WAXAHACHIE: QUITE A CRAFTY LITTLE TOWN

Every time I drive back and forth from visiting family in Dallas, I pass the exit for a little town called Waxahachie (wok-suh-hatch-ee). And, every time I pass it, I say "I really need to stop there some day." Well, guess what? Yesterday I finally did!

My main reason for stopping was that I kept hearing about a little shop called The Crafty Scrapper. Now, my version of "scrapbooking" was to finally get all our photos stashed in shoe boxes, sorted by country, and yell "Hallelujah!" However, there is a good bit of crossover between the supplies that scrapbookers and art journalers use, so I thought it might be worth a visit. Indeed, it was!

My first big surprise was that instead of the cozy little nook of a shop I was expecting, it took up half of one side of the town square.

The second big surprise came when I realized there was some kind of class going on at the back of the shop...

and the person conducting the workshop? None other than internationally renowned art journalist Dina Wakley!

But, the biggest surprise of all was all the other crafty goodness I discovered while wandering around the square and its side streets. Such as this fabulous quilt shop...

with a liveried doorman! Or this awesome shop where you can make your own mosaics.

Of course there were oodles and oodles of antiques, such as the shop called Paris Market, but there were also some pretty hip spots like this...

As for dining options, well, you have your quintessential ladies-who-lunch-and-shop venue, The Dove's Nest.

But, I also spotted a funky Tex-Mex spot, an upscale pub, the Courthouse Cafe, a soon-to-be-open vintage drive-up burger joint, and a swanky-looking Japanese restaurant in their historic hotel.

 
So, I guess it comes as no surprise that, instead of my usual four-to-five hour trip from Dallas to Wimberley, it took me eight and a half hours to get home yesterday!

Waxahachie -- it's worth a visit!