John Wayne: An American Experience Opened Five Years Ago

Above, some of Duke's costumes on display at John Wayne: An American Experience. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Five years already?!

Incredible as it may seem, the John Wayne: An American Experience museum has been open for five years. Mitch Geriminsky and I visited it a month after it first opened in December 2020.

Above, yours truly at John Wayne: An American Experience. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

It is located at the Fort Worth Stockyards. The museum has since expanded with more exhibits.

The Fort Worth Stockyards is a fun place to visit. It has many shops and restaurants along with a twice daily cattle drive through its streets. The Cowtown Coliseum has rodeos for people to enjoy. Billy Bob's is a definite "must-visit" attraction. I have been there twice. The first time was in 1984 and the second time was in January 2021.

Above, yours truly having a brew at Billy Bob's. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

From Billy Bob's website: 

Billy Bob’s Texas opened April 1, 1981 with national attention featuring with it’s 100,000 square feet entertainment center, more than 30 bar stations, country music’s biggest stars, real Pro Bull Riding, and a Texas size dance floor. It became known as “The World’s Largest Honky Tonk”, where more than 6,000 fun loving folks of all ages could enjoy entertainment every day and night.

I am thinking about heading there possibly this summer with the motorhome.

For more information on John Wayne: An American Experience, go here.

2 Years Since Texas Trip

Above, dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

It is sometimes incredible at how time flies.

It was two years ago today that Mitch Geriminsky and I flew back to Albuquerque from Dallas Love Field following out little vacation jaunt to Dallas-Fort Worth. Once we got back to Albuquerque, I bought a new set of tires for the motorhome.

Above, at the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

We had a good time wandering around both cities and visited the John Wayne: An American Experience museum, the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Southfork Ranch, Billy Bob's Texas and the Fort Worth Stockyards. We also enjoyed some Texas cuisine at Cattlemen's Steakhouse at the Fort Worth Stockyards. I hadn't been to Billy Bob's Texas since I was in Dallas for the 1984 Republican National Convention. We also stopped at the Best Maid Pickles store in Fort Worth.

Above, at Southfork Ranch.

Flying to Dallas Love Field was a lot easier as it is a smaller airport than the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which is like a city on its own. 

Above, having a brew at Billy Bob's Texas. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

One does not immediately think of Dallas or Fort Forth, Texas as vacation spots, but the trip was interesting. I recommend it for those who need a place to travel to. 

Head To Fort Worth For Some Cowboy Culture

Above, Exchange Avenue at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To say that one can have a grand ol' time at the Fort Worth Stockyards would be an understatement.

Back in January, Mitch Geriminsky and I took a trip to Fort Worth and Dallas for a little mini vacation. This was my second visit to the Fort Worth Stockyards. I was there in 1984 during the Republican National Convention. Our delegation was taken to Billy Bob's Texas honkytonk for some partying one night.

Above, about to order dinner at Riscky's Steakhouse. 

There's plenty of things to see and do in the area including Dealey Plaza, the Sixth Floor Museum, Southfork Ranch and the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Above, the Livestock Exchange. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Besides becoming the home of the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit in December, the Fort Worth Stockyards has plenty to see and do. There's plenty of shops and restaurants there to enjoy.

Above, one of the two longhorn cattle drives held daily. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Fort Hood Herald has an article on the Fort Worth Stockyards that should entice one to pay a visit.

They begin with:

FORT WORTH — Pull yer boots on and step back in time to experience a taste of real cowboy life at the Fort Worth Stockyards, a 98-acre slice of history near downtown that includes an array of entertainment, shopping and dining venues, as well as twice-daily longhorn cattle drives.

The town of Fort Worth became an important livestock center with the arrival of the railroad in 1876, with the 206-acre Union Stockyards opening for business in January 1890. Not long after, the Dressed Meat and Packing Company was founded and meat-packing houses were established.

By 1907, a million head of cattle per year were being sold, and the stockyards became a place where not only cattle but sheep and hogs could be bought, sold and slaughtered. Fort Worth remained an important part of the overall cattle industry until the 1950s, when business began to suffer as livestock auctions moved closer to various production centers.

Today, the Stockyards is a popular tourist draw, with steak houses and other eateries scattered throughout alongside western saloon-style bars, boot and hat shops, vintage record shops, fashion boutiques and art galleries. There are historical walking tours, concerts, rodeo performances, bull riding, trick roping demonstrations, the Stockyards Museum and the Texas Trail of Fame.

For details on events, attractions, places to stay nearby, and more, go to www.fortworthstockyards.org.

Above, yours truly having a brew at Billy Bob's Texas. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

 To read more, go here.  

John Wayne’s Son Debuts Exhibit At The Fort Worth Stockyards

Above, this display includes John Wayne's eyepatch from True Grit (1969). Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back last January, Mitch Geriminsky and I took a trip to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas to see some of the attractions there, such as the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Southfork Ranch, the Fort Worth Stockyards, Billy Bob's Texas and the John Wayne: An American Experience. I was in the area once before. It was when I was a part of the 1984 California Reagan Delegation to the Republican National Convention.

It was the Wayne exhibit that spurred me to want to go there this year.

CultureMap Fort Worth posted an article on the John Wayne: An American Experience. Along with details of the exhibit, he article also tells about how the exhibit came to be.

Here's some snippets:

[Ethan] Wayne says he never realized how much memorabilia his father had amassed until he accessed the collection after his oldest half-brother, who previously ran the family business, died in 2003.

“I thought, ‘My gosh, we have a lot of really significant memorabilia here,” he says. “I don’t think the rest of the family really knew. From that moment we started thinking about how we were going to find a home for it.”

An idea sparked when Wayne met Craig Cavileer, executive vice president of Majestic Realty Co. (which developed the Stockyards' Mule Alley complex and Hotel Drover) at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas two years ago. Ethan had set up a pop-up museum there with a small sampling of his father’s memorabilia — just to gauge interest, he says. 

Cavileer convinced Wayne to visit Fort Worth and consider the Stockyards as a permanent home for the John Wayne Experience. It wouldn't be the Wayne family's first connection to Fort Worth. Ethan Wayne's mother Pilar, the widow of John Wayne, owned a café called Pilar’s on Bryan Irvin Road back in 2006.

"Now that the Stockyards redevelopment is happening and coming to life, we’re really happy because it’s the perfect spot for John Wayne,” he says. 

 To read more, go here.

History of Billy Bob's Texas

Above, Billy Bob's Texas last January. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Billy Bob's Texas posted a little history of their building and club on Facebook.

Mitch Geriminsky and I visited it in January during our trip to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. I had been to Billy Bob's back in 1984 with the California Reagan Delegation during the 1984 Republican National Convention. It was everything I remembered about it.

Here's their post:

The building now known as Billy Bob’s Texas was built in 1910 and was once an open-air barn used to house prize cattle for the Fort Worth Stock Show. In 1936, as a Texas Centennial Project, the building was enclosed by the City of Fort Worth at a cost of $183,500, and the tower over the main entrance was added. The “new” structure contained livestock stalls and an auction ring that is now Billy Bob’s Bull Riding arena. Livestock events were held there until the stock show moved to the Will Rogers Memorial Complex in 1943. During World War II, the building was used as an airplane factory, and in the 1950′s the building became a department store so large that the stock boys wore roller skates to make their jobs easier.

On April 1, 1981, Billy Bob Barnett and Spencer Taylor brought their Urban Cowboy themed night club to life when they opened Billy Bob’s Texas.

THE WORLD’S LARGEST HONKY TONK

120,000 Sq. Feet | 6,000 Capacity | 30+ Bar Stations & Two Stages

Texas-Sized Dance Floor | Bull-Riding Arena | Restaurant | Private Event Spaces

At the height of the Urban Cowboy craze, Billy Bob’s enjoyed unrivaled success -- sold out shows, A-list celebrity special guests, and a waitlist for VIP access to members-only Texas Club.

After closing briefly in 1988, the club reopened with a little help from some well-known and respected Fort Worth families. Billy Minick, Holt Hickman, Steve Murrin, and Don Jury shared a love for the Stockyards and were determined to return Billy Bob’s Texas to its status as a premier destination for fans and artists alike.

The ‘Class of 89 - Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Travis Tritt’ kicked off their meteoric rise to stardom on the main stage and the house band stage, cementing Billy Bob’s amongst the ranks of iconic Texas landmarks. And every weekend for almost four decades, the bulls were real, the neons were bright, the music was good and the beer was cold.

For the last 40 years, Billy Bob's Texas has hosted the biggest names in live music and entertainment. Legendary performers from all genres saw their rise to stardom begin in the hallowed halls of our beloved honky tonk. The road to Red Dirt country runs right through our building. We’ve been honored as ‘Club of the Year’ over a dozen times by the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. Stories from our stage are told and re-told to every new generation of music fans.

But Billy Bob’s Texas is more than a historic entertainment destination. It is a testament to the sights and sounds of the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards and a nod to the traditions of cowboys, cowgirls, and country music.

Above, yours truly enjoying a beer at Billy Bob's. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

 

If one is visiting the Dallas/Fort Worth area, a visit to Billy Bob's Texas is well worth it. 

Fort Worth and Dallas Trip In January

In January, a friend (Mitch Geriminsky and I will be heading to Dallas/Fort Worth in Texas to see the new John Wayne: An American Experience in Fort Worth.

There will be other things for us to see while we're there.

Here's some of them: