The Horseman Club
"Fort Worth's Premier Country Western Night Club"
by Bob O.
Rail Trip to Dallas’s West End
On Saturday, September 21st at 4:15
P.M.
several of the Fort Worth Chapter
members boarded the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) at the Texas & Pacific
(T&P) railroad station, destination Dallas Union Station and Dallas’s West
End.
Purchasing tickets was the beginning of the excitement. First time users of the ticket machine should have a Ph.D. Possibly, with sufficient training those of us without Ph.D’s could successfully operate the machine. Side note: Anyone who wants to collect Susan B. Anthony Dollars will find an ample supply of them in the ticket machine.
The trip to Union Station took about an
hour
and ten minutes. Be sure to ask
Melinda Stewart about riding backward.
Upon our arrival at Dallas Union Station and after the required pottie break,
Trail Boss John, took over, big surprise. With supreme leadership abilities he
herded us directly to, On The Border, where products of the brewers, distillers
and wine making, arts were consumed. After a period of time, many corn chips and
more of the previously mentioned products, the Trail Boss decided it was time to
leave On The Border. Big mistake, the Trail Boss lost control to the ladies, if
in fact he ever had control.
The ladies took over. There is a converted warehouse, The West End MarketPlace a shopping and entertainment center, with many shops and eateries. You would almost think there was a bloodhound with us. We headed to The West End MarketPlace without a detour.
The group with the ladies in the lead moseyed around inside The West End MarketPlace for what seemed a very long time. The Trail Boss was so depressed he passed up a shop that had the most delicious looking chocolate. He went outside to sulk, but soon recovered his composure, there was a good rock and roll band playing and he found some more of the brewers art. Shortly thereafter the ladies came out of the MarketPlace and we were able to move on.
Dallas Alley turned out to be a disappointment, the night clubs are gone.
Since there were no clubs to visit in Dallas Alley the Fort Worth Chapter of the
Texas Country Western Dinning Association decided to get something to eat.
Spaghetti Warehouse was the restaurant of choice. Remember this was Saturday night in the West End the restaurant was crowded and we expected a wait. A wait was what we got. The Spaghetti Warehouse in the West End does a wonderful job of having customers’ wait. If they are not number one, they certainly are in the top ten. The restaurant has a second floor and we found out there had been plenty of room for us when we were finally taken upstairs. As previously mentioned making customers’ wait is apparently their speciality. The wait process continued during the ordering and serving process.
Actually, it was not as bad as previously described. The company and conversation were great and we had fun, sometimes at the expense of the Spaghetti Warehouse.
After the Spaghetti Warehouse the Trail Boss led us back to Union Station without a hitch. The last train to Fort Worth left at 10:50 P.M., the train doesn’t wait for anyone and it would have been a long walk to Fort Worth.
Upon boarding the train for the trip back to Fort Worth it was announced that
we would be making a stop at the American Airlines Center, because of a special
event. At the American Airlines Center the train filled up. A couple that
boarded at the American Airlines Center sat near our group, where I could watch
them. This couple could overhear everything our quiet conservative group said.
They had a great time listening to the groups conversation and I had a great
time watching their reaction to the group’s comments. They stayed with us
until the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center.
The Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center is another story. By the time
the automatic speaker repeats the next station is the Fort Worth Intermodal
Transportation Center a dozen or more times a person is very aware of the Fort
Worth Intermodal Transportation Center.
The trip between the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center and the T&P railroad station was uneventful. The rail trip and visit to West End was a success. A good time was had by all.
Be sure to check the pictures of the trip by our ace photographer Cheryl Lester. You will find the pictures on the Slideshows page, click on 2002 Dallas West End Slideshow.
