Trip Report - Lone Star Park

[Pegasus44]

I'll answer the question before it's even asked....

I'm here in beautiful, cultural Plano TX on business. And it's a thousand degrees.

8:30 am...Enterprise arrives at the hotel with the rental....Chevy P.O.S., aka Aveo or Aleo or something. Needs an alingment.

8:50 am...drive the dude back to Enterprise, check it for dents and scratches, sign here, here, here, here and here...annnnnnnd I'm OFF!

9:40 am...arrive JFK Memorial at Dealey Plaza. Never been here before, and I thought there'd be more folks here. I was one of maybe 6 people visiting the memorial. In fact, as I was driving around looking for parking, I suddenly found myself driving down the very street where it all happened. Drive down the sreet, hang a left, and boom, I was there and through it in a few seconds. Had to hang a U.

It was very eerie to stand in the SPOT...and you know what SPOT I mean. Plaza is smaller than I've seen in the Zapruder Film, smaller than in the JFK movie with Costner, and all the documentaries I've ever seen. Surprised to see how unchanged the entire area around the grassy knoll is. I stood behind the fence where the supposed second gunman was. Easy shot. And that 6th floor window....very difficult shot. Conclusion: there was more than one shooter...had to be.

11:15 am...arrive at the new Cowboys Stadium. One word...Holy Freakin Guacamole....not just the most impressive stadium, but one of the most impressive BUILDINGS you'll ever see. Think Crystal Cathedral times 1000. Glorious. I only got to look at the outside. (sorry, no pics). If the Super Bowl ever gets a permanent home, this should be it. The neighborhood around it features the Rangers Ballpark, a 6-Flags, a Wal-Mart, some mom/pop stores that would fit in anywhere in Boyle Heights, and a greasy spoon called the Pitt Grill that was built seemingly when the Cowboys were the Texans...and I enjoyed my 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon and 2 pieces of sausage for $5.99 immensely.

12:00 pm....arrive Lone Star Park. Nice little track. Very clean, nice curb appeal, easy to access. Hard to picure how they accomodated a BC, though. Doesn't seem large enough.

The simo is located on-property in a separate building, and it was every bit the rival of the finest Vegas race books. Good sight lines, excellent table service, including table runners. Plenty of SAMs. Good size crowd, too. Best news of all: full cards from everywhere, including puppies from FLA.

Wagering was successful in the beginning, not so much at the end. I tend to have good lick, no stick. I managed to hit some exactas and a tri at Togie and MTH, and I shall red-board and state that I isolated the bomber in the finale from Togie. Alas, I committed the cardinal sin and had not a dime on him straight...and my exotic was worth nada. I had two 3-of-4 P4s to add to my never-ending list of close calls. Oh well...

My DMR play was not good. I couldn't pick a winner there today to save anyone's life...including fredo, JB, AG, Scooter, Tony the Pony or even DOC. Sorry guys, I wagered everyone's body organs and you're all now on life-support. (all the above would do the same to me.)

Side note for the gents: Some nice looking talent here. (sorry, no pics)

5 more days here, then back home to Ventura County, then a return trip back here for another 6 days.

Thank you for your kind attention.

[Vince P]

Agree with the smallish size, but I have to say, the BC there was one of the best ever for comforts and I'm not saying that because I saw the fastest horse in BC history romp there either.

Also agree on their simi-facility as one of the best; plus at the simul, they have, this side of In 'N Out, probably the best vanilla milkshake in history - made the old fashioned way and put into a fancy glass.

As for the women there, during the BC, people told me they were "plants" because there were so many gorgeous women at LS. Not sure if that was the real reason but who cares - I've never seen anything like it.

Maui and I also did the JFK thing and I finally figured out what really happened.

Vince P

[Maui]

me and vince p did the tour on a dark day and we both came to the conclusion that homeboy couldn't have acted alone. the angle from the sipository window was way too sharp to fire off 3 shots in 6 seconds.
http://www.jfk.org/go/about

the simo building is kinda nice. we stayed at ghettofabulous motel sex right next to the track and while it was convenient, i'm not sure if i'd stay there again. the bed bugs weren't too prevalent so maybe i'll reconsider if the opportunity presents itself again. after the bc, i realized that i didn't cash a $576. p3 ticket in before heading back to motel sex so i ran (figuratively) back to the simo center like at 8pm. there are no sidewalks on the streets leading up to lone star and the roads are lined with foliage so any fool coulda jacked and sodomized me if he so desired. you also have to watch for those mounds created by the fire ants as well so suffice to say i ran like freaking usain bolt until i got inside. i ended up taking a cab home from the simo center and while the ride lasted like 2 minutes, for $10. it was prolly worthwhile.

i thoroughly enjoyed my stay at lone star and hopefully they will host the event again someday.

[LuckyDuck]

Thanks for your trip report. Enjoy the rest of the visit

[Kermit]

The parking was the problem at LS's BC. Horrible.

The plaza - they cut down an old-growth Live Oak tree that was blocking the shot from the 6th story. No one knows who said to do it.
No way was there one shooter.

I will be there tomorrow if you want to say hi. 100 yr old bald white guy, grey fumanchu. Oh wait, I just described most of the white patrons.

[Kermit]

"...Drive down the street, hang a left, and boom..."