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4 – James Madison

Birthplace of James Madison

Our 4th President, James Madison, was born here in Port Conway, Virginia in 1751. It is interesting that he was born here at Belle Grove Plantation instead of Orange County, where his parents lived. They were visiting Madison’s mother’s family at Belle Grove when she gave birth to him. The house Madison was born in no longer stands.
Belle Grove Plantation is privately owned.
The drive to Belle Grove.
The rear entrance.
The front (river facing) entrance.
  
Rappahannock River looking upstream toward Fredericksburg.
Out building
Out building door
Out building undergoing restoration.
Out buildings
Thanksgiving dinner inside the house.

Then and Now…

Now that we are back home from Dallas, I was able to find some pictures to compare “then and now” pictures from the 1980s with last week in Dallas. Here goes…

At the top of Reunion Tower, 1989 and 2018:

  

Downtown Dallas from Reunion Tower, 1984, 1986, 1989 and 2018:

  

Downtown Dallas from the west, 1985 and 2018.

  

Bank of America Plaza, 1984 and 2018:

  

Las Colinas Mustangs, 1986 and 2018.

  

Bonus picture from 1989:

  

Homeward bound!

Alas, we must get back to the real world, so we say bye to Dallas! It was a neat trip back to see old sights and new. This is where we started 31+ years ago! And now we are ready for our own bed in our house! Let’s go!

But first, we must have lunch at Pappasito’s Cantina in DFW Airport.
The Laredo: enchilada, crispy taco, and pork tamale.
My good old classic cheeseburger!

Our flight was delayed for over 1-1/2 hours so the flight maintenance crew could work on some “items”. So we landed at Dulles at 8:30 instead of 6, and we got home at 9:45. But we made it home! We thank God for His travelling mercies!

Goodbye, Dallas!
   
  
Berber carpet.
Mississippi River

Last Night in Dallas

The Deltek Insight 2018 Conference has its “Celebrate Insight” night at Gilley’s in downtown Dallas.

  
Texas barbecue night.
Apple cobbler and Jack Daniels chocolate pie.
Gilley’s in Houston was the setting for the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta. I actually rode the mechanical bull at the Houston Gilley’s back in 1985. I’ve got the picure at home if you ever want to see it. Now, you are not even allowed to sit on this (non-moving) mechanical bull for a picture without staff supervision!
So Kool & the Gang were playing!
 
  
  
Dallas skyline at night.
  
  
  

Out & about in Grapevine

So we found this cool cafe in Grapevine for breakfast.
Cool door handle.
Awesome food!
Delicious french toast.
Omelet chock full of cheese and bacon, with grits and bacon!
Really cool mural at the Whataburger.
  
The bottom line kind of negates the entire sign, doesn’t it?