Off on this nice day to visit the old town of Yoakum. Yoakum is like many towns of this size, they grew to moderate size in the mid 1900s, then plateaued and now are not growing at all. Yoakum has a central area that consists of old brick buildings that are mostly unoccupied or are occupied with marginal businesses.
We attended a church picnic in Yoakum a year ago, but that was the Lutheran Picnic and this one is sponsored by the Catholic church. We first drove directly to the Church, but this was not the place where the picnic was held---it was at the Community center in the old part of downtown, along the rows of warehouses paralleling the railroad tracks. This town was once a shipping center for agricultural products, like especially tomatoes. Now there is little of that produce and so the warehouses sit there rather bleak looking.
The dinner was the usual, beef stew, sausage, smashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and bread. And don't forget the desserts, a wide selection. For some reason, the smashed potatoes had little taste. The sauerkraut was over cooked and was almost creamy. Overall, a 3 star.
Its interesting how the music varies from one part of south Texas to another. For example, in Shiner, the beer was a feature outside the eating hall, the food was tasty, and the music was definitely polka. Here in Yoakum, there was no beer, the food was rather bland, and the music was mostly religious songs.
Looking around the dining hall at the expressions on the faces of people, we noticed that there was not a lot of discussion and apparent happiness---not sure why the difference to, say, Shiner or Moulton, but there was.
The big highlight of the trip was a stop in Harwood. No one has ever heard of Harwood except those two people who operate a small antique shop on the main drag. The main drag is the hwy 90. There are a lot of town fatalities on Hwy 90 and this is one of them. All were made a bit obsolete when Interstate 10 was built decades ago. Now the building of the antique shop has seen several other businesses, a drug store with a real soda fountain along one wall, a dance hall in the second floor, etc. But now its the home of On Track Arts.
It may have that name because right across the highway is the railroad track---probably the Southern Pacific. The shop is run by Hal Shipley. Hal's art skill is stained glass window making. His work is in several places in Austin and he does a good business making windows to custom orders.
We even bought some stuff, even though we should really be selling, not buying. I couldn't resist the brass frog pulling a shell. No one knows what it was intended to do.
From another customer we received some good information on some eateries in Gonzales---info sorely needed so that we can avoid a hamburger on our next visit there.
We attended a church picnic in Yoakum a year ago, but that was the Lutheran Picnic and this one is sponsored by the Catholic church. We first drove directly to the Church, but this was not the place where the picnic was held---it was at the Community center in the old part of downtown, along the rows of warehouses paralleling the railroad tracks. This town was once a shipping center for agricultural products, like especially tomatoes. Now there is little of that produce and so the warehouses sit there rather bleak looking.
The dinner was the usual, beef stew, sausage, smashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and bread. And don't forget the desserts, a wide selection. For some reason, the smashed potatoes had little taste. The sauerkraut was over cooked and was almost creamy. Overall, a 3 star.
Its interesting how the music varies from one part of south Texas to another. For example, in Shiner, the beer was a feature outside the eating hall, the food was tasty, and the music was definitely polka. Here in Yoakum, there was no beer, the food was rather bland, and the music was mostly religious songs.
Looking around the dining hall at the expressions on the faces of people, we noticed that there was not a lot of discussion and apparent happiness---not sure why the difference to, say, Shiner or Moulton, but there was.
The big highlight of the trip was a stop in Harwood. No one has ever heard of Harwood except those two people who operate a small antique shop on the main drag. The main drag is the hwy 90. There are a lot of town fatalities on Hwy 90 and this is one of them. All were made a bit obsolete when Interstate 10 was built decades ago. Now the building of the antique shop has seen several other businesses, a drug store with a real soda fountain along one wall, a dance hall in the second floor, etc. But now its the home of On Track Arts.
It may have that name because right across the highway is the railroad track---probably the Southern Pacific. The shop is run by Hal Shipley. Hal's art skill is stained glass window making. His work is in several places in Austin and he does a good business making windows to custom orders.
We even bought some stuff, even though we should really be selling, not buying. I couldn't resist the brass frog pulling a shell. No one knows what it was intended to do.
From another customer we received some good information on some eateries in Gonzales---info sorely needed so that we can avoid a hamburger on our next visit there.
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