Continued from (road trip post 6) (Go to the 1st post here)
The Fredericksburg Comfort Inn was actually better than expected and at a decent price - clean, good wifi, good shower and a comfortable bed. From our experience, Comfort Inns range from good to "never again" so this one goes on our "Acceptable" list. Of course, the fact that it was rather late when we checked in after a frustrating afternoon and evening (see previous post here), plus the fact we were both very tired probably had some bearing on a good night's sleep. After partaking of the pretty decent "free" breakfast and a fill up for the truck, we pointed her northwest on Highway 87 to Koockville where we caught Hwy 29 to Menard and then jumped on Hwy 83 North toward Eden. An interesting side note about Eden, Texas - the population is 2,560, but about 1,300 of those residents are inmates at the Eden Detention Center, a for-profit prison under contract to the Feds. Once past Eden, staying on Hwy 83, we might not have been in the middle of nowhere, but we could see it from there.
After miles of open spaces and seeing almost no other cars, we came to the intersection with FM 765, a little 2-lane black-top road. Going west on this road, after a few more miles of nothing but stunted mesquite trees, widely dispersed farm houses, a few cows and wide open spaces, it became just a hard-packed dirt road. Now we were definitely in the middle of nowhere! We eventually saw a sign nailed onto a fencepost that announced we would reach our destination after a short drive down a private, dirt road past a herd of Longhorns - The Barrow Ranch Museum.
So far out in the boonies that you have to be going there to get there, we had found a most fascinating collection of "stuff." Ernest and Dorothy Barrow constructed 3 very large metal buildings around their house to hold over forty years of collections from their extensive travels and donations from their many friends. Ernest and Dorothy are both gone now, but before their passing, they set up a non-profit foundation with a Board of Directors in order to keep the museum open to the public and to provide funds for its upkeep. To that end, entrance is free, but a donation is requested.
Pulling up to what appeared to be a working ranch house, we parked in a small gravel parking lot. Besides a few longhorns milling around watching us, it appeared we were the only living things in the vicinity. There were a couple of railroad cars and non-functioning windmills sitting in the field with the longhorns, several old tractors and a good bit of old, rusted metal pieces from farm implements just laying around the grounds. It was eerily quiet. There were no signs saying "Enter Here," no doors marked "Entrance" and nobody to greet us. Just as we were about to get back in the truck and leave, an older gentleman came from the house and asked if we were there to see the museum.
He introduced himself as Gary Glass, caretaker of the ranch and museum. Gary has worked on this ranch for over 40 years, helped build the museum buildings and has many interesting stories to tell, which he is more than happy to do. He gave us a personal tour of each building and talked about most every item. Except for a few questions, we rarely were able to get a word in, but he was so interesting, we didn't mind. I can understand that. It's very quiet and must be very lonely out there. He said there's very few visitors so he really enjoys it when somebody shows up.
He invited us to follow him into a huge metal building which we found held an amazing amount of, well, of "stuff." It can only be described as a hoarder's vast collection of things. From early-American dining rooms to a 1950's soda fountain to old pump organs, antique washing machines, radios, record players and archeological artifacts, the groupings made no sense. The world's largest collection of Indian arrowheads (about 15,000 in all), old west rifles and guns sit next to gems, mineral specimens and sea shells.
Once we made it through this building, Gary led us to a large second building (he told us that when they ran out of room in one building, they would just build another one) that was just as full of things as the first! A vast collection of china and Oriental carvings was displayed next to World War II memorabilia which included captured German and Japanese flags. Old dolls and dozens of Hummel figurines sat next to medical and dental tools and stuffed animals. The 3rd building contained mostly farm implements, drilling equipment, old cars, an antique fire truck and odds 'n ends such as some kind of farm implement embedded in a tree stump which had grown up around it. As we finished this last building, Gary led us outside and pointed out what each of the rusted items in the yard were along with a few more stories about life on the ranch.
We were there for about 2 hours and enjoyed all of it, but even today, I still am overwhelmed at the number of items in those buildings. Just as we said goodbye to Gary, another car with a man and woman drove up an parked next to us. Gary's face seemed to light up and with a smile he asked the new arrivals, "Are you here to see the museum?"
Seeing as how it was time for lunch, we headed to Balinger and the infamous haunted Gonzalez Restaurant for a good Tex-Mex meal. Bad, bad decision. When we arrived, the only customers were just one family of 4 in the whole place. That normally is a big warning sign, but what the heck, Chip and I both love Tex-Mex cuisine and we're here so we might as well partake of the buffet and who knows, maybe we'll even see the ghost everyone calls Norton.
According to legend, a local outlaw was spotted in town and the police gave chase. He ended up hiding inside the restaurant, but the police found him and when he pulled a gun, they shot him dead right there inside the building. Since then, staff and customers have claimed to see a ghostly apparition wearing cowboy clothing, sometimes walking through walls. Norton also moves things around, especially dishes, silverware, salt shakers and cooking implements. Often, people will experience unexplained cold spots within the building and some have reported an invisible hand touching their necks and arms.
As we walked in, we were greeted by an older Hispanic lady who showed us to a table. We ordered tea and said we would have the buffet. I cannot tell you in strong enough terms just how bad the food was. The crumbled beef was a sickish, gray color and it tasted like wet chicken feathers. The chicken looked disgusting enough that I didn't touch it. The refried beans were the same color as the beef and was the consistency of soup. The lettuce for a salad tasted like it had been cut and then left open in the refrigerator for three days. The best thing on the whole buffet was the rice, which was passable. When we returned to our table, we found a bowl of cold, greasy chips and a bland salsa that was obviously straight out of a can.
I have dozens of road trips under my belt as well as numerous vacations and hundreds of business-related travels where I have eaten at least 2 and often 3 times a day in restaurants, cafe's, dinners, hotels, bars, bowling alleys and dance halls. This one stands out above all those places as the number one worst meal! And the really weird thing was the one lady who was the greeter, waitress and cashier (we never saw another staff person) sat down across the empty room and stared at us the whole time. She never came over to check on us, never said a word, rarely blinked...just sat there staring at us.
I'm not a picky eater, but I couldn't eat most of the buffet food so I made a small meal of rice and flour tortillas. Chip didn't think the food was as bad as I did, but I noted he didn't go back for seconds. When we got up to leave, our staring friend got up and took our money. She never smiled, but at least she did say thank you. We left feeling ripped off, still hungry and we never did see Norton.
Backtracking south on Hwy 83 for about 12 miles, we then went east on Hwy 1929 until after a few twists and turns on several other small 2-lane Farm-to-Market roads, we reached the town of Mercury. Founded in 1904 when the Fort Worth and Rio Grand Railroad reached this point. Mercury soon became a bustling livestock shipping point and by 1914 it had over 550 citizens and a number of commercial businesses. A major fire burned down most of the town's buildings in 1919. In 1929, just as the town's business came back to where it was before the fire, another fire once again destroyed most of the buildings and the town never recovered. Growth stopped and when a major highway bypassed the community in 1938, Mercury began to decline. By 1940, the post office was discontinued and most businesses closed. The final nail in the town's coffin came in 1949 when the Mercury schools closed. Today it is a virtual ghost town with a scattered population of about 150 people living in the area.
So why did we drive through Mercury? Because just south of the town is the geographical center of Texas! Being a native Texan, I just couldn't resist. There is a historical marker on Hwy 377 about 2 miles south of Mercury, but the marker is not exactly where the center of Texas is located. The actual center is at N 31° 23.492 W 099° 10.238 which is about 5 miles away, but you can't go there because it is on private property and in Texas, that means no trespassing or you just might find yourself trying to outrun a load of buckshot! Neither Chip nor I got to be as old as we are by being fools so we made it to the historical marker and called it good enough.
We had just enough time left in the day to visit a place on my Texas bucket list - the Regency Bridge. If you are as big of a fan of the TV show Texas Country Reporter as I am, then you are familiar with the Regency Bridge because it is the bridge they drive over during the opening and closing segments of the show. The 325-foot, one-way, wood-surfaced bridge is located in a very rural area at the intersection of two gravel roads - Mills County Road 433 and San Saba County Road 137. It's another place where you have to be going there to get there. You most probably won't find it by accident. The local farmers and ranchers call it "the swinging bridge" because as you cross, it swings from side-to-side and rolls up and down - rather disconcerting, but evidently safe as it has never collapsed. I posted an earlier blog entry about the bridge which you can read here.
We were done for the day and it was about time to head on back home. We'll be stopping at a few more interesting places along the way, but for this night, there was a room waiting for us at the Holiday Inn Express in Stephenville.
The Fredericksburg Comfort Inn was actually better than expected and at a decent price - clean, good wifi, good shower and a comfortable bed. From our experience, Comfort Inns range from good to "never again" so this one goes on our "Acceptable" list. Of course, the fact that it was rather late when we checked in after a frustrating afternoon and evening (see previous post here), plus the fact we were both very tired probably had some bearing on a good night's sleep. After partaking of the pretty decent "free" breakfast and a fill up for the truck, we pointed her northwest on Highway 87 to Koockville where we caught Hwy 29 to Menard and then jumped on Hwy 83 North toward Eden. An interesting side note about Eden, Texas - the population is 2,560, but about 1,300 of those residents are inmates at the Eden Detention Center, a for-profit prison under contract to the Feds. Once past Eden, staying on Hwy 83, we might not have been in the middle of nowhere, but we could see it from there.
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| The pasture in front of the museum with a couple of railroad cars and inoperable windmills |
So far out in the boonies that you have to be going there to get there, we had found a most fascinating collection of "stuff." Ernest and Dorothy Barrow constructed 3 very large metal buildings around their house to hold over forty years of collections from their extensive travels and donations from their many friends. Ernest and Dorothy are both gone now, but before their passing, they set up a non-profit foundation with a Board of Directors in order to keep the museum open to the public and to provide funds for its upkeep. To that end, entrance is free, but a donation is requested.
He introduced himself as Gary Glass, caretaker of the ranch and museum. Gary has worked on this ranch for over 40 years, helped build the museum buildings and has many interesting stories to tell, which he is more than happy to do. He gave us a personal tour of each building and talked about most every item. Except for a few questions, we rarely were able to get a word in, but he was so interesting, we didn't mind. I can understand that. It's very quiet and must be very lonely out there. He said there's very few visitors so he really enjoys it when somebody shows up.
Once we made it through this building, Gary led us to a large second building (he told us that when they ran out of room in one building, they would just build another one) that was just as full of things as the first! A vast collection of china and Oriental carvings was displayed next to World War II memorabilia which included captured German and Japanese flags. Old dolls and dozens of Hummel figurines sat next to medical and dental tools and stuffed animals. The 3rd building contained mostly farm implements, drilling equipment, old cars, an antique fire truck and odds 'n ends such as some kind of farm implement embedded in a tree stump which had grown up around it. As we finished this last building, Gary led us outside and pointed out what each of the rusted items in the yard were along with a few more stories about life on the ranch.
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| The old soda fountain inside the museum |
Seeing as how it was time for lunch, we headed to Balinger and the infamous haunted Gonzalez Restaurant for a good Tex-Mex meal. Bad, bad decision. When we arrived, the only customers were just one family of 4 in the whole place. That normally is a big warning sign, but what the heck, Chip and I both love Tex-Mex cuisine and we're here so we might as well partake of the buffet and who knows, maybe we'll even see the ghost everyone calls Norton.
 |
| Entrance to Gonzalez Restaurant |
As we walked in, we were greeted by an older Hispanic lady who showed us to a table. We ordered tea and said we would have the buffet. I cannot tell you in strong enough terms just how bad the food was. The crumbled beef was a sickish, gray color and it tasted like wet chicken feathers. The chicken looked disgusting enough that I didn't touch it. The refried beans were the same color as the beef and was the consistency of soup. The lettuce for a salad tasted like it had been cut and then left open in the refrigerator for three days. The best thing on the whole buffet was the rice, which was passable. When we returned to our table, we found a bowl of cold, greasy chips and a bland salsa that was obviously straight out of a can.
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| No customers at 1:00pm on a Saturday should have given us a warning |
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| The buffet line |
Backtracking south on Hwy 83 for about 12 miles, we then went east on Hwy 1929 until after a few twists and turns on several other small 2-lane Farm-to-Market roads, we reached the town of Mercury. Founded in 1904 when the Fort Worth and Rio Grand Railroad reached this point. Mercury soon became a bustling livestock shipping point and by 1914 it had over 550 citizens and a number of commercial businesses. A major fire burned down most of the town's buildings in 1919. In 1929, just as the town's business came back to where it was before the fire, another fire once again destroyed most of the buildings and the town never recovered. Growth stopped and when a major highway bypassed the community in 1938, Mercury began to decline. By 1940, the post office was discontinued and most businesses closed. The final nail in the town's coffin came in 1949 when the Mercury schools closed. Today it is a virtual ghost town with a scattered population of about 150 people living in the area.
We had just enough time left in the day to visit a place on my Texas bucket list - the Regency Bridge. If you are as big of a fan of the TV show Texas Country Reporter as I am, then you are familiar with the Regency Bridge because it is the bridge they drive over during the opening and closing segments of the show. The 325-foot, one-way, wood-surfaced bridge is located in a very rural area at the intersection of two gravel roads - Mills County Road 433 and San Saba County Road 137. It's another place where you have to be going there to get there. You most probably won't find it by accident. The local farmers and ranchers call it "the swinging bridge" because as you cross, it swings from side-to-side and rolls up and down - rather disconcerting, but evidently safe as it has never collapsed. I posted an earlier blog entry about the bridge which you can read here.
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| Regency Bridge aka The Swinging Bridge |
