Totally Texas -- What I did on my spring break. . .

In honor of spring break in North Texas schools, I’m offering a sample of activities, in two classes, Extra Credit 101 and Just for Fun 102. But don’t let the titles fool you. Extra Credit is extra fun and Just for Fun is good for your brain. (But don’t tell your parents!)

EXTRA CREDIT

March 8 -- Discovery Days at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, 2201 N. Field St., Dallas. Fun facts about dinosaurs and paleontology for all ages, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
$15 adults, $10 ages 2-11. See www.perotmuseum.org/.

March 9 -- CSI Family Day at the Sixth Floor Museum, 411 Elm St., Dallas. Be one of the first 500 kids through the door to investigate a mock crime scene and get yourself fingerprinted as well. Noon - 5 p.m., for ages 8 and older. $5 for program when combined with museum admission, $16 adults, $13 kids. See www.jfk.org/.

March 10-15 --Interurban Railway Museum, 901 E 15th Street, Plano, TX. ( Repeats each Monday through Saturday.) Open 10 a.m. 0- 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1-5 p.m. Saturday. Hundred year-old post office car, recreated depot, scale model train and hands-on experiments in electricity. Free, but donations welcome. See http://planoconservancy.org/.

March 11-14. Staycation at the Farmstead, Heritage Farmstead Museum, 1900 W. 15^th St., Plano. Wash clothes the old-fashioned way, feed chickens, plow and plant the fields, see hands-on demonstrations plus visit all the cute animals! 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. $5. See www.heritagefarmstead.org/.

March 11 - 16 -- “Hanskaska: The Shirtwearers” (through April 27). Recreations of regalia of historically important Plains Indian leaders by Cowgirl Hall of Fame artist Cathy A. Smith. National Cowgirl Museum, 1720 Gendy St., Fort Worth. Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday noon - 5 p.m. Tickets $10 for ages 13 and up, $8 for ages 3-12. Parking $5. See
www.cowgirl.net/.

March 13 -- Skyline 360 Tours at Klyde Warren Park, 2012 Woodall Rodger Freeway, 5:30 - 6 p.m. Meet at the reading and games room for a tour of the Dallas skyline hosted by the Dallas Center for Architecture. Free. See www.klydewarrenpark.org/.

JUST FOR FUN

March 8 -14 -- A week of family art-making, tours & stories at the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St., Dallas, 11 p.m. - 5 p.m. daily. Take extra credit for economy -- it’s free! See www.dma.org/.

March 9 -- Drumming with George Cortez, Grand Plaza, Klyde Warren Park, 2012 Woodall Rodgers Freeway. Practice your percussion skills, 1 -3 p.m. Repeats March 16. Free. See www.klydewarrenpark.org/.

March 14 -- Spring Break ‘til Midnight, Nasher Sculpture Center, 2001 Flora St., Dallas, 6 p.m. till, you guessed it, midnight! Art, live music and PG movie Labyrinth. Free.  See more info at 
www.nashersculpturecenter.org/.

March 15 -- Gun fights at the Village, Old City Park, 1515 S. Harwood St., Dallas. Trinity River Desperadoes stage mock gunfight on Dallas Heritage Village’s Main Street, noon and 1 p.m. $9 for adults, $5 for ages 4-12. (Repeats first and third Saturdays through June.) Check out the Village’s historic buildings for extra credit. See www.dallasheritagevillage.org/.

(Next Friday -- Dallas St. Patrick’s parade, best viewing spots, what to do--or not!)

Totally Texas -- JFK sites in Dallas, 50 years later

While lurking around the entrance to the parking garage of the former Dallas police headquarters, I met a friend from church coming out. She was with a group tour, she said, of sites associated with the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The underground parking garage was where Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot Kennedy’s presumed assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Next stop on my friend’s tour was Texas Theatre, the site of Oswald’s arrest. (And incidentally, the site I had just come from.) My friend’s tour group had a comfortable-looking motor coach waiting at the corner. But with the help of this post, you can arrange your own tour of major sites.

It’s slightly less than a mile from the site of Kennedy’s death to that of Oswald’s, for those who want to make the trip on foot. You may even find walking the easiest method if you’re coming into Dallas for the city’s 50^th anniversary commemoration November 22.

The parking garage is at 2014 Main Street, the 1950’s era brick annex to the city’s old Beaux Arts-style Municipal Building. The complex, which in 1963 housed the Dallas police headquarters where Oswald was interrogated, is across the street from Main Street Garden Park. Most days, all you’ll be able to see of the site of Oswald’s shooting is a barred overhead gate. However, as I learned from my friend’s experience, the city allows tours. Call 214-670-3000 and ask for Captain Fred Gonzales to arrange a tour. Metered streetside parking is available around the Municipal Building and Main Street Garden. I’m using a picture of the garage’s interior on the assurance of the police officer aiding my friend’s tour that the banal signage dates from the era (and was probably Oswald’s last conscious sight.)

Walking west on Main Street will take you along the major portion of Kennedy’s motorcade through downtown Dallas. Don’t bother detouring down Commerce Street, which runs parallel to Main, hoping to see Ruby’s Carousel Club nightclub, which once adorned its 1312 ½ Commerce Street site with pictures of the scantily-clad dancers who entertained inside. It was torn down decades ago to make room for the pleasant but not terribly memorable AT&T Plaza. For video (perhaps best not viewed with your kids) of what the sinny-side of downtown Dallas looked like in 1963, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDO8ml-H94U/.

Continuing on Main Street, you’ll come to Dallas’ memorial to Kennedy, the enormous Philip Johnson-designed marble cenotaph at 646 Main Street. Turn right on Houston Street, then left on Elm Street past the former Texas School Book Depository, 411 Elm Street, whose sixth floor corner window is believed to have been Oswald’s sniper seat. The red brick building now houses the Sixth Floor Museum, dedicated to the tragedy. For more about the museum and its programs, see
www.jfk.org/.

Look west from Dealey Plaza park across the street from the museum to see the small hill--“the grassy knoll”-- believed by some to have been the hiding place for a second shooter and the triple underpass onto Stemmons Freeway (I-35E), where the motorcade took on its dash to Parkland Hospital, 5201 Harry Hines Blvd., in the vain hope the president’s life could be saved. Two days later, Oswald, dying from Ruby’s bullets, would be taken to Parkland as well. A plaque inside the hospital now commemorates both victims, and there are plans for a JFK memorial garden as the hospital undergoes major renovation.

On Dallas' south side is the site of Oswald’s arrest, the Texas Theatre, 231 West Jefferson Blvd. Oswald was found in the movie theater on the afternoon of November 22, 1963, after shooting local beat officer, J.D. Tippit. (For help locating the graves of Tippit and Oswald, see “Dallas dead, the famed & the infamous,” October 25, 2013, at this site.) The movie theater barely escaped the Carousel Club’s fate, first losing its gaudy façade to a stucco re-design, then standing vacant for several years. It’s back in business as a movie theater and event venue, and will premiere the documentary “Capturing Oswald” Monday, November 11. For more about its history, see
http://thetexastheatre.com/.

Totally Texas -- Spring break staycations

It’s the first day of the first weekend of spring break for North Texas schools. Don’t panic! I’ve got suggestions for changing “OMG what’ll we do with kids” to bonding (instead of bondage) experiences. Events are free or low-cost and grouped by proximity to keep the “are we there yet” moments to a minimum.

Young & carefree:

These destinations are accessible to small children -- my daughter and I have tested them on her twin boys from toddlerhood through early elementary school years. But older kids, even teens can enjoy them, especially the multi-museum, block-long party Friday, March 15, till midnight.

Dallas Museum of Art -- General admission is free, but expect to pay $10 for parking in the attached garage and most neighboring lots if you don’t take DART or the McKinney Avenue trolley (see below). Special spring break activities Tuesday - Friday (March 12-15), culminating in Friday’s late night spring break party. At 1717 Harwood. For calendar of events, see www.dm-art/org/.

Crow Collection of Asian Art -- One block east of the DMA, at 2010 Flora. Not all exhibits interest the youngest kids, but the boys love the windowed gallery typically filled with origami hangings. Several closures for private events, but the week culminates in the After Dark Japanese culture fest (including karaoke) March 15, 6 p.m. to midnight. Free, but loves donations. For calendar, see www.crowcollection.com/.

Nasher Sculpture Center -- Across the street from the Crow, at 2001 Flora. Outdoor sculpture gallery gives even little kids room to move without bumping into the larger than life art. Adults pay, but admission for children age 12 and under is always free. Open Tuesday - Sunday, culminating in a spring break party free to all. Music, movie and art, March 15 from 7 p.m. - midnight. For more information, see www.nasherscuplturecenter.org/.

Serious with a side of latte:

Younger kids not prohibited, but very intense exhibits may be more suitable for tweens and teens. All museums listed are participants in the Girl Scouts History Explorer program. If things get too intense, chill out with a latte at the Sixth Floor Museum’s café, or visit the nearby West End’s many restaurants.

The Sixth Floor Museum -- 411 Elm at Houston (next to Dealey Plaza). Exhibits related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Open daily till 6 p.m. This Sunday, March 10, the museum hosts a CSI Family Event, for those age 8 and older. For hours and ticket prices, see
www.jfk.org/.

Holocaust Museum -- 211 N. Record St. Suite 100, near the Sixth Floor Museum. Exhibits commemorating the Holocaust from 1933 - 1945, including private photographs of the family of young diarist Anne Frank, on view through March 31. Open daily. See www.dallasholocaustmuseum.org/.

Big Red Museum -- This turreted former courthouse at 100 S. Houston, one block from the Sixth Street Museum, it now houses exhibits of the city’s culture and history. I’m ghoulishly partial to footage of outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow’s death car, definitely not recommended for the youngest children. Open daily. See
www.oldred.org/.

Totally Texas -- Artistry of the nativity

Dallas Arboretum

8525 Garland Road, Dallas

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Of all the special displays at the annual Holiday at the Arboretum, none are more loved than the nativity collection of the Harrington family. After collecting hundreds of crèche scenes over a fifty-year period, Dr. and Mrs. Harrington donated their collection to the Dallas Arboretum in 2001. Displayed every three years, it’s back this year, along with an encore display of actor George Dvorsky’s collection.

Both collections fill the DeGolyer House on the Arboretum grounds, on view through December 31. The Arboretum is open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily (closed Christmas Day), with self-guided tours of the DeGolyer House from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The Dvorsky nativities fill the DeGolyer library with more than 250 scenes from around the world. Fashioned from materials as diverse as crystal, cross stitch, and metal car parts, it ranges from the serene to the whimsical, including one of my favorites -- a penguin crèche, the infant cradled on the mother bird’s feet. Dvorsky’s collection first visited the Arboretum in 2009, when he learned about its displays while appearing in a Dallas Summer Musical production.

Included in the collections this year are large scenes designed by Dallas Opera designer Tommy Bourgeois in the living room, with the work of the late set designer and costumer Peter Hall in the dining room.

The Arboretum also hosts special activities from noon to 4 p.m. each Friday through Sunday through December 23. Visitors can see a live reindeer, take pictures with strolling characters costumed as Frosty and Rudolph, and chat with Santa Claus.

The Chihuly glass exhibits remain on display through December 31, although tickets for the nighttime viewings are now sold out.

Tickets to the Arboretum’s daytime events are $15 for adults, $9 for children (age 3-12), with an additional $10 parking fee. However, discounted tickets and parking are available Monday through Wednesday, through December 19 (next week). See
www.dallasarboretum.org/.

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Today, December 14, is also your chance to get a behind the scenes look at another kind of collection -- the collections database of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dallas’ Dealey Plaza. In the “Meet the Museum” program at 11:30 a.m., collections staff present some of their favorite catalogues items related to the JFK assassination and discuss what happens before an item goes into its online database. Free with museum admission or $5 for the program only. The museum is located at 411 Elm Street in Dallas. See its online collections database at http://emuseum.jfk.org/.

Totally Texas -- Spring break destination: Dallas

To prepare you for spring break -- March 12-16 for many North Texas school districts -- I’ve gathered get away suggestions easy on family budgets, but that won’t leave children at loss when asked how they spent their break.

I’ve planned these around the Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s routes for maximum penny-pinching. The few incidents of violence on DART may have made you wary of bringing your children on board, although I personally have ridden DART trains and buses for more than a quarter-century without seeing a single violent episode.

But if you want to drive, especially if pressed for time, there’s parking at or adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Lots are also adjacent to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Sixth Floor Museum. The museum and aquarium parking lots take either cash or credit/debit cards. I haven’t parked at the Sixth Floor, but it’s only a few blocks from the aquarium, if you want to see both on one parking fee.

All DART train lines feed into downtown Dallas. (See www.DART.org for routes, schedules and ticket prices.) I’ll start from the east end of downtown and list attractions along the tracks.

First stop downtown is the Plaza of the Americas, at the Pearl Street DART station. Chill at the indoor ice skating rink, or just watch the skaters. As in the rest of downtown Dallas, there are plenty of fast, reasonably-priced restaurants open weekdays, catering to office workers.

Walk a few blocks north from either the Pearl Street station or the next stop on the route, St. Paul Street station, to reach the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Dallas Museum of Art. See their sites, www.crowcollection.org/, www.nashersculpturecenter.org/, and www.dallasmuseumofart.org/ for exhibits and family-friendly events.

Back on the DART track west through downtown, you’ll find Thanks-giving Square about a block from the Akard Street station. Eating places abound in nearby office buildings, or bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the tranquility of the enclosed square and its spiral tower.

The next stop after Akard Street finds you in the West End. (Yes, parents, there are public restrooms in the nearby West End Transit Center.) Dallas’s West End is home to both the Dallas World Aquarium at 1501 N. Griffin Street (about a block from the train stop), and the Sixth Floor Museum, 411 Elm Street, in the former Texas School Book Depository (about four blocks from the West End station).

The aquarium will probably be your most expensive stop, but it’s a place to spend a day. There are restaurants and a snack bar, or eat at nearby sandwich shops to keep costs down. See www.dwazoo.com for the aquarium, and www.jfk.org for Sixth Floor Museum. (Please note that some Sixth Floor Exhibits may be emotionally demanding for young children.)

Outside the Sixth Floor Museum is Dealey Plaza. Walk a couple of blocks to “Old Red,” the nineteenth-century county courthouse turned museum, and east to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza with its “open tomb” designed by architect Philip Johnson.
Continue on DART to transfer to the Trinity Railroad Express (TRE) to Fort Worth (more about that next week) or stay on red line trains to the Dallas Zoo, 650 R.L. Thornton Expressway. For zoo information, including registration for spring break camps, see www.dallaszoo.com/.  The sight of lions lounging outside the floor to ceiling restaurant windows in the zoo’s Giants of the Savannah exhibit is awe inspiring. My grandsons love the bug house and the playground at the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo near the entrance, although I doubt the water feature will be open this early.

There’s more than I can list in a single post. For additional information, revisit posts for August 15, 2011, (Dallas World Aquarium); November 14, 2011, (Sixth Floor Museum); November 21, 2011, (Thanks-giving Square); and January 2, 2012, (Nasher Sculpture Center and Dallas Museum of Art).

(Next Monday -- Totally Texas visits Fort Worth for more spring break adventures.)

Totally Texas -- Shots still echoing

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

411 Elm Street, Dallas

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It was a journalist’s nightmare in the pre-mobile era of 1963 -- an incredible, unexpected story and no way to call it in. Pierce Allman and his co-worker Terrance Ford from local TV station WFAA were among those gathered in downtown Dallas to watch the car carrying President John F. Kennedy, then-Texas governor John Connally, and their wives when shots rang out.

Although they were only two blocks from WFAA (Channel 8), Allman remembered running into the adjacent Texas School Book Depository in search of a phone to call the station. He passed a nondescript-looking young man coming out of the building and apparently thought little of the chance encounter at the time. The young man was later identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, generally believed to be the assassin of President Kennedy.

And the unprepossessing, early twentieth-century brick warehouse where Oswald worked found a place in history when the rifle identified as the one that killed the president was found near a window on its sixth floor.

Almost unbelievably, the building continued to operate as a warehouse for school textbooks until 1970. The Sixth Floor Museum housing exhibits related to the Kennedy assassination opened in 1989 in space leased from the building’s current owner, Dallas County.

The museum is immediately adjacent to Dealey Plaza, the most visited landmark in Dallas. From the plaza, visitors can see the “grassy knoll,” believed by some to be the hiding place for a second gunman in the assassination and later covered with flowers by thousands mourning the president’s death.

The museum’s exhibits include an audio tour narrated by Pierce Allman, who recounts his brush with Oswald, and guides visitors through a vast collection of artifacts detailing the history of Kennedy’s brief presidency, his assassination and its aftermath.

The assassination is one of the events that those who of us alive at the time mark our lives by. I was a sixth grade student in a small town one hundred fifty miles away when a school administrator walked into the classroom full of us eleven and twelve-year-olds to tell us what had happened. We didn’t know how to react. As I sat recently through one of the museum’s short films about the assassination, I wept.

The museum open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours are 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and noon until 6 p.m. on Monday. Admission is $13.50 for adults, which includes the audio tour. There is a parking lot adjacent to the building, or do what I did -- get off at the Dallas Rapid Transit (DART) West End station and walk about four blocks west. See www.jfk.org or call 214-747-6660 for additional information.