Landon Winery Pruning Party

In our efforts to expand our horizons, Dianna has been keeping an eye on new and different ways to become one with wine drinking. To do so, apparently, requires us to delve into the inner workings of wine making. Coincidentally, she received an email invite to a grape vine pruning class at one of our local wine producers, Landon Winery

Landon has a couple of locations which double as winery and restaurant. The invite was to their  Greenville, Texas location northwest of Frisco heading toward the Red River line. The Greenville location is their "Bistro" location, more wine drinking than eating. But a decent menu of items none the less. Fun fact was that the Landon Bistro was originally an S.H. Kress Department five and dime store  as evidenced by the "Kress" name on the door pull.

Greenville, you might remember, is the County Seat of Hunt County. Hunt County is named for Memucan Hunt, Jr., the first Republic of Texas Minister to the United States from 1837 to 1838 and the third Texas Secretary of the Navy from 1838 to 1839. But you probably knew that.

The Courthouse resides just across the street from Landons and, built in 1929, is the seventh Courthouse to reside there. The first Courthouse was a log cabin. The fifth iteration was a fine brick facade building which burned in 1883 leading to the construction of number six in 1885 but condemned leading to this beautiful example of transition Classical Revival to Art Deco becoming the rage during the late twenty's. Very cool Audie Murphy memorial out front. Greenville is one of three towns in North Texas which hosted the Murphy family in his youth.

We were met by fourteen other brave souls and our host, Winemaker Glenn. About six years ago, Glenn was a former I.T. guy who hated his work and wanted to try something new. He knew he liked wine and decided to take the Viticulture Program at our own Grayson County College. The program is based on work conducted by Thomas Volney Munson back in the late 1890's which basically saved the French Wine industry from collapse due to a nasty little bacteria, "Xylella Fastidiosa" or Pierce's Disease. American grape vines had a natural resistance to it and Munson ended up taking several tons of our different varietals back to France to revive the grape stocks there and brought them back to life and production. Of course many of those at our class were convinced this was another example of how we "saved" the French but Glenn suggested that Munson basically grafted the American vine stock to the existing French stock and the "clone" became resistant to disease, not replacing the actual vines.

Glenn stressed that the problem has not gone away. Glenn said, although Texas and most Southern states' vines have some resistance, over time the resistance is fading and is non-existent in California where the bacteria has not penetrated yet. The bacteria is speading west and only the Sierra Mountains are holding back the scourge. Thus, many in the wine industry are working feverishly on hybrid plants to demonstrate resistance and overcome a potential disaster lurking for California producers.

With that sullen backdrop, we began our Power Point presentation. Glenn showed us the structure of the vines and how to care for a vine. The vines grow pretty wild once they begin their Spring return so the vineyard workers must constantly be pruning errant vine canes to keep the vines producing.

Like roses, too many shoots will jeopardize the health of the plant. The idea is to increase the vines production in the lower canes to concentrate the sugar and starches to feed the vines growth. This, of course, has a marked effect on the quality of the grapes size and richness which is needed to foster fermentation.

Our job was attack the small vineyard in the Winery's yard and prune those puppies back to jump start the seasons grape growing. We do this by cutting back all last seasons growth but only back to the spurs on the cordons which run horizontally. The spurs need only be pruned back to the first two new growth buds just north of the Cordons. This gets the vine to start producing leaves which it needs to get sunlight involved in that photosynthesis thing we all learned in school.

Well...maybe not ALL

All of us took this very seriously when confronted by the gigantic mess o' canes we were confronted with in the yard. After a safety brief, which mostly consisted of, "Hey, do NOT cut your fingers off...it can happen", we dug in.

Dianna went at it like a true trabajadore (field worker). With pruners in hand, we cut a swath over two different vines. Our co-horts did the same as we cut back the morass of cane and suckers invading the rootstock. By the time we were done, there was a serious pile of sticks filling the yard.

Glenn was very impressed by our work and offered some tips to those who wished to replant some of the cane. Many of them were green and budding so they could be planted using some starter fertilizer and a black trash bag. The idea is to trick the plant into believing it is in the ground (thus the black bag simulating darkness underground) but yet controlling the watering and feeding to make it strong enough to grow on it's own. Then at the right time, move it to a planter and then into the ground. Vines like water and their roots will grow very deep and far afield to get it. So planting has to be done carefully so it thrives.

Our reward was to have a great lunch provided by the restaurant. We had some steak shish kabobs, salad and a steamed veggie mix and, of course, one of their Grande Russo reds and Dianna had their sweet Yellow Rose white. Dessert was their Chocolate Mousse cake. Both went very well with both wines. While we spun tails of our battle against the unruly vines we conquered together. Now we must plan for the Harvest Festival on August 4th, mark your calendars and join us.

Big Spring, Texas

Yes my friends, it has been awhile since my last entry but many things have happened that have kept me from the keyboard. That would be my Grandson.

Little Robert has been a handful. Let me explain. Since September, we have been hosting the Orbe family in our home. They are building a home in Aubrey, Texas. To do so, they had to sell their existing home and needed a place to stay for the six-month building schedule of their new home.

We, of course, now had a full house again with every room being occupied by people, their stuff, our stuff and lots of toys provided by Granma Dianna. Not to mention my new role as Grand Child supervisor and mentor. After all, there are so many parks and indoor playgrounds to conquer. Hey….somebody had to do it. So, we (I) have not had a lot of free time to contemplate significant places to wander to nor places to eat bad food and gather enough trivia to drive Dianna (and most of my friends) crazy.

As the new house building winds down, we (I) realized Dianna and I have not had a weekend road trip in quite some time.

So as a President’s Day weekend approached, I entertained the idea of a combination pre-Dianna birthday getaway and an awesome history slash history gathering holiday.


I happened across an article highlighting a cool old hotel called the Hotel Settles in a place called Big Spring, Texas in far West Texas. Situated right on Interstate 20 about 278 miles from Frisco, it is a world away from North Texas.

It derives its name from the nearby "big spring" in Sulphur Draw, which was a watering place for coyotes, wolves, and herds of buffalo, antelope, and mustangs; the spring was a source of conflict between Comanche and Shawnee Indians and a campsite used by early expeditions across West Texas.

Early history goes back to 1849 when early settlers used the spring as a central camping site along both the Santa Fe and Overland Trails. By 1870, cattle ranchers were moving in and, like most communities in Texas, the Texas and Pacific railroad built through by the 1880s (they needed the water for the steam engines) and really established the town as the center of Howard County. Big Springs incorporated in 1907. In 1920 Big Spring was a small city of 4,273 that served as a shipping point for livestock, cotton and small grains. Oil was discovered in the vicinity in 1926, and the city experienced a boom over the next ten years.


This is where the  Hotel Settles comes in. Opened on October 1, 1930, Hotel Settles was built by Will R. and Lillian Settles, following the discovery of oil on their ranch. Designed by architect David Castle, the building was constructed as a solid concrete, 15-story, 150-room hotel with a restaurant and a pharmacy. Yes Nicole, there are still places with a thirteenth floor. The pharmacy was a real apothecary and soda shop. The Pharmacy is now the Pharmacy Bar.

It has traded hands several times and was vacant for many years until a man named G. Brint Ryan bought it. Ryan was a long-time resident of Big Spring and invested about 32 million on the restoration which brought it back to its original glory days. He credited much of his success to his mother, Virginia Ann Wilson Ryan, who is enshrined in a beautiful portrait painting above the lobby. It is the tallest building in Big Spring and was the tallest structure in West Texas until the 1950s.

Unfortunately, the boom was blown by that pesky Depression that also knocked the bottom out of the oil industry. This also took out the Settles’ fortunes and forced them to sell the hotel. The hotel saw oil come back big during World War Two and the economy was also energized by the influx of military aviation and manufacturing that hit Texas during those years. Much of Central Texas enjoyed pretty good weather year-round and wide-open spaces to fly and drop bombs. There was a total of 142 military installations in Texas and about 57 were aviation training or operational Army Air Corp bases. One of those bases was the Big Spring Army Air Field and, who knew…they have an aviation museum. What a coincidence.


The museum,  Hangar 25, is right on what was the former flight line of this massive air base. Big Spring Army Air Field was established right after Pearl Harbor as a Bombardier School to teach the intricacies of the Norden Bombsight. The primary trainer was a highly modified Beech AT-11 twin engine airplane. An inexpensive stable platform to train B-17, B-24 and B-29 bombardiers to attack German and Japanese targets to end the war training about 5,000 by the end of the war. After VJ Day, the base was demobilized but returned in the late 50s as Webb Air Force Base, to teach about 14,000 pilots on the new jets, F-86s, F-100s and the fast movers like F-4s and F-105s for Korea and Vietnam.

Unfortunately, the end of the Vietnam War made the base surplus and it was deactivated in 1977. Coincidentally, it was also the start of the Oil Crisis the country was experiencing (sound familiar?). The combination of the two caused a huge economic depression for the region and an exodus of residents to places that had better conditions.


The museum was the effort of several local residents who felt there was a need to honor the men and women who passed through Big Spring to serve their country and the residents who supported those efforts by working on the base.

Between donations, Federal, State grants and the cities matching funds, one of the two original hangars were selected and renovated. The result is a pristine example of a WWII military aircraft hangar as it looked in 1940. A giant span of wooden slat roofing held in place by concrete and brick siding. After 75 years, the original wood accordion hangar doors still work and protect the interior from the sometimes-harsh Texas weather.



The museum has a sampling of aircraft that would have been in the inventory during the bases history. A flyable Beech AT-11 bomber trainer, T-28 Trojan, T-33 Shooting Star, Cessna T-37 and a T-38/F-5 Talon. The coolest thing was the forward crew/cockpit section of a B-52 bomber. I got a chance to climb through and sit in the pilot seat of what had to be a mass of metal to fly.

Just looking at that instrument panel with the eight throttles and associated gauges was daunting in this era of glass computerized cockpits. The hangar also contains the beautiful stained-glass window from the former base Chapel which had been preserved by workers who tore down the Chapel when it was cleared for a Federal prison on a corner of the former base.

As we drove around Big Spring, one thing always jumps out at me whenever I take in a small Texas town. The architecture of most Texas towns that had experienced a significant period of growth, tend to stop at the time of their decline. It’s like the clock stopped for them. Here it was the 1970s. There is a smattering of newer construction but most of the significant government and downtown buildings range from the 1930s to the 70s. The town still emits a powerful sense of its history but buried deep behind vacant store fronts where vibrant businesses once stood.

Much of that part of the world has a relentless wind and most things have a sand-blasted look to their exteriors. The rest of the town has a sad feel to it with most of the residential areas in need of repair and paint brushes.

Oil, in the form of fracking in what’s the center of the Permian Basin (All the oil came from animals, flora and fauna during the Permian Era which is a geologic period and system which spans 46.7 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period 298.9 million years ago, to the beginning of the Triassic period 251.902 million years ago....remember to count backward, got it?) has somewhat revitalized the economy but it has a long way to go and the area is trying to diversify so a sudden decline in oil revenues (which will happen someday) won’t have such devastating effects.


An example of the more modern buildings in Big Spring is the 1953 Howard County Courthouse. Big Spring is the County Seat and named for Volney Erskine Howard  a U.S. Senator from Texas.  This Courthouse is the third for Big Spring. The 1884 Courthouse was torn down for the 1908 Courthouse which was torn down for this one. Very classic government 50s looking building with a pretty cool war memorial on the east side.


It has a very low-key Confederate memorial with the names of soldiers buried in Howard County. It also honors residents of Howard County that serve in WWII, Korea and Vietnam and still flies a POW flag next to the US and Texas flags. It also contains the County time capsule buried in 1981 not to be opened until 2031.


The following day we made our way to Midland, Texas another 40 miles west of Big Spring. There we discovered one of the boyhood homes of former President George W. Bush (Bush 43).


Just west of downtown, at 1412 West Ohio Avenue Midland, Texas, is a rather unassuming olive green with a red shingle roof, single story home, at the corner or West Ohio and North H Street. It was Sunday and we were the only two on the tour so we could ask all the questions we wanted. The home is one of a handful of privately owned Presidential museums. They're tag line is the home of two Presidents and two Governors and a First Lady. Laura Welch, the future First Lady grows up in Midland and meets George W. back in Midland in 1977 then marry November 5th, 1977.

Inside was a well-appointed wood paneled living room, a portion with a small fireplace, which Barbara designated as the dining room. H.W.(Bush 41)and Barbara Bush married when he came back from the war in 1945 in Rye, New York right before entering Yale. After graduating, in 1948, H.W.s dad Prescott, led him to a business associate starting an oil business in Texas. H.W. started at the bottom and soon learned the business entering into a partnership which began developing oil wells. H.W. and Barbara lived in several places (even a short stint in California) but ended up in Midland in 1951. G.W. attended public school while in Midland. He lived there with his baby sister Robin and brother Jeb. Unfortunately, Robin died of Leukemia in 1953 (let’s not forget later sibs Neil Bush (b. 1955), Marvin Bush (b. 1956), and Dorothy Bush (b. 1959)). The Bushes were very involved in their community, joined and financially supported several groups while there including starting up the Midland Symphony and  Midland YMCA in town.

This might explain some things

The home is a typical 50s style home. Though built around 1940 and around 1,400 square feet, the interior appointments bring back memories of my childhood. A pier and beam platform home above ground with real dark wood panels and lath and plaster made for a cozy (and small) home to raise four kids. G.W.s room also had the dark paneling of the living room. It had a large book case made of the same material with old toys and children’s book of the era. G.W. and his friends were apparently avid followers of the Roy Rogers Riders. The tour guide said the first time G.W. saw it, he got very emotional over the memories the house and the room brought back.

Our guide explained the home had gone through several owners and became available in 2004. It had been renovated several times including a room addition and front patio cover which had to be removed. The drywall had to be removed to reveal the wood paneling still beneath the Sheetrock. There was a period B/W television, furniture and most of the kitchen contained original appliances including a working Westinghouse refrigerator that belonged to Laura (First Lady 43) Bush’s mom.


The master bedroom had a history of the Bush family accomplishments in Midland with some cool photos of Midland in that time period. The second bedroom had the family’s baseball history. We all think of G.W.s involvement with the Texas Rangers but we learned that his dad H.W. was actually an accomplished baseball player from his early school days. Everyone thinks G.W. was the owner of the Rangers but came in as only a minority investor with two percent of the team. He was very passionate about the team and became its managing partner and was responsible for the team’s early growth and success. G.W. was instrumental in getting better players signed up making the team a success.


The back yard had the original garage,a dog house and sand box like the one in the extensive number of photos the family took in and around the home while they were there. The future First Lady was apparently an avid photographer who pretty much documented their whole lives and was a primary source for all the photos needed to renovate the home to its previous state. Pretty cool hidden treasure in Midland, Texas.

Returning to the Hotel Settles, after all that driving, we spent the evening taking in a movie. Not wanting to go out, we decided to try the in-house video system and got to see "The Shape of Water". Great flick, I can understand why its been nominated.


West Texas is a slow-paced environ with much history but little else to offer. It is a window into the rough and tumble early oil industry and ironically the energy future of America with the largest wind farms in Texas (Champion, Texas). Hopefully time catches up to West Texas and returns it to its new found glory. There's more aviation museums and historiuc hotels to try. So we'll be back.

Granbury, Texas Memorial Day

It was the weekend of our 42nd wedding anniversary (also Memorial Day weekend) and I wanted do do something close by but fun. Granbury came up only because I got online about a month before to secure accommodations for that busy weekend and Granbury had an opening in what appeared to be a cool little bungalow which caught my attention named the California Cottage.

The pictures looked promising and it was available for the whole weekend so I jumped on it. Although it had a nice Internet site, I quickly learned it was not your usual slick “one-click” reservation system. It turned out to be a good old call up reservation. I had a very pleasant phone conversation with 89 year old (yes…she qualified her lack of tech savvy by telling me her age) Veriena Braune. She hooked me up and couldn't have been more helpful. She even emailed me a schedule of events for Granbury for that weekend.

So we made our way to Granbury and found our little California Cottage as advertised. A neat little two bedroom home with a full kitchen. Ok…Dianna was a little behind the power curve with a lack of Internet access, but that didn't stop her Facebook updates using the 4G. The interior was themed with art and photos of our former home state which really made it homey. Well, that and the homemade brownies and banana nut bread they left us on the kitchen table. Ok…..you closed the deal!

After a quick lunch at Fuzzys Tacos, we made our way to our first important stop, Barking Rocks Winery. Yes, the name intrigued us as well, so we made tracks to 119 Allen Court. Entering we were immediately met by Cellar the winery dog who welcomed us to the tasting bar. Sissy and Larry Tiberius met us and quickly got to the business of tasting their wines. Though they grow some grapes, they, like many in the industry blend grapes from other vineyards to make their stuff. They assured us they only used Texas grapes except their Tempranillo which comes from Chile.

The question came up as to the name of their winery, Barking Rocks. Sissy explained it was a well thought out intellectual process requiring deep thought and a prodigious amount of wine consumption by a group of friends. The ranch brand was |-|<. Initial deliberations came up with 1-1 less-than. Clearly clouded by the wine squeezings, it was a non-starter. So they finally settled on the idea that the ‘H’ resembled an animal (yes, the wine talking again) and the less-than sign was the mouth “barking”. Again, recalling how this deep consensus came about explains it all. But here we are anyway.

With only one white wine, Rousanne, and the rest were reds, Malbec, Tempranillo, and Sangiovese . The white was slightly sweet but a little dry for us but good. The reds were pleasant but dry, not our bag. Luckily they had a great Dessert wine named Dock which was good enough to buy. We were able to complete our tasting and dog petting in time for the first bus load of tourists to show up and overwhelm the place. Thanks Sissy, Larry, Shane and dog Cellar.

Dianna decided to nap prior to dinner and our Haunted Ghost tour so I struck out for the town square and some history hunting. First and foremost was the Hood County Courthouse. It constitutes the County seat for Hood County named for Confederate Lt. General John Bell Hood. The town was named after one of his subordinates, Brigadier General Hiram Bronson Granbury. The land for the town of Granbury was donated by Thomas Lambert and J. F. and J. Nutt (yeah weird) adjacent to the meandering Brazos River. The Courthouse is the fifth Courthouse built there in 1890 (the others burned down) built in the second empire style of Brazos Limestone with a wonderful clock tower clawing its way up to the sky.

The other was the old Hood County Jail. Built in 1885, also of Brazos Limestone, it replaced the original one-room log cabin jail which was substandard for holding desperadoes and that sticky point of being unsuitable for holding female prisoners. So the city council specified the new jail had to have three requirements. It had to house the Sheriff and his family, had to have separate accommodations for female prisoners and, oh yeah, you had to be able to execute someone by hanging. Pete and Karen were my tour guides as they reflected on the bad old days.



So the first floor of the two floor block wall jail had the sheriff’s residence and the second floor had  a soaring 22 foot ceiling to accommodate a hanging scaffold which was never completed. The female cell was rather spacious but originally did not have a toilet but had running water.

As a matter of fact, the jail was the first building in Granbury to have indoor plumbing back in 1885. The men's side had a giant steel cage which housed the men. It was positioned in the center of the room with a walk around path for the Deputies to monitor the prisoners. The high ceiling was covered in corrugated metal sheets with no windows and little ventilation. It must have been a breadbox in Summer. It wasn't much of a departure from Central Jail in San Diego.


When Dianna was ready we tried Farinas for dinner. Great Italian menu with really great service. I had my standard Lasagne and Dianna had the Chicken Pasta Alfredo. My Lasagne was excellent in that Farinas only use Italian Sausage for their meat. Good decision on their part.

Dianna was a little disappointed with her Alfredo. Seems we missed the fact they use mushrooms in their sauce. Not a favorite with Dianna and I might add the mushrooms did overwhelm the taste of the Alfredo. Couldn't even taste the Alfredo cream. The Sangria we washed it down with helped salve the wounds.


Now the desserts were amazing. I had the New York Cheese cake crusted in Heath Bar with a drizzle of Caramel. Dianna had the Tiramisu. Big ‘old Lady Fingers sandwiched in a delightful mousse thoroughly covered with cocoa powder. Both excellent.

Filled to the gills, we made our way back to our cottage until Ghost Tour time. At 9 p.m. sharp we made our way to a much subdued Town Square with the monolithic Courthouse standing guard in the 100% humidity while the sidewalks got rolled up. Thankfully the City allows you to walk around the Square with your adult beverage to slay your thirst.

In front of the Nutt House Hotel, we met Brandi, our tour guide with  Granbury Ghosts and Legends Tours. Brandi is a bit of a nationally recognized spirit chaser and lecturer. Brandi began by speaking about Granbury and its place in Hood County history and politics. She brought up Mary Lou Watkins, a direct descendant of the Nutt family and a major force in Granbury’s revitalization making Granbury the successful township it is today.

It should be pointed out that, though we have yet to encounter any paranormal activity on these tours, the upside is the tour guides tend to have a pretty good grasp of local history which helps me learn about the regions we visit. Brandi was no exception.

She referred us to the Acton Cemetery south of town where many famous Hood County residence were buried including Elizabeth Crockett,wife of Davy. Sometime in the 1850s (Davy died at the Alamo in 1836), Elizabeth settled her family in Hood County and when she passed, was laid to rest in the Acton Cemetery. Brandi said the grave site was impressive and worth seeing. Every year the Crockett descendants still hold a reunion in Granbury. She said the courthouse clock in its tower was rather unique. It is only one of two working hand wound Seth Thomas clocks left in the world. The other is Big Ben in London, England. Who knew?

We moved off to the Hood County Jail I had visited earlier. Brandi said there were a couple of spirits wandering the building. She said one was a Native American man named “Joe” who had occupied this area prior to white settlers moved in. Joe is harmless as are the woman and children who make the first floor their home.

As we walked by the Square Gas Station (now a restaurant), Brandi told the story of how, back in the thirties, when it was a real gas station, Bonnie and Clyde came through town. They stopped there to get gas and decided to get some food and sat on the Courthouse lawn to eat. They were soon recognized and before the Sheriff could be called, they hopped back into their car and quickly drove out of town.

Brandi said that during the late 1800s there were about seven saloons in the square and the town was the place to be when the cowboys came to town. Where the Nuttshell Café and Bakery is today, was a saloon. It has a colorful history, including a legend that John Wilkes Booth resided in the upstairs B&B and tended bar in the saloon next door. 

The owner was a woman named Dolly who often wore a red dress while working. Long after the saloon changed hands Dolly would often appear to size up the operation and could be seen checking on customers to see if they were being taken care of.

When the Nutshell Café opened, a woman artist was hired to do a mural celebrating the buildings history. The artist included an image of Dolly in the mural. One night the artist was finishing up and when she tried to collect her brushes for cleaning, they were gone. After looking around, she gave up and left. The next day, she discovered her brushes stuck deep in one of the planters on the sidewalk.

Brandi said there was a lot of controversy over the death of John Wilkes Booth after the Lincoln assassination. There is a version where Booth is not killed in the burning barn but how he escaped and made his way to Granbury under the name John St. Helens. St. Helens became a well-known bartender at a saloon where the current St. Helens Bar is on the Square today next to the Granbury Opera House. People who knew him described him as a well read man who occasionally acted and often quoted Shakespeare. He taught drama to the school kids. Although he worked at a bar, he was never seen to drink in excess but always got drunk on the anniversary of Lincolns Assassination.

Things came to a head when St. Helens became gravely ill and believing he was on his death bed confided in several friends that he was actually John Wilkes Booth. Problem was, he recovered and realizing the gravity of his disclosure, suddenly left town never to be seen again.

Another famous desperado, Jesse James may have made Granbury home in his later years. The story goes that Jesse wasn’t killed but another gang member had been killed in his stead. In his later years, he mentioned to several people that he always wanted to spend his final days in the place he met “the love of his life”. A young woman he met in Granbury back in the day. It was a time before fingerprints and DNA but the Sheriff was suspicious and kept an eye on him. At the time of his death, the Sheriff at the time, attended the postmortem and wrote that he had seen evidence of 32 gunshot wounds and a rope burn around his neck.

Interestingly, he was buried at Acton Cemetery in a grave listing him as J. Frank Dalton. His headstone in the Granbury section of the Acton Cemetery, formerly a plain headstone inscribed with the Dalton name, was later replaced by a nicer headstone with the James name. It's inscribed, "CSA - Jesse Woodson James. Sept. 5, 1847-Aug. 15, 1951. Supposedly killed in 1882." The grave stone was apparently paid for by James Family descendants. A small Confederate flag is etched above the inscription. Meanwhile, the grave of the "real" Jesse James back in Kearney, Missouri, is supposedly occupied by a man named Charlie Bigelow, who was killed so Jesse could begin an new life.

We arrived back at Farinas which used to be owned by a man named Estes. Back then it was a merchantile selling all kinds of staples. It has changed hands several times and before Farinas moved in, it was a dress shop. There employees often ran into a gentleman wandering the store and the voices of children singing somewhere on the second floor where no one was supposed to be.
There are tales of a faceless little girl who wanders among the shops in the 100 block of Houston St. on the west side of the Square. An apparently precouscious young girl who would turn on all the toy hanging monkeys in what is now the Brazos Moon Boutique when the clerk was trying to close.

There is another story of some mischief at a glamor photography shop. When it opened, they found a camera had been moved to a chair with a blue dress laying over across the chair. When the film had been processed, their was an image of a woman dressed in the blue dress with a blurred face seated in a chair. That brought us to the end of our tour of historic and spooky Granbury.

The next day, on Brandi’s recommendation, we set out for Acton Cemetery. As advertised, Acton is a large, well kept cemetery just on the outskirts of Granbury City Limits. Still in use today, it chronicles the lives of many of Hood County's residents.

There, prominently affixed by an American and Texas Flag was the grave site of Elizabeth Patton Crockett. It is very ornate and has been designated an historic site in Texas. The grave site is actually a protected and maintained State Park  and is officially the smallest State Park in Texas.


Being the Memorial Day Weekend, like all cemeteries which contain war veterans, we saw flags displayed on various grave sites including Confederate flags alongside Civil War veterans. The cemetery goes back to the first burial in 1855 so there are veteran grave sites from all the wars since. (P.S. Please don't send any Facebook hate-email over my observations. It's important to distinguish the difference in racist-politics and pure history. I’m just a professional observer and report what I see.)


One of the more poignant grave sites were the site with the decedent’s dog “Buford” watching over his master.

From there we made our way back to Granbury and came upon an awesome Memorial Day remembrance. Hundreds of American Flags flapping in the Texas wind flying in a field adjacent to the highway.


Each flag had been lovingly placed by a friend, community group or family member in remembrance of a particular veteran. It is run by the Greater Granbury Military Officers of America since 2012 as a way of showing respect for service members and vets. Yes Dana, it is an Aeromotor windmill in the photo…I checked.

Later in the day, we returned to the Square to walk among the booths plying their wares like bag balm, tie-dyed shirts, spinning yard art, purses for concealed carry. Here is an Andrews Sisters Tribute group entertaining the troops and…..most important of all…..Funnel Cake!

That whispy  powdered sugar tossed about like snow flurries over that deep fried five-miles-of-bad-road sculpted dough. The pleasure of each bite followed by a dusting of white death all over your clothes. Worth the effort every time.

The following morning, on our way out of town, we ran across a Granbury breakfast icon, Cari's on Hwy 377. There we were intrigued by a shameless selection of breakfast staples and some not-so standard fare. And I loved that everybody got a different coffee cup. Like the mismatch you have at home. Dianna had the Little Granbury, one piece of everything. Our server Mimi served up one egg, one piece of sausage, bacon and one pancake. I had to try the Cherry cheese pancakes. With a layer of cream between each of four (count 'em four) pancakes and a big blob of cherries and whipped cream....well, this thing should have had two hashes through the Heart Association heart if the owners had allowed them in to do so. It was awesome.

Cari's Thought for the Day

Thus we finished up our stay in bucolic Granbury. Now that we have found a great place to stay, we may make more trips here to relax.