Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

30 Fun Facts About Fort Worth, Texas

by Janis on April 11, 2015

We’ve visited Fort Worth, Texas multiple times for business and fun. Some terrific friends live near Fort Worth, and anticipation of an upcoming weekend visit, we thought it would be fun to do a little background research on the “City of Cowboys and Culture.“

30 Fun Facts About Fort Worth, Texas

1. The city of Fort Worth began as Camp Worth on the bank of the Trinity River in 1849.

2. Fort Worth was one of seven army posts established between 1848 and 1849 to protect settlers of West Texan following the Mexican – American War.

3. Major General William Jenkins Worth was second in command during the Mexican – American War. A hero after the war, Worth was placed in command of the Department of Texas, and in January 1849, he proposed a line of ten forts to mark the western Texas frontier from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity River. One month later, Worth died from cholera.

4. General William S. Harney assumed command of the Department of Texas and ordered Major Ripley A. Arnold to find a new fort site near the West Fork and Clear Fork. On June 6, 1849, Arnold established a camp on the bank of the Trinity River and named the post Camp Worth in honor of the late General Worth.

5. The new camp flooded. In August, 1849 Arnold moved the camp to the north-facing bluff which overlooked the mouth of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River.

6. While the Fort Worth military post closed in 1853, the Tarrant County Courthouse stands today on the same bluff location.

7. Built from pink granite from central Texas, the Tarrant County Courthouse was completed in 1895 after more than two years of construction. Although the Courthouse building project came in nearly 20 percent under budget, the citizens of Tarrant County were outraged by the perceived extravagance, and responded by voting the County Judge and all of the Court Commissioners out of office during the next election.

8. Starting in 1856, regular stagecoach service passed through Tarrant County, carrying mail and passengers from the east on to the frontier forts and the West Coast.

9. By the 1870’s, mail stagecoaches arrived and departed from downtown Fort Worth six days a week.

10. After the Civil War through the late 1870’s millions of cattle were driven through Fort Worth along the legendary Chisholm Trail, a dusty path linking the Jesse Chisholm’s southern trading post near the Red River to his northern trading post near Kansas City, Kansas. Fort Worth became the center of the cattle drives, and later, the ranching and cattle trading center, earning its “Cowtown” nickname.

11. Today Fort Worth continues the cattle connection with a free twice-daily cattle drive in the Stockyards National Historic District. At 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day, Texas cowhands drive a herd of Texas longhorns down Exchange Avenue.

12. Four museums – The Cowgirl Museum, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Cattle Raisers Museum and the Cattleman’s Museum – celebrate Fort Worth’s cattle industry heritage.

13. Since 1896, Fort Worth is home to the annual Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, the oldest stock show and rodeo in the United States. Commonly known as the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, the event occurs in January to February each year at the Will Rogers Memorial Center on the west side of the city.

14. In 1902, Swift & Company, Armour & Company and McNeill & Libby all established meat packing houses in Fort Worth. Over time, Fort Worth became the packing house center of the southwest.

15. On September 21, 1908, the Palace Theater Light Bulb which began burning as a backstage light at the Old Byers Opera House. It continues to burn today.

16. During World War I the Canadian government established three flying fields around Fort Worth, selected because the mild climate allowed for year-round training. When the United States entered the war, it took over those fields and renamed them Carruthers and Barron.

17. Camp Bowie was built in the Fort Worth area in 1917 at a cost of more than $3,000,000.

18. In 1917 oil was discovered in the small towns of Ranger and Burkburnett, Texas. Fort Worth, strategically located between the two areas, experienced an oil boom, too, for the throngs of operators, promoters and speculators.

19. By 1920, five new oil refineries had been built in Fort Worth, with four more under way. This, along with a network of lines made Fort Worth “The pipeline center of Texas.”

20. On July 4, 1935, Joe T. & Jessie Garcia opened Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant in part of their home in Fort Worth, Texas. The original restaurant had a maximum capacity of sixteen. The Garcias served their famous enchiladas in the front room while they expanded their home during decades. Today, the restaurant encompasses most of a city block and serves up to 2,000 customers every weekend. It’s one of our favorite dining experiences when we visit Fort Worth.

21. During World War II, a Quartermaster Depot, Marine Air Base and the Fort Worth Army Air Field were constructed in Fort Worth. The Consolidated-Vultee’s aircraft plant was established. During the war, the mile-long plant produced more than 3,000 B-24 Liberator bombers, with a peak employment of 32,000.

22. The USS Fort Worth is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the first ship to be named after Fort Worth, Texas.

23. Over coffee one morning in 1946, Mrs. E L. (Eloise) Snyder and Mrs. August (Betty) Spain, both former opera singers, and Mrs. Jeanne Axtell Walker decided it was time for Fort Worth to launch an opera company of its own. The Fort Worth Civic Opera Association opened with its first production, La Traviata, on November 25th, 1946. The Fort Worth Opera is the oldest continuously performing opera company in Texas.

24. In 1933, the historic Stockyards Hotel in Fort Worth was one of outlaws Bonnie and Clyde’s hideouts from the law. Today you can stay in the same room occupied by Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker during their 1933 stay in Ft. Worth. The Bonnie and Clyde Junior Suite features a king-size bed and a variety of historic artifacts including Bonnie’s .38 revolver, photographs, newspaper clippings and a poem written by Bonnie for Clyde.

President Kennedy in Fort Worth on Friday morning, November 22, 1963. He was assassinated in Dallas later in the day.

25. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered his last public speech at a Fort Worth Chamber breakfast before leaving for Dallas.

Live at Billy Bob’s

26. Originally built as a cattle barn in the early 1900s, Billy Bob’s Texas promotes itself as “The World’s Largest Honkey Tonk.”

27. Approximately 60 percent of the paper money in the United States is printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth. Visitors to The Western Currency Facility can see billions of dollars printed from an enclosed walkway which is suspended above the production floor. Free self-guided tours are offered on weekdays at the facility.

53 Greatest Hits

28. Singer-songwriter John Denver graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth.

29. Fort Worth is home to the Kimbell Art Museum, known as a small museum with a world-class collection including works by El Greco, Cezanne, Rembrandt, Picasso, and Matisse. The museum’s initial artwork is from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell. The Kimbell’s also funded a building by renowned architect Louis I. Kahn to house the collection.

30. Founded by 25 women who sought to bring a different sort of culture to the cattle-focused city, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth was originally known as the Public Library and Art Gallery. The Modern Art Museum features contemporary paintings, sculpture and photography. It is the oldest museum in Texas, as well as one of the oldest museums in the western United States.

What fun fact can you add about Fort Worth, Texas? Please share in comments below.

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Eating Our Way Through San Telmo With Buenos Aires Food Tours

by Janis on April 9, 2015

About a year and a half ago we enjoyed a fabulous trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with our friends Mark and Tammi.

We wanted to learn more about the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, and we love to eat great food with a local guide, so we booked a San Telmo Food Tour.

On this trip we stayed in the architecturally-trendy Puerto Madero Waterfront area of Buenos Aires, so exploring San Telmo was a nice change of pace.

The oldest barrio (or neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, San Telmo is characterized by its colonial buildings, cafes, antique shops and cobblestone streets. Artists and tango dancers are often present in area’s public parks and cafes.

Once we met Jorge, our guide, our four-person tour began in San Telmo Market. The meat counter was useful for learning about the center point of the typical Argentine diet.

After getting an overview of the market, Jorge led us on a walking tour through the neighborhood.

Jorge pointed out significant sites as we passed them, like the Nuestra Seí±ora de Belén Church pictured above.

On the same street as this church, we headed into our first dining establishment.

Sagardi is a tapas restaurant based on the traditional Basque taverns.

Inside we found a modern tapas bar filled with plate after plate of “pintxos” or small bites of meat, seafood, vegetables and other toppings on slices of bread.

Each pintxos was delicious, especially when paired with the perfect wine choice under Jorge’s direction.

Soon there were only the toothpicks left to count.

Happy, we headed back out to the street and continued our walk around the San Telmo neighborhood.

Our next stop was at Restaurant Don Ernesto.

Jorge ordered up a platter of beef and all of the accompaniments. When the beef came, he expertly served bits of each different cut to each of us.

Of course, we were enjoying a delicious Malbec wine during this feast of beef.

After the main event, we enjoyed a dessert plate with cheese and sweet fruit paste. They went well together.

By now, our group was having quite a good time. The wait staff brought us an after-lunch lemon drink, much like a sweet shot.

The walls and ceilings of Restaurant Don Ernesto are covered with guests’ graffiti. It’s a good thing Mr. Jones is so tall; he was able to find a tiny spot of wall space near the ceiling to leave our signatures on Don Ernesto’s wall.

We are fat and happy at this point, but Jorge takes us back to walking through more of the neighborhood. We visit the parks, and some shops.

Tammi and I made sure that we made a shopping stop in Tacones Lejanos, side-by-side stores packed with colorful leather goods and shoes. Everything is made from local leather, a by-product of all of that beef. You pick your favorite style, and then pick your color.

Narrowing our selections was the toughest chore of this tour. This shopping frenzy gave us a chance to digest our two-restaurant lunch.

Next Jorge took us to Plaza Dorrego at the intersection of Humberto Primero and Defensa streets. The surrounding cafes, bars and pubs have outdoor tables here for enjoying the musicians and tango dancers perform. This is also the primary location of the San Telmo Fair held every Sunday, to the delight of antique-lovers.

Rather than sitting outside, we enjoyed coffee in the historic Plaza Dorrego Bar looking out at the square.

There might be a Starbuck’s across the street, but it does not have these fun sugar packets.

Jorge is a delightful host, and we highly recommend touring and feasting your way through the San Telmo neighborhood with him via Buenos Aires Food Tours.

What’s your favorite food stop in Buenos Aires? Please share in comments below.

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Norwegian Cruise Line Backs Off New Room Service Convenience Charge

by Janis on April 8, 2015

On April 1st, Norwegian Cruise Line introduced a new “convenience charge” of $7.95 per order for room service on its Breakaway-class ships which includes the Breakaway sailing out of New York and the Getaway sailing out of Miami.

Haven and suite passengers were exempt from the new fee, but all other guests who wanted room service were charged the convenience fee on these two ships.

Norwegian Getaway. Photo by NCL.

NCL announced this new room service fee shortly after the cruise line instated an automatic 18 percent gratuity on all specialty and entertainment dining.

Customer backlash was intense on social media and cruise discussion boards such as Cruise Critic.

Today NCL released this written clarification of its “convenience charge.”

“Norwegian Cruise Line is offering an enhanced room service menu on board Norwegian Getaway and Norwegian Breakaway. The new menu offers an expanded selection for breakfast, in addition to a wider variety of options available 24 hours. Individual items on the menu remain available on a complimentary basis and a convenience charge of $7.95 will be added to each order placed.

To provide our guests with more options as a part of their Freestyle Cruising experience, coffee and continental breakfast selections will not attract a convenience charge. Room service orders placed by guests sailing in The Haven will also not incur a charge.

Room service is one of up to 29 dining options offered across the fleet, and guests continue to be able to enjoy a wide array of complimentary choices onboard 24 hours a day.”

This policy “clarification” puts the new Norwegian charges on a similar basis with new room service charges from Carnival Cruise Lines. That is coffee and continental breakfast items ordered from room service will not have a convenience charge, but new hot breakfast offerings will, as well as room service at any other time outside of breakfast.

Will these new charges impact you on your next cruise?

Personally, we rarely order room service on any of our cruises. It’s nice to have if you have a really early morning shore excursion, but we prefer to eat outside of our cabin. But room service really appeals to some cruisers.

This “fee” for room service trend is one that we do not see going away.

Do you use room service when you cruise? Are you willing to pay a fee for it, in addition to the customary cash tip? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

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Details About The Ultimate Beverage Package on Norwegian Cruise Line

by Janis on April 7, 2015

We have friends sailing on an upcoming NCL cruise. They asked us what we knew about Norwegian’s Ultimate Beverage Package.

We have first hand experience with the Premium Beverage Package on Royal Caribbean cruises, as well as the All-Inclusive Beverage Package on Princess Cruises. On Holland America Line, we’ve purchased the Signature Beverage Package, and we’ve also recently enjoyed it as a free perk since we bought the cruise during the line’s Explore 4 promotion.

Our conclusion: the drink packages are fun but expensive if you buy them, but are really nice when they are an included perk with your cruise fare.

Norwegian’s Ultimate Beverage Package includes a variety of spirits, cocktails, wines by the glass and bottled or draft beer that costs $11 or less per drink. The package also includes unlimited fountain soda and juices at all bars, lounges, restaurants and the Great Stirrup Cay. Guests with the Ultimate Beverage Package also receive a 20 percent discount on all bottles of wine that they purchase on board.

If you want to purchase the Ultimate Beverage Package for an NCL cruise, you should purchase it online at least a week in advance of your cruise.

NCL offfers a $5 per day discount on the Ultimate Beverage Package if you purchase online in advance, with a cost of $54 per person per the # of cruise days, plus an 18 percent gratuity. If you wait to purchase on your cruise, the cost goes up to $59 per person per the # of cruise days, plus an 18 percent gratuity.

Here is the “fine print” regarding the NCL Ultimate Beverage Package:

The Ultimate Beverage Package does not include room service, package sales, ship specific promotions or beer buckets, designated Super Premium brands, bottled wine, mini bar purchases, bottled water, fresh squeezed juices, select Lavazza coffee beverages, energy drinks, vending machines, wine stations or any spirits, cocktails, beer or wine by the glass over $11.
Each guest can only order one beverage per person per transaction.
The Package can be used in all restaurants, lounges, bars and while on Great Stirrup Cay.
A 18% gratuity will be added to all package purchases at the time of purchase; your check may reflect applicable VAT for certain ports or itineraries.
Packages must be purchased by all qualifying individuals residing in the stateroom or additional staterooms under the same method of payment for the entire length of the cruise. This means if you pay for your kids and grandkids’ cabin, you have to buy everyone in your party over age 2 a drink package or soda package. (We find this ridiculous!)
Packages may not be shared and are non-transferable and non-refundable. You must be at least 21 years of age to purchase any alcoholic package and to consume alcohol.
This package is not available for purchase on charters, sailings that are two (2) days or less and Pride of America.

NCL also offers the Corks and Caps Wine and Beer Package

Norwegian’s Corks and Caps Package includes a variety of draft beer, bottled beer and glasses of wine up to $11 and unlimited fountain soda and juices at all bars, lounges, restaurants and the Great Stirrup Cay. A 20% discount will be applied to all bottles of wine purchased on board.

So if you drink beer and wine, but don’t need cocktails, you can save $10 per person per day.

The NCL Unlimited Fountain Soda Package for Teenagers and Adults

This package includes Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Mt. Dew, Ginger Ale, Tonic water, and Club Soda, and cost $6.50 per person per cruise day when prepaid online prior to the cruise.

The entire cruise must be purchased. Non-Refundable.
18% gratuity and applicable taxes is added to the lump sum.
A Souvenir Thermal mug included in the purchase of the program
For children 12 and under, the cost is $4.50 per child per day, plus 18 percent gratuity.

Some notes from NCL cruisers who have tried the package shared on a recent thread on Cruise Critic:

Most drinks on the ship are included in the package except for high-end wines and spirits.
You sign for each drink, and the auto-tip amount is shown; but these drink charges are zeroed out each night off of your bill. (Although you may want to check closely.)
NCL does allow you to pay the difference for drinks that cost more than $11 each.

If the NCL Ultimate Beverage Package sounds like something you’d enjoy on your next cruise, book your next NCL cruise to Europe, Asian or the Caribbean by April 30 in an Oceanview cabin or higher, and you can score the drink package free with your cruise fare.

Have you tried the Ultimate Beverage Package on Norwegian Cruise Line? What did you think? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

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