I have to start off today's blog entry with little lightheartedness since most of today's post deals with President Kennedy's assassination history. So here are a couple of photos taken at the eyeball sculpture in downtown Dallas.
I read that the visitors center is located in the old courthouse at 100 S Houston Street, so I plugged the address into Google maps and drove downtown. When I got within a block and was supposed to turn left, road construction blocked me and I had to continue straight. Little did I know at the time, but by going straight I was driving the assasination route, and drove right over the spot where Kennedy was fatally shot! See the X that marks the spot in the middle lane, below. The infamous 6th floor window of the Texas School Book Depository building, where Oswald is reported to have fired the shot that killed President Kennedy, is seen above the trees.
I circled back and found a parking spot on the street in front of the old red museum seen on the far right in this next photo. My parking spot was only a few feet from Dealey Plaza, where my walkabout was about to start. The white columns of Dealey Plaza are visible in the midde of the photo.
The Texas School Book Depository building has a museum on the 6th floor, which is the same floor where the "sniper's nest" was found. I walked up to the building and pulled on the museum doors but they were locked... the museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays! So I would have to do my own walking tour!
Here is a photo of the right side of the School Book Depository building, and a closeup of the 6th floor "sniper's nest" window.
Slightly down the street On the street is the spot where Abraham Zapruder took his famous 8mm video of the motorcade and assassination. He was standing on the white half wall next to where the peope are standing in this photo. A metal plaque, set in concrete and identifying the assassination location as a national historic landmark, is visible in the ground by the sidewalk.
Just to the left of Mr Zapruder's position is the infamous "grassy knoll" with a wood fence in the back and the railroad tracks further behind.
Here is the plaque on the grass by the side of the road where Kennedy was shot. There are actually two Xs on the road. The first X, closer to the book depository and near the front of the parked truck (you might see it better in the earlier photo), is where a bullet grazed Kennedy's neck. The second X, closer to where I am standing, is where the fatal shot hit him.
A couple of blocks away is the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza that has a rectangular concrete structure with a walkway through the middle. The artist wanted it to represent an "open tomb", symbolizing the freedom of Kennedy's spirit, since he is buried elsewhere.
Because the museum was closed, I decided to make my own tour. I found a website with landmark locations on Oswald's "trail of tears" and decided to drive to those locations. I already shown the School Book Depository, Dealey Plaza and the grassy knoll, so I'll skip those and show the rest of the places I visited on my tour.
214 West Neely Street is where Oswald took some famous backyard photos while holding a Marxist newspaper and a rifle about 8 months before the assassination.
1026 North Beckley Avenue is where Oswald was lodging at the time of the assassination, and where he went to retrieve his pistol after the assassination. The daughter of Oswald's landlord was a child at the time and still lives in the house. She hosts tour groups and tells stories about Oswald. I heard that his room was really small... more the size of a closet.
About fifteen minutes after retrieving the pistol, witnesses saw Oswald use the gun to fatally shoot officer J. D. Tippit at the corner of East 10th Street and North Patton Avenue.
Oswald bought a ticket to an upcoming concert from Top Ten Records on 338 West Jefferson Blvd on the morning of the assassination. (It is just across the street from the Texas Theater where Oswald was later arrested by police).
The Dallas Municipal Courts Building at 106 South Harwood Street is where Oswald was taken and held after his arrest, and where he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby on live television two days later. If I remember correctly from the TV footage, Oswald was shot in an underground area. The underground entrance is near the right of the photo. The underground entrance was losed, but I took a photo of the steel door.
That was the extent of my self-guided tour. It was interesting to see those places. The houses, record store, officer shooting and Texas theater are all in the same general area, away from downtown and the Dealey Plaza.
After my tour, I was ready for Dinner! When I did my laundry in Fort Worth this morning the only other patrons were Spanish-speaking women with their children, and I had been listening to a Spanish radio station all day, so I was in the mood for Mexican food. I looked at reviews on the Internet and decided on Torchy's Tacos.
Torchy's Tacos is a chain, and the nearest location was near Southern Methodist University. A girl next to me in line recommended the Green Chile Queso & Chips, and any of the tacos. I got the recommended Chile Quesso & Chips and the Fried Avocado taco. They did not disappoint!
After dinner, I called my nephew Brett to see what he was up to and if I could come visit. He was out golfing with friends but said he would be home around 9 pm and would love to have me come visit.
Brett said they have an extra bedroom if I needed a place to stay for the night. I told him I was plannig on sleeping in my car, but gratefully accepted his offer. I had forgotten how good is feels to sleep on a real bed!! Brett and I sat around and talked for awhile and had some Bluebell Ice Cream. It was fun catching up with him. I'm glad he likes Dallas and is keeping active... going to MLB baseball games, golfing, traveling, and planning to play pickle ball with a co-worker after work tomorrow! Brett's wife is out of town. I didn't get a photo for the blog tonight but we'll takeg one in the morning before I leave for Arkansas.
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