Monday, August 18, 2014

Hot Nights and Cool Tunes

Had to share this picture of my sister Nancy and her selfie with Daisy.  I had to laugh. 
She had posted it for a friend of hers who was having a birthday and apparently likes cows. Makes me smile even now.




David and I went to Brenham a few weeks back for a little get away. Brenham has music every Saturday in the month of July called Hot Nights and Cool Tunes. I have no idea how long it's been going on but we found out about it last year. They set up a stage on the square by the courthouse. All you have to do is show up, set up your lawn chairs, relax and enjoy the music. Oh and there are vendors with beer, wine, margaritas and food.  If you're so inclined you can get up and dance where ever you're at or go up front by the stage. Some how the weather has been simmering during the day but a breeze has found it's way to us during the concert. Last year we saw a group called Suede out of Austin and decided to back and hear them again this summer. They play 70's to the 90's music. They pretty darn good. Oh and the best part is it's free. This year we went up on Friday and stayed 2 nights at the Ant Street Inn. We used Friday as our day to search for property. We found a piece we liked and actually asked our friend and Realtor to check it out. Figures she found out it had a contract on it. In fact of the 5 properties we had put on our good possibility list to consider, all but one went under contract. Oh well the mission continues.
We stayed at The Ant Street Inn. It was built in 1899 and was a mercantile at that time. In fact it was the first place that Blue Bell Ice Cream was dipped and served. By the 70's the place was going into decline. In the 80's the downtown area began to revitalize and the buildings future was looking brighter.  By 1991 Tom and Pam Taylor bought the building with the dream to turn it into a 15 room relaxing and beautiful sanctuary.
 It took them 3 years to revitalized this old building. They did a great job. In 2011 the Taylor's decided to retire and sold it to the current owners Suzy and Keith Hawkins..You won't find any elevators here so you better be willing and able to climb the stairs.












This is the hallway upstairs. At the far end of the hall is a big room for guests to relax and play games or maybe put a puzzle together. You can even find movies to take back to your room and watch. Oh and one of the best things you'll find is in the common refrigerator..... complimentary Blue Bell Ice Cream ;o) and soda. 
Our room was vintage with a few modern conveniences of course. The lamps over the bed were cool. They turned on with a slight touch.
They have a really nice restaurant downstairs. As part of our stay we got free breakfast. We could choose anything off the menu. I couldn't help myself but I got the eggs Benedict both mornings. 
Our friends Ross and Sheryl joined us in Brenham. It was a fun time. 
They showed up Friday while we eating lunch at a really great place called the BT Longhorn Steakhouse
I order the Southwest Burger on the most awesome bun. I can't 
wait to go back and have another one. It was juicy, tasty, and just the right amount of heat. I'm not sure how they did the jalapenos but they were crunchy and very tasty. I found out about this place from a fellow blogger Christie from  Kiki&Me. She had written about their great steaks but we didn't get to try one. 
Maybe next time. Christie is always writing about great places to eat and stay.
Had Sheryl snap a picture of David and I on our last day there. 


And of course I snapped a picture her.

We had such a fun time! Sorry our friends Kathy and Mark couldn't join us.  Maybe next year.

Check out this big moth at the gas station. It was sitting by the gas pump I was using. It was huge and rather pretty. It almost blended into the concrete.

Last picture I'll share for this blog post. This is my Little Sister Jerri Lynn and our Dad. She's the one who has been there for the family. She has gotten Dad to his treatments which are about 100 miles from the house. All the responsibility has fallen on her and her family over the last few months and now she is the one who has had to step up and help Dad organize and finalize her Mom's estate.  I personally can't thank her enough for her selflessness. And her husband Kevin who has had to play both Mom, Dad, supportive spouse and Taxi when Jerri Lynn was taking care of Dad and Carolyn. I know my sisters Nancy and Barbara do their best but they are at least 3 1/2 hours away. As in most families it seems to fall on one of the sibilings to handle most of the situations that arise and in our case it was Jerri Lynn.

 I love all my sisters dearly. Don't know what I'd do without them.

Until next blog.....  Chance made us sisters...time made us friends











4 comments:

Linda @ Life and Linda said...

HI Carla, thanks for the tour. amazing dwelling. You can get your exercise for sure. Love the picture of your sister and Daisy. Yummy burger you featured, what a treat! Have a great weekend.

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Hi Carla. That looked like a great place to stay and I love the pic of your sis and Daisy. I missed your last post and what to extend my sympathies for you step-mom. How sad that your dad is going through that with all he is handling. Sisters are wonderful. My sister was close by our dad during times of illness and I am thankful for her also..Hope you are having a good weekend..Judy

Art and Sand said...

I know you two like to listen to music. The music sounds like it was great, the location was pretty and then you had good food.

I hope you find some property to your liking. What is happening in California is people put a house on the market and there are 10 offers, cash and more than asking price. The young people can't get in on the ground floor.

Handywoman said...

You always go to the funnest of places. The moth, I've seen those on my porch before and they are huge yes!