Losing a Historical Treasure: Palacios’ Luther Hotel

   The phrase “seaside resort” brings to mind elegant escapes to the shore to listen to the waves break and take in the warmth of the sunshine. And people have been doing just that at The Luther Hotel in Palacios since it was bult in 1903.

   The Luther Hotel holds a unique place in Texas history as well as in the hearts of generations of visitors and their families whose generations have stayed there across 100 years. It’s one of the few surviving Gulf Coast hotels built to attract tourists in the early 20th century.

   Small towns started popping up in Matagorda County along the railroad lines that arrived in the area in the earliest part of the 20th Century– Blessing (see my Blessing post here), Van Vleck, Midfield, Cortes, Buckeye, Markham, Big Hill, and of course Palacios.

   Victoria architect Jules Leffland designed the hotel, which was constructed by contractor D. D. Rittenhouse. Longleaf yellow pine for the framing and cypress for the siding were brought from Louisiana via Southern Pacific Railroad for the project. The Rittenhouse family and construction crews lived in tents on the land while the hotel was being constructed.

   When the building was finished, it was named the Bay View Hotel and though it only had sixteen rooms, it was advertised as having accomodations for 100 guests. What we now see as the center section of The Luther was the original Bay View.

Winter Texan brochure from the 1911-1912 season

   The number of visitors to Palacios grew exponentially in the next two years, enticed by “excursion rates” from the railroads and advertisements about the mild winters on the Texas coast. Yep, “Winter Texans” existed back then too.

   In 1905, owners of the hotel decided to move it one half mile from its East Bay location to South Bay Boulevard to be closer to a new dance pavilion (also designed by Leffland) being built over the water. In order to do that, the original porches and chimney were removed and the structure was cut into three parts to be pulled by mule teams to its new location.

   It was re-assembled and extended with east and west wings. That’s also when the 300-foot long porch, known as the “Longest Front Porch in Texas” were added.

   In addition, it acquired a dining room on the north side of the lobby, with a separate kitchen and a laundry building.

 

   Such a grand place was worthy of a new name, and Hotel Palacios was chosen.

   Thousands of visitors came to enjoy the surf bathing, warm weather, fishing, boating, lawn tennis and dancing on the pavilion. Meals in the dining room were served on Haviland china and silver, and a permanent orchestra provided music during lunch, dinner and for Sunday concerts.

   A “Box Ball Alley” was built in 1913 that provided guests with alleys, pins and a ball to try their hand at a sport similar to bowling.

   Natural resources were used for the hotel, including water from an artesian well behind the structure piped into the building, and lighting was powered by gas generated on the land.

   A string of owners and managers, some more conscious than other about upkeep of the property, maintained the hotel in the next few years though it remained a center of local social life.

   Charles and Elsie Luther purchased the run-down hotel in 1936 and undertook a massive renovation, which began with tearing down the old dining room and kitchen. The impressive porch was also removed, but its cypress lumber was saved and used as the foundation for an 11-room tourist court motel on the west side of the property.

   Five years later in 1941, the work was complete with structural strengthening, new wiring and plumbing and the installation of private bathrooms for each guest room. The breezeways between the central building and the east and west wings were enclosed, and a handful of rooms were turned into apartments for families of soldiers at Camp Hulen.

   The historic hotel reopened to the public on April 20, 1941 (the owners’ 20th wedding anniversary) as The Luther Hotel. Since then it has survived many hurricanes, including Carla in 1961, as well as a severe fire in 1944.

   The “stars were bright” at the Luther, too! Numerous celebrities stayed at The Luther while in the area doing shows at Camp Hulen, making movies or on press trips, including Shirley Temple, Rita Hayworth, Carole Landis, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Lyndon Baines Johnson (a family friend of Elsie Callaway Luther), actor John Schneider, and others.

   The sign at the front desk stated, “He who enters here is a stranger but once” and there were many who agreed. Throughout the 1970s and 80s the hotel often operated at full capacity, especially during the winter months when it became home for several Canadians and a Minnesota family who called it their winter home for twenty years.

   The Luther received its designation as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1965, over half a century ago. The United States Department of the Interior placed The Luther Hotel on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

   I visited the Luther on my birthday (January 12) in 2019, just months before the motor court wing that was built from the cypress of the original hotel porch was torn down, due to neglect. The manager was kind enough to show me a room filled with memorabilia from the hotels history. Autographed photos from celebrities, dog tags of soldiers from Camp Helen who used to live there, and even a letter from LBJ. I could have spent months combing through everything, and had hoped at one point to be able to return to do just that.

   The hotel remained in the Luther family until the passing of Jack Findlay, the last family caretaker, in 2020. Surviving family members sold the hotel to the Ed Rachal Foundation from Corpus Christi, and the agreement states that the property must be demolished. The foundation is not interested in restoration.

   The Luther Hotel, which would have celebrated its 120th Anniversary this year will most likely not survive to celebrate that landmark.

   If you are interested in expressing your views or concern over losing this piece of Texas history, you’re encouraged to contact:

   Board of Directors, Ed Rachal Foundation, 555 N. Carancahua Street #700, Corpus Christi, Texas 78401

   Or sign the online petition to save/repurpose the hotel at: https://www.change.org/p/save-the-luther-hotel-in-palacios-texas?source_location=topic_page

   Let’s hope that we, as Texans, don’t continue to dismiss the importance of valuing and saving our history for future generations.

Terlingua Cemetery: Ghost Town Graveyard


Welcome to Terlingua Cemetery, in Terlingua Texas.

   To those who are more accustomed to manicured cemeteries with vast green lawns, this place appears to be abandoned, but Terlingua cemetery is still in use today.

   It’s one of the most photographed graveyards in the state of Texas, which should come as no surprise.

     I’ve wanted to visit this amazing burial ground since I was a child, so to have the opportunity to roam through it – left alone with my thoughts and wonder about those who rest here – was a true privilege. There are the well-known, the unknown and the surprise of finding the grave of someone I knew personally in college. It was an astounding experience.

   Terlingua was one of the most remote areas in North America at the time it was founded. It still remains set apart from more populated areas.

   The cemetery encompasses one acre in the Terlingua Ghost Town – which isn’t really a ghost town at all. True . . . the town used to be the site of a quicksilver mining camp and place where desert folk called home beginning in the 1880s, but it’s now more of an artist community and a low key tourist base for visiting Big Bend National Park.

    Marked graves date back to 1903, but burials began back when the dangerous process of mercury mining began here. Mine collapses, mercury poisoning and later influeza and tuberculosis epidemics populated the cemetery.

   Conservative estimates say that there are about 400 burials in the cemetery: Men, women, and children. Miners, goat herders, artists, housewives, ranch hands, cooks, bootleggers, day laborers, war veterans, clergy, even murder victims. About 90 percent of those who rest here are of Hispanic heritage.

   Those that were victims of mining accidents were sometimes laid to rest in coffins made by the companies they worked for.

   Many of the gravesites have lost their markers, or they have simply become illegible over time. Some have all but vanished due to relentless weather and relic hunters.

   Others reflect the character and sometimes humor of those who they remember. A Hobbit hole, a metal T-Rex, and epitaph of “Another good man done gone.” They all lure visitors into slowing down to take in the silent stories of the cemetery.

   The Mining town was abandoned in the 1940s. That’s when Terlingua became a true ghost town . . . years before it became home to artists and others who tired of life in overcrowded communities . . . and eventually the visits of countless curious tourists on their way to Big Bend.

   Visitors are fascinated by the variety of burial markers and folk art memorials, and of course – the stunning View of Chisos Mountains and Sierra del Carmens as a backdrop.

   Each year an elaborate celebration takes place here to mark Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, giving the living a chance to honor and remember the departed.

   Walking into Terlingua cemetery is like walking into a time warp. If a visit to this fascinating place doesn’t make a person stop and reflect . . . I’m not sure what would.

   Join me for a stroll through the grounds of this historic cemetery in my Youtube video of the cemetery HERE.

 

USS Texas – Change of Address

     It’s hard to believe that the USS Texas won’t be moored at the San Jacinto Battlegrounds across from the Monument any longer. I’ve been visiting this historic ship here since I was a kid. This is the last weekend that it will be here before heading to dry dock for some much-needed repairs. After that, she’ll go to her new home . . . which hasn’t quite been decided yet.

     Now this isn’t just any old ship. Commissioned in 1914 (yep, over 100 years ago),  she’s one of the few surviving Dreadnaughts and a veteran of two world wars. That makes the Texas one of the oldest surviving battleships in existence. If you’re at all interested in naval history, hers is worth reading about.

     Constructed of iron, wood and steel the years and elements have taken their toll and previous “bandaid” repairs aren’t going to help any more. So the state, who owns the ship, has dedicated $35 million to her refurbishment with the understanding that they will no longer pay for repairs. (Yikes!) That’s part of why the ship needs to relocate. It will take a lot more visitors to pay the bills from here on out.

     They have installed 750,000 gallons of expanded foam to reduce the water she’s taking on from over 2,000 gallons per minute to under 20 gallons per minute. That should make her stable enough to be towed to dry dock in Galveston for repairs.

     After she’s, well . . . ship shape again, she will either be berthed in Baytown, Beaumont or at the Sea Wold Park in Galveston alongside the Stewart and the Cavalla. (I have my fingers crossed for Galveston.)  

 

     When I found out that my husband (who grew up just about 12 miles away from the San Jacinto Monument Park) had never been aboard the Texas, I decided we needed to take advantage of this “last weekend” to walk her decks. Lots of other locals had the same idea.

     In addition to the fascinating things to see on the Texas, including peeks at rarely seen spaces like the officers’ wardroom, Santa was even there – and ya know I can’t resist the guy in red. I even spotted one of those rascally elves in the mess hall. See him hanging on the fridge?

     We came away with “Merry Christmas” Battleship Texas T-shirts – not something you see everyday.  

     Now we’re all going to need some patience to wait during repairs and the decision about her new home. But wherever that will be, I’ll be back aboard when I get the chance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dots and Dashes: Telegraph in Marshall

_  .  _.._  ._  …

     If it looks like I just accidently hit some random keys while beginning to type this, morse code might not be in your wheelhouse. The mysterious string of dots and dashes spells out the name of a place I love: Texas!

     On 100 block of North Washington street in Marshall, facing their enormous courthouse, this life size bronze statue reminds passersby that the town holds a unique place in communication history. It sits on the spot where the first telegraph office in the state opened in February 14, 1854. Long-distance communication w-a-y before cellphones and emails made it something that we take for granted.

     The Texas and Red River Company opened its Marshall office and strung wires all the way to Shreveport, which in turn had wires to New Orleans. By 1854 another line connected the town to Houston via other lines. That opened up a lot of business opportunities for the railroad town.

     By 1870 there were about 1,500 miles of telegraph wire across the Lone Star State. Instead of riders on horseback an stagecoach carrying handwritten messages for days, a series of sounds could be translated into words and handed to messenger boys as young as 10 years old who would deliver the messages on their bikes within minutes.

     Now here’s the part that’ll leave you scratching your head…

     In 1838, Samuel F. B. Morse (the inventor of the telegraph) wrote a letter to Memucan Hunt. Hunt was a friend of Morse’s who just happened to be the Republic of Texas minister to the United States who had told the inventor countless stories about Texas. He had explained that although the republic had lots of land and heart…it was a bit short on revenue.

     In the letter, Morse offered the answer to that problem by GIVING the rights to his incredible invention to Texas. Um, WHAT?!

     Somehow the letter, which had been forwarded to officials of the republic, ended up filed away, gathering dust.

     Y-e-a-r-s later in 1860, Morse wrote a follow up letter to Texas Governor Sam Houston.

“In the year 1838 I made an offer of gift of my invention of the Electro magnetic Telegraph to Texas … Although the offer was made more than twenty years ago, Texas … has never directly or impliedly accepted the offer. I am induced, therefore, to believe that in its condition as a gift it was of no value to the State … I, therefore, now respectfully withdraw the offer made then.”

     Wow, talk about an opportunity falling through the cracks! Imagine how much money Texas could have made as the owner of that patent. Sigh…

     So while this beautiful bronze statue reminds us of an immense accomplishment…there is definitely a “oops” factor attached!

Lady Bird Johnson’s Haunted Childhood Home

   When I hear the name Lady Bird Johnson, I immediately think of wildflowers. She was, after all, a visionary environmentalist who focused on protecting and preserving North America’s native plants, including Texas wildflowers.

   But did you know that Texas native Lady Bird Johnson grew up in a haunted house?

   High on a hill 2 ½ miles outside of Karnack, Texas an isolated white mansion surrounded by trees, fields and bayous houses a special place in Texas history — as well as its very own ghost.

   The imposing, 17-room plantation style mansion known as the Brick House was built in 1843 by Cephus Andrews. It was also the site of a tragedy.

   In 1861 during a violent thunderstorm, Andrews’ 19-year-old daughter Eunice, known as “Oonie,” sat in her bedroom beside a fireplace. Lightning struck the chimney and raced downward striking the young girl and consuming her in flames.

   Legend has it that Oonie’s spirit has never left the home. Stories have been passed down through the years of eerie noises, ghostly apparitions, misplaced objects and other odd occurrences…all attributed to poor Oonie.

   In 1902 the Andrews family sold their home and thousands of acres of cotton to the wealthiest man in town, Thomas Jefferson Taylor. He also owned two cotton gins, a fishing business and two country stores emblazoned with boastful signs stating “T. J. Taylor—Dealer in Everything.”

   Taylor and his wife Minnie had two sons, and in 1912 added their only daughter Claudia Alta Taylor. Her nursemaid took one look at the dark-haired baby and said she was “as purty as a lady bird.” The endearing nickname followed her throughout her life.

   When Lady Bird was 5, the Brick House witnessed a second tragedy. Her mother fell down the staircase of the home and died a few days later from complications of a miscarriage caused by the accident.

   Lady Bird, whose brothers were away at school (and weren’t even told about their mother’s death for almost a year), remained in the home and was raised by her maternal aunt Effie who came from Alabama to live at the home.

   When asked about the Brick House’s ghost in later years, Lady Bird would say that she often had a feeling of apprehension and unease in the home. She spent most of her indoor time in her room, which was just down the hall from Oonie’s room that servants repeated warned her to stay away from…as they did. The sounds of the old house, including wind whipped through the sills of the floor to ceiling windows must have added to the spooky atmosphere.

   Her aunt Effie believed that Minnie’s ghost visited her at night to instruct her about caring for Lady Bird, washing windows and taking care of other forgotten household chores.

   In her 80’s Lady Bird told her biographer, “I would not, even now, at this age, feel comfortable being alone in that house myself.”

   Luckily young Lady Bird was able to spend most of her time outdoors strolling through the woods and fields where she developed her love of nature’s beauty. So it’s perhaps indirectly thanks in part to the ghost of forever-young Oonie that Texas enjoys wildflowers along its highways each spring.

   The home still stands as a national historic landmark, and is privately owned. I wonder if Oonie still provides caretaking instructions to them.

Ewe’ve Got to See This: Painted Sheep of San Angelo

     Ewe better believe there’s something, well…sheepish about San Angelo.

     No matter where you look, there they are: fiberglass sheep sculptures in every color and design imaginable.

     Some cities have cows, horses or pelicans. Here sheep started grazing around town in 2007 as a nod to the town’s past, when it was known as the Wool Capital of the World.

     Each is sponsored (usually by the location where they’re making an appearance) and given a punny name: Happy Trails to EWE, Lambscapes, Don’t EWE Mess with Texas, Lucky EWE, Lamb of God, and more. MANY more.

     With over 100 sheep in this colorful flock they can keep visitors happily hunting for days.

     If you’re ready to start off on a sheep-tacular scavenger hunt of your own, this list is a great place to start.

Ponder-ing Bonnie & Clyde in Texas

     Since Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were both born in Texas, it should come as no surprise that there is no shortage of places in the state with some sort of link to the notorious outlaws. 

     When Bonnie,  Clyde and the Barrow Gang drove up to the Ponder State Bank in Ponder, Texas and attempted to rob it, they were disappointed to find out it had gone bankrupt the week before. Legend has it that Clyde was so disgusted with the news that he marched the teller out to the getaway car at gunpoint, and ordered him to repeat what he had just said to Bonnie…who laughed hysterically. Clyde then shot out the windows of the bank in frustration.

     Years later in 1967 Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway would film a reenactment of the event at the same bank while portraying the young outlaws. The film, which told a version of their story that is far from the truth,  glorified the couple as being glamorous outlaws. In reality they murdered at least thirteen people.

     This popular movie is actually why most people refer to them as “Bonnie and Clyde.” In their day they were more commonly referred to as the Barrow Gang or Clyde Barrow and “that Parker woman.”

     The Ponder bank is empty now, but still has much of it’s original charm including the original teller cage and bank safe.

     I love when movies about historical characters are able to use actual locations from their (sometimes fictionalized) lives, don’t you?

 

   If you stood on these steps would you be more impressed that you were standing where Bonnie & Clyde did, or Warren and Faye?




Texas’ First White House: The Ross Sterling Mansion

     This morning I posted a photo and bit of information about the Ross Sterling Mansion, which is known locally as the First Texas White House. After receiving several messages asking for a bit more information, I’m sharing it here.

     This beauty is right down the road from my own home…which is decidedly smaller!

     Architect Alfred C. Finn designed the scaled down replica of the American White House for Humble Oil founder and future Texas governor Ross Sterling. It’s a Texas State Historical Landmark as well as being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Governor Ross Sterling

     Finn, by the way, also designed Houston’s Jefferson Davis Hospital, Sam Houston Coliseum, and the San Jacinto Monument in addition to numerous other federal and private projects.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

      Construction on the grand residence began in 1924 and was completed in 1927. First named “Miramar” – meaning “sea view” – the 21,000 square foot mansion sits on six about six and a half acres of residential coastline between La Porte and Morgans Point.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     Its 34 rooms include nine bedrooms, 15 baths, a dining room that seated 300 guests, a ballroom with pressed tin ceiling and marble fireplace, a gentleman’s lounge with carved wood fireplace and built-in leaded glass-front bookcases, a mahogany-paneled library, a ladies’ parlor, and a kitchen with butler’s pantry. Seven fireplaces warmed the waterfront home on chilly winter evenings, and the rooftop terrace still offers stunning 360-degree waterfront views.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     This pair of serpentine reversed staircases in the foyer would put the most stunning movie set to shame.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     The waterfront side of the home features a 28-foot columned rotunda portico that most people immediately recognize as being based on the White House.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.
Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     The staircases and lowest level are made of granite blocks, and the walls of the upper stories are made of foot-thick limestone. The foundation is reportedly strong enough to support a ten-story building. The stalwart structure has withstood countless storms including Carla, Alicia, and Ike. I would certainly feel safe within its walls!

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     Ross Sterling was the 31st governor of Texas, serving from 1931-1933. Countless dignitaries and celebrities have been hosted in the home over the years.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     Sterling and his wife Maude Abbie Gage had several children, and they along with a generation of grandchildren enjoyed the home for two decades.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     In 1946 he donated his mansion to a civic club and it was used as a juvenile home until 1961. During those years the home suffered heavy damage.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     Thankfully a handful of owners in the interim years have restored it to its former glory. It still retains many of the original features including intricately carved and gilded moldings, silver and gold light sconces, Tiffany chandeliers, antique stone fireplaces, pressed-tin ceilings and marble and oak flooring.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     It is now once again a private residence, having sold at auction in 2016 for $2.8 million (though initial estimates were for $4 million).

     If the current owners insisted on having me over for tea, I must admit I wouldn’t mind!

     If you’d like to cruise by on a Sunday drive, the historic home is located at 515 Bayridge Road in LaPorte.

Photo courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors.

     Click the links below to watch some entertaining home movies shot at the mansion back in it’s Fitzgerald-era heyday!

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Ross Sterling historical video
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Waxahachie’s Bit of Britain: English Merchants Inn

NOTICE: This trip was taken before the Corona virus quarantine. 

     Mother-daughter weekend getaways with my teenager are a gift, and we recently discovered an inviting bed and breakfast that was the perfect home base for our exploration of the charming town of Waxahachie.

     The last thing you might expect to find in this small town just 30 miles south of Dallas are British theme lodgings, but you won’t want to miss experiencing the British Merchant’s Inn for yourself.

     Owners Mary and Howard Baskin have been lucky enough to live in the red brick Mission style bungalow style home twice. They raised their family there before moving away for several years, and then re-purchased it in 2016 to turn it into a bed and breakfast.

     At the end of a long drive from Houston my daughter and I were relieved to pull into a parking space on the side of the inn, which sits on a lovely residential stretch of West Main Street. After being greeted at the door by a large concrete bulldog painted with the Union Jack we stepped inside, and into an explosion of creative interior design with a nod to the British Isles.

 

 

     If every corner you see appears to be a picture perfect vignette, there’s a good reason. Mary worked as an interior designer for over 35 years and produced interior design articles for publications such as Traditional Homes, Country Home and Better Homes and Gardens as a regional editor for Meredith Publishing.

     She also organizes small group antique shopping trips abroad – which I’d love to take part in now that I’ve witnessed her knack for finding such unique items. Her delightfully amusing discoveries fill every room at the BnB.

     The home, whose layout is ideal for operating an inn, was built and occupied by James Wright Harrison by 1910  (according to the census), although the owner’s obituary stated that he built it in 1905.

     James was born in Arkansas and came to Texas in 1868 when he was just 12, with his British born father, American mother and a houseful of siblings.

     Later, the cotton farmer married an English girl named Fanny and they moved into this home in town where they lived the rest of their lives, passing away just one day apart in 1944.

     Though they never had children, I’m pretty sure their love story lives on in the walls of their beautiful home.

     Mary took the opportunity to incorporate her love of England to reflect the heritage of the original homeowners, and create an inviting place where guests can recharge between jaunts into town to take in the sights.

     We stayed in an upstairs Room 1, which offered two separate beds. My daughter immediately chose the one nestled beneath a window and piled with pillows.

     My larger bed was beneath a crystal chandelier in another nook of the room, providing us both with a sense of togetherness, with a bit of privacy.

    Each of the guest rooms has a private bathroom in which the Baskins have provided all the necessities down to fluffy towels and make-up remover. My daughter and I were determined to enjoy the large claw foot tub during our stay (although we used the shower more often), so we stopped by a local drugstore and treated ourselves to fragrant bath bombs. (Because it wouldn’t be a girls’ weekend without a bit of pampering, right?) Ooh-la-la!

      Mary invited us to explore the other rooms to statisfy our curiosity, and each was a unique little oasis of comfort and style.



     Room #3 featured a very British, very red bathroom with walls adorned with antique hats.

     The romantic canopy bed in room number 2 is perfect for couples or just to treat yourself.  The room features its own private second floor patio balcony.

 

     The only downstairs guest room, number 4, is the largest and features boldly striped walls.

     A “formal” downstair parlor and bar areas, complete with grand piano, are also on the ground floor and would make an ideal place to meet up with your traveling friends who may not have been lucky enough to stay at the inn.

     Our mornings began with cups of tea sipped from china cups while we were getting ready for the day. My daughter loved visiting the “tea station” in the mornings and evenings and choosing a different floral china cup to use…and I admit so did I.

     For breakfast we were given vouchers for an adorable nearby café called the White Rhino Coffee + Kitchen. Conveniently close to the inn it had plenty of parking and delicious food. I hate to think that I may have missed this gem if Mary hadn’t sent us there! Located in an old two-story home, the downstairs has been renovated and opened into large comfortable spaces that encouraging lingering. And, um…the cinnamon rolls served in individual mini skillets? Yes, please! The staff was just as enchanting as the food and restaurant itself, so we were glad to be able to revisit them two days in a row.

     Anyone who thinks there wouldn’t be enough to do around this small town needn’t worry. We spent hours in the antique shops and chatting with the friendly owners, searched for and found all of the “Hachie Hearts” (read more about them HERE), had a yummy sandwich and malt for lunch at Farm Luck (an old fashioned soda fountain that is a “must”), photographed the old railroad station and bridge, and Art on the Square where we enjoyed chatting with a local artist patiently creating a new masterpiece.

     The recently restored courthouse on the square in town has quite a legend attached to it, that you can read more about HERE.

       Movie buffs may recognize several sights around town used as movie backdrops for films that include “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Tender Mercies” and “Places in the Heart.” And the friendly hosts of the English Merchant Inn are more than happy to cue up one of these classics for you to enjoy in the TV room as you put up your feet after a long day of walking from shop to shop.

      If you aren’t in the mood for movies, you may want to pull up a chair to the den table to work on a puzzle or curl up with one of the numerous books from the shelves guests are invited to enjoy.

     I couldn’t help but think how fun it would be to stay at the inn with a group of friends, taking over the entire second floor and enjoying the common spaces together, or sitting on the wide porch watching the rest of the world go slowly past.

    I think it’s the perfect “excuse” to visit again, don’t you?




Officially Texas

     I love sharing places to visit across the Lone Star State through this blog, but I hope we’re all being responsible at the moment by staying at home and being healthy. When the Corona virus threats retreat, we’ll all be ready to get out and be social again.

     In the meantime, it doesn’t mean we can’t explore Texas!

     This morning I was remembering how when my daughter wasn’t quite school age yet, and it was pretty much a full time job to keep her busy little mind occupied and entertained. One of the things we did was talk about how Texas had all kinds of “official” symbols. How many do you know?

Official flower: Bluebonnet

Official large mammal: Longhorn

Official sport: Rodeo

Official Dish: Chili con carne

Official Insect: Monarch Butterfly

Reptile: Horned lizard

Tree: Pecan

Plant: prickly pear cactus

Air Force: Commemorative Air Force (formerly know as the confederate Air Force)

Amphibian: Texas toad

Aquarium: Texas State Aquarium

Bison Herd: Texas State Bison Herd at Caprock Canyons State Park

Bluebonnet Festival: Chappell Hill Bluebonnet Festival

Bluebonnet Trail: Ennis

Bread: Pan de campo

Cobbler: Peach cobbler

Cooking implement: Cast iron Dutch oven

Crustacean: Texas Gulf shrimp

Dinosaur: Paluxysaurus Jones (replace the Brachiosuar in 1997)

Dog breed: Blue Lacy

Epic Poem: Legend of Old Stone Ranch

Fiber and Fabric: Cotton

Fish: Guadalupe Bass

Footwear: Cowboy boot

Fruit: Texas Red grapefruit

Botanical Garden: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Gem: Texas blue topaz

Gemstone cut: Lone Star cut

Grass: Sideoats grama

Official Domino Game: 42

Horse: American Quarter horse

Flying Mammal: Mexican Free-Tailed bat

Small Mammal: Armadillo

Maritime Museum: Texas Maritime museum

Motto: “Friendship”

Musical Instrument: Guitar

Native Pepper: Chiltepin

Native Shrub: Texas Purple Sage

Shrub: Crape myrtle

Snack: Tortilla chips and salsa

Song: “Texas, Our Texas”

Pastries: (there are 2!) Sopapilla and Strudel

Pepper: Jalapeno

Pie: Pecan pie

Pollinator: Western honey bee

Precious Metal: Silver

Railroad: Texas State Railroad

Rodeo Drill Team: Texas Ghost Riders

Saltwater Fish: Red Drum

Sea Turtle: Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle

Shell: Lightning whelk

Ship: U.S.S. Texas

Squash: Pumpkin

Stone: Petrified palmwood

Tall Ship: Elissa

Vegetable: Sweet onion

Vehicle: Chuck wagon

     And believe it or not . . . there are SO many more!

     For each of the symbols, you and your child can explore information online about what makes these things so very Texan.

     Make chili con carne for dinner, and follow it with pecan pie and a domino game of 42. (How to play here.)

     Print coloring sheets with some of the symbols.

     Plant your own butterfly garden to attract monarchs. My daughter and I still care for our ever larger Monarch garden that we created 15 years ago, and watching the life cycle of these beautiful creatures never gets old. (Everything you’ll need is here.)

     Make columns on a poster board and have your child help you separate some of these by category (place, animals, etc.)

     Make a list of “official” sites you’d like to visit when travel limitations are lifted. (The tall ship Elissa in Galveston, a ride on the Texas State Railroad, etc.)

     But most importantly have fun and share the love of Texas. What is your favorite Lone Star State (the official Texas nickname) symbol?