On a beautiful, clear Saturday morning I decided to get into my Chevy Colorado and "take the road less traveled", U.S. 290 or the Austin-to Houston highway. After mercifully passing the voluminous amounts of chain stores and gasoline stations off the Frontage Road near Waller, I began to see farmland, trees and water towers. As I got further out of the Houston metropolis, the road narrowed from a 3 and 4 wide lane road to a two-wide highway. After nudging through Chappell Hill, which hosts an annual Bluebonnet Festival every April, an array of old gasoline station signs from yesteryear appeared on the south side of the road. For a moment, I felt like stopping by to get gas and a quick oil change, however as I looked closely a sign appeared that read cars for sale.
Fifteen miles down the road was Brenham, the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream and Blinn College. Traveling through reminded me of two months ago when I ate at the Norman Rockwell themed cafe, Must be Heaven. Their delicious ham and cheese sandwich along with a pint of coca-cola instantaneously transformed this 21st Century figure into a Saturday Evening Post caricature.
After traveling another 45 miles or so, I finally reached Giddings at 9:40 in the morning. It was time for some yummy brisket at the City Meat Market (right on the intersection of 290 and US 77). However, I got a little too antsy and made a right onto N. Orange and by accident located the Giddings Public Library, where I was to do some research later. Ordinarily getting lost was a cause for concern and panic, but an overwhelming sense of calm over took this 29 year old body. By taking a recipe out of mom's cookbook of U-turns, I regrouped and made it safely to the Market.
Five delicious slices of brisket later, it was time to take a couple of pictures before trucking on. Over previous trips through Giddings heading east, I developed a nostaligic love affair with the Bull Durham tobacco mural located on the side of a furniture store. After leaving the Market, the time was right and I asked the mural out. However, while admiring its beauty I knew it was not meant for me. Like a bikini-clad lady on a billboard, the only way for me to enjoy its aethestics was to pass by it on the way to neverneverland.
An hour later, it was time for a photo op with an old Magnolia gas station from the 1930's. While it is being used as a fruit market, the canopy and columns were still intact. Looking at it brought back memories from another life when I stopped by to get gas in a '49 Mercury Coupe.
Upon hearing about an Indian Branch Camp in Lexington that was a buffalo, American Indian and European trail, I high tailed it onto Highway 77. The scenery off Highway 77 was beautiful, trees off to the forefront and nothing but farmland hiding behind its barks. As I greyhounded a few miles, "24 Hours at a Time" by the Marshall Tucker Band came on. Quite a perfect flow, a light dose of southern rock to go along with the easy breeze of South Central Texas.
One can lose track of time traveling on easy breeze boulevard. As it approached lost o'clock, the place was nowhere near the peripherals and it was time to seek help. Fortunately, a watering hole reached the surface. I turned left onto Farm-to-Market Road 646 and approached a cowboy with a mustache and his lady friend at Herk's General Store. She told me to turn left just before hitting County Road 409; so what did I do, turn on 409. Despite its quiet beauty it was not the way to the camp. After a second missed attempt, I decided to head back towards Giddings get on 290 and travel home.
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