Day 11, July 13: Abilene to Bossier City

Breakfast was a simple visit to the hotel lobby for the free "expanded continental" bar. Then we were off to Dallas and Dealey Plaza, as close to a religious destination as these two non-religious people have. That required making our way through the fabled Metroplex, and just outside the area we were introduced to the ever-diligent Texas Highway Patrol. I had the Explorer on cruise control around 80 in a 70-mph zone, and that was apparently soooooo unsafe that it required a trooper to make a Dukes of Hazzard U-turn across the median and dart in front of highway traffic to stop such lawlessness. We got off with a warning, and then we saw the same guy stop the first guy he spotted once we went on our way. Between there and Dallas we saw at least half a dozen people pulled over, plus a lot of people driving a lot slower than you'd expect. The scare tactics must be working. You have to wonder what in the world this police state is thinking when it would rather have 100 cars doing 60 on top of one another than see somebody speed up and stay the hell out of the way.

I had already been to Dealey Plaza, but Jacqueline had not. It's surreal to be on a city street and see the familiar sight of the Texas School Book Depository and the grassy knoll and the triple underpass and the stockade fence and the Zapruder parapet. We really needed to find a restroom, so we paid 10 bucks each to go into the Sixth Floor Museum, as the depository is now known. It's an OK museum, but nothing special. You get to look out a window near Oswald's window, but the actual sniper's nest is behind glass. No photos are allowed inside, which is a shame.

We then made our rounds in the plaza itself, taking plenty of pictures. Then it was a quick walk to lunch with my blog friend Nicole, a copy editor at the Dallas Morning News. Good company plus good barbecue at the West End branch of Sonny Bryan's.

You don't really appreciate the Bible Belt-ness of the Bible Belt until you turn on the radio. Nothing but Bible. We listened to one Christian talk show that was particularly amusing. A particularly dim caller wanted to know whether there was any biblical basis for some stupid small-talk expression involving God that I had never heard of. The ultra-sincere hosts answered patiently, but the caller kept asking stupid follow-ups. We finally gave up.

The long drive to Louisiana was worth it. When we booked a room at the Horseshoe in Bossier City,we expected something gritty (like the Horseshoe in Las Vegas). What we found was luxurious by any standards, let alone Bossier City, La., standards. The room was nicer than the standard rooms at Bellagio. The three-level casino was a little disappointing in its video-poker selection and its low-ceilinged smokiness, but there was $5 blackjack and $5 craps, which we hadn't expected. The blackjack conditions could be among the best in the nation: It's a six-deck shoe, near as we could tell, but the dealer stands on soft 17 and you can resplit aces and you can double after splitting non-aces and, for those (not us!) who count cards, the "penetration" (how far into the shoe they go before shuffling) is very deep. We were about even after losing at video poker and winning at blackjack, but the craps session (again, good conditions -- 100 times odds!) tapped us out.

We had a late coffee-shop dinner. Again, at least as good as Vegas: We shared some spicy Louisiana meat pies. I had some very good fried catfish (lemon-pepper breading, I think), and Jacqueline had an open-face hot turkey sandwich made from what appeared to be real turkey.

Did I mention the excellent drink service?