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This Eclectic Life
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A somewhat sassy Texan talks about life lessons, Texas, blogging, storytelling and anything else that pops into her head at 4:30 in the morning. It's like sitting on the porch having a conversation with a friend.
'm working right now to raise fun
Recent Posts Tagged With 'my neck of the woods'
A Gas-tronomical Adventure at Chef Point Cafe
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 ...
Dancing Around In Cypress
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 wea...
San Antonio At Night Is A Delight
When I started my series of posts called “my neck of the woods,” I didn’t want to talk about the Alamo, because that’s what every tourist knows. However, one cannot be in “The Alamo City” without snapping a pictu...
Creating Art At Sunrise Pottery
I went to Artisan’s Alley in San Antonio with little hopes of holding on to my pocketbook. I had visited the shops there before and I knew that temptation awaited me. A collection of delightful shops The tiny shopping center is located at...
Ghost Busting At The Menger
I felt the chill begin at me knees, and swiftly rush to my heart. I felt as if I had entered an industrial freezer, but it was only the hallway of the Menger Hotel. Gooseflesh rose on my arm as I gasped. Beside me I heard my friend Judy gasp at th...
Stepping Back in Time in Salado, Texas
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...
Off To See The Wizard Wells
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 b...
Bizarre at the Henderson Street Bazaar
Every now and then, my husband and I start itching to go to a flea market. Several weeks ago, we sashayed down to the Henderson Street Bazaar in Fort Worth (1000 N Henderson St.) to see what they had going on there. We love garage sales and flea mar...
Jupiter House Java In Black And White
I enjoy making people jealous. Sorry. I’m wicked like that. If you saw “my” coffee house, you would turn green with envy. So, I thought I would show you my morning “routine.” Being a coffee addict, I have to go to J...
Only Good is served at Café Garibaldi
With a name like “Café Garibaldi,” one might think “Italian food.” One might be wrong! The menu includes Mexican food and on Wednesday nights Peruvian food! This schizophrenic little restaurant in Denton, Texas is a hidden...
Full of Hot Air In Plano
We are just back from the “Lite Up The Night” hot air balloon glow at the Plano Balloon Festival. The festival is in its 30th year, but I haven’t been to it in at least twenty years. I enjoyed seeing the kaleidoscope of colors a...
A Good Sanctuary For Exotic Animals
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 cat...
North Texas State Fair Parade
A parade! I love parades, and this Saturday in Denton we had one to kick off the 2009 North Texas State Fair and Rodeo. No, that would not be the same thing as The State Fair of Texas, which is at Fair Park in Dallas and has Big Tex. And, no, the ...
It Doesn’t Work For Me: Rollip.com
I had some extra photos from my forays into Wise County, Texas. They didn’t fit into any posts, but I wanted to do something with them. I was contacted by a man at Rollip.com who said: “We at Rollip.com have developed a new site that lets y...
Alien Buried at Aurora?
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...
Sweetie Pie’s Ribeyes In Decatur Has The World’s Best Baked ‘Tater
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 ...
Armed-a-dillo
Nobody tells this guy to “stuff it.” Although, he does have a thick skin and can probably take the insults. This poor stuffed armadillo presides over the general store at a small town in the Texas Hill Country. It’s an ignominious...
Roaming Around Rhome
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...
Vertigo Hats Gave Me Balance
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 gho...
Ghost Hunt at The Driskill Hotel. Part 2.
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 g...
Ghost Hunt at The Driskill Hotel. Part 1.
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...
The Haunted Driskill Hotel in Black and White
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...
Lampasas, Texas. The Name Stuck With Me.
On our recent trip to South Texas, down Highway 281, our route took us through Lampasas, which is the county seat of none other than Lampasas County. If you believe the hype that the local Chamber of Commerce distributes, “there’s always...
Al-Amir Lebanese Restaurant in Addison. I Fell For It Hookah, Line, and Sinker
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 (t...
Ominous
Changing pictures from color to monochrome seems to change their “tone” entirely. On a bright and beautiful day, my husband and I drove through the South Texas Hill Country near Luckenbach viewing these sights. They seemed cheerful in c...
Raining Bats At Congress Avenue Bridge
Yesterday I showed you a picture of people lining the bridge at Congress Avenue in Austin at sunset. Those folks had gathered there to watch a colony of bats flying out to feed. That’s why we went to Austin, too — we were going batty. I...
I Brake For Historical Markers
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 cr...
The Shell of A Roadside Attraction in Decatur
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 sid...
Lavender’s Blue, Dilly Dilly. Lavender Ridge Farms near Gainesville, Texas
“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 ...
Kilgore, Texas. Boomtown, USA
Kilgore is a tiny town in east Texas that has a big history. I didn’t know that when I drove there yesterday to tell stories at the public library. In my three hour break between performances, I decided to explore “downtown” Kilgo...
