I will soon be spending five days there for the first time. Since it will in all likelihood be the last time also, I thought I’d consider descending on a session (if there be such a thing in Plano, TX). Is there one?
Anybody know of any place else to go in Plano, or people to meet? I’ll be travelling lightly, but if anyone is interested in trying out an Overton or a Sindog, or a Vastly Improved Tweaked Susato, let me know.
Speaking of Texas. There is a story (sure apocryphal) that the first governor of Alaska wrote a letter to the governor of Texas: “Dear Govenor: It has come to my attention that Texans are unhappy about Alaska joining the United States. They resent being the second largest state in the Union. I would therefore like to offer to divide the state of Alaska in half. That way, Texas would be the third largest state in the Union.”
Well, some of us do not know where that is. So here is a map. I guess if we don’t know where it is, we probably don’t have much to contribute to the thread. But this’ll add a little color. Oh, good joke.
They do have rattlesnakes down there. Don’t put your feet or hands anywhere you haven’t looked at first.
When are you going to be there? The Bedford Celtic Heritage Festival is October 8 and 9. http://www.celticheritagefestival.org/ It’s held at the Bedford Boys Ranch (see Cynth’s map for an idea of where it is), which is in a dry county, so it’s the only Celtic/Irish festival in all of christendom that does not have Guinness. But the tunes are good, and you’ll get a kick out of seeing kilts with cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.
From what I saw of Plano when I was working in the Dallas area, it’s pretty much whitebread. The biggest attraction there is a mall. If you don’t have a car, you’re screwed. Things are a lot father apart than in your part of the world, and Texans have no sense of distance. If you can make it somewhere and back without packing sandwiches, that somewhere is considered close. From Plano, you can take the train downtown to see where Kennedy was shot. Big deal.
Just before I left Texas, someone recommended the Trinity Hall pub – http://www.trinityhall.tv/ – but I never made it there. The menu looks kind of chichi for a pub.
If you want to see real Texas, go to the Ranchman’s Cafe in Ponder (population 400). http://www.ranchman.com/ It about half a hour away up I-35 E. There is absolutely nothing healthy on the menu. Try the calf fries or the deep-fried quail quarters as a prelude to a very good steak. And don’t forget the pie. If you’re lucky, they made buttermilk pie that day. (Ponder is dry, too, but you can bring your own.)
And one last warning – Do not eat BBQ or chili in Texas. Both are vile.
(gonzo, on the other hand, will soon be heading to Houston, where they have real oysters rather than mountain oysters and significantly more hurricanes than the Dallas area. )
They also have scorpions, which do not seem to prefer staying outdoors.
When you going? Might have some company there if it’s within the next week or so . . . “Rita” evacuees on top of “Katrina” evacuees . . . should be fun! Enjoy!
Just promise me you won’t come home with a cowboy hat. Easterners crack me up when they go all Texas. I knew a classical guitarist, pretty well known, who was as Manhattan as Manhattan gets and he played a concert in Houston and came home with a Stetson. Considering he was a shrimpy lil guy, it looked pretty funny.
Let’s see . . . When I lived in Dallas way back in '73, they were building a
new McDonalds in Plano. My roomie and I took a drive over there to
check it out. It wasn’t much to write home about – the town that is. The
restaurant was a bit of a cliche, but it was still the most exciting thing
about the town.
I haven’t gone to the Tuesday session yet (it’s 2 or 3 months old), but would be happy to make a special trip to meet ya and introduce you around if, if you’d like (since I do know a bunch of the guys in that session from another session which closed down).
Though I’ve lived here all my life, I’ve never seen a scorpion in Texas except for the one I bought once. Though I’ve seen them aplenty at my grandparent’s house in Oklahoma.
I was going to say it’s not all cow pastures and rodeos here, but then I realized that there’s a buffalo pasture not a quarter mile down the road.
Dickey’s Barbecue is sublime. Dallas water tastes funny.
Most people I know don’t wear a cowboy hat or boots.
The National Park areas of southern Utah/northern Arizona see a lot of strange sights when tourists decide to go western. My favorite is always the pudgy guy in plaid Bermuda shorts with cowboy boots and a straw “cowboy hat.”
