| From Washington, we headed
westerly toward Independence, the part-time home of
General Sam Houston. We were treated to a first-hand tour
of the Independence Baptist Church (of which Sam Houston
was a member) by Paul Sevar, the minister there.
Independence Baptist is the oldest currently operating
Baptist church in the state. Sevar's knowledge of the
surrounding countryside was as colorful as the flowers we
were there to see. After Independence, we headed down the road a bit to the "Kountry Kitchen" for some good, thoughtfully prepared (translated slowly) home-style eats. I personally can recommend the Cream Gravy with a side of Chicken Fried Steak - not to be missed. (Also not for those watching their cholesterol, weight, fat intake or lifestyle.) Once complete with lunch (people in that part of the country call it dinner - supper is what you have in the evening), the original site of the Baylor Women's University for Females (I exaggerate not) was our last planned stop on the tour. The flowers here were spectacular. The tour continued down SH50 into Brenham, out to 290 and back to Houston without a hitch. As they say in the country, "A good time was had by all." Hats off to Duane Medley and Steve Stewart for planning this tour. Next month's Gulf Star will contain an addendum with a listing of all the attendees for this tour. Maybe next time I'll remember to bring along my notepad, if I can just remember where I left it! Of Moon Pies and Fire Ant Mounds |
absence from the April
tour to Bluebonnet country. While not present, I at least
ran the prelim with Duane several weeks before. I was
impressed and can easily visualize what I missed. Meeting
up with Ed Pasket at Six Shooter Junction in Hempstead;
the ruins of old Baylor; the church where Sam Houston
whittled during worship; and, of course, our state flower
in full bloom. The antique roses of the Rose Emporium and
the succession of houses representing the progress of
Texas settlers. The log cabin caulked with mud and
punctured with gun slits. Then, following the tide of
civilization, a well-proportioned house with exterior
gingerbread, lace at the windows, with mail order Bible
and glass lamp resting on a polished table. Being from
Illinois, I was interested in the corn crib more
substantial due to wall thickness than yield expectation.
I especially missed not revisiting Washington- on-the-Brazos - a place I first became acquainted with by reading in grade school a book called Lone Star Preacher by Lt. Col. John W. Thomason, Jr., USMC. Hoped to recite some Ecclesiastes down by the river in honor of Thomason but it didn't happen. For those of you who walked to the river, how about those fire ant mounds? After Duane and I ate lunch, we drove to Chappell Hill and stopped at "P. Lesser & Son, General Merchandise", which has been an ongoing family business for 107 years. One of those quirky, old places one can find on the back roads of Texas. On the safe I noticed ledgers going back to 1938. Mr. Lesser's sister puts up preserves for sale - Chow-Chow, Pickle, Peanut Butter, etc. With the Kountry Kitchen Chicken Fried Steak special wearing off, I went authentic and bought an R.C. Cola and a Moon Pie. The best part was an advertisement for the Broken Spoke in Austin (the last honky tonk in Texas) with a white '54 Eldorado parked in front. And a gimmee cap for sale that said it |