Ghost Hunting At The Saint Anthony Hotel. Part Two.

November 3, 2010

“What’s the matter with this doggone elevator?” I thought, as I pushed the button for the ninth floor again. After our ghost tour at The Saint Anthony Hotel, my friend had plopped into bed, but I was too excited to sleep. I had gone from our room on the ninth floor to visit the tenth [...]

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Ghost Hunting At The Saint Anthony Hotel. Part One.

November 1, 2010

“Ninety per cent of our hotel staff is too frightened to work on this floor,” he said as the elevator doors opened on the tenth floor of the Saint Anthony Hotel. With a mischievous smirk, he led us out of the elevator and down the corridor to room 1080 which is (according to the staff) [...]

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It’s A Storytelling Festival

March 10, 2010

It’s happening this weekend: The 25th Annual Texas Storytelling Festival! And, it’s right here in Denton, Texas from March 11-14, 2010. It hardly seems possible that it was twenty-five years ago, when a friend of mine had a dream. Finley Stewart, about whom I have posted before, wanted to bring together storytellers and story listeners [...]

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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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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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Dancing Around In Cypress

November 23, 2009

An intrepid reporter would have let nothing stand in her way in her quest for a story to give you about Cypress, Texas when she visited. Driving in rush hour traffic to find a location would not have shaken her steely resolve. In cold and rainy weather, she still would have taken her trusty camera [...]

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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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Scaring Ourselves Silly in San Antonio

October 27, 2009

The Menger Hotel in downtown San Antonio is our destination this Friday night. I did tell you it is haunted, didn’t I? My friend Judy and I are getting excited! We have our room booked (we are going to share a room, because we are a couple of scaredy cats) AND we are scheduled to [...]

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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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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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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. Chris, one [...]

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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 for the [...]

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Vertigo Hats Gave Me Balance

August 13, 2009

I was in Austin, Texas without a hat! I confess that I felt nekkid — I was out of balance. From the window of our fourth floor (haunted) room at the Driskill, we could see a hat shop called “Vertigo.” We took a break from our ghost hunt and headed over there to shop. We [...]

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Ghost Hunt at The Driskill Hotel. Part 2.

August 12, 2009

We continued traipsing through the halls of the Driskill in our search for some kind of ghostly presence. In the bar, the leering steer hanging on the wall was a bit frightening. I’m not fond of hanging dead critters on the wall, but then I guess the management had to prove that this is Texas [...]

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Ghost Hunt at The Driskill Hotel. Part 1.

August 11, 2009

They told me our room was a “haunted room.” Supposedly the Driskill Hotel has a lot of ghosts walking its hallways. We went to Austin, Texas to try to see one. Actually, we went to see the bat colony take flight from under the Congress Avenue Bridge, but staying at the Driskill was an added [...]

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The Haunted Driskill Hotel in Black and White

August 10, 2009

On our recent trip to Austin to view the bat flight at Congress Avenue bridge, we stayed at a landmark hotel. The Driskill Hotel is located on Brazos Street in the heart of downtown Austin. It was built in 1886 by a fellow named Jesse Driskill, who was not only a cattle baron, but had [...]

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