Spurs of the Moment

Spurs are about motivation.  A well placed spur in the right haunch would get you where you needed to be, when you needed to be there, back in the old days.  But these days they tend to be less "working cowboy" and more "duded up tourist".

That's not to say that they aren't still used in ranching and rodeo but they've made they're way into the decor in a big way.  You can find several examples of that across the state, starting in the legendary Fort Worth Stockyards:

You can find this "big un" near one of the branches of the Texas Trail of Fame, in a little out of the way location near the Lewis & Clark star.  I don't have a lot of information on the "what and why" of this thing but it definitely fits in with its surroundings.

You can find these beauties outside of RT Bit and Spur in Gainesville and they're easy to miss.  The house/business is behind some trees as you come in to town so you have to keep your eyes open.

But the next one is easy to find as it's one of the many spurs that claims to be the world's largest.  It makes its home in Hico, TX, not too far from the fake Billy the Kid grave.  I didn't have a tape measure or a ladder (or time) so I couldn't investigate its world's largest claims.

And finally, since size matters not, I'll leave with with the l'ilest Texas spur and an assignment.  The next time you visit downtown Dallas' Pioneer Plaza you'll find, among the many cow statues, a few cowboy statues.  And on one of these statues you'll find this:

Your mission: find it, flick it and make your future kids and grandkids listen to the story of how you found it and flicked it.  What could be more fun?

Tour of Texas Dinos Part 2

Previously: Part 1

If you've ever visited Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, you have definitely seen the two big greeters up front.  T-Rex-esque and Brontosaurus-esque (or whatever you're supposed to call brontosauruses now) statues are just past the park office, near the entrance, and they're happy to pose for picture after picture with visitors.

Many a foggy road trip vacation memory was made by these beauties.  As the years passed many people would remember seeing them but the details would fade away like a dream at dawn.  Where they really there?  Where did they come from?  How did they get there?

They've been standing guard at the park since the 70s.  And while the area has a lot of well preserved, easily viewed dinosaur footprints, it's seems unlikely that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Service would have the funds to commission such cool looking, yet budgetary frivolous, conversation pieces.

And of course, they didn't.  The origin of this species happened closer to the Atlantic Ocean than the Paluxy River.  They were originally a part of an exhibit at the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York.

As was the style at the time for World's Fairs, the Sinclair dinosaur exhibit was big and there was lots of it and it was big!  It included nine of these custom made behemoths and "educated" fair visitors about the connection between the dead dinos in the ground and the gas they put in their car.

It's easy to get excited when you're planning a big fair exhibit and it's easy to get swept up in the "Let's build more dinosaur statues!" hype but eventually the fair closes and you're left with nine great big dinosaur statues on your hands.

There was apparently some attempt to get the Smithsonian to take the herd but I guess there just wasn't enough room for this "Breakfast Club" of monsters, so Sinclair tried to put them to work.

It was time to hit the road.  A few of the specimens went on tour.  This was a little before my time but if I, as a young lad, heard about a touring troupe of fiberglass beasties, I would have totally been into that.

I imagine there's a huge amount of novelty that comes along with the job of driving a giant brontosaurus around on a flatbed trailer, but I would also imagine that once that novelty wears off, it doesn't come back.  So eventually the gang needed a forever home.

Which brings us back to the Lone Star state.  There was a lobbying effort to get a couple of dinosaur statues at what would eventually become the "Dinosaur Capital of Texas" and the oil company decided that the free publicity that comes with donating giant dinosaurs is much better than the costs of storing giant dinosaurs and the rest...is prehistory...

If you plan to visit the park, I would definitely recommend it.  Mother Nature did a great job of crafting a great little getaway spot with cool dinosaur tracks to see and cool water to swim in.

Our two friends eventually got some company in town as the area embraced the modern stone age philosophy and and other statures can be seen at the nearby Dinosaur World park and outside the Glen Rose visitors center.

Tour of Texas Dinos Part 1

There's lots to love about the Lone Star State and plenty of things that make it unique.  One of the surprising things you may notice along the highways and back roads are a ferocious amount of dinosaurs that make their home in Texas.  So today we begin our Tour of Texas Dinos, starting in Balch Springs:

This guy stands out in front of "No Limits Motors." formerly known as "EZ Pawn" and formerly known as a mini-golf place whose name has been lost to the ages.  Over the years it's been green, green and yellow, and (as of the time of this pic) blue and white.  Its humble origins as a mini-golf obstacle are long forgotten by the commuters that pass by every day.  Hopefully, the next business owner at this location will keep him around and maybe slap on another coat of paint (of his or her choosing).

Our next stop is a Texas roadside legend.  The Car Parts Dinosaur in Bertram is, believe it or not, constructed completely out of automobile parts.  As you can see, she sits atop a flatbed trailer so she can make appearances in parades and other special events.  Years ago I saw her at the "Best of Texas" Festival at Six Flags in Arlington alongside such other legends as "Old Rip" and the World's Largest Jackrabbit.  I'm looking forward to seeing where she goes next.

Not everybody knows it but Abilene is the "Storybook Capital of Texas."  The town has no shortage of whimsy in the form of public sculptures all over the places.  From Dr. Suess to William Joyce to E.B. White, many of your favorite childhood characters are represented.  Our friend in the red cap is from "Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo" and was sculpted by the legendary Bob "Daddy-O" Wade. 

We've just scratched the surface with this small collection of weirdo wonders.  The next chapter of our Tour of Texas Dinos will be coming soon.  Until then, keep an eye out for extinct wildlife.

Jake and Elwood Tour Texas

If you've traveled around any, you may have noticed that your old pals the Blues Brothers tend too hang out from place to place.  For some reason (don't ask me), tons of Jake and Elwood statues were commissioned and distributed across the country.  They pop up in bars, restaurants and places that can only be described as "miscellaneous." 

You can even still buy a pair if you've got an extra two grand lying around or try to get a better deal on eBay.  But for the thrifty sight seer that just wants to catch a glimpse of the boys, you're in luck.  They're no strangers to the Lone Star State.

Stroker's Ice House is biker bar in Dallas housed at the custom bike shop of Rick Fairless.  You might have seen it on TruTV's "Ma's Roadhouse."  It's got a ton of bizarre statues on top including dinosaurs, a hot dog man and...you guessed it:

There they are crooning to the bikers in some custom polka dotted threads.  The boys hold their own among other celebrity statues like Frankenstein, Dracula and Betty Boop.  It's getting crowded up there so let's head to the next stop.

I'm not exactly sure what "America's Vice Stop" is.  I had assumed that it's one of those places that sells vaping stuff to horrible people but their Facebook page seems to indicate that they sell fresh fruit and vegetables.  I don't know why that would be considered a "vice" though.  Regardless, though, our pals make an appearance:

The guys are atop a great big storage container (which is apparently for sale) from time to time but recently they've been M.I.A.  I don't know if it got too windy to be safe or maybe the store owners are just temporarily storing the boys while they come up with a better way to display them.  The Blues Brothers come and go at their own discretion and they're missing from our next stop:

A few years back there was a restaurant housed in the historic Collin County prison in downtown McKinney.  In keeping with the theme, the outside was decorated with our friendly felons.  The "Prison Bars & Grill" closed down and afterward the statues left for parts unknown.  But while they were there we shot video of the place:

I wouldn't be surprised to come across the guys again at some point in the future.  So keep your eyes out and maybe you'll see the them too.

Are You Being Served?

In the interest of full disclosure, I've never actually watched this movie:

But only because it looks absolutely horrible. "Serving Sara" came out in 2002 and the other day I scanned through it to pull these stills. So, with that complimentary introduction, let's get started!

Our first stop is what I like to call "the dome thingy outside Comerica Bank Tower" in downtown Dallas. In the film it was a steak restaurant:



But the most recognizable Dallas location is Pioneer Plaza (also in downtown). It's featured in a foot chase scene with Bruce Campbell and a sweaty, bloated Matthew Perry.




Campbell then runs past the Pioneer Plaza Cemetery and the Confederate War Memorial (which is in the opposite direction that he was running in the Plaza...movie magic!) on his way into the Convention Center.



And then some other stuff happens and then the movie ends. Roll credits!

In the interest of maintaining some educational content in the blog, here's a video segment we shot on Pioneer Plaza:

Lark in the Park

I'm not sure if Theodor Geisel, A.K.A. Dr. Seuss, had ever been to Texas but he clearly has a lot of fans in the state.  Particularly in the West Texas town of Abilene, known as the "Storybook Capital of Texas."   That's where you'll find Everman Park which is home to six sculptures of the good Doctor's most popular work.

Let's take a stroll in the park and see what we can see.  Starting with...

Perennial trouble maker and world's worst babysitter, The Cat in the Hat is the first sculpture in the park.  His book was first published in 1957 and he is easily Dr. Seuss' most popular creation.

Next up is "Sam-I-Am" from "Green Eggs and Ham" which was published in 1960 and introduced a breakfast menu that kids all over the world would covet for years.

The Turtle Tower from "Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories" stands tall as the next sculpture on the tour.  The book was published in 1958.  It contained three stories but Yertle was clearly the break out star.

Appropriately, the Lorax stands surrounded by the trees for which he speaks.  The environmentally conscious character's book was published in 1971.

Seasons greetings are offered year round by the Grinch and his faithful dog Max.  Before the TV special, movie and merchandise onslaught, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was published in 1957.

And finally there is Horton who is listening intently for all time to the tiniest of tiny friends.  His book "Horton Hears a Who!" was published in 1954.

All the sculptures were created by artist Leo Rijn and they fit in nicely in downtown Abilene.  The entire area is full of other whimsical works collectively known as the Storybook Sculpture Project.  It's worth a stop on your next West Texas road trip.  Don't forget to bring your camera.

Hopalong

Carl's Corner is a truck stop/town located along I-35 that you've passed by on the way from Dallas to Austin or Austin to Dallas or some such other destination in that area.  It's was incorporated by trucker Carl Cornelius and a handful of his thirsty friends for the purpose of being able to sell alcohol in the primarily dry area. 

If you had driven past it several years ago you would have seen this colorful and charismatic truck stop (this picture is from 2003):

Years ago it burned down and and was ultimately replaced with this non-charismatic blasphemy:

The biggest disappointment of the new place is the absence of Carl's famous dancing frogs.  Here's what they used to look like:

Originally there were six dancing frogs.  They lived in Dallas before they hopped to Carl's.    Fortunately they were all saved from the fire.  Three of them went to Nashville and, for a while, the other three lived across the highway from Carl's.  Ultimately though, they went back home to Dallas and you can now visit them atop a Taco Cabana on Greenville Avenue:

            

Will this be the Frogs' final home?  Somehow I think their travels will continue in the future and I look forward to following them hop up and down the great state of Texas.