On Location #38 - TNT's Dallas Episodes 12 -14

Episode #1 - - Episode #2 - - Episodes 3 & 4 - - Episodes 5 & 6  - - Episode #7 - - Episode 8 & 9 - - Episodes 10 & 11

It's been a while since we've kept up with the Ewings but season 2 has been over for a while and it's high time we tracked them down.  The next few episodes didn't have a whole lot of exterior scenes (at least not a lot that weren't at Southfork).  So with that in mind, and in the interest of catching up, we've got one location from each of the next three episodes.

Starting in episode 12, John Ross gets out of Rebecca's car on the south side of downtown:

This is essentially at Young St. and Evergreen.  There's not a whole lot there.  Not a great place for a trust fund kid to get dropped off but there's plenty of room for camera equipment.  In the background yo can see Mercantile Place (with the big clock).

In episode 13 the Ewing's prime witness was stashed away at a hotel:

At first I thought it might be this Holiday Inn off of Inwood & 1-35 or possibly this one off of 1-30 in east Dallas but it looks like this one west of downtown on I-30 and Cockrill Hill seems to be the match:

And in the 14th episode Drew picks up a big rig in south Dallas:

In the background you can see Reunion Tower and a good portion of the Dallas skyline.

That'll have to tide you over for now.  Hopefully I can get through the rest of season 2 before season 3 starts...but no guarantees.

Dr Pepper Sweet Potatoes

Let's make some Dr Pepper Sweet Potatoes.  To start, you have to make sure you use the Dr Pepper that is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.  This used to be the purview of Dublin, TX but now you can find sugar sweetened DP at most grocery stores.

I'm usually not one for formal recipes so I won't bother with listing ingredients and giving measurements.  That's no way to live.  Here's the first few things you'll need:

First peel, cube and steam your sweet potatoes until the are fork tender.

Next pour four of the bottles of Dr Pepper into a pot along with a few pats of butter and a few squirts of honey and bring to a boil.  The goal is to evaporate most of the liquid and caramelize the sugar.

Add in the juice from a lemon, a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce and Soy Sauce (and/or Tabasco if you like).  Once it reduces down to a sauce consistency add the cooked sweet potatoes and combine.

Serve a generous portion alongside just about anything.

Now let's eat!

History, Schmistory

In our travels we're always on the lookout for state historical markers.  You never know what tidbit of information you're going to stumble tumble upon.  Downtown Roanoke, TX seemed like a great place to find a few.  Might as well stop and eat too since they claim to be the Unique Dining Capital of Texas.  In fact something unique can be found at the Babe's Chicken franchise which is housed in a historic building that's over a century old:

It was here that we found the only fake historical marker (or "hysterical" marker, if you will) we've ever seen:

Commemorating the date of Texas Independence, the marker also makes note of the building's nonexistence at a certain point of history.  And hey, that's worth mentioning.  It's also worth noting that the word "hysterical" is misspelled.  I'll chalk it up to a typo since I love stuff like this and would love to see more of it.

As a bonus, on the side of the building you'll find a mural of depicting downtown Roanoke by artist David Larcom:

If you stop by, I recommend the chicken.

McDowner

Sadly, Dallas got a little less interesting lately:

Tile Samples

If you haven't had the opportunity to use the restroom in the Deep Ellum location of Baker's Ribs then you've missed out on some old school State Fair of Texas shout outs.  Here are some of the historic tiles you can find in the men's room that show off some of the retro themes of State Fairs past:

If you have the chance to relieve yourself in these surroundings I recommend picking up some ribs (or fried pies) while you're there.

High Noon

Downtown Grapevine, TX has loads of shops, restaurants and historic attractions.  As of 2012, they also have their own glockenspiel clock.  Instead of yodelers or cuckoos, this one has gun fighting and train robbing cowboys.  You can find the cowpokes making four daily appearances at the Cotton Belt Hotel Clock Tower (which is also home to the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau):

There is more than one outcome to the gunfight so it may be different depending on when you see it.  Here's what we saw on a Saturday at High Noon:

Denzel Goes to East Texas

One lesser known aspect of Texas history is the success of the Wiley College debate team.  Wiley College is located in Marshall, TX and was founded in 1873 and is thought of as the first Black college west of the Mississippi River.  The school's debate team had an incredibly successful run starting in the early 20th century.  Their 1935 season was chronicled in the 2007 film "The Great Debaters" directed by and starring Denzel Washington.

Washington played the English teacher/debate coach Melvin Tolson.  Tolson taught at Wiley College from 1924-1947.  He was known as an accomplished scholar, poet and activist.

The '35 team from the film consists or characters that were both directly based on specific former students and based on amalgams of various students.  James L. Farmer Jr. appears as a character in the film and was an actual student at Wiley and member of the debate team.  He was a child prodigy and attended the college when he was only fourteen.  He was played by Denzel Whitaker (not to be confused with Denzel Washington, after whom he was named, and is no relation to Forest Whitaker, who also appears in the film.)

His father, James L. Farmer Sr. was a faculty member at Wiley College and was the first African American Texan to earn a doctorate from Harvard University.  In the film he is played by Forest Whitaker:

On the campus of Wiley College there is a historical marker honoring Dr. Farmer Sr.:

The Samantha Booke (with an "E") character was loosely based on Henrietta Bell Wells who was the first women to join the debate team.  She was played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell (from Friday Night Lights):

While they filmed the movie in a variety of locations they were able to shoot some scenes on the Wiley College campus, most noticeably outside the Wiley King Administration Building:

It's always interesting when a little piece of Texas history ends up on the big screen.