Tugboat's Texas Trip - Day 2, Fort Worth

Day two was shaping up to be as action packed as day one. We planned out our movements in the morning. As luck would have it, there was a Denny's directly across from our hotel. I have an affinity for that franchise and planned to go there to eat. Chef was still somewhat full from the night before and decided he would abstain for the early portion of his day, instead opting to do some work related email. It was a solo meal for Tugboat but a beauty. I got my favourite, the grand slamwich. It was very tasty. After chugging that I dashed across the street to harry Chef. He wanted a coffee as we departed and ended up taking two cups with him. Since you weren't supposed to take any of the free breakfast outside of the breakfast area, he loaded up a coffee cup with a bouquet of bacon, a folded omelette, and a sausage patty. Upon seeing the free bounty that the hotel offered I deigned to dine there on the next day. We packed some sweaters and nicer shirts in our carry-on bags in case we needed to be more presentable at dinnertime and loaded up.We got across to Fort Worth Stockyards with no difficulty from the navigation apps this time, Chef even did a call while we were driving. We arrived around half past ten bells. This was before a lot of the stuff really opened and definitely before the cattle were driven down the street, which happens twice daily and primarily what we built our day around. We explored many of the small shops which stocked many of the same knick knacks. It was interesting to see the differences and the real Western gear. We also popped into the Cowtown Coliseum, the rodeo arena that has been in operation at that site for over 100 years. We decided then that we should try and see some rodeo while in Texas. At half past eleven they herded the cattle down the street. I took a video of the entire thing.

After seeing the herd move we were ready for lunch. First we checked out a fine Western gear shop, we wanted to get a feel for what boots run for, Chef being very interested in buying a pair. We soon turned around when we realized that particular shop had boots starting at $2000 USD and going well up from there. We found three steakhouses outside and after some debate decided upon one. While that decision was being made the Tugboat purchased a patch for the garment, and a commemorative spoon as well as a belt buckle for the Inspector. He asked for the perfect combination of obnoxiously big and cheap. The purchase was on the nose. We settled on H3 for lunch, which was part of Booger Red's saloon. We had a nice meal served to us by a real sweetheart of a waitress. Moving on from there we found another store that had shirts and boots. We spent a good amount of time in Fincher's White Front while Chef got fitted for boots. We each selected a nice rodeo shirt to purchase too. Mine had nice pearl snaps up the front, something I've always wanted to have. He chickened out on the boots and we walked back to get a better look at the herd.

It was amazing to us how they could navigate their surroundings with horns that varied in width from six to eight feet across. Their subtle adjustments to avoid collision were very cool to watch. We got up on the viewing walkway where potential buyers can inspect the animals for sale. We stayed while they were fed and Chef was enthralled with the herd dynamics. 

Something about watching the cowboys feed the herd must have rang true in Chef because he decided he was going back for those boots. The Tugboat snuck back into the Coliseum to use the secluded washrooms and everyone met back at the car. Arriving first afforded me the opportunity to meet some Native American folks visiting the site. We talked a bit and they gave me a card for their business of "overall wellness". I probably won't be a customer. At this point we were done with the Western portion of town and set off to find some more modern delights. The brewery we had planned to visit wasn't open so we settled for the next best thing geographically. We had a beer at Chimera Brewing Company and enjoyed their very comfortable seating while watching Tiger make some noise in the Valspar.

We had located a place we wanted to try for dinner but it was a twenty minute walk away from where we were currently parked. We set off on foot, the neighbourhood got progressively worse and we continued. We both started to make passing remarks about it. When we got to the restaurant we both actually just walked right by it. It was VERY sketchy looking from the outside. We turned around and walked back and entered Jesus BBQ. It was a little dicey when we sat down, there was an older man counting a huge fan of cash and a gregarious looking server ready to take our orders. We had an amazing meal that stuffed us to capacity. It is apparently very authentic cuisine and we accepted that sometimes you have to go off the beaten path some to find such spots. We walked around afterwards to find Rahr & Sons Brewing, a spot we'd wanted to try but was closed to the public outside of a few sparse hours during the week. 

We lumbered back to the car, the walk doing us some good to process the thick meals we'd just consumed, and made our way back to Dallas. Our plan was to stop at the hotel to drop the car off and then wander off to Ferris Wheelers BBQ for a beer. However, when we arrived, Chef got under the covers and I knew that was it for the day. We watched bits of a couple of movies before shutting down, needing sleep before yet another big day.