Day 2 - Fort Worth: Cars & Cattle

We had a great night's sleep. Honestly, we never would have known it was an airport. Our room was well-appointed, the airplane sounds minimal, and the lobby felt completely separate from the hustle and bustle of the airport.

We packed up our room and headed to the lobby restaurant for breakfast. It was a great meal! Scott and I shared croque madam and avocado toast... Yum! Tyler went for a bowl of frosted flakes and Sammy enjoyed the pancakes.

We collected our luggage and jumped a shuttle buss to the car rental lot.  We have a great vehicle - a Jeep Grand Wagoneer - so much space makes it very comfortable for the week and lots of leg room for the guys.

We are spending the first day in Fort Worth so its only around 30 mins to our first stop. The DFW Car and Toy Museum is a three level collection of Ron Sturgeon.  There were so many fun varieties of cars with sections for minicars, race cars, European, Asian, and celebrities.

We even found a section of "Cars That Shouldn't Exist" and the very first car was a 1985 Fiero which happens to be Scott's first car.  We had a good laugh.

Once we wrapped up, it was only a 10 min drive to the Historical Stockyards and our hotel for the night.  We were really excited that our room was available even before the early checkin time of 2:00pm. 

We decided to quick run over to the Stockyard Experience and learn more about the Long Horns that made this town famous.  

Then we walk around to explore.  First a raised walkway over the pens and then looked for a treat.  The area is full of stores and restaurants with so much to see and do. Sam grabbed a little cup of specialty ice cream and Tyler was thrilled to find Dr Pepper made with Cane Sugar.  

Today's temps hit 93* which is unseasonably warm for this time of year and definitely above Sammy's typical threshhold.  She had done great so far but we decided it was worth unloading our luggage and taking a short break in our room. I worked on some planning for tomorrow since we finished much of what I had planned already today. At 4:00 pm, we headed out to Exchange St to see the long horn parade.  

Since we didn't have lunch, we decided on an early dinner at Riscky's Steakhouse.  This place was opened in 1927 and has stayed in the Riscky family ever since, a whole four generations!  On our walk back we checked out a handmade leather shop with beautiful handcrafted bags and then the kids grabbed a shake from Shake Shack.  

We headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening. Tyler and I worked on homework and then Sammy and I hit the pool to go swimming.  

Sammy got ready for bed. Tyler played some video game and Scott caught up on the news.  I decided to head outside and enjoy the last few moments of sunlight so I found a rocking chair on a porch and enjoyed people watching and reflecting on our day.  Once I had finished, I took a walk down the street, past the rodeo, and up Mule Alley.  There's so much going on and much to take in.

Today's Weather: Sunny: High of 93*; Low of 61*