We left home at 8 and drove on the not so straight and narrow roads once we got off I-3 in Texarkana. It took us two hours to get to Texas and then we spent two hours touring Jefferson, such a cute old town in my opinion; full of antique shops and old buildings and homes.
Jefferson was a busy port town in it's heyday but it's decline started in 1873. It was the second largest city in the state before the river traffic stopped. Big Cypress Bayou opened navigation to Jefferson just before the Civil War. Thousand of bales of cotton were shipped from Jefferson to Louisiana. 
Our first stop was the clock shop. I can't resist that little junk place with all the clocks and bathtubs. All the clocks seemed to be working and there was a lot of tick-tocking going on.
Hot Springs may bathe the world but Jefferson has their share of bath tubs! 
The Excelsior was built in 1832 and is the oldest home in east Texas. We looked in the display cases where they had old registers with various guests names: U.S. Grant, Rutherford B.Hayes, Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson to name a few.
We did not visit the museum but I have in the past and it is worth the time. It was originally a federal courthouse and post office built in 1888.
We discovered a great little place to eat at Auntie Skinners and also learned that they celebrate Mardi Gras in that little town.
Speaking of "Hook 'em Horns!" I surely enjoyed the Razorback basketball game Saturday night where we beat 7th ranked Texas. And that was only a few days after beating 4th ranked Oklahoma. Arkansas was picked to finish last in the SEC but I think we might now make the top 25. Basketball is exciting to watch again in Arkansas as it used to be.
At 2 pm it was 76 degrees in the Piney Woods area of Texas as we rolled along on 79 with the windows down. Bugs would have hit our teeth if there had been any (bugs..not teeth) because we were grinning big! We were on the road again!
At 5:30 we decided to stop at the Walmart in Rockdale for the night. We were only 110 miles from our destination but that provided us an opportunity to grab the groceries we needed and avoid the setting sun in our eyes. We have seen lots of cows, ranches, and metal stars. A great first day!
2 comments:
A great start to your trip. Jefferson is a lovely town. We always go through it on the way down to Houston. It's greatest claim to fame is that it's a speed trap...Grandpa Black, Roy, and I have all had tickets there at one time or another! Bon Voyage!
And they're off. . . Glad to see you back on the road!
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