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Prairies and Lakes

Reflecting on Caldwell County Courthouse

March 10, 2010

I adore old courthouses. I marvel at the care that was taken a century or more ago to build the government seat. Courthouses built in the late 1800s, even those built in tiny towns, often have lovely architectural embellishments. Have you noticed that most government offices we build these days are sterile, [...]

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You Could Smell Their Pits A Mile Away

March 7, 2010

Not their armpits … their barbecue pits. Our noses told us that Smitty’s Market was near long before we spotted the place. Although the town of Lockhart has four barbecue joints, and calls itself “The Barbecue Capitol of Texas,” we were in search of “Smitty’s.” It had been named one of the [...]

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Suspended In Time

March 2, 2010

I stood on the wooden planks of this suspension bridge in Waco and closed my eyes, trying to conjure days long ago. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, it wasn’t hard to imagine a herd of Texas cattle, with their eyes rolling in fear, jostling and shoving each other on this bridge as they crossed [...]

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Outlaws in Pilot Point

February 17, 2010

I forgot to tell you the Bonnie and Clyde connection to Pilot Point, Texas. I showed you a picture of the Farmer’s and Merchants Bank (which is now an art gallery), but I didn’t tell you its historical highlight. You didn’t see the bank? Check out the post about “bare nekkid ladies.” [...]

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Tough Times in Tioga, Texas

February 9, 2010

The tiny town of Tioga, Texas squats on Highway 377 in Grayson County one town north of Pilot Point, where I showed you the bare nekkid ladies on the mural. Tioga was established back in 1881 and was famed for its mineral water. Today, it seems like it is holding its breath and [...]

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Bare Nekkid Ladies in Pilot Point, Texas

February 8, 2010

Pilot Point is a tiny town in Grayson County, Texas on Highway 377, which is my neck of the woods. In 2003, a local business commissioned a mural for the side of his business that caused a pretty big stink across the country.
Not that one, of course. Nobody in this town would object [...]

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A Gas-tronomical Adventure at Chef Point Cafe

January 2, 2010

A five star restaurant at a gas station? Yes, you can find that in my neck of the woods. Chef Point Cafe is nestled inside this Conoco Station located on Watauga Road in the Texas community of Watauga … population: 24,005, SAA-LUTE! Oops, my Hee Haw roots are showing.
Nowadays, most gasoline [...]

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Stepping Back in Time in Salado, Texas

October 28, 2009

As I travel south from Fort Worth to San Antonio, I often get my “mouth set” for a stop in Salado, Texas. It has been a resting place for traveler’s since long ago. This tiny town north of Austin on Interstate 35, was once bisected by The Chisholm Trail but before that the Comanche [...]

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Off To See The Wizard Wells

October 26, 2009

The lure of the road sign that pointed northeast toward “Wizard Wells” finally became too much to ignore. I’ve seen that sign for years … and wondered about it … but I never took time to investigate. Curiosity got the better of us, so we detoured from Highway 114 in Jack County. You [...]

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A Good Sanctuary For Exotic Animals

August 28, 2009

Perhaps a big cat in a “cage” doesn’t seem at first like a “good” thing … at least not for the cat (although, trust me, you want a barrier). At the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary there are sixty rescued cats enclosed, along with twelve bears. It is a VERY good thing. It’s [...]

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Alien Buried at Aurora?

August 23, 2009

When I performed at the Newark Public Library, I met a woman who had grown up in Wise County. She looked pretty smart, so I asked her, “Is there anything nearby notable enough to photograph?”
“Well,” she said. “Let me think a minute … have you seen the alien cemetery at Aurora?”
“Say whut?” [...]

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Sweetie Pie’s Ribeyes In Decatur Has The World’s Best Baked ‘Tater

August 22, 2009

Maybe that generalization is a little sweeping, but the baked potatoes at Sweetie Pie’s are darned good!
Now, doesn’t that make your mouth water? But, wait! You don’t know how they cook them. That’s the part that fascinated me. See, they have these two enormous vats, with racks to hold the baked potatoes. [...]

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Roaming Around Rhome

August 15, 2009

I told y’all not too long ago that “all roads lead to Rhome.”
I was talking about the tiny hamlet of Rhome, Texas. Whenever I get lost, I wind up there. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to tell stories at the Rhome Public Library (through a grant generously given by The Texas Women [...]

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Al-Amir Lebanese Restaurant in Addison. I Fell For It Hookah, Line, and Sinker

July 30, 2009

Belly dancers! International music! Hookahs! We missed it all, because we arrived for the lunch buffet at Al-Amir … and that entertainment is only offered in the evenings. Doggone it! Al-Amir is a Lebanese restaurant in Addison, Texas (there is one in Dallas, too) that we found quite [...]

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I Brake For Historical Markers

July 8, 2009

How many Methodists can you pack into 256 square feet?
I guess that was the question back in the early 1870’s, because this log cabin served as the first place of worship for area Methodists in Chico, Texas (Wise County). The tiny cabin was created from half-notched, rough-hewn, oak logs and, according to the historical [...]

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The Shell of A Roadside Attraction in Decatur

July 4, 2009

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.
As I walked around to take these pictures, I [...]

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Lavender’s Blue, Dilly Dilly. Lavender Ridge Farms near Gainesville, Texas

June 27, 2009

“Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly, lavender’s green,
When I am king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen.
Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?
‘Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so.” ~English folk song
Actually, “lavender” is “a pale to light [...]

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I’m So Glad Spoons Cafe In McKinney Is In My Neck Of The Woods!

June 20, 2009

Y’all know by now that I’m a gal who likes to eat. If I find a restaurant I like, I’ll go out of my way to visit. “Spoons,” in McKinney, is one of those places. I had visited it more than a year ago during an Arts Walk night in the town. [...]

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Interlude

June 17, 2009

“The sun rose to a cloudless sky and what seemed to be an endless sea of waving grass. The prairie goes on forever as far as the eye can see. The wildflowers make it look like a floral tapestry woven with threads of yellow, white, blue, lavender and pink” ~ Nellie Morgan, 1855.
Back [...]

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Jurassic Texas

June 15, 2009

Dinosaurs!
I encountered a small exhibit of them at The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas, which is right here in my neck of the woods.
My children went through a period when they both loved anything to do with prehistoric reptiles. I delighted in this interest, because [...]

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