To the Grill
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- Jul 20
- 5 min read
When I left off, I had just gotten us back to the AirBnB after a very curious day in which we’d been appalled by the treacherous Water Gardens of Fort Worth, and were a little freaked out by the gray and grim nature of the building in which our room was to be found.
The following morning didn’t seem like it was going to improve matters. For some reason, when we got up, it seemed extra-dark outside, though wasn’t cloudy, and it was already after seven. Happily, things gradually brightened up, and Martha suggested we walk to breakfast. She’d found a near-by cafe that sounded interesting.
So, off we went. We walked and walked, following the directions from our phones. But, when we came to the location specified, there was no sign of the cafe. Instead, we found ourselves at the base of the City Center Fort Worth, which is a relatively new collection of linked buildings that is proudly advertised as “Downtown Fort Worth’s Premier Business Address.”(1) There were a couple of towers, a hotel, and a converted firehouse, but nothing that looked like, well, breakfast.
Finally, I went into one of the buildings, when to the service desk, and asked if anyone knew where the cafe might be. The clerk I asked brightened at the name and said, “Oh, that’s upstairs,” and gave me directions to the elevators.
So, up we went, and sure enough, when the elevator doors opened, there was our destination--the 203 Cafe.(2)
I think we’d been expecting an old-fashioned, downtown coffee shop...which, to a certain extent, it was. But, also, it was the kind of restaurant that you find in business-oriented areas where professional people dash in and out for a quick bite between appointments, or from which they order meals that are to be delivered to their offices. I know such places well. I’ve eaten a lot of sandwiches from them over the years. You’d be surprised how good the food can be.
About the photos: First, the mysterious gateway to the charming 203 Cafe. Second, Martha in the Stockyard District. We’ll visit that shortly. And, finally, an actual video of someone hearing me make one of my better jokes. (Okay, this is actually AI, but it’s pretty accurate.)
We entered. The staff was pleasant and I think they were a little amused at having in their midst a couple of obvious senior citizens who were clearly tourists ...and probably lost tourists at that...but who had (for some inexplicable reason) wandered in off the street and up two floors in search of their cafe.
But, they were very pleasant, and we ended up having a nice conversation with the young gentleman who was the cook. We were trying to read the menu that was on an electronic screen over his head. But the letters were pale and they moved by quickly. We couldn’t read them, so I ended up asking him what it said.
He smiled and tried to excuse my poor vision, “It does move fast, doesn’t it?” I said, yes, but added that the real issue wasn’t the sign but the fact that my poor little eyes were getting long in the tooth (how’s that for a mixed metaphor?) and I couldn’t see as well as I once did. “It’s called the Boomer Squint,” I said. “You see it all the time.”
He paused. Then he gave me THAT look. I see it a lot. I see it when people are trying to decide whether I’m making a joke or have gone stark raving mad. Like I say, I’m quite familiar with it. Shows up a lot in my personal interactions. Fortunately, he was one of the quick ones and, after a concerned moment, laughed (albeit it was a kind of nervous laugh), and told me what was on offer.
We ordered egg sandwiches. They proved to be very good, actually. And the coffee was excellent.
Finished, we headed back down the elevator. From there, we walked back back to the AirBnB...getting lost only twice, which is doing good for me. And then, once we arrived, we only had a brief but comic episode of trying to get back in because, you see, there was one electronic AI-managed gate for cars and another electronic AI-managed gate for people...but the gate meant for people, well, er, didn’t seem to like people very much. It kept *almost* but not quite opening and then swinging back shut again, quick as a wink, and I’d swear it was cussing me out the whole time. I’m sure I heard it say, “Comes the Singularity, you guys are gonna be toast.”
Fortunately, after much sweating and entering and re-entering (multiple times) the “entry code,” and a large number of oaths whispered under my breath (all involving exactly what I’d like to do with a large hammer to the electronics that were running the thing), the gate swung open.
After that, we rested a bit (needed it after that gate episode), and then we got ourselves ready. Today we planned to go to our next major goal--The Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. I gotta confess, we were a little concerned. Our first goal, the Water Gardens, had been such a bust that we were a little afraid. Would the Botanical Gardens be as disappointing? Had we come all this way for, basically, nothing?
Well, we thought, only one way to find out. So, we got more directions to the place on your phone map apps, and were on our merry way once more.
Oh, and just in case you’re wondering? The answer to the question of whether the Botanics would be another debacle?
It’s...nope.
The place was terrific.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. City Center Fort Worth has a webpage here: https://citycenterfw.com/
2. The 203’s webpage is here: https://203cafe.com/
Copyright©2025 Michael Jay Tucker
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