The rooms at the old Texas Tourist Camp are empty now; the cabins closed their doors to travelers back in the 1970s. The once bustling highway in front of it doesn’t get much traffic since the Interstate Highway was routed around the other side of town.
The Texas Tourist Camp
As I walked around to take these pictures, I could almost hear the echoes of the laughter of traveler’s from long ago.
Emty Room at the Texas Tourist Camp
Though it seems forlorn these days, back in its heyday in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, this was a popular roadside stop in my neck of the woods. Back in 1927, a man by the name of C. F. Boydston built a gas station and a wooden shed on a former feed lot. He allowed travelers to camp for the night and build fires. Later he added three cabins with garages. By 1935, he had added more cabins and a “lunchroom” and he spruced the place up by siding all the wooden buildings with locally quarried petrified wood and stone.
The lunchroom was a big hit with travelers, and the train often stopped to let hungry passengers grab a bite to eat there. Some claim that Bonnie and Clyde once stayed here, although everysmall town in north Texas boasts that those two outlaws visited. Why in Thunder anyone wants to brag that they were a hangout for murdering thieves, I couldn’t tell you.
This camp is nestled on the side of Business Hwy 287 outside of Decatur, Texas. If you happen down that road, you can blink and miss it — if you didn’t see that petrified wood gas station (which stopped selling gasoline back in 1989) and The Whistle Stop Cafe (which is the re-incarnation of the old lunchroom).
Petrified Wood Gas Station
The Whistle Stop Cafe
I’d read about The Whistle Stop Cafe in my Texas Monthly Magazine, where it was listed in the Top 40 best small town cafes. Indeed, I ate there, but I made a mistake. I ordered the lunch special, and I should know better than to do that. It was roast beef, and obviously it had been sitting on the stove long enough to get dry, so they stirred it up with some gravy. Although it was tasty it wasn’t what I had envisioned, and I could feel my arteries clogging as I ate. The buttermilk pie that I had for dessert was divine, but I was extremely disappointed that the restaurant didn’t capitalize on their name and offer fried green tomatoes. Perhaps the owners don’t read Fannie Flagg novels?
Oh, yes, I’ll eat there again someday. But, I’ll be ordering that hamburger that the fella next to me ordered. I tell you what, I looked at that longingly as he wolfed it down. Sure, it’s still full of cholesterol, but it looked wonderful. If you go there at lunchtime, be aware that it is a very popular local hangout. Also be aware that The Whistle Stop Cafe (located at 904 S. Business U.S. 287; phone: 940-627-7785) isn’t open on weekends — no matter what Texas Monthly tells you. I don’t want you to find that out the hard way.
If you make a trip to Decatur, there are plenty of other places to explore in the downtown area. I’ll tell you more on another go around.
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{ 2 comments }
What a cool looking place! I’m crazy about the Petrified Wood Gas Station. Is that a little store inside the building? I’m with you on the roast beef. I love it, but it has to be rare and juicy. Once it’s too well done and dried out, no thanks. Buttermilk pie? I’ve never heard of that. It sounds delicious! I’m going to look up a recipe and see if I can get the hubby to make me some (hee hee)
.-= Jessica The Rock Chick´s last blog ..Carnival Games (Summer Stock Sunday) =-.
Buttermilk pie is almost heaven! If you can get your husband to cook one, let me know and I’ll gas up the car and head that way
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