A Hop Skip and a Jump to Texas

As a hop it's a quick one. Where we live is a little less than 200 miles from Big D. (Dallas TX) We can do that standing on our heads. We had the opportunity to get together with other like minded individuals for a BOFCI meeting at the Sheraton DFW.

We saddled up and headed south. Texas is only about 45 minutes south. Along the way, and shortly before Wichita Falls, there is a huge PPG plant.

 PPG makes most of North America's automotive glass. There are large piles of cullet glass outside the plant. I count at least 6 different shades of glass. How many do you see?

We stopped in a little town called Bellevue Texas. Bellevue boasts 320 people. Time and progress appear to have passed Bellevue by. Apparently the US Postal Service cannot forget Bellevue though.

Here is a defunct gas station.

Here is a house that probably once belonged to a local notable. You can see where there used to be a large porch on the front of the house. Although the structure is still intact one wonders how many more years it has left before crumbling into ruin, or being donated for practice to the local Volunteer Fire Dept.

Here is a house that had a loving owner at one time, perhaps a young couple or a small family. What happened to them? The building looks solid enough, could it be resurrected?

If nothing else is happening in Bellevue, and believe me anything happening in Bellevue is a long shot, at least you can go drown a worm. Here is the place you might do just such a thing.

We arrived in Denton and made a few quick stops. One was at Kroger. It is another big-box all in one. It has now been purchased by Fred Meyer. ("What's on your list today?")

By now it is getting later in the afternoon. We decided to eat at a restaurant that had been recommended to us. The Saltgrass is a chain restaurant with a Texas flair.

In case you were wondering. Vegans are welcome, but they probably won't find anything on the menu that doesn't have meat and lots of it.

There is a plaque which gives a tongue in cheek historical description of the early days of the Grand and glorious Lone Star State.

The decor is typically Wild West. Stuffed animal heads and advertisements for Western livin' abound.

There are murals on the walls. This one depicts early citizens waiting at the station as a train comes in.

Sadly, in some cases the growl of the stomach, and the clink of the fork on china are faster than the shutter of the camera. This was crab cakes, and we have found none finer. They were scrumptious.

Yet again with the slow shutter speed. This was a fairly ordinary artichoke dip, which nevertheless disappeared  in relatively short order.

By now we've managed to slow down enough to take a picture of some actual food, instead of remains.Have you ever seen a prettier salad. It too was delightful.

I decided on the Rib Eye steak. Even the small one was nothing short of gargantuan, especially considering the Appy's. I asked for Medium Rare and it was perfectly done. I managed to muscle through it, although the last few bite were pretty tough sledding gastronomically.

My beloved opted for the Tilapia. When it arrived it was roughly the size of a half sheet of plywood. There was no way she could eat it, so we saved it for the following day. What a massive meal.

The meeting was a rousing success, it's always gratifying to be able to help people and meet new folks, and we went back to our hotel around 11:00 and collapsed, waking in time to take advantage of the free breakfast, before heading out.  This is a picture of the south approach to the I-35 mixmaster. After 3 years in construction it's now relatively easy to navigate.

And so we shortly arrived home. It was a fast hop south, when we skipped out of Oklahoma. and a quick jump home again the following day. Thanks for coming along.

Oh yeah, and the Saltgrass Steakhouse! Eat there now if possible!!!