Photo Essay - My Trip To Dealey Plaza

I am a John F. Kennedy assassination geek. I've pored over all the books and videos and theories. I've stopped just short of putting the autopsy photos in my wallet. So, whenever business blows me through Dallas, Texas, I can't keep myself from taking another peek at this immensely historical location.

The famed Texas Schoolbook Depository, from which Lee Harvey Oswald "allegedly" killed the President, has been virtually gutted and transformed into the Sixth Floor Museum. The first time I was there several years back, I was touring the facilities with actor Steve Buscemi. I had no celebrity sightings last week, but I did go through it all one more time. And probably saw things I didn't see the first time around. Naturally, they don't allow photography inside. But, once I got out onto Dealey Plaza, I went to town.
The fascinating thing about this whole area is that it still amazingly looks the way it did in all the pictures and newsreels I have sampled from that fateful Friday. Here's the door of the building. It's not used anymore, but, back then, this is the entrance through which Oswald probably lugged his bag lunch of fried chicken.Oswald's "alleged" perch is the corner window second from the top. Inside, it is glass enclosed and made to appear as it did in police photos. They've thankfully removed the chicken bones. You can't look out that window, but you can peer out the one right next to it. And when you see Dealey Plaza from that vantage point, you wonder how he got off three shots so quickly and so accurately.
This is what JFK saw at the beginning of the last minute of his life. Unless, of course, he was staring at the dandruff on the back of Governor Connelly's head.
This is the sign Kennedy would have seen a minute later if he had not come into close personal contact with some ammunition. The Stemmons Freeway gets you to Parkland Hospital. On that day, JFK did not pass Go, nor did he collect $200.

Nor did he get to go under the Stemmons overpass as planned. Sometimes, your vacation trips do take some odd detours.

The whole place is this hallowed historic landmark, but they still let you walk on the grass.



And, speaking of lawns, here's the infamous "grassy knoll." If there were other gunmen, this cement monstrosity provides oodles of places where a good clean shot can be made.Looking up at the window about where Kennedy took the shot to the head. I took this quickly as I was destined to be the next Dealey Plaza roadkill.There are two Xs on the street. The first one is called the "shoulder X." The one above is the "head X." X did get the square and the head. I'd like Charlie Weaver to block. These facts were illuminated to me by this bum who lives on the grassy knoll. Actually, there are several who actually provide a tourist service. They walk around, offer to take pictures, and sell you some newspaper devoted to conspiracy theories.Here's the napping homeless guy who eventually became my docent for the day. And, yes, I agreed to pose for a picture holding the newspaper he sold me.I am standing next to the stoop from which Abraham Zapruder shot his home movie of Kennedy's head coming apart like a pinata in a Mexican pre-school. The bum told me so.My photography work from the famous Zapruder perch. The bum suggested this camera angle.The whole area has been perked up as you can see by the presence of a conveniently located Morton's Steakhouse, where I enjoyed a delicious ribeye steak with my Dallas buddy Bill. The bum did not join us.
Dinner last night: Pepperoni and olive pizza at Pizza Beat in Yonkers.