Eola, Texas... that's where we went today. It's a VERY small town somewhere north, then west of Brady (FLAT country always turns me around - neither John or I can ever tell what direction we're headed).On the way we passed a camel... (unlike John, my sister WILL turn around so I can get a photo). I had hoped for a profile shot of the camel on the horizon, but the camel was a bit too friendly and came trotting over to the fence once he decided we were turning around to take his photo. Perhaps the rancher who owns him knows something about this drought the rest of Texas is slow to catch up on. Pulling back on the road was tricky with ALL the traffic. Look left, look right...
Photos 4 & 5 are of the schoolhouse restaurant in Eola. The owner (probably in his mid 30's) bought it 3 or 4 years ago and is a one person restaurant and brewery owner. We had the special of beef brisket (not bad) in one of the classrooms that now serves as the dining room. He cooks, serves, cleans (??? - the floor hadn't been touched in quite some time), makes the beer (VERY good beer) and, when time allows, continues with some restoration work on the place (it was vacant for about 20 years before he bought it so needs a LOT of work). If you're passing through Eola it's really the ONLY place to eat. However, since there's no sign, you do have to know it's there.
Just outside of Eola is Barrows Museum which has the biggest arrowhead collection I've ever seen. It also has collections of just about everything else as well (cats, swans, S&P, rocks, liquor bottles...) Photo 6 is what ladies used to go through to get their hair done. Photo 7 is some old tubs beside old computers beside an old popcorn maker beside an old book printer beside a broom maker (some of it is obviously arranged in "what fits where" order). The outside is sort of the same way - where the museum founders are buried (I didn't ask about the green hose that's on their graves) by the water tower by the windmill by the caboose. In the last barn were the tops of some interesting windwills beside some fans beside some scales beside some old cars... Needless to say, the choice of placement was as much fun as the contents.
To add to your old Texas sayings... "If it thunders in Feb. it will frost on that same day in April." It thundered here Feb. 2 so let's hope we hear if it frosts on April 2nd.
And a PS from yesterday... I forgot to tell you we had lunch in Miss Hattie's housed in one of the old banks in the "historic" section of San Angelo. There's a trap door in the floor which opens to a stairway and tunnel that goes next door into what used to be the bordello. "Gentlemen farmers" would bring their families to town, then send them off shopping while they did their "banking".
