When my photographer woke up on the morning of Friday July 29, 2016, he took me off the upstairs bedroom dresser where I had stood the entire night and he placed me into the camera bag for our journey into Dallas. We got a later start than normal because Bill and Kim Johnson had mentioned that the traffic from Plano into Dallas was terrible from 7:00am to about 10:00am. Vicki had planned to spend the day with Kim and Sally; which meant my photographer and I “flew solo” on a day that was filled with Presidential sites. The two of us were in our glory – except for the damned traffic.
My cameraman hated to admit it, but Kim was right; the traffic was terrible for the 20-mile ride to the Dallas Market Center. That complex, where the Dallas Trade Mart was located, was where President Kennedy’s motorcade was headed when he was shot to death on November 22, 1963. The Trade Mart was located about three miles from the assassination site in Dealey Plaza. When I was taken to the Trade Mart in 2014, the building was closed on that Saturday and I couldn’t get inside for any photos. Since we were there on Friday, I had hoped that the historic Trade Mart’s doors would be open. It was important for me to stand on or near the spot where JFK was scheduled to deliver his speech to the sold-out luncheon crowd of 2,600 people.
After we were parked, my photographer carried me to the front door of the Dallas Trade Mart; and this time we entered the building. I thought to myself: “That was easy. Now we need to find the Grand Courtyard where JFK was scheduled to deliver his speech.” But that’s where our luck ended. A short distance from the doorway, a woman sitting at a table told my photographer that he couldn’t walk past her table unless he was a dealer. Tom explained the reason for our visit and after giving the woman his driver’s license as collateral, she let us walk a short distance into the vendor-only area to capture our photos. The woman had mentioned that the area in front of us was where Kennedy’s speech was scheduled to take place, but she insisted that we could only capture our images from that area where she could see us. There was no way that she would let us wander around the Trade Mart, which I never did understand the reasoning.
I knew my photographer was disappointed that we weren’t allowed to venture further into the Trade Mart for additional pictures, but that photo-op was the best we would be able to do that morning. On the bright side of things, that experience was a lot better than 2014. Two years ago, all we could do was stay on the outside and wonder what was behind the closed doors. I also figured in the grand scheme of visiting Presidential sites, JFK had never set foot inside the Trade Mart anyway; his limo tragically went past the building on the way to Parkland Hospital – which was our next stop.
Two years earlier, when Kim Johnson drove us to Parkland Memorial Hospital, it took an act of God for my photographer to get me into Trauma Room One where President Kennedy was pronounced dead. That was due to the fact the historic room, which since 1963 had been transformed into the hospital’s Radiology Department, was closed on Saturday. Once my photographer and I were discreetly escorted into the closed Radiology room by a medical intern, Tom had to sneak our pictures in a darkened area near a bronze plaque on the wall. My cameraman was thankful for the first opportunity to set foot inside the historic room, but he wanted better photos of me there.
The GPS had guided us to the huge medical center that was located about a mile from the Trade Mart. From my case I could see the lettering ‘Parkland’ located high up on the side of the building and when I was carried to the emergency entrance, I saw the words ‘Parkland Emergency & Trauma’ inscribed on the overhang to the ambulance bay. But something was different; the entire area looked different than I had remembered from 2014. My confused cameraman captured a handful of images with me and the ambulance entrance, but I knew in my resin-filled heart that we were in the wrong place. I think Tom realized it as well; which was why he took me inside the hospital – he wanted to confirm our suspicions. He also needed to find out the location of the hospital where JFK had been taken in 1963. Once inside, it didn’t take long to find out that this Parkland Memorial Hospital had opened in August 2015. The “old” Parkland, where Kennedy was pronounced dead, had been turned into a children’s medical center and was located across the street.
I was carried across Harry Hines Boulevard and through the front doors of the hospital that had opened in 1954. Surprisingly, no one seemed to care that we were there as we searched out precise directions to the Radiology Department. After an elevator ride and a short walk down a hallway, we found ourselves at the right spot; we stood outside of Trauma Room One at Parkland Hospital. Oh, the black sign outside of the room said “Radiology”, but to us, it was Trauma Room One. As I stood for a photo in the hallway, it was almost as though I could see the medical personnel as they hurriedly pushed the mortally wounded President’s gurney towards the room.
The moment had arrived where I was once again carried into the historic Trauma Room One. Unlike when I was there in 2014, the lights were on and there were patients in the room. My photographer carried me all around the room like he owned the place, and no one said a word about the pictures he took. We had heard that the bronze plaque that we once again saw affixed to the wall was situated close to where Kennedy’s bed had been positioned on November 22, 1963. A flood of emotions filled my body, just like they had two years earlier. It was hard to believe where I was standing. That wasn’t just any hospital room; it was the room where doctors feverishly tried to save the mortally wounded President and where he was pronounced dead just twelve minutes after his arrival.
Our entire stay inside Parkland’s Radiology Department lasted less than ten minutes and before I knew it, we had retraced our path back out of the front doors of the medical center. But we were only half finished with our photos; my photographer wanted to once again capture images of me at the ambulance entrance where Kennedy’s limousine had arrived on that fateful day.
Tom carried me on a fairly long hike around the complex to the rear of the hospital where we had been two years earlier. This time, however, the building looked different. The blue lettering “Parkland” was missing from high-up on the hospital and the red letters that spelled out “Parkland Emergency & Trauma” on the ambulance overhang were gone as well. That change was followed by another surprise; just before my cameraman could snap his first image, he was stopped by a gun-toting security officer. “What are you doing here taking pictures? This area is off-limits.” At that time, I heard Tom once again go into his minute-long spiel of what he was doing. He also pulled me out of the camera case to backup his testimony and to show the cop that he wasn’t “packing heat” in the bag. The cop was calm and called his supervisor on a cell phone. “Here, you need to talk to my captain and tell him what you’re doing here.” As my photographer spoke to the superior office on the phone, I heard Tom say: “Thank you for the permission to take pictures back here. But what do you mean I’m not allowed inside the hospital? I’ve already been inside and got the photos I needed there; not one person said a word to me.”
During the walk back to our Avenger that was parked near the “new” Parkland, I heard my photographer say out loud: “That was the Seinfeld episode of ‘Bizzaro World’.” I think what he meant by that statement was our Parkland experience was completely opposite of the 2014 visit to the historic hospital. Two years ago, we had trouble getting into Trauma Room One; while our time at the hospital’s emergency entrance was a non-issue ‘piece of cake’. During the tour we had just completed, my photographer carried me right into the Radiology Room without incident; but we were accosted by armed security outside of the hospital and Tom had to beg for permission to shoot a few photos.
It didn’t take long to make the three-mile drive to a site that I didn’t get the opportunity to visit in 2014 – Dallas Love Field Airport. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was onboard Air Force One as it touched down at Love Field at 11:40am. Nearly three hours later, and about 90 minutes after JFK had been pronounced dead, Lyndon B. Johnson was on the Presidential aircraft and sworn into office while the plane was situated on the Love Field tarmac.
Tom carried me into the terminal with the goal of photographing the bronze plaque and light that had been imbedded into the tarmac in 2015. The marker had been placed in the exact location where LBJ had taken the Oath of Office at 2:38pm on November 22, 1963 before Air Force One flew back to Washington.
While Love Field was a lot smaller than the other two airports that I had been to, my photographer still had no idea of where to begin his search for the historic plaque. He had figured since Love Field was an active airport, we wouldn’t be able to wander out onto the tarmac; but he also thought there would be a viewing area where people could see the plaque. Sure enough, after soliciting the help of two college-aged volunteers who worked at the information booth, the young couple led us to a large window in an area known as “Love Landing”. From that window, we could see the plaque and light that were imbedded flush with the concrete tarmac.
Even though we were less than five miles from Dealey Plaza, my photographer decided to take me back to Plano. He had wanted to visit the assassination site with Bill Johnson later on the trip, plus Tom wanted to avoid the afternoon traffic that the Johnson’s had warned him about. That night, as I stood on the bedroom dresser, I had wondered what Saturday’s visit to the Waco area would be like. There was only one reason that I was going to be taken along on Saturday and that wasn’t to meet Chip or Joanna Gaines. My photographer had hoped for a one in a million shot of seeing George W. Bush at his Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas.
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Saturday July 30, 2016 was a day that my photographer’s wife Vicki had anticipated since we left home. Vicki was a huge fan of the HGTV reality show ‘Fixer Upper’ and we were headed to Waco to see the mega-million-dollar empire of Chip and Joanna Gaines. Kim Johnson volunteered to drive the three of us to Waco, plus we were joined by Kim’s mother Sally who thought the predicted 98-degree temperature would be a great way to spend her Saturday.
There was no doubt that Vicki was excited to visit the Magnolia Market Silos as she walked faster than at any time on the trip. I had to laugh to myself when I heard my photographer say to her: “I wish you would be this excited when we visit a Presidential gravesite.” Once we were inside the Gaines’ complex that consisted of two large, renovated silos, a bakery, a large marketplace building, and a dozen or so food vendors, it was obvious that Vicki wasn’t the only one who watched the show. Thousands of people were there taking in the ambience of the show, and it seemed that everything there had the word ‘Magnolia’ associated with it; even though the inside of the Magnolia Market looked like a high-priced and overrated Hobby Lobby. Once again, I had to laugh at my photographer when he said to his wife inside the market: “I could understand the excitement if Joanna Gaines made all of this stuff herself. But some poor little kid in China was likely paid ten cents a day to make this crap.” It didn’t matter to Vicki; she was at the Magnolia Market Silos and she was in heaven.
Altogether we stayed at the Magnolia Market Silos for about 90 minutes before the heat and crowd got to be too much for Sally. I think Vicki would’ve toughed it out and stayed longer, but she knew that her aunt was uncomfortable in the extreme temperature and the air conditioning of Kim’s Chevy Tahoe was a welcomed feeling. As for my photographer, he didn’t care either way – Tom knew that this was his wife’s day, and he was willing to go with the flow.
The next stop near Waco was something that Tom had suggested, even though it was about 11 miles out of our way. He had wanted to see the site that was once occupied by the Branch Davidians. The Mount Carmel Massacre Site was where the 1993 siege took place and where 76 people, including cult leader David Koresh, had perished.
Upon our arrival, the gates to the complex were closed, which meant we could not venture onto the property. It would’ve been cool to see the site that had become so infamous in 1993, but at the same time I was relieved that we couldn’t go beyond the gates. There was just an uneasy eeriness to being there, especially knowing that 20 innocent children and two unborn babies lost their lives at the Branch Davidian compound on April 19, 1993. From our proximity at the compound’s closed main gate, we could see a church that had been rebuilt on the property. We knew for a fact that the church was situated very close to the remnants of the Branch Davidian compound that had been destroyed.
I was breathing a sigh of relief when my photographer carried me back into Kim’s Tahoe. Don’t get me wrong, I love visiting historic sites; but to me, that one was a tad creepy. Perhaps my “gut feeling” was due to the fact that we were out in the middle of nowhere and some surviving Davidians still lived on the property.
The ride to our next site, which once again had a Chip and Joanna Gaines connection, was over 30 miles to the west. While Vicki never got out of the vehicle at the Branch Davidian site, she practically didn’t wait for Kim to put the Tahoe in “park” before she sprung out to see the Magnolia House in McGregor, Texas. The famous Magnolia House was an 1880s farmhouse that the Gaines’ renovated in the third season of their show ‘Fixer Upper’ and the couple turned it into a B&B that they own. Since the home opened for business in February 2016, it’s been a blockbuster of a success – even at nearly $600 per night to stay there. I heard my photographer tell his wife that someday we would stay there. That’s when I thought to myself: “That cheapskate wouldn’t spend that kind of money unless a President once slept there. Vicki would have a better chance at seeing Chip Gaines himself fly out of my resin-filled butt than to ever set foot inside that place.”
We spent a total of about 20 minutes outside of the gated property of Magnolia House. Only guests of the B&B are ever allowed onto the fenced-in grounds. Had it been a Presidential birthplace, I’m sure my photographer would have scaled the three-foot high fence. But since it was only Chip and JoJo, that just wasn’t going to happen.
During the 15-mile drive from the Magnolia House to the entrance of George W. Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch, I was very excited; but at the same time I didn’t know what to expect. We had no way of knowing if President Bush was at his Crawford, Texas ranch or not; and we had no way of knowing how close we would get to his place. Although my photographer had found directions to the ranch on Google maps, he also thought he saw a Secret Service blockade near the entrance. Both Tom and I had figured we had nearly a zero chance of seeing the Prairie Chapel Ranch or President Bush, but we made the 30-mile round trip anyway.
The only hope we had of getting onto the ranch property was whether or not George W. crossed paths with us at the entrance; at which time my photographer would go into his usual spiel about our Presidential quest. But none of that ever happened. Although that outcome wasn’t a surprise, it was a little disappointing to not see the ranch or the President.
As we retraced our route back to Waco, Kim took us to a small diner called Donald Citrano’s Coffee Shop Café in McGregor. In the past, President Bush and his wife Laura had frequented the eatery for dinner. For some reason, Tom didn’t take any pictures at the diner even though it was technically a Presidential site. He did, however, fill his face from the AYCE buffet.
Back in Waco, Kim had wanted to give Vicki a chance to visit a place called Harp Design Company, which was a business that had been featured on “Fixer Upper”. On the show, Joanna Gaines incorporates shop owner Clint Harp to create unique wooden furniture for the home that was being renovated during a particular episode. Once inside the modest building, my photographer’s wife acted as though she had won the lottery as she strolled around the aisles filled with wooden crafts. I don’t think my cameraman checked to see where most of the items in the store had been manufactured, but my guess was the wooden items may have been crafted by Harp himself and not by a ten-cent-a-day Chinese kid.
After we had made a brief stop at the campus of Baylor University, which was Bill Johnson’s alma mater, Kim drove us back to Plano. After I had the resin-like bejesus scared out of me in the Johnson’s garage when we encountered a life-sized brown bear, I was taken back to the upstairs bedroom where I spent the rest of the night on my dresser. After I was able to get the thoughts of Chip and Joanna Gaines out of my mind, I focused on what was on tap for Sunday; a full day of visiting JFK sites with Bill Johnson. I thought to myself: “Kennedy and Johnson together in Dallas – it doesn’t get any better than that!”
It is cool that Trauma Room 1 is achievable now! I have to get in that room!
Now I have a better understanding of Vicki and Fran not sharing our enthusiasm for history, presidents, signers, and famous gravesites. Magnolia Farms was as exciting as watching a crocheting competition! Parkland Hospital and Trauma Room 1 were incredible, though.
Even though the Jefferson bobble head doesn’t enjoy sites like Magnolia Market, I don’t mind going to places that Vicki enjoys; after all it’s her vacation too. I do all of the planning for our trip’s agenda and I try to incorporate some things that Vicki likes as well. She’s usually a good sport about the Presidential stuff, so I try to be understanding at the sites that interest her. The only time that she questions a visit to a Presidential site is when we go to a place that we’ve been to before. “Haven’t we been here before?” I say yes, and use your logic and quote: “It’s like eating pizza. I’ve eaten pizza before; liked it; and went back to eat the same type of pizza again”. Vicki responds with: “That’s not the same.”