Although Dallas is a huge thriving city, I actually found very little that interested me from a tourist perspective.  It’s probably more of a business canter than a tourist destination.  I did visit the John F Kennedy Memorial there, however.  In remembrance of his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963, a memorial has been constructed at the place he was shot.

Considering that Kennedy was one of the best known and liked presidents, I expected something quite grand and moving for his memorial.  I was rather disappointed.  As you can see, it’s just a big concrete box.  The sign said that it was supposed to be a place of quiet refuge — it wasn’t, the noise of the city was quite apparent, both outside and inside the walls.

I thought that maybe I was missing something and tried it from different angles.  But no.  This is not attractive or even interesting from any angle, in my opinion.

The memorial is supposed to be a place for contemplation.  Inside, it felt like a prison.

I went down the street to see the former Texas School Book Depository building, where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot from the sixth floor corner room as the motorcade passed.  There seems to be a small museum in that room now.

For such a significant event in the nation’s history, the site was really rather insignificant.  Even if my artistic taste wasn’t satisfied by the memorial itself, I somehow expected more pageantry, or spiritual and patriotic symbolism.  But a concrete cube in the middle of a dirty, noisy city was all.

Driving south again and thinking about the difference between the Oklahoma City and the Kennedy Memorials, my route took me through Houston.  Although I only saw it from the highway, it looked like a much more modern and well maintained city.  Certainly the road infrastructure was significantly better (Dallas was a rats nest of horrible freeways, which all seemed to be under construction).  Maybe Houston would be worth a second look some day.