New and Now a Saturday Regular Feature

Sunshine from: http://small-impressions.blogspot.com/

About a year ago I had more time on my hands than I wanted. One way I chose to fill the time was to write, and particularly to write in this weblog. Another time-killer was exploring the web via StumbleUpon, a social network application that delivers a grab-bag of web pages based on the "stumblers" likes and dislikes.

About 75% of what you stumble upon is not worth much thought, about 20% is worth a little time to investigate, and about 5% is very good and worth bookmarking. The painting (above) is pulled from one of the websites I found and still enjoy frequently. I like the choice of artwork posted on this website, especially the paintings of the blog host.

That's it, that's my post for Saturday, a good website on art with many contemporary artists.

http://painting.stumbleupon.com/

Benito's: a Very Good Breakfast

We went for an early lunch at Benito's last Sunday. After we were seated, I noticed that the table next to us was being served breakfast -- and it looked good.

So the four of us ordered breakfast. And it was good.

I had Huevos con Chorizo (delicious), my son Andrew had the Chila Quiles, which he said was the best he has had. Beans and rice are served with the dishes. Here's the kicker: about $6 each dish, for a meal that is enough to last you all day.

We have always enjoyed Benito's for good, local Mexican food but the breakfast was a surprise.

When I go to Benito's for lunch or dinner I always get the pork tacos. We also like a side of fresh, warm, corn tortillas. Benito's is a locally owned family restaurant and best of all, the management, servers, and staff seem to appreciate you being there.

Benito's: 1450 W. Magnolia Ave. (at Fairmount Ave.) Ft. Worth, TX 76104

Cranes!

When was the last time a major hotel was built in the immediate Fort Worth area? We've had some re-development, such as the Courtyard Marriott downtown, but nothing like this in my memory.

Omni Hotels brings Fort Worth a great hotel and the ability to attract larger and better conventions. Currently, we are attracting conventions in the lower levels of medium size and competing with Grapevine and Arlington to get them. Dallas is in another category. The really big shows go to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Hawaii, Chicago, New York, and until Katrina, New Orleans. The Omni, directly across from the Convention Center, helps a lot in our category.

The Omni will have around 600 rooms. Add to that, the old Plaza Hotel, soon to be Sheraton with 400 rooms and a $50 million renovation and we're getting close to respectable. Plus, River Plaza on University and I30 has a planned $110 million hotel/shopping/office complex. Completion date: 2010.

I haven't seen this many cranes in Fort Worth for years. 7th Street, center-city downtown, Trinity river downtown and Arlington's Dallas Cowboy's Stadium has a crane or two as well.

Not bad for a recession-like economy. Somebody's betting on growth.

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Another question: Lancaster Boulevard downtown looks great, but I thought we were getting more of a promenade look. Where's the promenade?