Texas Road Trip Journal-Day 2
June 3, 2007: After a nice sleep of 6 hours or so, we were up and ready to head on a small day trip with my sister Sherry, her husband Brian and their daughter Savannah. This would be a nice easy day and hopefully fun for us all, especially after our 1126 mile jaunt yesterday.
We left the house around 11:00 and drove down thru Whiskey Flats on highway 377 and then eventually into Granbury, TX. We continued south on 377 all the way to Dublin, TX where our first destination was the Dublin Dr. Pepper plant, the world's oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant (established in 1891, six years after Dr. Pepper was created in Waco, TX) and the only one that still makes their Dr. Pepper with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar. It was about a 73 mile jaunt down there and we arrived at about 13:00.
The bottling plant is in the middle of this small town of Dublin, which in June officially becomes Dr. Pepper, Texas for one week. The population then officially becomes 1024.....from the 10-2-4 of the old Dr. Pepper bottles (see below). Why 10-2-4? According to a FAQ on the Dublin facility's web site:
Those well-known Dr Pepper numbers of 10, 2 and 4 weren’t selected at random. They represent the times of day when the human body needs a little “pick-me-up” to avoid an energy slump.
It was in the 1920s that Dr. Walter Eddy at
After Dr. Eddy’s research findings were released, Dr Pepper challenged its advertising agency to come up with a theme which would suggest that Dr Pepper should be that 10, 2 and 4 drink which would keep the energy level up. The result was one of the most enduring of Dr Pepper’s advertising themes: Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4.
Today, just those numbers
We joined the tour from the little soda shop inside the plant. They took us to the back and showed us some of the machinery used as well as some old bottles and then also a small little museum with lots of Dr. Pepper memorabilia. Solomon ended up buying a case of the Dublin made Dr. Pepper to take home. I picked up a couple of small key chains.
The Dr. Pepper visit was fun and Solomon was happy. But we were all getting hungry and it was time to head on back. We left at about 13:45 and got back on 377 and headed north to Granbury, where we would eat lunch and also do a little sightseeing.
The drive along highway 377 is pretty uneventful. There aren't too many things that really jump out at you. However, there was a small town we went through just south of Granbury called Tolar that I found interesting. There was not much to the town, but there were some old stone buildings that gave the small town an air of the Old West to me. The town was first settled around 1890 and currently has about 500 residents, though the photos below really make this place look like a ghost town.
We finally arrived in Granbury, a small historic community nestled along the Brazos River. The town has some unique little shops and quite a personality. Our first stop was for lunch and it brought back memories of my last road trip.....
The Montana Restaurant has good food, reasonable prices and a nice atmosphere. Sherry and Brian eat there every so often and like their chicken fried steak. Solomon had grilled pork chops and I had grilled chicken with buffalo sauce. There were plenty of jalapenos to go around. They also have some pretty good fried pickles (I tried a few but really strived hard to stay on my diet plan by having a baked potato with nothing on it and some veggies to go with it).
After lunch we crossed over the river into old town Granbury and visited the square and strolled many of the shops in the square. My favorite was the "Downtown Store" which had an eclectic mix of goodies. In my opinion it was what a souvenir shop should be -- a bit of touristy junk, some nice t-shirts, some good touristy stuff, post cards, greeting cards and even hand made goods and some local food items. The store's claim is that they have something for everyone and indeed they do!! I wish I would have had more money.
Another interesting spot on the square was the hotel: The Nutt House Hotel. This is an historic hotel apparently and I am assuming that back in the early days Nutt House would not be associated with a mental institution. This is a small hotel and apparently only has 7 rooms. As the plaque on the hotel states, the hotel actually began as a small mercantile business run by two blind brothers, Jesse and Jacob Nutt. They established the store in 1866 and then built the currently standing limestone building in 1893. It became a hotel in 1919.
Just behind the Nutt House sits the famously historic Hood County jailhouse. We were there in time to see it, but it was closed for some reason, so we couldn't go in. What a disappointment!! Like the other buildings, the jailhouse was built of limestone. This jailhouse was actually used from 1885 until 1978!!! It is now a museum but has an original cell block and hanging tower inside -- both of which I had hoped to see. Oh well....
The other classic structure there on the square is at the center of it all...the historic court house building. Sitting where we were, all you could really see when looking up was the clock tower peeking up through the trees. It is quite picturesque and with the blue sky and clouds, it was quite nice. This building is the third courthouse on the site. The initial one was built in 1875 and then again in 1890. those two burned down. This building was later built out of Brazos limestone and is considered one of the better courthouses in Texas as far as photo value is concerned.
I had hoped we would have time to visit the Acton Cemetery in Granbury, but we were running late and Savannah was tired. Anyway, the cemetery is supposedly the resting place for John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln as well as of Jesse James, the notorious outlaw from the late 1880s and 90s. Davy Crockett's wife is also buried there. Both Booth's and Jame's burials here are controversial as both were purportedly caught and killed elsewhere. In the instance of Booth, some say that he escaped and a look-alike was captured and killed while Booth made it back to Granbury, TX, where he worked in a bar until his death. Jesse James also supposedly escaped. There are numerous stories surrounding these and I look forward to the next trip to Granbury to delve into these more.
After our visit to Granbury, we returned back to Fort Worth. Of course, in my never-ending search for the interesting and unusual, we found a gun shop (Murle's Gunsmith Shop) along the way with a large character statue on it. I am not sure who the character is supposed to be, but he certainly fits into my ever-expanding menagerie of statues and characters.
We made it back to Ft. Worth around 6-ish and then Sherry and I went to downtown Ft. Worth for a visit to look for another of my "giant" characters, a giant jackalope as well as to visit the famous Stockyards area of Ft. Worth. According to the Critters page at agilitynut.com, this jackalope is 6 feet tall and is made of chicken wire and fiberglass by someone named Nancy Lamb. (For more fun on jackalopes, check out the jackalope web page and this biker page about jackalopes which is a really really cool site!!). This particular critter is on the top of RLB Sales and Leasing at 5925 Camp Bowie Blvd. in Ft. Worth.
Then, onto the Ft. Worth Stockyards area....what a really neat place this is!! We drove around the place...rustic pillars holding the roof up...interesting wall paintings on the sides of buildings...interesting businesses. Following are a few photos:
Above you can see some of the nice wood-carved pillars. Many of the shop fronts sport these.
Then the odd-named shops, of which there are many. Here are a couple that caught my eye:
The Cross-Eyed Moose is an "upscale" decor and furnishings store that sells "one of a kind western furnishings and antiques. The painting on the side of the building is unique and the store front is as well. Makes you want to go into the shop, which we didn't, unfortunately.
The Bum Steer is another furniture and antique shop. Just down the street from the
Cross-Eyed Moose, it is owned by the same person as the Moose.
After the drive there and around the beautiful buildings of downtown Ft. Worth, we returned back. A long drive home awaits Solomon and me tomorrow.
Roadside guidance provided by......
