Gun Fight Ahead

July 16 2012

My mom brought up some breakfast which I ate quickly while getting dressed. Our first stop was going to be the Dallas Heritage Village. We would need to take a bus there and then walk. However, the neighborhood looked deserted on Google maps. The hotel was nice enough to offer to drive us to the village. On our drive we passed Pioneer Plaza, which consisted of statues of a cattle drive. We also passed the Dallas Farmer’s Market. We made note of its location so we could go back.

When we arrived we purchased tickets in the gift shop and then I picked up a postcard. The lady gave us a map and informed us that shortly there would a gun show with the actors. We took our seats for the show and were thoroughly entertained. We went into each house and shop. It was like going back in time. I was pleased that my mom was enjoying herself as well. The village is a great historical spot for people of all ages. A lot of people brought their kids and they were having a good time. Nothing was repetitive. In most of the houses we just roamed around since there wasn’t an official tour. However, a docent in one of our final houses (the Sullivan House) closed the house to the public (temporarily) and gave us a private tour. My favorite house was the Blum House. I also enjoyed seeing the Doctor’s office despite the fact all the instruments were scary looking. Thank goodness for modern medicine. We stayed to see the second gun show and surprisingly it was different than the first. I purposely had us go on a Saturday because I had read about these shows and the fact they docents in some of the houses. Additionally, there were animals and the blacksmith was in his shop working. We used the restrooms and walked a couple blocks to the Farmer’s Market.

We saw the Farmer’s Market on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and thought we would check it out. We went the outdoor portion first where there were tons of vendors selling fruits and vegetables. Many of the vendors were giving out free samples. I didn’t have any, but my mom tried a few. She seemed to enjoy them. Next we went inside and saw the long line for the Pecan Lodge (where Guy visited). We walked around for a bit and bought some sweets. We sat and watched everyone stuffing their faces with BBQ. Everything looked and smelled amazing. We used the restroom and went outside to wait for the bus. We waited for 15 minutes and no bus. It was hot and there wasn’t a place to sit by the bus stop so we decided to walk.

I had read about a mall so my mom and I were going to head there. I figured it is nice and cool after a couple hours out in the sun. I also figured we would eat dinner in the mall. The “mall” was called Plaza of the Americas and it was anything but a mall. It was the bottom levels of a hotel. There was  an ice skating rink. There was a very very small food court that was closed but looked gross anyways. There were probably less than 10 stores and they were all closed. Not one of them looked good. So we decided to leave and see the Holocaust Museum. We boarded a train and realized we were the only suckers who bought tickets. Everyone just got on. The people at the stop we got out at looked kind of scary. I guess we weren’t in the best neighborhood. The museum wasn’t very obvious (bad signage), but we eventually found it.

The admission was pretty steep considering the museum consisted of only 3 rooms (I didn’t know that at the time). There was a holocaust survivor there to talk about the book he wrote and to sign it. We walked around and saw that most of the items in the museum were actually donated by him. There was a recreation of one of the cattle cars that took the Jews to the camps. There was a very moving video at the end that had very informative signs.

We were very hungry at this point and decided to get dinner. We walked to TGI Friday’s and read the menu, but nothing appealed to us. We went into a candy store that was super expensive and left. Back to Hoffbrau’s. This time my mom ordered a bacon grilled chicken honey mustard sandwich with chips. I ordered mac n cheese and mashed potatoes with gravy again. They served us the best hot fresh bread ever! It was just so darn good!!! My mom’s sandwich looked and smelled incredible. She loved it and said it was one of the best things she ever ate. I ate her bread which tasted like honey mustard and the grill (but in a good way). We took the chips back to the room and munched on them later. What a great dinner!

On her way back to the hotel (through the scary tunnel) we had a crazy lady follow us in. She was cursing at us and threatening us. We walked fast and tried not to pay attention to her. My mom had the plastic knife from the restaurant in her hand just in case. There are no cameras in the tunnel so it is so dangerous. We reported the incident to the hotel. We went back to our room and called it a night.