Given that this ramble was completed on the 60th anniversary of the JFK assassination, I thought it only appropriate to choose to explore the presidential motorcade route President John F. Kennedy fatefully travelled 60 years ago.
The plan was to get to Dealey Plaza at the exact time one of the most infamous bullets has ever been fired (some might even call it a magic bullet), but life happens and I was running late. Also, bullets are real and most assuredly not magic, despite what the lengthy Warren Commission Report concluded.
Inwood/Love Field DART Station
To save a bit of time and distance, I parked at the Inwood/Love Field DART station instead of Love Field itself. After getting a late start, I hoped to save enough time by cutting off the Love Field section of the route to get to Dealey Plaza by the time the last bullet was fired. Unfortunately this wasn't enough and I was late anyway. Maybe I’ll do the whole thing again in a few years when I myself am 46, Kennedy’s age in November of 1963.
Random scenes along Inwood. Everything is about cars. November 22, 2023.
Looking at historical aerial maps, the area looked a lot calmer in 1963 when the presidential motorcade drove through. By sometime in the 70s, what looks to have been apartment buildings were turned into the same buildings where the Ford dealership stands today. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been a Ford dealership this entire time. Whatever the case, this area isn't all that interesting of a walk.
Lemmon Ave
It was at the intersection of Inwood and Lemmon that I first noticed the signs Dallas put up on light poles to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination. "JFK was here" was displayed along the entire motorcade route.
Random scenes from Lemmon Ave. JFK was here. Whataburger, because it's Whataburger. Scary places to walk. Awesome native plants. Mia's, formerly Café Brazil. And good locations for trees, but poor species selection for an area near power lines. November 22, 2023.
Lemmon Ave today is an interesting place. It's a busy road and is somewhat stressful to walk along — the stress of which I didn't quite realize until my body relaxed after turning onto Turtle Creek — a much calmer, safer place for pedestrians.
Lemmon Ave is all about cars in a way unlike many other areas of Dallas. Nearly everything along this particular area of Lemmon is related to automobiles in some way, with car dealerships inhabiting most of the space. If you’re in the market for a car, everything is nearby — Acura, Bentley, BMW, Ford, Lexus, Maserati, MINI, Porsche, Tesla, Volkswagen, Volvo and I’m sure many more that I didn’t see.
Because I started late, I felt rushed through most of the route and wasn't able to slow down and look for the photo opportunities I'm usually after. I was really trying to make it to Dealey Plaza by 12:30pm and in doing so, I'm sure I missed a lot of things I would have found otherwise.
Turtle Creek
Turning onto Turtle Creek from Lemmon Ave was a delight. Much calmer. Less traffic. And the way the sidewalks were constructed was, for the most part, a much safer place to walk than on Lemmon.
Turtle Creek: A calmer, safer place to walk. They even block pedestrian routes to let you know that road work is just up ahead. November 22, 2023.
There were many areas where trees were planted between the street and sidewalk, making a barricade border between cars and pedestrians while also shading the area for pedestrians. This lining the street with trees is something that I hope to see along more routes in Dallas – or at least those designated as pedestrian routes – which again should probably be most streets and roads. It'd be great if pedestrian routes were much more efficient than the street network for cars, but the way we've recently designed everything around the automobile prohibits a lot of cut throughs that would make this possible. So, adding street trees it is.
Cedar Springs
I don't have much to say about Cedar Springs, other than the vibe become much more lively and is probably the place I enjoyed most during the walk. This is an area where I saw plenty of opportunities for photos that I just didn't have time to explore. Another day.
Street murals are the best. And so are walkable areas with trees acting as bollards and providing shade and all of the other wonderful things that trees provide. November 22, 2023.
Harwood
The weirdest section was on Harwood between San Jacinto and Federal. It feels like the outskirts of downtown and is in this weird dead zone where life feels almost nonexistent. Sure, there were a few people in the area, but they might as well have been zombies. The area was dark (heavily shaded at the time from buildings on both sides of the street), windy and cold. Luckily it was a short stretch. Clean, not dangerous in any way, just a dead vibe.
Main
I knew once I turned on Main with maybe 10 minutes to go before 12:30 that there was no way I was going to make it to Dealey Plaza by 12:30. But I continued to walk instead of run anyway.
This was another area that I plan to shoot multiple times because there are so many photo opportunities. One photograph I really wanted to make was of the beautiful sign at The Majestic. A family was in the way and I didn't want them in the photo. Plus, it's probably a much better look at dusk or at night anyway.
The route I did in the summer, The Allen Brooks lynching/hanging occurred on this portion of Main as well. Walking up to the lynching site and former home of the Elks Arch, I saw a woman yelling a bunch of nonsense near the remembrance sign. This is unfortunately typical. I continued towards the Old Red Courthouse in the distance.
Dealey Plaza
I finally made it into Dealey Plaza, took my right onto Houston St, and then a left onto Elm into the craziness.
I took my family to The Sixth Floor Museum a few months before this ramble. The section that photographically outlined the moments where JFK was shot and Jackie Kennedy jumped on the back of the limousine to grab fragments of her husband's skull was enough to bring me to tears in a room full of people.
As for Dealey Plaza on this day, well, it was a different kind of shit show.
The book depository building (now the Sixth Floor Museum) and Dealey Plaza. November 22, 2023.
I arrived just a few minutes after 12:30pm to a crowd of people. An event was happening on the Elm side of the street, where people who were present in 1963 were being brought up on stage to share their experience.
Also in this space, whom I can only imagine were a group of people desperate for attention, were the few who were dressed in garish patriotic garb, holding Trump signs and taking photos with anyone who asked. I believe they were a part of the group that is waiting for JFK Jr.'s return from the dead. I still have yet to make sense of that one.
On the other side of the street, on the grassy knoll, was a man yelling at people for being disrespectful of the former president's grave site. He would shout his thing, and someone from the other side up on the hill would respond with a "shut the fuck up." They went back and forth while police officers would occasionally order people to get out of the street from their megaphones. All peaceful, just chaotic.
I walked through the area as fast as possible, stopping my watch near the site of the final bullet. 5.94 miles of rucking and making photographs in 1 hour, 53 minutes and 9 seconds.
Brief Thoughts on the Fragility of Life
Along the route I often thought about life and how fragile it truly is – how important it is to be truly living. My life, your life, our lives, much like JFK's, could end at any moment.
How do I spend my time on a daily basis? What if my life were to end today? Am I happy with how I spent my time today? How I spent it yesterday?
I wonder how JFK would have answered these questions.
I often ask myself similar questions to make sure I'm not spending time on things that don't bring the fulfillment in life I seek. It seems there is a fine balance of being happy with where I'm at, while also working towards where I believe I want to be. Onwards.