WEARIN' O' THE GREEN

Saturday was the annual St. Paddy's Day Parade in the area of town where the crowd will use any excuse to party or drink beer. It was rather odd to see persons of obvious non-Anglo descent wearing t-shirts proudly proclaiming their Irish Heritage and wrapped in enough green beads to make the most practiced Mardi Gras reveler envious!

I chose to celebrate the wearin’ o’ the green in a different manner. I explored Downtown Dallas with a distinct emphasis on the bursting green of spring worn by the trees. And by visiting places I’d never been, as though I was “green” to Dallas. You know, those places in your home town where all the tourists go…. the places you drive past hundreds of times a year and yet have never ventured inside or taken a second look.

We took the light rail system to our destination. At the station we disembarked we found this brass miniature of the downtown skyline. It too was wearing green, but from weathering the elements more than from a celebration.

This was a nice photo in my opinion. The building on the left is Union Station, where Amtrak stops, the center globe is Reunion Tower that now is home to a Wolfgang Puck restaurant, and the glass building on the right is the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The ceiling of the chapel at Thanksgiving Square. It spirals upward but in two dimensions it appears as a nautilus shape. The skies were gloomy and overcast. I imagine when the sun is shining the colors inside the chapel are a sight to behold.

The old Dallas Courthouse, known as Old Red. It now houses a museum and tourist information centers. All of this is half a block from Dealey Plaza, The Grassy Knoll, and the Texas School book Depository were Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired deadly shots at President John F. Kennedy.

This is the old Dallas County Criminal Courts building. It is where Jack Ruby gunned down Lee Harvey Oswald. I had no idea it was right across the street from where Oswald shot the president.

Dallas has always been a city of corporations. Pegasus as this neon work is known once flew on top of the Mobil building in Dallas. There are many replicas and retired versions.

The Old Courthouse from a different angle. Closeup one can see gargoyles sitting atop each of 4 peaks. The building on the far left is now the federal courts building and the old building on the right is the records building, where one gets vital certificates and marriage licenses.

This cabin belonged to John Neely Bryan, reportedly the first citizen of Dallas.

This marker is about John Neely Bryan, but is in what is known as Pioneer Cemetery next to the convention center. A fascinating cemetery. Most of the headstones mention counties in which the decedent was born. Time after time it was Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Kentucky. And somewhere in one of those states a descendant is frantically searching for "what ever happened to" so-and-so that there is no record of their final resting place. Another interesting factor of the cemetery is that it is the final resting place to early mayors, county clerks, lawyers, families for whom our major freeways are named, etc. A veritable history of early Dallas can be found on the historical markers at many of the grave sites.

These life size longhorns being driven on the old Chisholm trail are made of brass and are at the edge of Pioneer Cemetery. Dallas is rich in western history, but the glass, cement, and mirrors often overshadow such humble beginnings.

Perhaps the trail boss watching the proceedings?

Another monument erected in the 1800s in honor of those who fought and died in the Confederate Army during the Conflict Between the States. The statues on the corners are to honor men such as Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson, historical participants in the Confederacy.

Hope you enjoyed. I only wish the sun had peeked through the clouds every now and then. Maybe next time.

Until then.......