As for this afternoon, I headed into Downtown Dallas in the DART train. Unfortunately it chucked it down with rain all afternoon (and I think the forecast is for it to do so again tomorrow). I went to the Irving Convention Center stop to head into the city, and in true American fashion, where there were a couple of blocks between the hotel and the station that aren't developed yet, there is no sidewalk, and so I was traipsing across the grass. Unfortunately it was rather muddy due to the rain, and I'm not sure if my sketchers will ever be the same again!
On the way back I got off at Las Colinas Urban Center, which is probably a little bit closer, and also can be walked to and from entirely on pavements. One to remember for tomorrow!
Las Colinas "urban center" is an interesting place - the hotel (Marriott "Las Colinas") is on the edge of it, and it is obviously an area of rapid and recent development, with a large amount of office space and apartment buildings. However, as far as I can see, that is all there is - no sign of any other sense of community at all - no shops, restaurants, or other facilities at all. Maybe they are going to catch up at some point.
The Dallas city centre area that I have seen so far is interesting, but not much of a 'city centre', although I've only seen a little bit - some of the West End district. The rain was a real pain - it was absolutely chucking it down, but I stuck it out, and had a look around the Dealey Plaza area, where one of the most famous events of the 20th century took place.
This first picture is of the former Texas Book Depository, from which Oswald took the fateful shots. The sniper's nest was on the sixth floor (and remember that floor counting starts at 1 on the ground floor in the US) which is the one where most of the windows are arched, but the shots were taken from the square window on the corner, as the presidential motorcade was heading away from the building.
The second picture is taken looking across the road towards the "grassy knoll" (from which we can be
pretty sure no shots were fired!). If you look in the middle of the street there is an 'x' on the road, which marks the point at which the first shot hit. Also, the cream structure at the top of the grass bank over the road is part of Dealey plaza, and to the left there is a plinth. Abraham Zapruder was stood on top of that plinth filming, and was the only person to capture the entire assassination on camera.
The final photo is taken from underneath the plaza structure shown in photo two (a brief opportunity to get out of the rain!) and shows a monument that was dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the assassination. The writing isn't very legible at this size, but the quote reads:
"We in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
Having taken photos outside, I went to the "Sixth Floor Museum", which as the name suggests, is actually in the sixth floor of the former book depository, and was well worth a visit. It didn't shy away from the controversies and the conspiracies, and talked through them all, acknowledging the mistakes that had been made along the way with the various investigations over the years. It did seem to come down on the side of the conventional conclusion that Oswald acted alone, but to be honest (and without being an expert in the subject) that does seem to be the most likely answer.
By the way, the quote above came from a speech, but one that didn't go to plan.
JFK was due to deliver it on 22 November 1963.
