Thursday, Day 3

Howdy, y’all!

Today was scheduled to have the most driving of my vacation…and it may end up that way… but, if the timing of stops works out, tomorrow I may revisit a place from my first day…which would make tomorrow the most-traveled day…we’ll see.  I had to fill up with gas twice today for my 6+ hours of driving; of course, I never let the tank get below half a tank.

My day started with a waffle in the shape of Texas…LOL!  I simply couldn’t resist.  My first stop was only five minutes from the hotel and they didn’t open until 10:00, so this was my latest scheduled start for the trip (although sleeping in on Wednesday made that the actual latest start…)

And the first stop was:  a scrapbook store!  I know, color you surprised…LOL!  I almost walked right out of the store (The Crop Spot in Tyler) because the owner told me that she didn’t have anything “Texas”. I walked around and was pleasantly surprised by the Lone Star state stamping bounty!  It turns out she was only talking about paper…which is what most scrappers are interested in.  Yes, I spent more than my $20 allotment but I got such cool stuff!

Next I headed to The Goodman House and Museum…how could I resist a house with my name?  It turned out to be pretty cool…and cheap (I only spent $3.50 there)!  Built just before the Civil War and being passed to an only daughter who left no descendants, it was bequeathed to the city along with most of the family possessions (furniture, clothing, early medical equipment, more sets of china than can be displayed at any one time, etc) with the stipulation that everything remains there as a complete collection for the museum.  It was very cool.

Next was another Tyler destination with a family name association: Stanley’s Famous Pit BarBQ…LOL!  The “Mother Clucker” (a chicken sandwich on a jalapeno roll with candied bacon) was totally decadent and delish!  The place was packed and parking was at a premium but those are signs of good food…oh, and they had Robert Earl Keen (one of my favorite western folk singers) on the muzak system!  Then it was time for sweets.  Off to Paris!

 I only went to Paris, TX because it’s probably the only Paris I’ll ever visit and my first stop had to be at the Paris Bakery, right?  Unfortunately they didn’t have much left by the time I got there at 2:30…the lemon cupcakes were pretty darn good but the Cowboy Cookie…not so much…I am of the firm opinion that chocolate chip oatmeal cookies do not need coconut in them.  Sorry, I had to take a break to try the second cupcake…yep, pretty darn good!

Next I visited the Sam Bell Maxey House.  This house was built just after the Civil War (by a lawyer) and the last descendant left it to the City of Paris much like the Goodman’s did in Tyler.  Not all of the rooms are open to the public but they had a video and an actual docent to guide everyone (translation: me) through the house.

My final stop in Paris was at the Eifel Tower.  It’s built to scale (a much smaller scale!) and sports a red cowboy hat…LOL!  I had hoped to get someone to take my picture there but that wasn’t happening and time was getting away from me.  I had made plans to meet one of my cousins who lives in the area (relatively speaking – pun intended…LOL!) at a restaurant about halfway between Paris and Gilmer (his hometown).  I made it in time…ok, three minutes late.

Dinner was Tex-Mex in Mount Pleasant and I had a nice visit with my cousin and his wife.  As I stopped to wash my hands, I dropped my 10-year-old camera (which I’ve been threatening to replace for a couple of months) in a sink full of water!  Oops.  Accidentally on purpose?  Maybe subconsciously. 

Just after checking into tonight’s hotel in Denison, I ran to Best Buy (as they were closing) and got a new one.  The only photos I got with my cousin were on my phone and I still have lots of places to see on this trip so I really didn’t have a choice.  Really.  Bear in mind that I’m a scrapbooker.  I had no choice.  LOL!  After taking a closer look at it, I may be returning this camera…display screens are nice (if it’s not too bright out) but where is the viewfinder?  Yeah, this isn’t a keeper.

I’m going to call it an evening.  I’ve had my wine cooler while writing this and I have a full day tomorrow.  Maybe I’ll even figure out how to get Pandora from my phone to play on the car speakers; that would be nice.  The first day I got my phone linked to the stereo so that I have hands-free telephone usage but I must have missed a step because only actual phone calls seem to work.

The second day (while sitting in construction traffic), I figured out the cruise control mechanism…it’s not like any I’ve used before but I really like the way it works.  Today, sitting at traffic lights, I finally figured out how to make the radio search for stations…the first two days I was limited to the preset stations and I wasn’t always in the Dallas area (!)…I still don’t understand why buttons with the same symbols on the steering wheel as on the radio don’t act the same, but if I can find music, I’m happy.  By the time I turn this car in, I’ll have all of the bells and whistles figured out…LOL!

Tomorrow is a fairly early day, so I’m crawling into bed now. G’nite, all!