Why Eyes on Texas?
Eyes on Texas began after the move to
Texas as a way to show people back home in the state
of Washington what we were seeing and doing in Texas.
Why Mostly North Texas?
We live in the D/FW Metroplex. Towards
the Fort Worth end of the Metro area. We've received a lot of
suggestions regarding other places we need to see in Texas besides
this focus on where we live. We have been to San Antonio and west
Texas and El Paso, Amarillo, Lubbock, Abiliene and many other
locales, but that was prior to documenting such places in this
venue. We have not been to the south Gulf Coast zone or the Big
Bend area or Laredo or Cap Rock or Palo Duro Canyons. All
shortcomings we hope to someday soon rectify..
Unintended Consequences
As various
events and festivals were webpaged we soon found ourselves answering a
lot of questions due to the webpages frequently being first on the list
when people search for information. The Parker County
Peach Festival
for instance. We get asked for directions, vendor
info, why it's only a one day event and just yesterday someone asked if
we knew where she could get the peach salsa she got at the previous
year's festival.
Fort Worth Fixation
Since we live in Fort Worth we may seem Fort
Worth fixated. We've been told we have way too much fun making fun
of Fort Worth's Star-Telegram newspaper, most recently in The
Envy of the World, all about how Fort Worth turns the
world green with envy.
Dallas Cowboy Scandal & Gas
When we were appalled to see all the homes and
apartments and lives disrupted for the new Dallas
Cowboy Stadium we characterized it as a scandal.
This has gotten some interesting
comments from around the world. When the Barnett Shale natural gas
boom brought a potential boom to our neighborhood we webpaged our
new neighbor.
Impressed in Texas
Over the years we've been impressed by many good
things in Texas. Canton's
First Monday's was the first time a Texas attraction impressed us.
The first time anything in Fort Worth impressed us as honestly enviable
was the Main Street
Arts Festival. The most fun we've had in Texas took place down by
Glen Rose at the Fossil
Rim Wildlife Center. Another event worth the drive is the
Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.
Feedback
We get a lot of
interesting feedback, often from people amused, sometimes from people
not so amused. We get feedback from people in Fort Worth who like our
take on what we see and feedback from other Fort Worth natives
suggesting we leave town and never come back.
Controversy
But the biggest
controversy erupted quite surprisingly from our take on a visit to
something we thought we enjoyed, Scarborough
Faire Renaissance Festival This visit occurred
over 3 years ago and we still get feedback. And an invite from Houston's
Renaissance Festival to do the same thing to them.
Favorite Location
Our favorite location
in the D/FW Metroplex may be in Arlington at a place called River
Legacy Park.
Scenic Texas
The most scenic thing we've seen since
we've been in Texas isn't in Texas, it's up in Oklahoma at Turner Falls Park.
A close second in the scenic department is in Texas, down in Hill
Country at Enchanted Rock.
Fort Worth's Dallas Obsession
Fort Worth has some sort of inferiority complex regarding Dallas, and
with good reason, basically Dallas
makes Fort Worth green with envy, which causes Fort Worth to imagine
other places envying Fort Worth in some sort of civic psychological transference,
according to a shrink we consulted about Fort Worth's Dallas obsession.
One sore point is Dallas has the world's
largest bronze sculpture. Of Longhorns. Sort of a Fort Worth
trademark. Another sore point is Dallas has the successful Dallas
Farmer's Market. Which apparently Fort Worth did not know existed
when Fort Worth opened what Fort Worth claimed to be the first
public market in Texas modeled after Seattle's
Pike Place Market and others in what was the most outrageous example
we've experienced yet of a slight tendency in some Texans to exaggerate
and hyperbolize.
Fort Worth's Best
One thing Fort
Worth could put more focus on is what we think is the best thing
about Fort
Worth, that being the Stockyards.
The Stockyards is
fun. Good restaurants. Good bars. Always something going on. And twice a
day Cowboys run a Herd of
Longhorns from one end of the Stockyards
to the other.
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