Arlington Vacation: Day 2

This is Day 2; to read Day 1 go here.


On our second day in Arlington my mother (rudely) awoke me so that I could eat some free breakfast before we trekked around the city. Shuffling out of the hotel room and into the lobby in whatever clothes I happened to put on I grabbed coffee and started to pig out on cereal, bagels, and muffins. Then, I felt better.

Since we had spent the day before in Dallas we decided to visit Fort Worth this time. We parked downtown and walked around. Compared to Dallas's downtown, (and even San Antonio's) Fort Worth's downtown looked dead. The only people walking around besides us were people who worked in the office buildings.

Our first stop was Fire Station # 1. A cute, small museum that is completely open to the public for free and is self guided. The museum emphasizes the history of Fort Worth.

They even had this cute photo-op horse.

Which I took complete advantage of. 

After this we walked around downtown and ended up at another free museum farther down the road. The Sid Richardson Museum is a small art gallery. Because the art is very expensive oils I wasn't allowed to take pictures but the art was beautiful. It was based on cowboys and Indians. They had this one little section that was nothing but night scenes and that were intriguing because I had never seen such bright colors but that was still obviously night as well.

We had parked at meter downtown so after the art museum we started heading back to the car so we wouldn't have to pay more/get impounded. We passed by their courthouse which is a lot grander looking than ours is.

My mom had read in one of our hotel brochures about a cattle drive that happens twice a day in the Fort Worth Stockyards. She wanted to see that so we decided to head out that way and visit all the stuff the Stockyards had to offer. 

We visited a Wagon Museum. Though the inside was HOT (no AC) it was good to be out of the sun. The wagons were pretty fascinating too. I never knew they had wagons for everything! Milk, flowers, laundry. 

They apparently had dry cleaning back in the 1900s. 

Afterward, we ate at Riscky's Steakhouse for lunch. We all had a steak that was moist and tasty. After we finished eating we were just in time for the cattle drive. 

Men and women on horses in cowboy get-ups herd a bunch of longhorns through the road and around a corner. I was worried that the bright red shirt I was in would set them off but apparently longhorns are NOT bulls and are more docile I guess. They barely glanced in my direction. 

And actually, longhorns are apparently docile enough that I was able to sit on one and take pictures! 

I definitely would not like to be the guy who puts that ring in their nose.

After our Stockyard excursion we went back to Arlington and our hotel to rest up before going back to Six Flags.

This night however I decided to go with my Dad and Brother. It was a lot cooler and we were happy to find when we got there that there wasn't that many people. We didn't wait longer than 15 minutes on any ride. The ride that took us the longest to get on was only because some lady wouldn't take her daughter who was too short off the ride. She just kept laughing thinking it was cute. It wasn't. 

Being that we go every year I had ridden all the rides before but this year they were talking about a new Mr. Freeze ride. At first, my brother and I were confused because we had ridden the Mr. Freeze ride so we couldn't figure out what made it new. Well, it turned out that they took the cars of the roller coaster and flipped them around.

Before, you shot out of the tunnel and flipped facing forward. So when you reached the top of the 90degree drop you faced sitting up, looking at the sky. Now however with the cars reversed you shoot out of the tunnel backwards so that when you reach the top of the roller coaster you are 90degrees forward. You staring at the ground. I didn't think that the reversing of the cars would make that big of a difference. Because you always rode both forward and backward. But it actually DID! It was insanely crazy. I'm terrified of heights. I screamed and swore so loud but it was an adrenaline rush I hadn't felt since the first time I had ridden it. 

Now, you may be asking how it is that I get on rides when I'm afraid of heights and the reason I can ride roller coasters is because for the most part they happen quickly. You are never at the top just sitting there for minutes. Well, not usually. I have gotten on The Scream/Superman Tower of Power before which kills me because they sit you up there for FIVE seconds. I hate it. If it was just a complete up and down I would ride it all the time but I HATE THE FACT that they sit you there! 

In fact, this year I rode the Texas Chute Out.

Texas Chute Out

I had never ridden it before because it's high up and slow. But because this is the last year they will have this ride I decided to try it just once. My brother and I got on together and as soon as we were strapped in I knew it was a a bad idea. It was horrible! I guess, really it wasn't bad or horrible, it was just slow. For those who aren't scared of falling to your death or getting dizzy and falling to your death then the ride is a nice, steady ride up to the top and then you gently drift back to Earth. I however, hated it. But at least I could cross it off my list. 

We got on all the good rides and my brother and dad were the last riders on the Superman Tower. We left around 10:30pm where we went to the hotel, took turns showering and once again fell asleep by midnight.