Saturday excursion.

I went to Grapevine this afternoon. B., a colleague from Atlanta, and I were going to go to a vineyard, but we went in the wrong direction on 114. We took ourselves through Dallas. (There is a band playing at the bar which edges the hotel parking lot. They are a bad ACDC cover band. Someone should let them know that the only reason folks are still in the bar is because the taxis haven't yet arrived to take the drunk folks home.) I will eventually explore Dallas, but today we drove into then out on 30. We passed Ripley's and Tussaud's, but I was more impressed with the dead-car crusher and the mountains of square cars we passed a little further down the road.

30 took us to 360 (off of which my hotel is located) which took us back to 114. Finally, we were in the right direction. Not that the detour was unwelcome. The point of the excursion was to help B. orient herself to the highways around the metroplex (which is what Dallas/Fort Worth calls itself). The exit from 114 took us past a Joann. So, being the craft whores that we are, we spent an hour in Joann looking at yarn. B. wants to make a shawl to fight of the a/c chill at work and I needed yarn for a sister sweater project. I was compelled (really, I did fight it, honest) to buy yarn for a shawl of my own. The office is too chilly not to have a bright pink triangle shawl. I should be able to finish it tomorrow during NASCAR. Yes, I am reviving my nascent attraction to NASCAR. Race starts at 3 p.m. I might go see a movie and have dinner afterward. There is a mall and and an Olive Garden not too far away...

After the Joann, we found historic downtown Grapevine. The sky was mostly blue and bright sun. We drove down the main street and parked at the north end near the railroad tracks. There was a cabin of sorts and the historic marker near the parking area.

Proof that I was in Grapevine. We walked up the main street, admired the Harleys parked along the road. A class Western town redux with antique stores, crap stores, a kitchen store, a gazaebo ringed with red and yellow tulips, framed by a bright green lawn. Almost storybook.

Lunch was half a tomato/mozarella/basil sandwich with half a greek salad. We picked up dessert to have at "home". Walking back to the car we passed this:


The restored movie theater is now the Grapevine Opry. I thought it was cool.

We went back to Brenda's room to work on our new projects. She's decided to crochet her shawl and wanted me to help refresh her skills. I think she will have no problems.

Okay. That was my titllating day. Tomorrow will be even more so as I might not leave the hotel grounds. I am ever searching for the right hotel to which my car partner and Iwill move. All of the ones I am lookin at are in a higher per diem rate area. I think Monday after work we'll go visiting places.

Okay. I'm going to bed now.