Dallas Vacation

We decided to visit Dallas on the Memorial Day Weekend. Though we are living here for a long time, we never been to Dallas. Unfortunately, we chose the wrong time. It is the season for torrential rain, lightning, thunderstorm, and Tornado. Our host warned us about the weather condition but insisted we visit them. So we went. 

For people who live in USA for many years, when we mention “Dallas”, 3 things come to their mind ahead of anything else. 

President Kennedy’s assassination spot.

Dallas – Long running American prime time television serial – 1978 to 1991 and 2012 to 2014. Dallas Cowboys Football Team. (American Football and not soccer) 

So, in spite of bad weather, we visited these three places. 

It was 12:30 pm in Dealey Plaza, Dallas on Friday, November 22, 1963, the young 46 year old, President of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy was assassinated, He was fatally shot while traveling in a presidential motorcade along with his wife, and the Texas Governor, and his wife. Not just the people in USA but the whole world wept. He was genuinely mourned by millions of Indians. 

Retired Indian Army Colonel Anil Athale wrote: 

Many of my generation remember vividly how then American President John F Kennedy had become one of the most popular figures in India -- so much so that most paan shops, (the true barometer of public opinion in India) routinely had Kennedy's photograph alongside the familiar one of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. 

Col. Athale’s article titled “The Untold Story: How Kennedy came to India's aid in 1962”. Here is the link. 

The 6th floor of Dealey Plaza (from where the shots were fired) has now been turned into a Kennedy Museum.

                             PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGES FOR A LARGER VERSION

                                                   Few seconds before his death

                                            Presidential motorcade came on this road

                                            Exact location where the bullet hit Kennedy

View from the 7th floor window of the Dealey Plaza from where he was shot.

The white car in the photo is the exact place the Kennedy's motorcade was.

Then we visited Southfork Ranch. This is where part of Dallas episodes were shot. It is located near Plano, Texas. Now this Ranch is a big tourist attraction, made famous because of the TV Serial Dallas. The ranch is about 200 square miles. The mansion in the ranch is about 5,900 square feet. 

The main character is John Ross “J.R.” Ewing, Jr. This character was portrayed by actor Larry Hagman. According to Wikipedia, JR is depicted as a covetous, egocentric, manipulative and amoral oil baron with psychopathic tendencies, who is constantly plotting subterfuges to plunder his foes and their wealth. He was a big wheeler-dealer. 

JR is considered one of television’s most popular characters. JR’s punch lines in the series (ala Rajni Kanth punch lines in the movies) are very famous in USA. Stay tuned for a separate post on that.

                                                          John Ross (JR) Ewing

                                                             Ewing Family Mansion

                                                   Ewing Family Wedding Chappell

                                                                JR's Dining Table

                                                                  JR's Jacuzzi

                               Epitaph on JR's Tombstone: The Only Deal He Ever Lost

Finally we visited the Dallas Cowboys Football Stadium. I am so happy this stadium is named as AT&T Stadium, named after the telecommunication giant AT&T. Yayyy. Go AT&T Go. AT&T pays about $20 million a year to the team for the naming rights. 

Unfortunately, the day we visited was bad weather. The stadium was closed for the tourists. So took a picture from outside. Dallas Cowboys is nicknamed as America’s Team. I am not that fond of Dallas Cowboys. (I am going to hear a nasty comment from a certain Dallas Cowboys fan.) When we have San Francisco 49ers who needs Dallas Cowboys.

In order to be fair, I have to mention Cowboys appeared in 8 Super Bowls, won 5, and lost 3. 49ers appeared in 6 Super Bowls, won 5, and lost 1.

Some people think Dallas is part of South. Some don’t. It is debatable whether Dallas belongs to South or not. But their pronunciation is very different from other parts of USA. For example: 

Retell the story - It is not pronounced Retell the story. It is pronounced “retail” the story. Cambridge – It is not pronounced “Came-bridge”. It is pronounced “cam-bridge”.