The Hill Country.

We spent the last two days driving around part of the Hill Country. Tiny towns with less than two hundred people, bigger towns with more than fifteen thousand. Just about every town we drove through had either an Alamo St. or Rd. or Ave.

During our drives, we crossed over the Brazos River and the Colorado River, as well as countless creeks and "seasonal" paths (translation: if it rains, it's a creek, if it doesn't, it's a fish cemetery.)

I spent part of the drive reading the quaint country signs-- "Now serving livers and gizzards at Church's Fried Chicken." "Visit the Crazy Gorilla Resale Shop." There was a storage unit complex called "The Pack Rat," and another called "Extra Garage Space."

There were towns small enough to not have any restaurants at all, and some with just one restaurant that seemed to be "the place to be." One such town was Cat Spring, with a tiny restaurant that looked like it was a converted gas station-- the name above the door read "The Cat Spring Country Club." Its parking lot was filled with pick-up trucks, and the overflow of trucks just parked along the side of the road.

We stayed one night at La Quinta, and the morning breakfast buffet included hot waffles-- not just any waffles-- they were Texas state-shaped waffles. Yee-haawww.... pass me the syrup.

In the tiny town of Burton, there was a lovely drive winding through the hills called "Gay Hill." I imagine that name was given to the town more than a hundred years ago. I think the smallest town we saw was Carmine (pronounced Car-mean), with a population of 228. Took us less than five minutes to drive through it.

Tons of bluebonnets were blooming, and I would guess that with all the rain we had this weekend, there will be even more blooms within the next couple of weeks. We had planned to stay more days, but it rained every day, and it was cold and damp. The week before, we had sunny days and 80-degree temperatures here. Oh well... can't argue with the weather gods... we came home earlier than expected, with plans to go back.

Our favorite town was Brenham, population 14,237 according to the sign. The historic downtown streets of Brenham are filled with antique stores, gift shops, cafes and restaurants, and all things quaint and country, with a little Victorian sprinkled in for good measure. Even with the rain and the dampness, people were walking and shopping, lunching and smiling. We had lunch at a little cafe called "Must Be Heaven," and dinner at "The Ronde-vouz." The "Heaven" lunch cafe has been there for years and years, another family-run restaurant, and we've eaten there also during one of our other trips.

We drove through Schlumburger, Rosenberg, Beasley, Wharton, Wallis, Eagle Lake, Chesterville, Columbus, Cat Spring, Bellville, Brenham, Greenvine, Burton, Ledbetter, Carmine, and Chappell Hill. Our favorite spot was Highway 390... The Bluebonnet Trail, or The Scenic Trail, depending on who gives you directions. It's a two-lane road winding in and around the hills, with lots of two-acre to hundreds-of-acres properties with big and small homes, herds of cattle, sheep, deer, elk, goats, horses, and a host of other wildlife that waits till dark to come out.

We had lunch one day at Schobel's in Columbus-- a family owned restaurant featuring a piping-hot buffet table filled with country cooking, as well as an extensive menu. We have eaten there twice before, both during Hill Country drives.

We saw beautiful old Victorians (both restored and in the process of restoration), farm houses and country getaways. The Hill Country is beautiful on cool and cloudy days..... it only gets better when it's sunny and hot. Pass the biscuits, hold the gravy, and don't pick the bluebonnets.