Let the Texas Adventure Begin

I made it to Texas successfully and have been unpacking, moving in and goofing off with my sister and her husband for the last week and a half. Sorry Utah people but no more Utah adventures for a while. It is now time to explore my roots as a Texan. Earlier this week we tried to have one adventure and ended up having a different one all together.

Our plan was to visit the Dallas City Public Library in downtown and see the copy of the Declaration of Independence they have there inconspicuously on display. Unfortunately, the planner of this excursion did not find out until we got there that the library is not open on Mondays. We had already paid for parking in a nearby lot and decided to do something else we saw as we drove to the library, a cemetery in the middle of downtown.

So we walked a couple of blocks passed city hall and the Dallas Police Memorial, which is pretty cool, to the cemetery that sits right outside the Dallas Convention Center. It is open like a park and very cool. This is probably one of the oldest cemeteries in Dallas and is where many early Dallas influentials were laid to rest. The earliest grave is from the 1850s and the latest the 1920s.

Amongst the graves were early mayors of Dallas and founders of surrounding cities, commanders from the Civil War, and many others. The plaque, which is sort of hidden along the convention center side, said the cemetery, the Dallas Pioneer Cemetery, is actually four cemeteries that grew together including a couple of Masonic plots and a Jewish cemetery. This was a really cool discovery in the shadows of the skyscrapers. I could spend a lot more time there just seeing the beautiful headstones and whose graves they mark.

Another cool feature of the cemetery is the Civil War Memorial. This isn’t just any Civil War Memorial, it has statues of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and was built by the Daughters of the Confederacy. It is a monument to those who fought and died for the Confederate States of America during the War Between the States.

I had no idea the cemetery was there even though I had been right by it many times before. Like when we did a photo shoot for the Texas Boys Choir at the Pioneer Plaza Cattle Drive. If you have been downtown and driven up Young Street, you have seen this impressive piece of art. If you haven’t, just imagine a herd of Longhorns being guided down a hill and over a river by a few cowboys in the middle of downtown. It is very cool.

This little corner of downtown is a great place to explore if you have just a little time or maybe during your lunch break from one of the nearby buildings. This is a great everyday adventure. There is even a free parking lot right off Young Street next to Pioneer Plaza for park visitors up to one hour. Find these places on my Adventure Patches Google Map and see more pics in my Facebook album.

There are many adventures to be had in Downtown Dallas and all over the Metroplex. I will try to have as many of them as possible. If you have suggestions, please post a comment. Over the next few months some of my adventures will include the Dallas World Aquarium, the Dallas Zoo with its new Giants of the Savanna exhibit, the Old Red Museum of Dallas County, Reunion Tower, the Fort Worth Zoo with its new Museum of Living Art (MOLA) exhibit, the Texas State Fair and so much more.

Now go have an adventure!