Frontier Forts Day
Last Saturday the DFWCG met up at the Grapevine Vintage Railroad station and rode the train to the Fort Worth Stockyards. We had an excellent turnout in spite of the hot (90ish) day. Everyone seemed to have a good time in spite of the less-than-ideal weather, and I loved seeing all my friends dressed to the nines! Very special thanks go out to jenthompson for taking pictures and sharing them. I brought my phone, but as it gets older it takes crappier pics and loads verrrrry sloooooowly. As a result, all these are taken by Jen!
Boarding the train in Grapevine:
Our entire group together, picture taken by an employee of the GVRR:
My rag-curled hair. I was pretty happy with how it turned out (there was no trial run, or rather this is the trial run.) Our train was delayed several times due to higher-priority trains having the right of way. Our 1 hour 20 minute trip turned into something more like 2 1/2-3 hours. Luckily there was great company and we passed the time enjoyably!
Did I mention it was hot at the Stockyards?
Lunchtime! I found the glass carafe at Wal-Mart of all places. There's a quarter of a lemon (sliced to fit) and a sprig of thyme in it. It was very refreshing! I also brought wax-paper-wrapped packages of co-jack cheese and summer sausage. I froze those overnight and packed them before leaving my house. By lunchtime they were thawed but still chilled. I also brought an apple and some angel food cake, but it was just too hot to eat everything.
We browsed some sutler's tents and perused the living history demonstrations. Sadly, by the time we started walking around everything was wrapping up for the day.
We had front-row 'seats' for a cannon demonstration. That was very cool to watch, and a little shocking in a way. It's easy to watch cannons go off in the movies and not realize just how loud they are, or how much of a shock wave they create. Here you can also see one of the 'bows' I added to the overskirt. The other side has one too. One corner needs to be fluffed, but you get the idea.
After the demonstration, we got up close and personal with some display cannons.
After that we took some other saucy shots...
My hair after enduring the heat for a few hours.
By then we'd seen everything we needed to see and it was time to take the train back to Grapevine. I think we were all relieved to get back into the air conditioning!
I think I was appreciating the breeze here, but I honestly don't remember. You can see the pleated ribbon I added to the brooch though. I think the bodice really needed that. It helps tie outfit's elements together a little better. Next time I'll pin it on a little better so it doesn't get off kilter...it's always something, isn't it?
*Edited to include our group photo. How did I forget that the first time? Sheesh.
Boarding the train in Grapevine:
Our entire group together, picture taken by an employee of the GVRR:
My rag-curled hair. I was pretty happy with how it turned out (there was no trial run, or rather this is the trial run.) Our train was delayed several times due to higher-priority trains having the right of way. Our 1 hour 20 minute trip turned into something more like 2 1/2-3 hours. Luckily there was great company and we passed the time enjoyably!
Did I mention it was hot at the Stockyards?
Lunchtime! I found the glass carafe at Wal-Mart of all places. There's a quarter of a lemon (sliced to fit) and a sprig of thyme in it. It was very refreshing! I also brought wax-paper-wrapped packages of co-jack cheese and summer sausage. I froze those overnight and packed them before leaving my house. By lunchtime they were thawed but still chilled. I also brought an apple and some angel food cake, but it was just too hot to eat everything.
We browsed some sutler's tents and perused the living history demonstrations. Sadly, by the time we started walking around everything was wrapping up for the day.
We had front-row 'seats' for a cannon demonstration. That was very cool to watch, and a little shocking in a way. It's easy to watch cannons go off in the movies and not realize just how loud they are, or how much of a shock wave they create. Here you can also see one of the 'bows' I added to the overskirt. The other side has one too. One corner needs to be fluffed, but you get the idea.
After the demonstration, we got up close and personal with some display cannons.
After that we took some other saucy shots...
My hair after enduring the heat for a few hours.
By then we'd seen everything we needed to see and it was time to take the train back to Grapevine. I think we were all relieved to get back into the air conditioning!
I think I was appreciating the breeze here, but I honestly don't remember. You can see the pleated ribbon I added to the brooch though. I think the bodice really needed that. It helps tie outfit's elements together a little better. Next time I'll pin it on a little better so it doesn't get off kilter...it's always something, isn't it?
*Edited to include our group photo. How did I forget that the first time? Sheesh.