Thanksgiving Square

My brother wrote an amazing post for Roadrunner America about visiting Thanksgiving Square! You can check it out here:

http://www.roadrunneramerica.com/2018/12/thanksgiving-square-in-dallas-tx.html

It was a chilly morning, and we were very glad to have a cup of hot coffee before the train departed.

During the last week before leaving Texas, my brother took Pinky and me on a day trip to downtown Dallas. Even though I've lived in north Texas all my life (before moving to Thailand), I have only been to Dallas a handful of times. I'm more of a Fort Worth kind of guy, I guess! It was Pinky's first time to Dallas, and my first visit in years, so we were both very excited as we boarded the TRE on that cold, rainy Texas winter morning.

Thanksgiving Chapel in downtown Dallas

After visiting the John F. Kennedy memorial at the amazing 6th floor museum, and walking around downtown for a while (visiting the museum and the cathedral), we ended up at Thanksgiving Square, a beautiful and tranquil spiritual site right in the heart of downtown.

the Ring of Thanks

Thanksgiving Chapel, a spiral of white concrete that points up towards Heaven was designed after the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq. Thanksgiving Square is a non-denominational and multi-faith public square and garden that is dedicated to the American values of Thanksgiving. It was constructed and dedicated in 1976.

Thanksgiving Bell Tower

There are several structures in the garden although the Chapel of Thanksgiving is the most famous. The bell tower at the square has three bells, each modeled after the Liberty Bell. Just behind the bell tower is the "Ring of Thanks", a huge golden ring that symbolizes unity and love.

The Court of All Nations

A mosaic depicting Norma Rockwell's Golden Rule depicts people from a variety of cultures and faiths praying and giving thanks. This area, the Court of All Nations at Thanksgiving Square, hosts many different cultural festivals and exhibitions throughout the year.

inspirational quotes at the central grove

It was a very cold, windy morning, and had been drizzling icy rain on and off. Because of this (also because it was a work day), nobody else was out at Thanksgiving Square that morning. We had the whole place to ourselves!

inside the Ring of Thanks

The main feature at Thanksgiving Square is the Chapel of Thanksgiving. From the outside, it might look a little plain, but the interior took my breath away. The ceiling was an incredible spiral of colorful stained glass.

incredible stained glass spiral ceiling at Thanksgiving Square

The stained glass ceiling is called the "Glory Window", and it is made up of 73 unique panels, the colors of the glass becoming warmer as the spiral reaches the apex. This is the largest horizontal stained-glass feature in the world.

the Chapel of Thanks has some of the most beautiful stained glass