Everything is bigger in July, and Texas

 

Well, Howdy there, pardner!

July went by in a blur.

Before I talk about Clarinetfest 2025 (probably in the next post) 

let's look back at July.

There was a lot.

First, my birthday!

A smoothie to start the day.

Took myself out for a nice lunch (I had to work all day).

Biaggis, the Italian place nearby the office has a very nice

lunch special. I had the half salad, half pasta.

The beet and goat cheese salad and the butternut squash ravioli.

And too much bread.

Very tasty.

Porch Tomato nearly ready for harvest.

Packed my bags and my clarinet for a trip to Fort Worth, Texas.

A short flight from Moline into Fort Worth.

After arriving, I walked to the platform to take the TexRail into Fort Worth, downtown.

Took less than an hour, and my stop was a few blocks from the convention center and hotel.

Travelling in style

I found these Toms espadrilles in Burlington (formerly Coat Factory), and

though I'm not usually into Toms shoes, they are super comfortable and

I thought they'd be a perfect walking shoe for the weekend.

Signs on the lampposts welcoming the ICA

I had arrived early. Too early to check into my room, and a bit

too early for anything at the conference I wanted to see, so, after

storing my suitcase at the hotel to pick up later, I walked around a bit.

The Convention Center (and conveniently, the hotel I was staying at)

is right next to the Fort Worth Water Gardens, a collection of

water features.

Fans of classic sci-fi movies will recognize this space.

It was a set piece in Logan's Run.

Movie magic made it seem like it wasn't in the middle of a metro,

but everything else is there.

I'd been able to watch the movie earlier this year, and

made a note to check it out on my visit.

There are several sculpture pieces in the park.

This is the Mountain.

When I arrived, some people were climbing to the top.

FrontSeat Shark made the trip too.

Cant's swim in it though.

Probably wouldn't want to, to be honest.

Kinda dangerous with all the sharp edges and rushing water.

After a few lectures, I was starving. Having not eaten much all day,

since the very early start to catch my very early flight, I took a walk to

find something tasty to eat.

This place looked pretty good.

the Flying Saucer.

Don't be fooled by the UFO image.

The place was covered with ceramic dishes on the walls.

Saucers.

LOL

Along the way to the Flying Saucer I found this huge hat.

Gleaming in the Texas sun.

I said, Howdy.

Anyway, I was recommended this delicious salmon bowl at the
Flying Saucer and it really hit the spot. I even ate most of the jalepeno slices.

It had rice, some sort of teriyaki sauce, veggies, avocado, a chunk of salmon.

Very tasty.

As I was walking back to the convention center, I noticed a Cajun place near the big sparkly hat.

I made a note and was sure to come back for lunch the next day.

And I did!

A delicious bowl of crawfish etouffee, washed down

with a Purple Haze Abita.

Not quite as good as what I've had in New Orleans, but

still a good meal.

And, I came back here again before leaving town.

I wanted to try one of the other highly recommended dishes,

the crawfish fondue.

Sooooo good.

Creamy and cheesy and stuffed full of crawfish.

Served with toast. And another bottle of Abita.

The place was called Razzoo's. A Cajun cafe.

If you have a fondness for Louisiana cuisine, it's a good place to go.

I would like to point out that some of the events in this post are taken a bit out

of chronological order. I did not eat all that food in one day.

Anyway, I had booked myself in for a facial at the hotel spa.

I still couldn't check into my room, so it wasn't super ideal,

as I was still carrying my clarinet with me, but the experience was

pretty good.

A good cleanse, aromatherapy, fuzzy robe to wear while I waited

for my facialist. Exfoliation, toners, serums, moisturizer, and a 

some shoulder and arm massage.

I don't often go in for spa treatments, as they are usually 

out of my budget, but this was my gift to me for my birthday.

The best facial I've ever had was in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

This one in Texas wasn't too bad, but it wasn't quite as relaxing as the

one in Zimbabwe.

Still nice though.

Take care of your skin.

Texas is now officially knocked off of the states list.

I have about 13 left to go.

I think a week driving around New England will take out

half of that.

Friday morning, after a good night's sleep, I caught a bus to

take a look at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

A bus ride of about thirty minutes, I arrived too early for

most things to be open, but I kind of like that.

Gave me a chance to take a look around, get my bearings.

Travelling with me is non-stop, with early mornings and lots of walking.

That's how I roll, baby.

I was poking around the entrance to the Rodeo Coliseum and a guy

who was cleaning off the steps let me go inside for a look around,

even though it wasn't open.

What a cool opportunity!

This is where rodeos are now held.

I've been looking for the world' largest honky tonk!

Not only rodeo events, this building has also featured

musical acts and notable artists throughout its history.

Still waiting for the John Wayne Experience to open, I took a stroll down the

side street. Lots of shops and a few restaurants. And a Pendleton store.

When the John Wayne Experience opened I stopped in.

After admiring the gigantic spur located outside the front door.

A museum featuring all things John Wayne, the legendary cowboy movie star.

A native of Iowa, incidentally.

I'd visited his birthplace home lots of years ago on a detour back

home from the Kansas City Clarinetfest.

I can now tell the difference between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood,

so this museum was a bit more interesting.

I think it's a feature of growing older, but I have developed a

taste for Western cowboy movies.

The Good, the Bad and The Ugly is one of my recently favorite movies.

anyway, back to John Wayne.

the museum featured personal artifacts, movie props,

costumes, and short clips of Wayne in movies and TV specials.

Some of the animal actors from his movies.

Stuffed and looking fresh.

Time to visit the Live Stock Exchange museum.

Where Fort Worth made its name and fortune.

History of the area, mostly.

When I stepped outside, the streets were jumpin!

A jolt after being nearly the only person walking around for hours.

Everybody was there for the 11:30AM longhorn walk through the street.

I got a spot at the front and watched the (short) parade.

A few cowboys on horseback drove the herd through the street.

It's amazing they can walk this such big horns.

Strong neck muscles.

It was almost time to get to the bus stop to get back to the convention center,

but I had to take a walk through this sort of barn mall.

Restaurants and shops selling kitchy souvenirs.

There was a comedy gun fight at the other end.

Got a can of some local brew.

After getting back to Clarinetfest, and attending some events, I took another walk out

to the sparkly hat center, and caught a part of an outdoor concert.

Pretty good group of musicians playing danceable tunes to a good crowd.

While at the Stock Yards, I went into the Pendleton store and got 

this stylish bandana. I might bring it with me on vacation later this month.

The Sid Richardson Museum.

A collection of artwork as it relates to Western cinema.

After the cows and clarinetting was done, it was time to

mosey on homeward.

I had a slightly overpriced breakfast buffet at the hotel

(though it was a good spread of delicious food) then

packed up the clarinet and the shark and headed back out to the train station.

TexRail to take me back to the airport.

When I got home, the porch tomato was ripe and ready.

Yum!

Saturday morning.

Rain storm.

Me driving out to Geneseo for a clarinet superlesson.

Waited in the car for it to slack off while I tried to get to the front door.

Holy raindrops, Batmeh!

A superlesson is a mass lesson, essentially.

five or six beginners all learn how to assemble the instrument,

produce sound, learn a few notes, then learn how to put it away.

A productive morning, I'd also managed to stop at the farmers market

for some veggies before heading out into rural Illinois.

Some quality time with the parrot.

Some new feathers coming in, which can be itchy.

Other parrot friends usually help birdies to reach the

spots a bird can't reach on their own.

I am stand-in here. Scritching her itchy neck.

She seems to like it.

Took a mini-field trip all the way to the other side of Bettendorf to

buy some puppets from someone I found on FB Marketplace.

I usually just sell stuff on Marketplace, but the puppets were too

irresistible, so I made the effort to check them out.

In addition to a few others, I got this very cool camel puppet.

Luvs him!

The lilly/pumpkin corner.

It's grown a lot since this photo.

And I've seen a hummingbird visiting the flowers! Woohoo!

Back to Geneseo on a Tuesday night for the Geneseo Big Band.

A good night for some jazz band music.

Then back into a theatre for a local community theatre production of

Hairspray. I really didn't have time to do this show, but it's such a fun

book and a musical I actually really like (I've played it once before).

So I made the time.

I love theatre props.

I had pre-ordered a signed copy of the new Lord Huron album.

After the CD arrived in the mail, a few days later, an envelope arrived.

Plain white envelope, handwritten address, no return address, containing

something small and round.

It was a coin, as seen in the picture above.

I hadn't asked for this, I didn't know what it was, but it

had images and words from Lord Huron.

After a quick Googler, I learned that they were Cosmic Selector coins.

If you hold them next to your phone, something will happen,

using NFC technology.

So i tried it.

After getting back home late from the theatre, I held the

coin to my phone, near the camera lens, and automatically

a website popped up.

It's a juke box.

You can make one selection with your "coin" and hear a clip from the album.

Very neat.

What turned out to be the last gig as a band.

Unresolved in the rain.

So it goes.

More rain.

My 16th Bix7 road race.

With Momster and Marsha.

Fun, albeit soggy, day running around Davenport.

Muscatine for a 20s jazz band gig with Josh Duffee.

Challenging stuff, but it was kinda fun.

Glad to be included on the lead alto book.

Showtime.

Some Texas and Jazz education.

One night in the pit was big hair theme.

As someone with an extensive costume collection, I though

wearing man hair would be funniest.

This is the wig I used for my Barbenheimer costume.

Bix jazz weekend Lutheran service.

I don't attend church services often, but when I do

it's usually playing an instrument.

After all of the work the past several months, I thought

the mouthpieces could use a spa day, so they all got

a good scrubbin in the sink.

A rescheduled park concert, with more 20s jazz with

Josh Duffee.

And, after a much-needed pruning of the rose bush in the front of the

house, I took a few branches inside for brighten up the place for a few days.

Next post will include a more in-depth take down of Clarinetfest 2025.