Welcome back to #TravelThursday. And Happy New Year 2026 ! I hope that this year is greater for you than last year. May you enjoy great travels in this new year.
I’m still looking back at my late-November / early-December trip to visit family in the Dallas Texas area. I’m up to the new month of December – Monday December 01ST 2025. This may be the first time ever that I’m in Texas in December. It was back-to-school time for my two nieces following the Thanksgiving Week break.
On that cold, dark, and dreary December day – stuck in the 30s with low clouds and mist all day long – me and my brother headed over to Starwood Cafe for brunch. He had breakfast, and I had lunch. I had their Monte Cristo with fries. I think I discovered the Monte Cristo at the old Bennigan’s during the 2000s. Nowadays whenever I can make it to a Cheddar’s (which is not very often) – I get it there. The Monte Cristo at Starwood is good. I’ve had it before. I enjoyed it via fork and knife. (It can get quite messy.)
After Starwood we went to a local coffeehouse called Armor Coffee. They have just 2 locations – the original one in Allen (where my family once lived and where my two nieces were born), and the newer one in Wylie (where my family currently lives – since 2019). Armor Coffee is owned by U.S. Army Veteran and West Point Graduate Mike Todryk and his wife – HGTV star Jenn Todryk (“No Demo Reno”).
After another Target run – we stayed in for the rest of the day.
There’s a diner in Wylie that I’ve always wanted to eat at ever since my family moved there. It’s known throughout Texas (with 45 locations) as Cotton Patch Cafe. I kind of relate it to Bob Evans serving Ohio comfort food. It serves Texas comfort food. My brother finally agreed to eat there, and we enjoyed a big lunch for $9.99 (not including drink and gratuity). I think we’ll return the next time I’m in town. My brother was impressed with the size portions for such a low price.
Later on that 2ND day of December – with the sun shining brightly and the temperature finally breaking-out of the 30s for the first time in almost 42 hours – we went back to the theatres to see our 3RD movie in 5 days. We saw “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” – the continuing story of the first two movies from 2013 and 2016 respectively.
After the movie and a Starbucks run we ventured over to my oldest niece’s high school. She’s a cheerleader in the 10TH grade, and their high school varsity basketball team was taking on a rival team from 38 miles away in the Denton Texas area. It was my first high school basketball game of my life, and it may have actually been my first basketball game overall of my life. (I don’t recall ever seeing the Washington Bullets growing up in the D.C. area, or the Miami Heat living down in South Florida.) Spoiler: The home team won in a come-from-behind victory !
On the next #TravelThursday I step inside a historic house that serves as the official museum and welcome center for Wylie Texas. Let’s keep traveling together.
All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
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