Freeway Free in Texas – Nostalgia Tripping
W and I met in the 4th grade in Longview, which was right on the route to my brother’s house in Georgetown, so we stopped off for some nostalgia. The main square with its civic sign (missing a letter already) was new to me, but the details of the “Fabulous 50’s” on the square’s monuments to growth were familiar. I attended one of those new schools, and my mother was a secretary at the R.G. LeTourneau plant for a while.
I didn’t particularly intend to drive past my former homes, but there we were on Fredonia street, and 911 Flanagan was just around the corner, and 913 Cole just a block away. Both homes were nearly unrecognizable with different paint, different landscaping, new additions to the side and rear, . but from this familiar location I easily traced the path I had walked so often to the Jr. high (now an alternative HS) and Nicholson Memorial Library (now a “learning center’).
We blundered on the Community Center, unchanged at least on the outside, where we and our 6th grade classmates had learned to ballroom dance from Mrs. Bowen. Just as we were thinking about lunch, we way the sign for Cace’s KItchen, run by the daughter and grand-daughter of Johnny Cace, whoseSteak and Seafood house was the height of gourmet indulgence Back in the Day. The 450-seat restaurant by the highway is long gone, but the family kept shipping their classic Shrimp gumbo and Crayfish etouffe to fans right through the pandemic, and then opened up this little bistro in the same building where Johnny Cacy got his start.
Then to the Fisher cemetery in former-Greggton, where W’s mother, father, and grandmother, plus a number of aunts, uncles, and cousins are buried in a cemetery dating back to the early1800’s which is now a TX historical site.
After paying our respects it was a straight shot (not counting a few wrong moves due to construction) out I-20 to Athens, and a comfy, cozy Best Western with a friendly desk clerk, who apologized that the pool is unheated (but it’s been in the sun all day so it should be warm – hah! ) and the spa was out of order (the part needed for repair came in wrong and they are still waiting for the right one.) Who cares! I was in my swimsuit and coverup already so I went out and lazed on a chaise lounge by the pool while W took her soaking bath – then I took my turn at a marvelous hot shower and shampoo – then to El San Luis Mexican restaurant – we each treated ourselves to a margarita (the size of a glass of iced tea!) before tucking into an enchilada dinner (I had never had a spinach or avocado enchilada – both delicious with sour cream sauce, excellent rice and beans.)
Back to the hotel, a couple of phone calls, then feeling VERY full, into PJs and a bed with four pillows and tucked-in sheets and an adjustable heating/AC system – luxury indeed!
Allyson Johnson 