What Does Fort Worth Have That Dallas Does Not?

The above is a screen cap from yesterday's blog post. That blog post generated an amusing comment from someone going by the unusual name of Anonymous.

Below is that comment from Anonymous...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is Fort Worth One Of The Most Breathtaking Skylines In America?":

Q: What does Fort Worth have that Dallas does not?

A: A major city nearby.

A prominent TCU professor has said that Fort Worth is the dumbest city in the dumbest county in the dumbest state.

Fort Worth no longer has a downtown central library. Seattle and Austin have incredible central libraries. Foat Wuth dont need no grand palace for that book learnin, boy!

_______________________

I suppose it is a tad mean-spirited to make fun of Fort Worth.

But, the town sort of invites it.

For over two decades the town has had a mess at the north side of its downtown, known as the Trinity River Vision. A vision which sees much needed flood control where there has been no flooding for well over half a century, due to flood prevention levees already in place.

Late in the previous century Dallas came up with its own Trinity River Vision type vision. That vision included three signature bridges over the Trinity River. Two of those bridges have become reality.

Fort Worth copied the Dallas vision near the start of the current century. The Fort Worth vision also saw three signature bridges. Fort Worth has built all three bridges, taking over seven years to do so. Over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

The Fort Worth signature bridges turned out to be ordinary looking freeway overpass type bridges, nothing signature about them, unlike the Dallas bridges which have become iconic Dallas images.

One day, in the future, Fort Worth hopes to dig a cement lined ditch under those three little bridges, then divert Trinity River water into the ditch, thus creating the imaginary island.

Like I said, Fort Worth sort of invites being made fun of...

Is Fort Worth One Of The Most Breathtaking Skylines In America?

 

Another interesting Microsoft Windows Edge browser Start Page gallery of photos. This gallery purports to name The 30 most breathtaking skylines in America. I do not know if the link to the skylines works in all browsers or mobile devices.

The text at the start of the gallery of skyline photos...

The 30 most breathtaking skylines in America

The US is a wide and diverse land of intense and unique bursts of development, with higher buildings and more interesting structures popping up each year. These skylines emerge like a fingerprint of each city, revealing their characteristics through architecture, atmosphere, and culture. Check out this gallery to see the top 30 skylines in the country.

I assume the list of 30 is ranking the skylines in order, what with the list starting with Washington, D.C., a town which really does not have much of a skyline and ending with New York City at #2 and Chicago at #1.

I would have guessed New York City would be the town thought to have the most breathtaking skyline.

I am familiar with the skyline which was right behind New York City.

Seattle, WA

The combination of the Space Needle Observation Tower and Mount Rainer looming in the background makes Seattle's skyline hard to forget.

Seattle does get a bit of a boost, breathtaking skyline wise, what with there being mountains no matter which direction you look, east, west, south and north.

I am also familiar with the breathtaking skyline 5 spots below Seattle.

Dallas, TX

Dallas' skyline isn't extremely new, and although it has high-rises like the Bank of America Plaza (which reaches 921 ft), its best feature is the colorful, interactive lighting that adds a layer of festivity and celebration to this already beautiful skyline.

The Dallas skyline is impressive after dark. Nice during the day too.

Further down the list are two other Texas towns, Austin and Houston.

I was impressed with both Austin and Houston's skyline upon my first visit to both towns.

When I see lists like this, remembering my experience of living in Fort Worth, a town which has a kind of civic inferiority complex, due to being sort of the homely little sister to handsome big brother, Dallas.

Anytime there is any sort of positive mention made of Fort Worth, no matter how remote, the locals, well, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and others, make a big deal of it. 

Such as, recently a British travel writer wrote a column published in a UK newspaper touting Fort Worth as now being the coolest town in Texas, replacing Austin in that cool distinction. I read the article and found it rather delusional, and odd, real odd.

I wonder how long a list of America's Most Breathtaking Skylines would have to be before Fort Worth showed up on the list. 100? 200?

Looking At America's Most Beautiful Sites & Colorful Tulips

I saw that which you see here via Microsoft/s Windows Edge browser's Start Page, a photo gallery purporting to be America's Most Beautiful Sites And Destinations.

The text explaining this collection of beautiful American sites...

America the beautiful

America is home to some of the most beautiful sights on the planet, from teetering skyscrapers to wildflower meadows and glacier-filled national parks. Here we take a virtual tour of the USA's most stunning places and attractions to inspire your next stateside trip.

I do not know if the America's Most Beautiful Sites And Destinations link will work in all types of browsers and mobile devices.

The above screen cap is page 1 of this gallery. Upon seeing it I thought it looked to be a tulip field in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley.

Upon reaching Beautiful Site #22 I had confirmation this was a photo of a tulip field in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley.

The text accompanying the photo...

Skagit Valley, Washington

In the northwest corner of Washington state lies a valley that could have been plucked straight from the Netherlands. Come spring, millions of kaleidoscopic tulips, irises, and daffodils spread out in neat ribbons, brightening over 1,000 acres in Skagit Valley. It's one of the best floral displays in the western States.

There were three other beautiful American sites in my old home zone of Washington state. Mount Rainier and the mountain's wildflowers, the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park, and the hills of the Palouse in Eastern Washington.

My current home zone of Texas has three of America's most beautiful sites. The bluebonnets of Texas Hill Country, the Hamilton Pool Preserve, and Caddo Lake.

Of the Texas beautiful sites I have only been to one, that being the bluebonnets of Texas Hill Country. The bluebonnets, along with other wildflowers, really are a beautiful site to see..

A Windy Wavy Lake Wichita Dam Boardwalk Dock Walk

It was to Lake Wichita Dam I ventured today for some windy walking on the dam and the boardwalk and floating dock. In the above photo we are at the end of the boardwalk, looked west, with that little pimple on the horizon being Mount Wichita.

Those sticks you see sticking up beyond the boardwalk's railing, are all that remains of the pavilion which was a big tourist attraction starting early in the previous century. There was a roller rink, dance floor, swimming pool, and other amenities.

The Lake Wichita Pavilion burned down in the 1950s, with only those pier sticks sticking out of the water remaining.

The lake now has enough water to float the Lake Wichita floating fishing dock. This dock was dry docked the last time I was at this location. But, today it is back floating, and rocking and rolling with the waves.

Now we are on the rocking and rolling dock. With the waves looks a tad menacing. Again, that pimple on the horizon is Mount Wichita.

More rain is on the weather menu in the coming days. Maybe Lake Wichita will finally get enough water to be back at full pool...

The Pack Of Sikes Lake Coyotes Continues To Chase Away The Geese

The temporary return to Winter ended yesterday, with the return to a clear blue sky and the sun heating the air to a warm temperature.

This 4th Monday of the 2024 version of April is another warm, clear blue sky day. And so I drove to Sikes Lake this morning to commune with nature and to acquire some endorphins via aerobic stimulation.

The recently installed Sikes Lake pack of coyotes seems to have had the intended effect, scaring the geese flock to move to a new location.

However, the coyotes do not seem to worry blue herons. You can see a blue heron at the top left of the photo, in the direction the coyote is looking.

I wonder where the geese that survived the mass execution of 384 geese have moved to. I saw a few geese at Lake Wichita Park yesterday. I do not recollect previously seeing geese at that location...

Sunny Sunday In The Park With Mount Wichita

Rain dripped for many hours yesterday, along with a lot of thunder booms. But, on this third Sunday of the 2024 version of April, a clear blue sky has returned, with nary a cloud to be seen, no matter what direction one looks.

So, it was to Lake Wichita Park I drove today, hoping to see the lake level higher than the last time I was at this location.

Well, all that rain does not seem to have had much impact on Lake Wichita.

There were a lot of people in the park today, enjoying the sunny Sunday, including multiple people trying to catch fish, and having no luck hooking anything.

I do not recollect previously seeing so many hikers making the treacherous trek to the summit of Mount Wichita as I saw today.

I would think the brown color on the mountain would be muddy. I did not feel like finding out if that is the case.

Have I ever made mention of the fact that Mount Wichita, a manmade mountain, was made from mud dredged from Sikes Lake, back in, I think, the 1990s. 

Methinks Sikes Lake needs to be dredged again, with another mountain made next to Mount Wichita, making for twin peaks...

Return Of Winter To Wichita Falls With Lightning Strikes & Rain

Winter has returned on this 3rd Saturday of the 2024 version of April.

Overnight a thunderstorm came to town, dripping copious amounts of water. 

Along with the rain and lightning strikes, cold air also came to town.

It is so chilly I felt compelled to switch my interior climate control device from air-conditioning mode to heat mode.

I do not recollect previously switching to heat mode, this time of year, at my current Texas location.

Colorful Wildseed Farm Visit In Fredericksburg Texas

A Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day, which I actually remember. Earlier in this current century, around this time of year, I drove south to Texas Hill Country, with Fredericksburg and Enchanted Rock State Park as the intended destinations.

Fredericksburg was the first Washington style themed type towns I found in Texas. Fredericksburg is sort of German themed, due to all the German settlers who settled in this location.

Washington has a German Bavarian themed town called Leavenworth. It is a bit more developed, theme-wise, than Fredericksburg. Both have German-themed McDonald's. 

At Fredericksburg I came upon a mass of various colors, of wildflowers, at a farm called Wildseed Farms.

Wildseed Farms reminded me of Roozengarde in my old Skagit Valley home zone. Only Roozengarde is all about the colorful tulips, whilst Wildseed Farms is about a variety of colorful wildflowers.

Both are super busy tourist traps...

Walk Around Sikes Lake With Pink Evening Primroses

Since I last walked around Sikes Lake a couple days ago, the lake has become surrounded by pink evening primroses, one of my favorite Texas wildflowers.

If memory serves the evening primroses are usually the first wildflower I see when wildflower season starts up.

My first encounter with evening primroses happened way back late in the previous century, when I drove to Texas, from Washington, to see if moving was something I might want to do.

It was at some point east of Amarillo, heading to the Dallas/Fort Worth zone, on Highway 287, that I began seeing pink flowers carpeting the landscape alongside the freeway.

At some point I felt compelled to geta closer look at these delicate looking flowers, so I got off the freeway to get a good look and a good photo.

It was a year or two later I came to learn the name of these pink wildflowers.

Texas wildflowers are sort of a natural wild version of coloring up the landscape like my old home zone does with cultivated flowers of various types, like tulips, daffodils and others I am not remembering.

The State Wildflower of Texas is known as the bluebonnet. I see few bluebonnets at my current Texas location, during wildflower season.

In my old home zone of Washington I would see bluebonnets, only in Washington the flower is known as a lupine. I recollect seeing a lot of lupines blooming the last time I was at Mount Rainier, August 11, 2008.

I recollect remarking that I did not know Texas bluebonnets blossomed in Washington, to find myself being told that those are lupines.

Googling "lupine" I learned the following...

Lupinus, commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur in North Africa and the Mediterranean.

Maybe Texas needs to consider what the State Wildflower is... 

Ferry Boating To Washington's San Juan Islands & Beyond

Saw that which you see here, this morning, on Facebook. Such puts me in mind of how different it is where I live now, than where I lived the majority of my existence on planet Earth.

From my abode in Mount Vernon I could drive a few miles to the east and be in the Cascade Mountain foothills.

Drive a few miles west and I could be at a saltwater beach, digging for clams, or jigging for crabs.

From Anacortes I could hop a Washington State Ferry and float to the various San Juan Islands. Or float to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada.

The San Juan Islands are in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. Hence way less rain than the Western Washington locations located closer to the Cascade Mountains.

You can drive your vehicle onto a Washington ferry. Or just walk on. Or take your bike. I've done all three, with the vehicle option the most frequent.

There are no ferry boats or saltwater beaches or mountains in any direction, hundreds of miles, from my current location...