Ride to Jefferson and surrounding area

     It has been a while since I was able to take a ride that lasted more than a few hours.  The ride to Jefferson in East Texas had been planned for several months and was scheduled to leave on Friday morning and return on Sunday afternoon.

     As advertised, the group left College Station at the appointed time headed for East Texas.  I use the term “group” very loosely here…there were 3 motorcycles and 5 people…two couples and me.  Man, did I ever feel like a 5^th wheel. 

    Our first stop was in Madisonville at Buckee’s to fill up the tanks as the others had not done that in College Station.  Once that was done, we continued east on Hwy 21 towards Nacogdoches.  Not too far on the other side of Crockett, we stopped at a Biker Store.  The owner and his wife were very friendly even though we didn’t buy anything.  They took our picture for their wall and we continued on eastward. 

    We passed by the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site on to Alto where we turned north onto Hwy 69 headed north to Rusk.  We stopped for fuel in Rusk and continued on, north on Hwy 110, then Hwy 204 back down to Hwy 259.  We again turned north through Mt. Enterprise, skirted the southern edge of Kilgore and hit FM349 east over to FM322 which we followed on into Longview.  There we stopped at Dukes Fish Shack.  Sharon questioned the wisdom of eating sea food in the middle of East Texas but it was very good…mostly shrimp, catfish and frog legs…I had shrimp and it was delicious.

     After lunch…about 2pm, we jumped on I-20 for about 20 miles until we got to FM450 in Hallsville and headed north towards Jefferson.  The number of small creeks is too numerous to remember as is the small towns.  However, there were two interesting names that stood out…Good Springs and Pirtle Community.

     After a series of turns on other farm-to-market roads, we pulled into Jefferson around 3pm.  We parked in front of the Excelsior Hotel…our accommodations for the next two days…and checked in.  After cleaning up a bit, I did a little exploring while the others took a nap or something.  Jefferson is an interesting little town, with a population of only 2,100.  However, it seems a lot bigger with several good restaurants and antique shops.  

     The most interesting store I went into was The General Store.  This place still had a soda fountain in place…although it wasn’t active…and a lot of what looked like original signage.  Inside you could find a lot of things to buy.  It kind of reminded me of some of the tourist traps down in Galveston but there were also other items to buy, including a lot of throwback candy and gum and soda.  It was a lot of fun to roam around inside.

     That night we had dinner at The Cork Yard.  As the name implies, their specialty was wine but they also had a pretty good menu of appetizers and entrées.  After our rather large lunch, everyone decided on the appetizers so we orders 3-4 of them and shared.  It was a pleasant night to be outside and the group had a good time talking and eating.  Even thought we didn’t have dinner, we decided we should have dessert so we headed down the street to The Hamburger Store where we all had a piece of wonderful pie.

     Besides no cable or internet at the hotel that night, we all had a fairly restful evening.  Oh, did I forget to mention that my room only had a claw foot bath tub with a handheld shower thing.  It has been a long time since I took a bath and it took a few minutes for me to get the hang of it…but I managed.  My morning bath went a little quicker but I did manage to get the floor pretty wet washing my hair.  Oh well, I guess they’re used to that.

     On Saturday morning, we went next door to the Bayou Bakery and Café.  We ordered breakfast…I had a ham and cheese omelet which was amazing…and made plans for the day.  Our fearless leader was taking us west to Lake O’ the Pines, around it and back to Jefferson.  The after lunch we would head east to Caddo Lake.

     After breakfast, we headed west on Hwy 49, hit FM729, FM 726, across the Ferrells Bridge Dam, then Hwy 259 into Ore City on the shores of Lake O’ the Pines.  We followed Hwy 259 further north to the tip of the lake, skirted the town of Lone Star and then turned south on FM729 again.  FM729 offered a much better few of the lake as we crossed several bayous…that looked like part of the lake to me but what do I know.  When we got to the intersection of 729 and 726, we backtracked a bit and turned into the Buckhorn Creek Park where several fishermen were offloading their boats for an early start to the weekend.  We took the opportunity to do a little more planning.

     We decided that it was too early for lunch…considering the portions of breakfast we had consumed…so we decided to go to one of the nearby vineyards.  We had seen Enoch’s Stomp Vineyard the day before on the way into Jefferson but there was another one a bit closer to our current location.  We mounted up and headed to O’Farrell’s Country Vineyard.  We arrived at the entrance and 11:45 and noticed that they didn’t open until 12:00.  However, after a few pictures, it was time so we went in.

     The others went into the wine tasting and small sales office while I stayed outside talking to one of the visitors and the owner…both retired Air Force.  It was very interesting since both of them retired a few years before me.  The visitor, from eastern Oklahoma, had been stationed at Randolph and Travis during his career so we talked about those places and what they look like now.

     Following our visit, I sat in the shade with everyone for a while, soaking up the quite country ambiance.  After a while, we decided to head back to Jefferson for lunch.  Our destination was Kitt’s Kornbread Sandwich shop.  By the way, did you know there’s a Lodi, Texas?  Well, I do now.  It’s on the road north of Jefferson.

     A few minutes later, we pulled into town and found that it was very crowded.  It’s amazing how a town of only 2,100 can become so crowded with no event scheduled for this particular weekend.  However, Jefferson is the county seat and I guess between visitors, town folks and folks from the surrounding area, it can get crowded.  Kitt’s was crowded, even at 1:30 in the afternoon.  We found seats at the bar and perused the menu.  Right away we noticed some interesting items.  We also could not help noticing the pies in the display case when you entered.

We ordered our Kornbread sandwiches…I had the Redneck Special…bologna and cheese…followed by a slice of apple pie.  It was yummy.  I highly recommend it to anyone headed to Jefferson.

     With our bellies full, we headed east to Caddo Lake.  One of our riders grew up fishing at the lake so he was our fount of information once we got there.  One of the interesting things about Caddo Lake is the town of Uncertain.  It’s not much of a town but rather a collection of trailer parks, RV parks and cabins for people coming to Caddo Lake.  The lake itself, especially close to the shore, is a carpet of water lilies, so thick you would think a boat could not get through them.

     In fact, the guy who had spent some of his youth fishing on the lake said that in addition to the water lilies there are many submerged stumps and/or trees that if you don’t stick to the marked “highways” in the lake, you could find yourself bailing fast to keep afloat.  We did not take the opportunity to rent a boat this time…maybe later.

     On the western end of the lake sits the little town of Karnack.  Once again, not much of a town but it did have a nice restaurant, the River Bend restaurant, which used to be a large boat dock, and a nicer place called Big Pines Lodge.  Along the road between the two places there were a couple of very nice homes…or should I say estates.  It’s amazing where people will spend $500K or more to build a home.

     By the time we had made the circuit on the south side of Caddo Lake, the weather appeared to be coming in from the west so we decided it was time to head back.  We arrived back at the hotel about 4pm, cleaned up and rested and met in the lobby at 5:30 to head to the local sports bar and grill, The Franchise, for dinner and the Aggie game.

     It had been a good day with good riding.  The roads around Jefferson are mostly smooth and those that need a little work appear to be prepped for a new surface.  We went through several small towns…the largest of which had a population of 500.  We also crossed numerous creeks and bayous once again…the largest of which were Hurricane Bayou, Black Cypress Bayou, Big Cypress Bayou and Little Cypress Bayou.  Needless to say, the area has some cypress trees.

     We had a nice dinner at The Franchise, milking our appetizers, drinks and dinner to manage to see the whole game that night while it rained heavily outside.  Fortunately, we caught a break in the heavier rain and managed to get back to the hotel without getting very wet.  Our landlord had graciously allowed us to park our bikes up on their porch for the night so we were able to make some preparations for Sunday morning’s departure.

     I slept much better on Saturday night as I managed to get a room with a shower and a working television…although the weather knocked out the cable so once again I went to bed before 10pm…probably a new record, two nights in a row.

     On Sunday, we ate breakfast in the hotel dining room…a very good country breakfast.  It was not raining, although it looked like it could at any moment.  Our leader, after looking at the radar picture on his phone determined that we were on the backside of the front that had passed through the night before and he didn’t think we’d need our rain suits all day.  Of course, as luck would have it, we had not even gone a mile down the road when it started raining.  We pulled over to the side of the road and everyone put on their jackets and we continued on.  As it rained harder and longer, we got wetter and wetter.

     We pulled into a gas station in Marshall to top off the tanks and everyone got fully dressed in rain gear.  I learned several things that morning:  1) when you put on the jacket, put on the pants too; 2) my boots are not waterproof…my socks and inside the boots got wet in a hurry; and 3) always wear the full-face helmet when inclement weather is anticipated…this one I had done.

     Leaving Marshall, we took Hwy 59 south towards Carthage, looped around the northern edge of the city and took FM315 through Clayton into Mt. Enterprise.  There we got on Hwy 259 south towards Nacogdoches.  Once again, we skirted the edge of town on their loop to Hwy 7 and turned west towards Crockett and home.

     On Hwy 7 we went through several small towns like Pollock, Redtown and Ratcliff, plus over the Angelina River and Neches River and through the Davy Crockett National Forest.  We took the loop around the eastern edge of Crockett until we came to Don Rafa’s Mexican Food…the only kind of food we had not had on the trip.

     After a good meal, we hit Hwy 7 headed towards Centerville, passing through the little of towns of Eunice.  We continued on 7 through Concord, Redland and Marquez where we got on Hwy 79 through Franklin and into Hearne…only 30 more miles to home.  We arrived back in the Bryan/College Station are about 4pm, definitely ready to be home…although my house was empty save for two little Cocker Spaniel dogs, eager to play and get into trouble.

     Overall, the ride through East Texas and Jefferson was very good.  We had some good food and good fellowship and I rarely felt like the 5^th wheel I was.  We had sun and hot weather, cloudy and muggy weather and rain…sounds like Texas…and covered just over 700 miles.  This trip was a bit expensive…probably why there weren’t many takers…but it was worth it.  There might not be too many more for this old guy so I’ve got to take advantage of these types of rides when I can.  I have my dear wife to thank for encouraging me to go.

     Nothing much on the horizon for future rides, other than a dinner ride here or there.  I need to get back to my ABC’s of Texas tour soon but hopefully the colder weather and holidays will be here so there might not be too much more riding until spring.  Until then, thanks for visiting my blog.

ABC's of Texas Touring

Once again, it's been a while since I posted anything.  I have taken some interesting trips in the last few months but unfortunately I got too busy upon my return to post anything.  Last Fall, I took 2 trips...one to the Hill Country and another to the Lone Star Rally in Galveston.  Both were enjoyable and if you're interested in pictures I can share them with you later.

This post involves traveling around Texas...mostly Central and East Texas...West Texas is too hot so I won't be venturing too far out that way...at least not until it cools down a bit.

Sharon and I had this idea that it might be fun to travel around the State finding city and towns with interesting and/or unique names, or in some cases some history that not everyone knows.  The idea came from a contest Harley Davidson National is doing but we thought it would be more interesting for our grandkids to keep it local.  The idea is to use the alphabet and find 26 or more places starting with one of the letters.  At some point down the road, once I collect all the locations I need, I'll put them in book form.  Perhaps the grandkids...and others...will find it interesting.

This blog will be mostly about the trips I take to gather the information for the ABC's of Texas Touring Book.

The first time out was only for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon and it involved cities and towns in the local area that are familiar names to the bikers around Brazos County.  On that ride I visited Anderson, Bedias, Carlos.  I may not use all of them in the final product because only Anderson is interesting with it's old historic Court House.

The second trip was much more extensive.  After visiting Baylor College of Dentistry on a Thursday for business, I spent the night at a hotel close to I-20 so that on Friday morning I could get an early start.  I had worked out a route through some of the lesser known East Texas towns within a reasonable area.  The route would take me as far east as Jacksonville before heading back toward the DFW area and my final destination in Arlington for a 1-yr old's birthday party.

On my way to Dallas, I decided to follow old Hwy 75 as long as possible.  I was surprised to find it was still in excellent condition, probably because the locals still use it extensively.  Along the route between Madisonville and Streetman...where 75 merges with I-45...there are numerous little towns with populations ranging from 110 up to 5800 or so.  There are houses, ranches, farms and all manner of commercial buildings along the route, but on this Thursday morning, I had the highway almost to myself. 

I crossed several creeks...Bliss, Keechi, Iron...and one river, the Navasota.  I also passed Fort Boggy State Park, which is just south of Centerville between I-45 and Hwy 75.  I made such good time that it appeared I would be too early for my meeting in Dallas so I stopped in Corsicana for lunch and to walk around Gander Mountain...no ammo there either!  I arrived at my destination with 5 minutes to spare.

On Friday morning, I got up early, had a little breakfast at the hotel...muffin and juice...and hit the road headed east at 7am.  My first stop was Van...about 55 miles down the road.  The weatherman predicted that the temperature would peak out near 102-103 by the end of the day but this early it was about 85 and the sun was hidden by a light cloud cover...at this point, the weather was excellent for riding.

In the interest of time, I stopped short of my original destination in Van to take a picture of a sign welcoming visitors to the city of Van...and then I was off to Jacksonville.  I decided, whenever possible, I needed to save a few minutes.  The Google map routing said that I was already going to have a six hour day, and that's without stops.  I figured it was going to take eight hours, at least.

The route to Jacksonville took me to the outskirts of Tyler and then out Hwy 79, a 4-lane highway, nice and smooth.  There was probably a shorter route available but perhaps not a faster one.  The area around Tyler is very pretty...looked like they have received a lot of rain so far this summer because everything was green.  I passed several estates that might be considered plantations...roses I guess...and the houses might be considered mansions...they were quite nice.

I pulled into Jacksonville at 9:30am, took my picture in front of their police station and hit the road again headed for Athens...about 50 miles away.  Unfortunately, those 50 miles took a little longer as Hwy 175 was under considerable repair...looked like they were resurfacing it.  At one point, the line being held by a flagman was over a mile long and the stretch of one-way highway was at least that long, if not longer...and it was getting hot!

Between Van and Athens I once again crossed several creeks, the Neches River twice and passed through some villages...too little to call towns or cities.  One such location, about 10 miles outside Jacksonville had two liquor stores, a car repair place and another abandoned-looking building...no gas station, no restaurants....the only housing I could see was mobile homes.  The name of the village was Cuney...my apologies if you're from there.

My next stop was Athens.  Already I felt pressed for time so I took a picture of the city limits sign and pressed on.  I stopped long enough for the picture, take a drink and reprogram my GPS for Canton...not on my route originally but I thought I should add it as almost everyone I know has been there at sometime in their life...it was only 25 miles up the road so I added a total of 50 miles to the trip.

One thing I had not considered was that this particular Friday is First Monday weekend...that's when hoards of people typically descend on Canton to shop the huge flea market and sample the great treats that are everywhere.  Fortunately, the traffic had not picked up much and I was able to get a picture of the market entrance and get out of the way without much trouble.  By this time, it was getting close to lunch and I was hungry so I stopped at a little place on the town square and had a very good hamburger.  The air-conditioned shop was really the best thing about the stop but the burger was good too.

After an hour of eating and relaxing, it was time to head on down the road...next stop, Gun Barrel City.  I plugged the location into my GPS and headed out, not caring what highway I was on but knowing the GPS would get me there by the quickest route.  I passed through several small towns with names such as Tundra, Jackson and Phalba...no, I didn't misspell it.

As I arrived in Gun Barrel City, it had a familiar ring to it, although I had never been there.  It reminded me of the Conroe area near Lake Conroe.  Gun Barrel City is also on the shores around a popular boating area...Cedar Creek Reservoir...a very large body of water.  As I drove along the road, there were restaurants, convenience stores, boating and fishing supplies and all manner of other places, just like Conroe.

I took my picture in front of city hall and headed on down the road across the bridge that divides the reservoir.  I don't know how many square miles the reservoir covers but it is quite large and appears to be a very popular destination.

My next stop was Tool, a small town on the western shores of the same reservoir.  I never found the post office...my original destination...so I took a picture of the volunteer fire department.  Tool wasn't much of a town, or should I say there wasn't much of a town present.  It appeared all the housing was between the road and the water....definitely a water loving folk.  I noticed a sign for the turn off to the Auxillary Coast Guard station but I never could find it either.  However, it gave me an opportunity to see some of the houses better.  Some of them were nice and just about all

of them had some sort of boat in the driveway or in the carport.

At this point, I was still at least 2 hours away from the end of my day and I could tell that the weather forecast was right on...it was at least 100 at 2pm.  As long as I could keep moving it wasn't too bad.  I also stopped occassionally to take a drink out of my thermos.

My next stop was Eureka...once again a tiny village along Hwy 287 on the way to Corsicana.  The map showed the town being on the shores...or near anyway...of Richland-Chambers Reservoir but I never saw the water.  I also couldn't find the post office so I took a picture in front of a church and got back on the road.  Hwy 287 merges with I-45 at Corsicana up to a point just south of Ennis...a section of highway that I had been on just the day before.  Traffic was fairly light on the interstate so I made good time safely.

I exited on Hwy 287 headed west towards Waxahachie...my last stop for the day.  The road is pretty good but the closer I got to Waxahachie, the more crowded the road became.  I hit the city limits about 3pm and the traffic was terrible...you would have thought it was a Saturday and everyone was out shopping.

My destination was supposed to be the city hall building, about 2 miles down the road, but the traffic was so heavy and slow moving and I was so ready to be in Arlington that when I saw the high school sign, I pulled in and got a picture.  The good news was that this was only 2 blocks off 287 so I got back on the highway relatively quickly and continued to Arlington.

I pulled into the driveway in Arlington at 4pm...nine hours after leaving the hotel in Mesquite...tired, hot and thirsty.  After unloading everything, and taking a shower, I tanked up on water and cooled down.

Sitting there relaxing, I was able to reflect back on the day's journey and I realized that Texas is full of people spread out all over the place...big cities to tiny villages, many of them having less than 100 citizens.  I passed over so many creeks that there was no way I could remember the names...although I did manage to remember Fish Creek, Aligator Creek and Hog Creek.  There is also an abundance of cemetaries spread out around the State...most of them named after the town nearby or some person I never heard of.  Most of them are very small but probably have very old headstones from the town's ancestors.  In addition, there are lakes everywhere...some not very big, but others just the opposite.  They may be called reservoirs or something else, but for all intents and purposes, they're lakes.

I don't know when my next trip will be or where but I have a quite a few towns to visit before I'm done so stay tuned.