The Shootings of JFK & JR - Dallas, TX

Two historical news breaking shootings occurred in Dallas Texas in the second half of  the  20th century. Both events caused widespread disbelief and the world stopped in it's tracks, confused and shocked. Some  conspiracy theories continue today. 
Both  victims were very powerful men. One lead  the  greatest  nation on the planet, the other, one of the  wealthiest  Oil Companies. Both had many admirers , but also many enemies. Both men where known to  associate  with questionable characters. And both were loved by many beautiful and glamourous women.

The first shooting was the assassination of President John F Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The other was the attempted murder of the Head of Ewing Oil,  J R Ewing in March 1980.
We saw  the sites of both these crimes.

The Sixth Floor Museum.

This is a  must see for anyone who visits Dallas. A very thorough and interesting museum, it took us several hours to get through all the displays and movies. And there were several school  excursions there at the same time, as well as loads of other visitors. ( So this where everyone goes to in Dallas! ).

The creepiest part was the actual area and window from where Oswald fired his gun. There is a definite chilling and unnerving feeling about this very spot, which is set up exactly how it was  on that day.

And here I am, twice, on the famous grassy knoll... ( of course we thought about that episode of Seinfeld with Keith Hernandez..)

The building behind me is  the Book Depository.  

One of three remaining Polaroid photos taken by Mary Moorman at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. (Photo: Mary Moorman)

"X" marks  the spot today - photo taken by me

 After our JFK experience,  we had a walk around the still very quiet and eerie downtown area where I found the building used as the offices of "Ewing Oil" in Seasons 2 - 10 of Dallas. It was here  that JR Ewing was shot in his office by the  crazed Kristin Shepard in 1980. " Streets had emptied on March 21st 1980, the night JR got shot. Fifty three countries tuned in to the shooting, the headline making news of which helped sell the series to another eleven countries by the time it came back on air again"

JR cops it in the cliff hanger to end all cliff hangers in Dallas, 1980.

This  building ( above ) is now  the "Renaissance Tower" and  located at 1201 Elm Street in downtown  Dallas. I went into the lobby, but there was nothing to commemorate this epic TV event, in fact nothing at all about  TV Dallas & Ewing Oil.

Here is  the gun used to shoot JR - on display at Southfork Ranch.  More on this  place coming up right here on this blog!! Stay tuned...

The gold building ( above ) in the background was used as Ewing Oil for season 1 and can be found at 2001 Bryan Street.

And this is the  offices of  Barnes Wentworth, a bit out of the central downtown area at what is now the Campbell Centre at the intersection of Central Expressway & Northwest Highway. We came across  this quite  by accident, but being a big  fan of  the TV show Dallas  ( in case you couldn't tell ) I recognised it immediately.

A Few More Doings in Dallas

On our last day in Dallas , as well as  a fruitless search for a post office,  we explored a  little more before heading off out of the big city.
We returned to a not-so-nice area just to get a photograph of this groovy  sign. Note it is "Nightclub II". I can't imagine what "Nightclub I" was like, because this one was decidedly seedy and I reckon avoidable at all costs!

Then  it was back to the Uptown area  to have a look at a recommended vintage clothing shop, Ahab Bowen. The cute wooden house that is  the shop is  Dallas' "oldest house that is still on its original foundation", hence the historical marker outside.  Lots of rooms all filled with interesting items from the 20s on .. but I have seen just as   good very close to home!
I only bought one thing here, a 1980s T shirt for the " 1st Annual New Mexico Police Olympics ". Why?? Because it  made me  laugh!

 Northpark Shopping Mall , in North Dallas is rather posh, and full of designer label shops. Just check out the link. We came across  this again, by accident. However not all shops were totally out of our price range. 

What a lovely, clean and interesting  mall. Everywhere there were gorgeous displays of cacti and  various succulents, also artworks and exhibitions, including a lavish " Mont Blanc Writing Pens Exhibit featuring ornate pens which paid homage to arts patrons such as Louis XIV, Andrew Carnegie, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (a Roman who lived who lived from 70 BC to 8 BC and is widely regarded as the founding father of cultural patronage), Medici, Elizabeth I and J.P. Morgan, all  immortalized by the luxury brand.

At the Pinto  Ranch Western Fashions store, I bought my first Western shirt of this trip.
It was here  that we were given possibly the best advice anyone could get while embarking on a road trip through the USA West. "Watch out for the Comanches", this coming from an older gentleman who worked in the store. Well thanks, but what is this?1865?? Do we need to form our cars into a circle and take cover? This was after we told him that we were including the Four Corners area in our trip. ( I didn't want to be a smarty pants and remind  him that actually The Four Corners is  Hopi,  Navajo, Ute and Zuni territory, and  the Comanches generally  ruled Texas, Oklahoma & Mexico )

Pinto Ranch Western Fashions

Shirt I bought

Despite all the trendy and expensive clothing stores, my favourite shop here was Paciugo Gelato. What amazing, divine and bizarre flavours!! ( check link ). I tried a chocolate one but fell in love the violet. On our next visit here at the end of  the  trip I would try Raspberry Lavender  and Rose, also superb! I wasn't brave enough  sample the "Organic Maple Caramelized Bacon", but you can see it in this photo.

 So our time in Dallas was coming to an end, and we headed off  in a northern direction, ready for our next adventure, but horrified by the enormous freeways!! Remember  that old 1950s Disney Cartoon "Magic Highway" ?? This is what I was reminded  of. One thing this cartoon really got wrong was " highway signs will be larger and more simple to read"  Not so!!! The roads and  highways are poorly set up and  labelled. They may be big but they are easy to miss!! This would sometimes prove to be frustrating  but on the good side, we got a  bit lost at times and this made our adventure even more surprising when we would  suddenly find ourselves  in strange, fasinating and deserted parts of towns. But more of that later!