THE SAND-DOLLAR

PANTHER CITY FOUNTAIN, DOWNTOWN FORT WORTH

I have been going to downtown Fort Worth quite a lot recently.

Like many downtown areas, Fort Worth suffered the effects of urban sprawl in the 70's and 80's.

It was not a destination for anyone except for those that worked in the tall glass office buildings built with Oil Money as housing for Banks and Insurance Companies.

Fort Worth has two nicknames; Cowtown and Panther City.

Cowtown, because Fort Worth had some of the largest Stockyards in the world on the Northside at the turn of the century.

The name Panther City comes from an incident in the 1880's. it seems the railroad stopped short of getting to Fort Worth, and it was close to becoming a Ghost Town. A Newspaperman came to Fort Worth to check it out and found a panther sleeping on the steps up to City Hall. He went back to Dallas and wrote all about it. Then some men with money stepped up and got the railroad to complete the track to Fort Worth.

Anyways, Downtown Fort Worth, like a lot of other cities has been revived. There are high-Dollar Condo's next to City parks, there are affordable apartments within the downtown proper.

An Entertainment District has been established, called Sundance Square, and there are bands that play outside for free.

Its really been a major transformation took place over the last ten years.

The once empty, old brick buildings now are full well into the night with restaurants and bars and music venues.

These old buildings are magnificent in their Craftsmanship. You see a lot of really nice brickwork Masonry, bas relief Horses and Longhorn Cattleheads.

Its enough to bring a tear to a Fort Worth boys eye.

WHAM-BAM THANK YOU MA'AM

Anyway, as the Ex. Mrs Bulletholes and I drove along on the southern edge of downtown, I said to her:

"Aint that the old "Chalk Her Up" Bar that we went on our first date on over there?"

She says:

'Nooo...that would have been "The Sand-Dollar" that we had our first date at."

I had to grin.
The Sand-Dollar was where we had "made out" at the Bar for TWO HOURS before being ejected for Public Lewdness. The man said "get a room" as we were placed to the curb.

"No" I said 'That would have been our first "Make-out" date. The 'Chalk Her Up" is where you first let me tag along."

"See" she says "tag along"! "That WAS NOT a date!"

Hmpf.

Ten seconds of silence.

Then I kinda whimper and say:

"Well, I thought it was a date!"

That XMrs. Bulletholes!

She's a fast machine.

The dangerous kind.

A total Blam-Blam!