Highway 155 Dives

Okay, folks, the lake is calling East Texans.

Yep, the sun is shining and it’s time to drive the byways, take in the wild flower covered rolling hills, and head to the country. If you are going my way, down Highway 155 towards Lake Palestine, here are the places we love to eat.

Starting at Loop 323 and heading for Frankston:

Scooter Pete’s. Browse past all the motorcycle paraphernalia and belly up at owners Denise “Nisee” and Pete Mauk’s Iron Horse Grill for a fabulous breakfast served ‘til 11pm or order the Andre Burger, a cheeseburger topped with a fried egg, all day long, Mondays through Saturdays. You can order it with a side of some of the best hash browns in East Texas. 903.581.0810

Noonday Store. What would we do without our regular fix of their addictive chicken sandwich smothered in grilled green peppers and onions, their Angus beef hamburgers, or one of their daily plate lunch specials? I get cravings for the cobblers. Order ahead and take homemade yeast rolls for parties. 903.534.9498.

Purple Pig. My favorite thing on the menu is the tender slices of slow-grilled turkey breast, but I bet you’ll also love the barbeque beef, pulled pork, or the random nights when owner Shane Swan boils up crawfish. 903.825.6800.

Star Bar-B-Q. Just past the last bridge, as we say in these parts, don’t blink or you’ll miss Lane Mills’ barbeque joint where ribs etcetera share the grill with pulled pork. They just added a new deck, but check out the recliners inside, too. Cigars are welcome and draft beer is served. 903.876.2209

Lake Palestine Marina. Most romantic destination in our area if your idea of a romantic meal out is a steamy cup of coffee accompanied with a perfect omelet, bacon, and hash browns soaked in ketchup. All with a view of the lake. Larry and his wife have years of experience in the resort business and it shows in their hospitality. 903.825.3600.

Maxwell’s Drug Store. Old folks like me remember when the best place to get a chicken salad sandwich was at the soda shop at any small town pharmacy. The problem is, most modern pharmacies no longer have food counters. Unless you are in Frankston, of course. The Soda Shoppe, at he back of Maxwell’s, features daily lunch specials like homemade chicken enchiladas or baked pork chops, but who can resist their chicken salad? 903.876.2323.

If your idea of a dive is icky, dirty, or out of the way, these spots are not for you. Or if you are looking for honky tonks.

I’m defining “dive” here as unexpected, fun, family-friendly, AND definitely clean; or I’d never talk my husband into stopping.

Our family hopes you support these 155 Dives. See ya there!

Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives and writes with a Texas twang. Comments are invited at http://checklistcharlie.blogspot.com.

Attention Motorcycle Mamas

Attention all Motorcycle Mamas. Now is the time to straddle a bike with your leather-lovin’ sweetheart and rumble on down the highway. Brmm, brmmm….
I couldn’t help but be jealous as my chunky SUV pulled up next to a revved up couple on their shiny black and chrome horse recently in Bastrop, Texas.
There’s a glorious little historic triangle between Bastrop, Goliad, and Victoria that just begs for the feel of the wind in your face. Every turn in the road brings new vistas of green Texas farmland complete with quaint farm houses, camera-worthy courthouses and libraries, and, for lovers of colonial art, Catholic missions and cathedrals.
On the way home, travel Hwy 237 between La Grange and Brenham, for scenery that is something like a mix between the 1800s and First Monday, centered around Round Top, but spreading out for miles along the highway.
If you take to the trail in Central Texas don’t miss these memory-making experiences:
-Bastrop’s main street, which is lined with historic store-fronts now showcasing boutiques, antique stores, and cafes, feels like Jesse James could show up any minute.
The Bastrop Visitor’s Center, in a bank building from the 1800s, has maps and local history lessons dating back to 1821 when Stephen F. Austin first formed his “Little Colony.” It will be no trouble finding a place to park your bike so you can wander the tree-shaded streets hoping to experience any ghosts from this town’s historic past.
-The Mission Espiritu Santo, with kid-friendly exhibits and folks weaving cloth from cotton and wool, was home to Franciscan friars who, after daring attempts to convert cannibalistic tribes, made their home in the beautiful sunlit mission near Goliad from 1749. It is the same spot where Santa Anna once led his troops up the steep limestone incline of the San Antonio River to attack the Texicans.
-Rumble through Victoria’s downtown, pausing to visit the courthouse and the Catholic Cathedral.
- Someone should give those folks in Round Top a medal! Just when we thought Texas was turning into one big metroplex, here’s a whole community of folks caringly preserving the wooden farmhouses of the 1800s along a single-lane, country highway cutting through green, grassy farmland.
Round Top hosts internationally respected musicians on a monthly or weekly basis, thanks to the James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts, plus, there’s shopping.
They also claim to be one of the “Top 100 Arts Small Towns in America” and I, for one, can’t think of a better excuse to return for a weekend and verify personally that they are telling the truth.
With all that open air and open road, not to mention music, architecture, and culture is it any wonder that even SUV Mamas find their pulse racing? Brmmm…

Attention Motorcycle Mamas

Attention all Motorcycle Mamas. Now is the time to straddle a bike with your leather-lovin’ sweetheart and rumble on down the highway. Brmm, brmmm….
I couldn’t help but be jealous as my chunky SUV pulled up next to a revved up couple on their shiny black and chrome horse recently in Bastrop, Texas.
There’s a glorious little historic triangle between Bastrop, Goliad, and Victoria that just begs for the feel of the wind in your face. Every turn in the road brings new vistas of green Texas farmland complete with quaint farm houses, camera-worthy courthouses and libraries, and, for lovers of colonial art, Catholic missions and cathedrals.
On the way home, travel Hwy 237 between La Grange and Brenham, for scenery that is something like a mix between the 1800s and First Monday, centered around Round Top, but spreading out for miles along the highway.
If you take to the trail in Central Texas don’t miss these memory-making experiences:
-Bastrop’s main street, which is lined with historic store-fronts now showcasing boutiques, antique stores, and cafes, feels like Jesse James could show up any minute.
The Bastrop Visitor’s Center, in a bank building from the 1800s, has maps and local history lessons dating back to 1821 when Stephen F. Austin first formed his “Little Colony.” It will be no trouble finding a place to park your bike so you can wander the tree-shaded streets hoping to experience any ghosts from this town’s historic past.
-The Mission Espiritu Santo, with kid-friendly exhibits and folks weaving cloth from cotton and wool, was home to Franciscan friars who, after daring attempts to convert cannibalistic tribes, made their home in the beautiful sunlit mission near Goliad from 1749. It is the same spot where Santa Anna once led his troops up the steep limestone incline of the San Antonio River to attack the Texicans.
-Rumble through Victoria’s downtown, pausing to visit the courthouse and the Catholic Cathedral.
- Someone should give those folks in Round Top a medal! Just when we thought Texas was turning into one big metroplex, here’s a whole community of folks caringly preserving the wooden farmhouses of the 1800s along a single-lane, country highway cutting through green, grassy farmland.
Round Top hosts internationally respected musicians on a monthly or weekly basis, thanks to the James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts, plus, there’s shopping.
They also claim to be one of the “Top 100 Arts Small Towns in America” and I, for one, can’t think of a better excuse to return for a weekend and verify personally that they are telling the truth.
With all that open air and open road, not to mention music, architecture, and culture is it any wonder that even SUV Mamas find their pulse racing? Brmmm…

Valentine Fantasies for Men

Today’s column is for gals only. Just in case you haven’t already figured out how guys think.
Essentially, God created Eve by cloning Adam who contributed his DNA from a rib bone while under general anesthesia.
Supernatural, but not too complicated when you think about it.
If only He had stopped there.
For some delightful and usually entertaining reason, God decided to go one step further and change a chromosome.
One little Y to X. One small step backwards in the alphabet.
Thus, we are doomed to spend our whole life trying to figure out the opposite sex.
When he woke up and saw the outcome of God’s imaginative creation, Adam’s immediate response was the equivalent of “Yee-hah!!!” If Adam had been from Texas, you understand.
Probably because Adam thought he was still dreaming.
Later on his life got a little bit more complicated. Face it gals, we tend to have that affect in our guy’s life.
Take, for instance the difference between the fantasies women have and the ones their male counterparts have.
“Sex and body parts,” was what one guy told me when I asked what men fantasize about for Valentines Day. Simple enough.
I verified that he meant still-attached body parts. Then, I changed the subject. Quickly.
One gentleman told me his fantasies were “not appropriate for publication.” His wife was standing next to him, grinning. I’m guessing that he’s going to have a Happy Valentines Day.
So, gals, if you need a little help thinking creatively, here’s my almost entirely uncensored research.
-Garters are good.
-Anything that combines sex and golf, not necessarily at the same time and not if you beat him on the golf course.
-Horses, especially stallions. Don’t ask me, I can’t explain it.
-Motorcycles, with or without sex. Guys just like motorcycles.
Apparently, men are not complicated. This came as a shock to me because I have all sorts of trouble figuring them out. But they tell me that they are pretty straight forward.
“Shallow, men are shallow,” says one male friend.
I am starting to believe him, although, for a shallow person, that guy is a credit to his gender.
It turns out that men pretty much fantasize about sex a lot and that has nothing to do with Valentines Day.
Unless they are on the golf course, in which case they fantasize about hole-in-ones.
Hmm….Never mind, I can’t go there.
To all the golfers out there, notice how I try to work your favorite game into every column.
To all those who shared their fantasies and trusted me when I promised not to include their names, thanks.
To all those who are without a sweetheart this year, ahhh, the perfection of simplicity.
To all the gals out there, trying to plan something exciting for Valentines Day, look at it this way. Your job is easy.
On the other hand, he is probably struggling to find the right Valentine for you. Or he will be on Wednesday the 13th at 5:00 in the afternoon.
Make that February the 14th at 5:00pm when he remembers he is having dinner with you for Valentine’s Day.
It is just that he honestly can’t figure you out because you are a gal and he is not.
For Valentines Day, my research indicates we gals should give our guys a break and keep it simple. Just this once.


Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives in beautiful East Texas with her true love and their offspring. Comments are invited at CaeKrafve2@aol.co or http://checklistcharlie.blogspot.com.

Father's Day: The Muddy Holiday

I asked around to get the scoop on Father’s Day.
“Father’s Day? When is it?”
You have to give them credit; they are unbiased forgetters. It is not only Mother’s Day that they forget.
When guys think of good times with their kids, it usually involves water or mud or both, have you noticed?
I don’t know, maybe the little boy in their heart still wants to come out and play. Or maybe God invented fathers so the kids could get away with tracking mud through the kitchen at least one day a year. Don’t ask me.
I can assure you, mud and water are not synonymous with yard work. Although, mowing the grass and watering the lawn would seem to qualify from a female point of view.
Gals are already making plans for Father’s Day, so here are some ideas that your guy might like, as best as I can figure.
-Hire someone else to do the lawn for Father’s Day. If you hire a neighborhood teenager, be sure and mention that the money could be used to do something nice for his dad. His mother will thank you and us moms need to stick together.
-Take him bowling. Or set up empty 2 liter bottles on the back porch and bowl ‘em down with a Nerf ball.
-Take dad to a water park. This will preserve the pristine floor in your kitchen.
-Drag out the Slip and Slide. Forget about the kitchen floor.
-Challenge another family to a whiffle ball tournament, followed by a picnic.
-Schedule a surprise tee time.
-Take him to play putt-putt. Or better yet, give the kids 18 tin cans and set them to work building a putt-putt course in your back yard. Dad can supervise so he doesn’t mow over stray tin cans later. That is, if the lawn-mowing teenager doesn’t work out.
-Set up a BB gun firing range in the back yard.
-Put a target on an old box and shoot arrows.
-Have water balloon wars.
-Pamper him with a kid-delivered foot rub or a whole collection of coupons for his kids to do his chores.
“Children that can’t wait to hear my next word of godly instruction,” answered one dad with a chuckle, when we asked him what he wanted for Father’s Day.
Now that I think of it, why not do everything on the list?
Celebrate all week end. Those men in our life that fill the role of dad deserve credit.
Or, if you are overwhelmed at the thought of so much mud coming through the house, you could just buy him a boat, a convertible, or a motorcycle.
Just kidding. Sort of.

Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives and plays in beautiful East Texas. Comments are invited at CaeKrafve2@aol.com or http://checklistcharlie.blogspot.com.