Category Archives: Dallas Day Trips

Mineral Wells Fossil Park

Posted on by

Mineral Wells Fossil Park will capture young paleontologists’ imaginations. Fossil hunters can search for treasures, and the best part, you can keep whatever you find. Located just 80 miles west of Dallas, Mineral Wells Fossil Park opened to the public in 2010.

Park history. The Dallas Paleontological Society, City of Mineral Wells and Mineral Wells Chamber of Commerce partnered to create the park at the site of the city’s old borrow pit. Years ago, the town used earth dug from the area, the borrow pit, for dirt fill at the city dump. The pit was then closed in the 1990s and forgotten. Twenty years of rain and wind eroded the borrow pit’s sides exposing mineralized fossils in among shale and dirt.

No dinosaurs here. The best fossil hunting follows strong rains. The rain washes away dirt exposing the fossils on the ridges and in the troughs of furrows throughout the North Texas Ramblings Mineral Wells Fossil Parkborrow pit. Readily visible, the fossils are intermixed with small rocks. You aren’t likely to find a dinosaur here. The fossils are small, mostly crinoids (sea lily) fragments. While small, the crinoids and shells are everywhere you search. In just a few hours, our family had two sandwich bags filled with small fossils ranging in size from a pea to half dollar.

The fossils are about 300 million years old. During the Pennsylvania Period, ancient sea lilies, urchins, clams, oysters, sea snails and sharks lived where prickly pear cactus thrive today. One such sea basin submerged the area around Mineral Wells. When the creatures died, their bodies fell to the sea floor. Minerals replaced the animals’ cellular material leaving behind a rock record for us to find millions of years later.

Fast forward from the ancient sea to the City of Mineral Wells old borrow pit. Sea creature fossils are so plentiful at Mineral Wells Fossil Park, that visitors for decades will be able to explore the past and collect ancient fragments of species long extinct. A large exhibit sign at the park entrance illustrates with photographs and descriptions the types of fossils commonly found at the site.

Fossil hunting guidelines. Mineral Wells Fossil Park has a few rules in place to ensure the park’s continued success. While you may keep whatever fossils you find, they must be for your personal use. No commercial fossil hunting is allowed. Park rules forbid power tools and limit guests to hand-held tools like a garden trowel. After a good rain, the hand shovels aren’t even necessary.

When you go. There is no shade at the park – hat, sunscreen and lots of water are a must on hot days.  Wear old clothes for digging in the dirt and boots are a good idea if it’s recently rained. Additionally, bring plenty of small baggies for storing your fossils. As in other parts of Texas, be alert for stinging insects and snakes. Called a primitive park, Mineral Wells Fossil Park has no running water or flush toilets, though there is a portable toilet in the parking lot. For those wanting a more scenic location for a picnic, visit Lake Mineral Wells State Park (Park Road 71, Mineral Wells), located just east of Mineral Wells.

Mineral Wells Fossil Park (2375 Indian Creek Road, Mineral Wells) is open Friday – Monday from 8 a.m. to dusk. Park entrance is free.

Waco Day Trip

Posted on by

If you are looking for a local adventure, how about a Waco Day Trip?  Waco, located about 100 miles south of Dallas, has fun and unique museums to explore.  Two of my family’s favorites are the Dr. Pepper Museum and Texas Rangers Hall of Fame Museum.

Dr. Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute

“I’m a pepper. He’s a pepper…Wouldn’t you’d like to be a pepper, too?” 

North Texas Ramblings Dr Pepper Museum WacoRemember that jingle from the 1970s Dr. Pepper commercial?  That and even more Dr. Pepper advertising are displayed at Waco’s Dr. Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute.  The first two floors are devoted to Dr. Pepper, its founders, how it was made, and how it was sold.  The museum is a must for Dr. Pepper fans.

Dr. Charles Alderton created the beverage back in 1885 at a drugstore in Waco by experimenting with different fruit syrups and carbonated water.  Who knew his concoction would be around 125 years later?

Once the Artesian and Manufacturing Bottling Company, the museum is located right where Dr Pepper was bottled at the turn of the twentieth century.  A portion of the first floor recreates both Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store where Alderton served the drink.

Dr. Pepper is now marketed and sold by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, so it’s not surprising that the museum also has memorabilia from other soda brands like Orange Crush and 7 UP.

The museum’s third floor is dubbed the Free Enterprise Institute.  Aside from a few sayings by Adam Smith, visitors will not find the history of capitalism here.  Rather, the bulk of the exhibits are about W. W. “Foots” Clements.  Clements rose up through the Dr. Pepper ranks from delivery man to CEO.

Be sure to get your Dr. Pepper at the soda fountain before you leave.  Served hot (yes, hot) or cold, the drink is mixed from syrup and carbonated water, much like it would have been served by Dr. Alderton in 1885.

The Dr. Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute (300 South Fifth Street, Waco) is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., and on Sunday from noon to 4:15 p.m.  Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for children.

Texas Rangers Hall of Fame Museum

Formed in 1823 by Stephen Austin as a defense force to protect settlers, the Texas Rangers loom larger than life in our imaginations.  The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Museum is dedicated to the finest of these lawmen.  The first Texas Rangers were farmers committed to frontier defense.  It was after the Civil War that Texas Rangers shifted to law enforcement and tracking down “bad” guys.

The Texas Rangers Hall of Fame recounts the tales of many of its most famous rangers, like Captain William McDonald whose reputation made him known as the “man who would charge hell with a bucket of water.”  The museum tells the tales of these men with factual accounts, artifacts and anecdotal tales.

It’s the tales that are the most fun, like the one about McDonald  – A frontier town hosting a prize fight sent a plea to the Rangers for help keeping the peace.  The town fathers were appalled when one single Ranger, McDonald, arrived.  McDonald is purported to have responded, “You only got one prize fight.  You only need one Ranger.”

While few in number, these western lawmen figured prominently in keeping the peace including resolving border issues with Mexico from 1870s through early 1900s, and it’s the Rangers Texas turned to hunt down bootleggers and gangsters in the 1920s and 1930s.  It was a Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer, who tracked down and shot the famed gangsters Bonnie and Clyde in 1934.

Most of the museum focuses on real Texas Rangers, but one section is dedicated to our fictional heroes.  An exhibit, complete with biography, tells the tale of the Lone Ranger who captured the imagination of many young boys from 1933 and onward.  Dozens of movies have been about the Texas Rangers not to mention several TV series like Walker Texas Ranger whose reruns entertain us today.

A 45-minute film about the Texas Rangers’ history is well worth the time, and runs throughout the day in the museum theater.

The Texas Rangers Hall of Fame Museum (100 Texas Range Trail – I-35 exit 335B, Waco) is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.  Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for children.

 

 

Waco Mammoth Site

Posted on by

Visit Waco Mammoth site and travel back in time 68,000 years. It’s the Ice Age but without the ice. Instead grassy plains cover Central Texas and ice age animals like the Columbian North Texas Ramblings Waco Mammoth Sitemammoth, camel and saber-tooth cat roam the grasslands.  A nursery herd of mammoth (cows and calves) peacefully graze along a creek bed until a flash flood buries the entire herd. Fast forward to 1978 when two teenage boys, looking for arrowheads, spot a bone embedded in the dry creek bed. That’s the story behind Waco Mammoth Site. The boys’ find became the largest nursery herd of Columbian mammoth (19 mammoths and a camel) to be discovered.

Baylor University paleontologists worked the site for years, uncovering mammoth from not just one flood event but a total of three separate floods that trapped these prehistoric animals over thousands of years. In total 28 mammoth, camels and a young saber-tooth cat have been found.

In 2009, Baylor University and the City of Waco opened the Waco Mammoth Site to the public. Docent-led tours give visitors fascinating facts about Ice Age Texas and its inhabitants. You also gain insights into a paleontologists’ world. While most bones have been jacketed and transported for further study, many have been left in place.A climate-controlled building surrounds the dig site and a boardwalk pathway winds through the building allowing visitors to see mammoth bones as they were found. Tiered excavations stair step the dig site displaying finds from the three major flood events. Wall murals illustrate the Colombian mammoths’ size and appearance.

The visitors center and dig site are located within a scenic parkland along the banks of the Bosque River. The Waco Mammoth Site (6220 Steinbeck Bend Road, Waco) is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children.

 

Paris Texas

Posted on by

Looking for a great day trip? Try Paris. Paris Texas, that is. Just 100 miles northeast of Dallas, you can take your picture at the Eiffel Tower, explore antique shops, and visit the Sam Bell Maxey historic site.

Eiffel Tower, Cowboy Style

Erected in 1993 by the Boiler Makers Local #902, the Texas Eiffel Tower is just 65 feet tall. What the tower lacks in height, it makes up for with its jaunty, fire engine red, cowboy hat. North Texas Ramblings Eiffel Tower at Paris TexasStart your trip to Paris with a picture next to the iconic city symbol. The Texas tower is located adjacent to the Love Civic Center, 2025 S Collegiate Drive.

Sam Bell Maxey Historical Site

Operated by Texas Historical Commission, the Sam Bell Maxey house gives visitors a glimpse at life in early Paris. Maxey had the home built following the Civil War. A prominent Confederate general, Maxey went on to represent Texas as a two-term senator. His family continued to live in the house, until it was donated to the City of Paris in the 1960s. As a result, all the household furnishings are original to the family. You’ll see period pieces from the post-Civil War era to the early twentieth century. In total, the home contains thousands of artifacts including Maxey’s impressive book collection. The Maxey house was one of just a few grand homes spared during the 1916 fire which decimated over half the city. Located at 812 South Church Street, guided tours are given on the hour from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., daily (closed Monday).

Find a Treasure

Commemorating the great fire of 1916, the Culbertson Fountain anchors the city plaza. Surrounding the town square are half a dozen antique and gift stores. Some, like Lillian Kelley’s Design (4 North Plaza) combine a gift shop with antique store. Others like the Antique Mall (2 West Plaza) host independent dealers. Four times a year at the Paris Horse Auction grounds, area vendors hold the Horse Flea, a market of antique, vintage and handmade items. Check for upcoming dates on the Horse Flea Facebook page.

Paris Bakery

All that antiquing works up an appetite. Before returning home, grab a bite to eat at the Paris Bakery. The café offers sandwiches, salads, soups, and baked goods. The small café prides itself on serving fresh food made with locally produced ingredients. Take advantage of their daily specials. There is no children’s menu, but staff are happy to accommodate youngsters with off-menu items. Paris Bakery is located across from the courthouse at 120 North Main.