GOING BACK TO BLANCO

Several years ago, when Hubby finally retired and joined me here full-time, we fell into the habit of going out to lunch and to a movie each Friday. We call it "Date Day", and both believe one of the very best things about being retired is being able to go see all the brand new releases on a Friday, during the day, thus avoiding the weekend crowds. The only problem is, the longer we've been doing this, the harder it has become to find a movie we both want to see, and this last Friday, it ended up being downright impossible. Which is why I decided we'd go on an adventure instead!

We used to love driving over to Blanco on a regular basis, stopping off at the Arnosky's blue barn on the way, then visiting the health food store and the Brieger's pottery/lavender shop next to it, eating at one of several favorite cafes around the square, and finishing up at McCall's farmstand (now Pink Tractor Farms) afterwards to check out their fresh produce and homemade peach ice cream, or maybe even a stop at the Blanco Bowling Club Cafe for a piece of pie with mile-high-meringue. But then those shops and cafes started shutting down, one by one, and our visits got further and further apart until, one day, I realized it had been a couple of years since we'd been there!

Is it a cafe, or someone's homestead?

On that last visit, we stopped off at the biker shop on the square, and chatted with the owner for a while. When we mentioned our sadness at all the closures, she told us about a couple of other local favorites that we never even knew about, and probably drove right past dozens of times without realizing what was there.

So that's where I decided to take Hubby on this adventure. Welcome to Blanco's Chess Club Cafe!

The Welcoming Committee

Best Sandwich Ever, On Homemade Bread That's To Die For!

And, because we couldn't make up our minds which of the cafes to go to, we went to both! OK, true reason? Well, I showed Hubby both websites, so he could help me make up my mind. He figured the food at Chess Club was probably better, but then he spotted this on Josie's Kitchen's site...

a picture of their chocolate cream pie that looked just like the one he always got at the cafeteria, growing up in Odessa! So, of course, we had to go get him a piece.

Next Door To Josie's

 It was a mighty fine adventure, and we didn't miss going to the movies one iota!