About two months ago my brother, Jason, moved with his wife and baby, Mindy and Luke, down to Dallas, Texas. Upon talking to him over the phone one day it was decided that I would go down to visit them and see the area. Our main attractions for the excursion were a Texas Rangers baseball game and Six Flags amusement park. I got my tickets, tied up loose ends at work and was on my way.
I arrived late Friday afternoon in Dallas and, after some discombobulating airport gate changes, I met up with my brother in the humid Texas heat. After a brief salutation, we made haste out to Arlington for the first item on the bill: the baseball game with the Texas Rangers hosting the Los Angeles Angels. We arrived a bit late, but just in time to see Ian Kinsler, 2nd baseman for the Rangers, belt a 2-run bomb over the left field wall. The crowd went wild and I smiled because I knew that I was getting those stats on my fantasy baseball team. Kinsler went on to hit another homerun, amid many homeruns hit by both teams, and it finished with the Rangers winning 10 to 8. And with the post-game fireworks blasting into the air, I had to admit that this game was indeed a blast!
After a pit stop at Whataburger, we got home and hung out for a bit. My brother had recently bought an old box of 1990 Topps baseball cards and we revived childhood thrills long forgotten. Opening pack after pack, we found our favorite players of old: Daryl Strawberry, Nolan Ryan, Kirby Puckett, Andy Van Slyke, and rookie cards of both Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas, just to name a few. The only thing missing to make it complete was a Beckett and some high stakes trading. But since we didn't have that, we turned to the petrified gum that came in each pack; it was 19 years old and looked like fossilized bone matter. A mutual dare was in order to see what 19-year old gum tasted like. My analysis: Aside from the glue flavor, it was still just as hard and bland as it was back when we were kids. The only difference now was that it lasted about 5 seconds before disintegrating into a pasty goo...but at least it kept its dull flavor the whole time.
The resurrected childhood buzz wore off into a deep sleep. Suddenly I awoke to a loud crash outside. I looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 4 o'clock in the morning. Another crash got me out of bed and looking out the window. A Texas thunderstorm had rolled in during the graveyard hours and it was making its presence known. After a few more explosions of thunder, the rains came pouring down and didn't let up. I've heard it said that everything is bigger in Texas; I'm not entirely sure about the accuracy of that statement, but if it's electrical storms they're talking about then I would say they aren't too far off.
I awoke to my 8-month old nephew pawing my face. The rains were falling on the roof and he was crawling on the floor. After talking with Jason and Mindy, we decided to venture out into the gray drizzle for some breakfast at the Waffle House. When my breakfast came, I noticed the size of the servings and the thought reoccurred to me, "Everything is bigger in Texas." With breakfast aside and the rains still coming down, we decided to stay primarily indoors. We drove into downtown Dallas, I took some photos from the 26th floor of the Reunion Tower, and then we walked to a nearby museum. After that we headed west to Ft. Worth.
I've always had it in my mind that Ft. Worth was a smaller town, but the skyscrapers that met my view proved me wrong. We drove through the modern part of the city and northeast to the old part known as the Stockyards. From what I have read, the Stockyards used to be a vital part of the cattle industry; now they are home to various BBQ joints, nightclubs and stores. While we were there I came across a few unique items: Beef jerky marinated in Dr. Pepper seasoning, some delicious Texas-brewed Root Beer and a candy store carrying all kinds of stuff. While in the candy store, I came across a barrelfull of Zotz! I hadn't seen Zotz since I was probably 10 years old! I also saw some of those old fashioned candy cigarettes like the kind kids would buy just to upset their parents. Next to the candy cigarettes was a bin of white chocolate pieces stuffed with real ants! That made me want to vomit more than the 19-year old gum!
We rounded out the day with dinner at Babe's Chicken House. I was recommended by a friend before I left to get some chicken fried steak. His reason for being adamant about the dish: "No one does chicken fried steak like Texas." I took him up on the tip and found that it was very appetizing.
Sunday morning dawned with sunny blue skies and with it came the excitement of a whole day spent at Six Flags. With a light breakfast in our stomachs, Jason and I entered the gates ready to take on the park. We started off with The Titan roller coaster. As we were crawling up the initial climb, he mentioned that it was the biggest roller coaster at the park! It was a little too late to turn back then, so I just breathed deep to counter the mounting anxiety. The first dive was a 255 foot drop at 85 mph! It was so steep that I felt like I was going to fall forward out of my seat! With the Titan conquered we were jazzed and hit up one giant roller coaster after another. After the first five we had to rest as we both began to black out a bit from pulling too many G-forces.
All day it was sunny and breezy without the typical Texas humidity. With it being early in the year, there was hardly anybody there. From what I'm told, typical wait-time for a ride is 2 1/2 hours. Our longest wait was maybe 10 minutes! You could not have asked for a better day at Six Flags! I stopped and prayed a prayer of gratitude for the amazing time!
That night I crashed out early. I had the feeling like when you get back onto solid ground after being on a boat all day. Dreams of being flung about on roller coasters haunted my sleep.
The next day we went into Dallas and I took some photos of whatever caught my eye. We also went up into the Chase Tower and peered out over the city from the 40th floor Sky Lobby. After a short stint, we went out to the airport and then I flew home.
The time spent with my brother and his family was great! Now I'm back at work and recovering from my vacation.