Local History

Several more items on my bucket list were marked off last Friday and Saturday.  On September 9th, I travelled to Fort Richardson State Park in order to participate in the ten o'clock tour of what was left of the original outpost.  A few of the buildings were reconstructed represenations of what they would have looked like while a greater majority were original to the time it was an active installation.  Park Ranger Conner performed an excellent job guiding another camper and me throughout the area.  Once we were finished, we chatted inside the incredible Interpretive Center at the forefront of the historic grounds.  At the conclusion of our time together, I immediately set out to discover what the park had to offer.  Two of the hiking trails piqued my interest as I wanted to explore nature at its finest.  To cap off my excurion, I smoked a cigar in the pavillion/playground area.  Discovering a communal firepit, I'm already planning my next trip to include a fire.  Of course I took a lot of pictures during my time there.  On the way back to Fort Worth, I stopped off at a mom and pop diner in Springtown.  Guess I was in the mood for something different.  Honestly, the food wasn't all that great, but the exceptional service and overall value and portion size of the food are what impressed me the most.  I was exhausted once back at the apartment, and it showed in how well I slept that night.  The following Saturday the 10th, I took a guided tour of Top O' Hill Terrace in Arlington.  Now located on the campus of Arlington Baptist College, this historical site has an infamous, rather notorious history of gambling and drinking through the 1930s and 1940s.  The employee went over-the-top in her presentation.  About an hour and a half was spent watching a PowerPoint presentation with the last half-hour actually touring the facilities.  The requested $10 donation didn't seem adequate for the level of work invested into and amount of information received during the visit.  I will definitely make it a point to spread the word about Top O' Hill Terrace, as well to frequent it again and again.  Hopefully I can continue to engage life and to check out what the D/FW Metroplex has to offer.

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