History of Dallas and JR!

While in Dallas, I did get to visit a few museums during some down time. Of course, there was the aforementioned Sixth Floor Museum. I also visited the Old Red Museum and Southfork Ranch.
The Old Red Museum is featured in an old court house and tells the history of the city of Dallas. The building is beautiful. (In fact, the architecture of the entire city was very interesting. Aside from New York City, I dare say Dallas had one of the nicest skylines I've ever seen). The museum featured very serious aspects of the city's history, such as its role in the Civil War, the racial history (both the negatives and positives of it), and Texas's role in the oil industry. There were also lighter sides to the history, such as the history of the 7-11 Slushee, Frito Lay, and the history of the Mary Kay company. You could even watch clips from the show, Dallas, and Jim Lehrer's Dallas based news show. I found this museum by accident and I'm very glad I did.
For those of you who were not paying attention in the spring of 1980 when JR was shot, Southfork is the home of the Ewing family from tv's Dallas. It is an actual ranch right outside of Dallas, and was featured in the majority of the exterior shots on the tv show. That pool that Cliff Barnes was pushed in at JR and Sue Ellen's second wedding? That's there. The balcony in which Kristin made a swan dive to her death. That's there. The patio featuring those wonderful breakfasts that no-one ever finished? That's there, too. My librarian friend, Molly, was a very good sport and accompanied me. I have to admit it was a lot of fun, and disappointingly not as cheesy as I thought it would be. I, for one, was disappointed that the gift shop did not sell "I Shot JR" t-shirts.