The Full Texas Thang

Last Saturday I took New Wife out for a Full Texas Day (I know, I know:  never go Full Texas).

Part One was the Fort Worth Gun Show (that was for me, of course, although she found several Girly-things to buy there, and did).  Blessedly, there was more on display than the usual AR-15/Glock/Tacticool stuff (although there was plenty of that too):

… although that mythical unicorn (mint condition Colt Python for under $1,000) was nowhere to be found, of course.  There was a S&W Mod 65-3 for sale, but it looked like it had been towed behind a Ford F-150 for a mile or two, and they wanted $700 for it, so:  pass.  However, there was a vendor selling from a huge  selection of Anza knives, and somehow I managed not to buy a single one (although I could have bought six or seven, easily).

Good grief, they’re lovely knives.  I’m rapidly starting to think of Anza knives as I do .22 rifles — i.e. every home should have at least one — and the next time I go to the Ft. Worth gun show, I’m going to buy another one, because… I shouldn’t have to explain myself on this one, should I?  Here’s one that caught my eye, just because of the shape:

…but honestly, I could also see myself getting any one of these little beauties too.

We were planning on getting a late lunch of BBQ in downtown Ft. Worth (Part Two), but as it happened, there was a vendor at the show from Robinson’s BBQ (“since 1947”) so that was the brisket taken care of — and it was excellent.

We did take a little drive trip through Ft. Worth, and would have stopped to listen to the orchestra playing in Sundance Square, but parking in downtown is crappy, so we didn’t.  Instead, we went out to The Stockyards for a little shopping and entertainment.

The shopping at the various Western wear stores (Part Three) was patchy — some expensive stuff there, Bubba — but I did manage to snag a decent summer-weight vest which doesn’t look like a mil-surp, fishing- or photographer’s vest for a decent price.  New Wife, not so lucky.  (She steadfastly refused to let me buy her some cowboy boots, but hey:  she’s been in Texas less than five months, and I only got a pair of cowboy boots after over fifteen years  here, so it’s a long-term project.)  Also:

Anyway, it was getting late, so we went into Riscky’s for more BBQ and margaritas (Part Four):

Decent ribs, outstanding  grilled shrimp (seriously, maybe the best I’ve ever tasted), and Ernesto the barman is brilliant.  (I tended bar in my distant yoot, so I know the trade.)

Dinner over, we went to Part Five of the Full Texas Thang:

Oh yeah, baby… rodeo! 

Now I have to confess that I’m no expert on rodeo — mostly, I think it’s cheap country entertainment — but you can’t go Full Texas without rodeo, right?  So we watched the bull-riding, bronco busting, calf-roping and all that, until the over-loud PA (and screaming commentator) got to my tinnitus and the hissing/whistling sound became unbearable (my ears are still ringing as I write this, the day after).

But New Wife enjoyed the day thoroughly, even the gun show — although she won’t be going to another one anytime soon — and hey… how often do you get to go Full Texas with a newbie?

8 comments

  1. Fort Worth is a great Texas experience, next time you might want to spend some time at the Kimbell Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, all in the arts district close to other great venues.

    Dallas where I used to live does a nice job with its Arts District but Fort Worth is fantastic, both cities have come a long way over the years, to me Dallas is best for performing arts and Fort Worth visual but what do I know? I just know what I like.

    1. I don’t know what they call it, but its name should be the “Texas Butter-Knife”.

  2. If one were considering a move from a place like the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Kalifornia) to Texas, is DFW a good choice for a place to live? Or San Antonio or Houston?

  3. Having lived in Dallas for 20 plus years before moving to the Texas Hill Country, one county out I-10 from San Antonio I would recommend looking taking a look at this neat part of Texas. Kerrville, Bandera, Boerne, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels even out to Uvalde.

    We have been in this area, retired for over six years and it is a great place to live. The voting patterns in metro areas are shifting from conservative to Democrat however with the exception of Austin which used to be wonderful there are lot of good places all over Texas.

    If you like trees look East of I-35, if you like rolling plains go West of Fort Worth, there is almost tropical Houston and a nice coastal area West of that all the way to Brownsville. And then there are our kind of nifty limestone hills with clear rivers down here in the gun friendly Hill Country North of San Antonio.

    California breaks my heart, my wife grew up in San Carlos, her dad worked in San Francisco where her grandfather and great grandfather had been in the construction business going back to the 1880’s. She has been a Texan for almost 50 years now, her sister lived in Saint Helena until she finally had enough and moved to Arizona two years ago. How such a beautiful dynamic state got screwed up so fast is a tragedy.

    1. My father was born in Long Beach, graduated from Alameda High School…and would not willingly go back to Los Angeles. Because he remembered what it had been.

      FWIW, he claimed that “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” captured 1947 Los Angeles perfectly. That it really had been a wonderous city…but it died. Strangled by the Leftists and the invaders.

  4. All 64s… .38 Spec
    And there I was getting all excited.

    That said, with hot .38 loads? Hmmmmm…

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