked whole. Very tasty.

Finally it was checkout and off to Dallas for the six of us, car packed by our engineers.