Southfork Ranch Trip

The weekend of December 13 we drove to Dallas for a fun weekend away with my parents. My mom and I are huge fans of the TV show Dallas, so I thought it would be fun to take them to Southfork Ranch. It's a real ranch where many of the episodes were filmed.

Not far from the ranch is the Southfork Hotel, owned by the same people who own the ranch. We decided to stay there for the convenience since the price was comparable to other nearby hotels. We checked in Saturday afternoon and were welcomed by a great collection of show memorabilia:

We were also given a free gift which was a fridge magnet of the new Dallas cast. The rooms were pretty nice and it was cool to watch endless Dallas re-runs on the TV:

Dallas is about a 4 hour drive from where we live so after check in, it was time for dinner. We ate at the Saltgrass Steakhouse, which is a restaurant we don't have locally.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, where we decided we had to have a drink in the famed Cattlemen's Club from the show:

They serve a bourbon in honor of JR:

I like whisky but I prefer to mix it, so I got a bourbon and coke, but still toasted to JR:

After drinks, it was time to go bed. The next day we would tour the ranch itself.

The next day we left the hotel in the morning to head to Southfork Ranch. We were driven in our own car which was fun! We started in a welcome center where we met a guy who worked on the show (I can't remember in what capacity exactly). He told us some fun secrets and facts about the show.

Then we got to wear the characters' hats and pose for a picture:

After that we were taken to the ranch:

If I couldn't get married at Disney, I wanted to get married at Southfork. It probably doesn't look like anything special from the pictures I took on a cold, rainy day in December, but it was pretty.

We had a tour guide show us around the house, starting with the entry and the living room:

Followed by the study, which had pictures placed as if the house was actually lived in:

You might be interested to know that filming never took place inside the house because when the show started, a real family lived in the house. They allowed external filming all over the ranch, but would not allow internal filming because they wanted the privacy to raise their family. The owners sold the ranch when the popularity of the show made living there too difficult. People would leave gift for the actors, even get well cards when JR got sick in the show. Funny thing is, they decided to move to Oklahoma instead!

The only place inside the house where filming occurred was in one area at the back. The rooms were turned into the Nuevo Laredo set for the scenes where JR goes to Mexico to frame Cliff Barnes for his death:

JR's motel room

How authorities find the room after JR is shot and killed:

Next we went outside to see where some more of the show was filmed:

The garage - all that's missing is Christopher's flashy sports car!

Pool from the balcony

Next we walked more around the grounds to see other sights from the show:

Several scenes were shot in this barn

We saw the family cemetery, although these were moved to another location for the filming of JR's funeral, then moved back:

Next stop was Elena's house:

Filming took place inside and outside Elena's cottage. Here's her kitchen:

Living Room

Bedroom

Study

And then our tour was over. We walked back through the grounds and out through the gift shop of course! One of the cars from the show was on display:

I liked the pictures they had on the wall honoring the cast through the years:

Olly tried on a hat that really suited him!

But he didn't buy it. I however bought a windbreaker with the Southfork Ranch logo on it :) And with that we left the ranch and headed home. Bye bye Dallas, I will miss you