fort worth

While in Fort Worth for the Cowtown Half Marathon, Chris and I stayed in an area of town known as The Stockyards. Kind of rustic, very cowboy, supremely Texas...our Hyatt Place hotel was right in the midst of shopping and cattle yards and restaurants and a rodeo hall and a livery...lots of stuff to see!

Once Chris was done running, we got cleaned up and headed out to see what the area had to offer. The only purchase we made was some loose tea from the Tea Exchange...loose tea is a new experience for me, and the store had some of the best smelling concoctions I've ever smelled. We bought some Tropical mix and a Cranberry Apple that is delicious...mmm! Then, we stopped in for lunch at Riscky's BBQ...it was very tasty. We both enjoyed the catfish and the fun atmosphere...

With full bellies, we headed back out for a bit more shopping. It was so miserable though, with the cold wind assalting us from every direction. It could have been a sweet, romantic meandering, but it turned into a bolt from store to store, and we lingered even though there wasn't much we wanted to buy, just for the warmth! I was still with my hubs though, and that is my favorite place to be...wind or no wind! At one of the shops, I coerced Chris to don a cowboy hat, and my friends, this is such an odd sight to see!!!! I had a good chuckle...

A fun pit stop was Billy Bob's, which is the World's Largest Honky Tonk! The place was HUGE...it's a bar, with multiple dance floors, with live performers all the time, and even has a bull riding ring! We paid our dollar each to get in and enjoyed the sights...

Along many of the walls, they had these huge cement squares with handprints of all the people who have performed there over the years. A very neat idea, we enjoyed seeing all the names. A lot of random people were on the wall, that you couldn't imagine performing at a honky tonk bar...like Hootie and the Blowfish...the Monkeys...Huey Lewis...some jazz guys...kind of crazy...

One of my favorites parts of our trip came right before we got into our car to leave. We walked past a building labeled, "Livery" and decided to see what was inside. There were a ton of horses in stalls, and a few longhorn bulls...what a sight to see! I took loads of photos, and this guy was one of my favorites...

He was looking right at me, probably thinking how tasty I would be :)

Most of the horses were very interested in us and came over for a petting...they were beautiful...Chris and I both love animals...Chris pet every one, and I deemed him the Horse Whisperer!!

On our way out, Chris got ahead of me because I noticed a gorgeous "picture worthy" sight...I had to snap it, and I absolutely love how it turned out...may be one of my all-time favorites of my own taking...

Just a bird and some broken glass, but wow...love it...

So, that is a bit from our trip...I always absolutely love getting away with Chris, and I look forward to our next journey together, wherever that may be...