Get Out the Map!
By Mike & Darlene Jordan
Just in case we forgot to mention it…Texas is hot in June.
We expected heat, and, since it had been pretty chilly here at 8,500’ we were looking forward to some warmth that we might attenuate by using the hotel pool during the times that our conference was in recess.
It only took a nanosecond to realize that wasn’t going to happen when we looked around the lobby at check-in.
Construction and remodeling? No. Pool malfunction? No.
Dozens and dozens of 5 to 9 year old Miss America wannabes dressed up like ladies of the evening swarming the lobby? Why…yes. How did you guess?
We had checked into the hotel hosting the “Darling Dolls” beauty pageant for little girls (or was it for their mothers?). Yes, this is the same kind of thing that the Ramsey family had JonBenet involved in. Naturally, when these girls weren’t parading around the hotel caked with makeup and lipstick and their hair in rollers or piled on their heads in some kind of bouffant hairdo, they were packing the pool; no relaxation there.
You’ve haven’t seen weird until you’ve seen a 6-year old dressed in a mini-skirt, fishnet hose and high heels with a bare midriff come walking down the hallway on the way to your room. It made us wonder if we weren’t at some shady hotel in Thailand.
The icing on the cake came when we were waiting as an elevator opened and off came one of these little darlings wearing a leather mini-skirt, cowboy hat and boots driving a pedal powered John Deere tractor.
Our reaction was the same as most of our conference attendees: no one would talk to these mothers on the elevators for fear we’d say something we’d be sorry for.
Although the conference was interesting and gave us a boost of enthusiasm and new ideas for our cruise business, we were happy to see that hotel and the city of Dallas in the rear view mirror. Our next destination, Tyler, Texas, was only an hour and a half away.
Our lodging in Tyler was a very quaint bed and breakfast called the Rosevine Inn. By the time we arrived at about 4:30 in the afternoon the temperature was 99 degrees and the humidity was 91%. (Did we mention that it’s hot in Texas?) The inn is right in town, but sits back from the street on a well wooded lot with a badminton/volleyball court in the yard and an open barn remodeled on the inside with a fireplace, pool table, games, and lounging area. We stayed in the main house, although “stayed” isn’t the right word, since we were on the go most of the time.
In the evening we headed to the small town of Gladewater, about 35 miles north of Tyler. We were lucky enough to be there on a Saturday night, and we had tickets to the Gladewater Saturday Night Opry. This is a wonderful live music venue that features a house band every Saturday night that backs up 7 or 8 local or regional country music singers. Just like the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, each artist sings three mostly classic traditional country songs with the band but, unlike the G.O.O., the singers retrieve tips deposited by the audience into baskets on the stage. We were amazed at the talent of these young people, and you can’t help but wonder if some of today’s country stars haven’t played in Gladewater at some point on their way up the ladder.
It was a long day, and we had plans for Tyler’s Rose garden in the morning. More on that and our fascinating trip to Spur to try to uncover information about Darlene’s ancestors next week.
By the way, we’d like to thank all of the readers who called and emailed with suggestions on what to do and where to go while we were in Texas. We couldn’t get to all of it, but we love hearing from everyone who reads this every week. Thanks SO much!
Until next time…get out the map!
Travel with Mike and Darlene 