An Enchanted Evening At Ancient Ovens

September 7, 2011

I almost didn’t tell y’all about my new discovery, because I’m selfish and wanted it to be my secret. However, you deserve to know about Ancient Ovens; which offers fine dining in Saint Jo, Texas. “Do whut?” you ask. It’s true, although I know you don’t believe that if you have driven through the town [...]

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Artful Chocolates in Granbury

August 31, 2011

If you go to Granbury, Texas you must take a cooler with ice! I’m telling you this as your friend, because you are going to see The Art of Chocolate Shoppe and want to bring home some of their delightful specialties! In this Texas heat, it won’t go far. Have you ever tried to suck [...]

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Arché Winery. A Good Beginning.

August 22, 2011

When one thinks of regions that produce “fine wine,” I don’t think that North Texas is the first place to pop into one’s head. Pity the unenlightened! You who scoff, put a cork in it! I heard it through the grapevine that there are a number of good wineries in my “stomping ground;” Arché Winery [...]

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My New Favorite Restaurant

March 19, 2011

When I was growing up, in Grapevine, we didn’t have a “delicatessen.” If we wanted food in a hurry, we went to the Royal Dairy, which was our version of the Dairy Queen. That’s about as “fine” as food got for us. I know, I know … it’s a sad story. Even as a grownup, [...]

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A Harvest Of Fun At Penn Farm Festival

October 17, 2010

Penn Farm Agricultural History Center, at Cedar Hill State Park, is a delightful glimpse of the past. It’s a farmstead that was first settled in 1854 that has been preserved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. I didn’t get enough of it this weekend as I wandered around the place during the Harvest Heritage [...]

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Experiencing The Dallas Farmer’s Market

September 15, 2010

Elbowing my way through the mass of people at The Dallas Farmer’s Market, I could only think, “This is like grocery shopping at The State Fair!” It had the crowds, the lines, and the noise … without any thrilling rides, decadent corny dogs, or fried Frito pie. There was a vendor selling some very tempting [...]

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Long Gone

July 12, 2010

Perhaps I expected to see remnants of my Grandfather’s farm in Styx … although I knew it couldn’t look as it did in the pictures that have survived. This photograph of Granddaddy and his oldest children must have been taken in the summer of 1924, since my mother is not in the picture. She came [...]

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Flaming Fajitas At La Familia

April 25, 2010

You might think that it is absolutely a coincidence that the Fort Worth Fire Department showed up at La Familia Restaurant this last weekend. Is it? Perhaps they know that La Familia has the hottest fajitas in town! Right at the table, the waiters pour tequila over the meat and flames it. This is just [...]

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I’m Too Jaded For The Fort Worth Stockyards

April 21, 2010

When people visit from out of town, the Fort Worth Stockyards is NOT the first place I want to take them. In fact, I avoid taking them there unless they whine … and bribe me with bacon … chocolate … money. I know that if you aren’t from Texas you think that this place is [...]

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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, antiseptic structures (with [...]

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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 top five barbecue [...]

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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 the [...]

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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.” It’s not pornographic! [...]

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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 waiting for [...]

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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 to [...]

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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 stations are attached [...]

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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 and [...]

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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 probably won’t [...]

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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 not a zoo [...]

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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?” I [...]

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