Tag: Texas

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Coffee, Mexican, Whataburger, Texas BBQ

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This week it’s Part 2 of my 4-part series on my recent trip to visit family in the Wichita Falls Texas area. Let’s continue the fun and food !

After one of my family members picked me up at Wichita Falls Regional Airport (#SPS) – we headed into town to Collective Coffee. It sits caddy-corner to Midwestern State University (#MSU). It sits at a former Shell service station. Its parking area amusingly sits in the former lanes of the gas pumps. The cafe has been open for about 4½ years. It’s in an old building that was built in 1964. I wonder if it was a service station for all of those years ?

At Collective I enjoyed a 16-ounce Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte and a large warmed-up Blueberry Muffin. Both were pretty good. I forgot what my cousin got, but she didn’t like it all that much. She exclaimed, “1 out of 10 – do not recommend”. Upon further review I convinced her to bring her rating up to a 4 out of 10, as service was good. (But memo-for-record – it’s not on the list for future visits.)

Later that same afternoon we went to a sprawling family-owned Mexican restaurant – El Mejicano – to partake in their bargain $10.99 all-you-can-eat buffet. It was a Thursday-night-only special during the month of September to celebrate their 42ND anniversary. The wait to get in was long (about a half-hour). The last time I was in Wichita Falls – 13 months prior for a single day visit with my brother – we also enjoyed the buffet there.

Fun Facts: About 150,000 residents call the Wichita Falls area home. That’s 130,000 in Wichita County, 11,000 in Clay County (to the east), and 9,000 in Archer County (to the south). Wichita Falls itself claims over 100,000 residents. None of my family live within the city limits. (They live in Clay and Archer Counties.) My Aunt and Uncle used to live in Wichita County, but to the west of the city limits.

Late the next morning I got to choose the fast-food restaurant to go pick-up lunch at and take to my Aunt and Uncle’s soon-to-be former house of 40 years. As we approached one of those blue restaurant signs alongside the freeway – I saw Whataburger. If you read my multi-part #TravelThursday series from earlier this year – then you may remember my previous disappointment with the Whataburger drive-thru experience where everyone got a burger except for me. That would not happen again.

Later that same afternoon we headed down to Archer County (Lakeside City) to my first-cousin’s house. My Uncle lives there too. And also my favorite cat Gracie. And also my new canine friend Lacey. My first-cousin picked-up Texas Best BBQ (pulled pork, smoked turkey, and sides), and we enjoyed it all.

Next #TravelThursday starts with a donkey and a buffalo. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Destination Wichita Falls Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This week I begin a new 4-part series on my recent trip to visit family in the Wichita Falls Texas area. (I actually returned home just a few nights ago, but I’ll cover that in Part 4.)

I planned this trip back in mid-June, and I actually made my airline reservations for it a full 2 weeks before I made my airline reservations for the Northern Virginia & Washington D.C. trip that I chronicled in here for 7 weeks through last #TravelThursday.

I actually left home early last Wednesday morning (September 24TH 2025). After a fun (and regularly-scheduled) weekly social and lunch downtown with my museum friends of the Sebring Historical Society – I departed for Tampa. This would be my second trip to Tampa in exactly 9 weeks, and for the second time in a row – I stayed at the same exact hotel as I stayed at last time. Unlike the previous trek to Tampa – the weather was spectacular – nothing but blue skies and sunshine.

I took a bit of a different route into Tampa. I took Florida State Road 60 from Mulberry straight into the heart of downtown and out the other side, and then I made a right onto Westshore to my hotel. It’s a route that I’ve taken many times before to see concerts and hockey games, visit the aquarium, and even go on a cruise. (SR-60 runs a few blocks north of the Channel shopping, dining, and entertainment district.)

Fun Fact: From Mulberry westward to Westshore – the 35½ miles of Florida State Road 60 goes by several names – Canal Street, Brandon Boulevard, Adamo Drive, Channelside Drive, and Kennedy Boulevard.

I drove right past the front of the studios of my favorite TV station in the region – FOX-13. I watch them – particularly their news shows and personalities – more than any other station by far. (Sebring and Highlands County is an outer fringe county in the vast Tampa Bay viewing area.)

I made the right onto Westshore, and there it was – Westshore Plaza – Tampa Bay’s first enclosed and air-conditioned shopping mall. It opened a few months after I was born in 1967. When I lived in Tampa part-time from mid-1993 to early-1994 – Westshore was my go-to shopping mall. It was thriving back then, as were most shopping malls in the U.S.A. 32 years later – the mall is in its last days, as there are plans to demolish it and redevelop the 54-acre property that it sits on.

Once I checked-in at the hotel – the front desk clerk / sales director saw my address and remarked that he was born and raised in Sebring. We talked about what Sebring is like today versus what it was like when he lived there during the 1990s. (It hasn’t changed much since then.)

After a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast at the hotel – I took their shuttle to Tampa International Airport (#TPA) for my second consecutive round-trip flight. This time I knew what to expect, as I was just there for departure 9 weeks earlier. I had aisle seats from Tampa to Dallas (#DFW), and also from Dallas to Wichita Falls, so I couldn’t do my favorite thing while flying – and that is – studying the weather and the landscape below. Both departures and arrivals were early, and my arrival at Wichita Falls Regional Airport (#SPS) was very early – like over a half-hour early. I had to wait awhile for one of my family members to pick me up.

We’ll pick-up with the family adventures in the Wichita Falls area next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Texas Confirmation

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I wrote about Chick-fil-A, lunch with my brother and youngest niece at her school’s cafeteria, the Australian psychological thriller movie “The Surfer” starring Nicolas Cage, and the long-awaited return to Babe’s Chicken Dinner House.

It’s my final day in North Texas – Saturday May 03RD 2025 – and it’s my brother’s 50TH birthday !

We awoke to a sparkling clear and sunny morning – the first time I had seen the deep blue sky over North Texas like that since last November. It was also chilly (in the 50s). I wish we had nice weather the entire time I was there, but the dark and gloomy and rainy skies of the previous 3 days didn’t interrupt us too much.

On this beautiful Saturday morning we drove over to the neighboring city of Rockwall Texas to Our Lady Of The Lake Catholic Church. We awoke and arrived early, as my eldest niece was getting confirmed as a Catholic along with a hundred or so other kids her age. I actually had no idea what a “confirmation” was, so I had to look it up on Google and Wikipedia beforehand. (I was only a Catholic until about the age of 10 or so.)

It was actually a complete Catholic mass from start to finish – a longer one than normal, as it included all of the confirmations during the middle of the mass as the kids formed a line leading to the altar and the Priests. By the way – the Priest that led most of the mass was a very young guy (I’m guessing – late-30s), and his homily was surprisingly interesting – about being a witness to your faith on social media. I couldn’t believe my ears. He was very relevant with his message – targeting the kids who were getting confirmed.

The mass included Communion – which I observed but did not participate in. Catholics generally don’t want non-Catholics participating in their Communion; although, since I was baptized in the Catholic Church (as a 4-day-old baby) and I received my First Communion in the Catholic Church (as a 2ND grader) – I technically could have received Communion. But I’m no longer a Catholic. Ironically – I led Communion at my own church the following morning back home in Sebring. We allow Communion for all believers and followers of our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ.

After Catholic mass – my brother drove me to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW), and I flew back home that afternoon via a packed American Airlines 737 to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ). We arrived so early that our gate wasn’t ready yet for our arrival, so we had to sit on the active taxiway for a little while before approaching.

I got home at around 7:15 PM EDT, and it was great to see my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida again.

But wait – there’s more ! My brother visited me here just 10 days later. I’ll write about it next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Texas Chicken

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I wrote about Barnes & Noble, Scotty P’s, Whataburger, and the circus-themed choral concert performed by a few hundred 5TH, 6TH, 7TH, and 8TH graders from two different schools – inside the auditorium of one of the local high schools.

That was the first time I entered a high school in 40 years – since I graduated with the Class Of 1985 in Northern Virginia. But wait – there’s more school fun !

Me and my brother went to Chick-fil-A (via the drive-thru), and I got the deluxe chicken sandwich with waffle fries. We then took our meals and went back to school – back to the 6TH grade. My youngest niece’s school has a program where students can eat with their parents / adult relatives on Fridays at special tables set aside in the cafeteria. So – we checked-in at the front office (excellent security), and we proceeded to the cafeteria and waited for my niece (my brother’s daughter) to arrive. (We bought her lunch too.)

It was my first appearance inside an elementary school since 1979 – at the end of the 6TH grade for me. I attended Magnolia Elementary School in Lanham Maryland from 1972 to 1973 (Kindergarten), and from 1975 to 1979 (3RD through 6TH grades). ♫ “We’re the blue and gold. The pride of P.G. Magnolia Mustangs # 1 …” ♫ (We had to sing that school theme song a lot back then, so I still remember it nearly 50 years later. I doubt they’re still using it.)

After lunch with my niece – me and my brother headed over to the local AMC Theatre to see “The Surfer” starring Nicolas Cage. It was a good movie about local Australian surfers protecting their territory from outsiders who don’t live there. (It was a psychological thriller.)

Later that afternoon we (as a complete family of 7) ventured over to Babe’s Chicken Dinner House. We went there once perhaps 16 or 17 years ago, and I loved it. I think we went back another time since then, but it’s been a long time. I’ve wanted to go back there for the past several years. It’s probably one of my favorite non-steak / non-fast food restaurants in the #DFW area. We finally made it there after all of these years – despite the objections of my sister-in-law and oldest niece who wanted to go to Chili’s instead. Chili’s is OK, but I can go there anytime I want right here in Sebring. (I go there a few times a year.)

At Babe’s each person at the table orders what drink they want, and what type of chicken they want (fried, hickory smoked, tenders, etc.). A few minutes later the chicken arrives family-style (4 pieces per person) – along with buttermilk biscuits, house salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and corn. Everyone digs in. There’s plenty of food to go around, and whatever chicken doesn’t get eaten – they will bag it up for you so that you can take it home. Each meal costs less than $20 per person. It’s a good deal, and it’s good food. Hopefully we’ll make it back there again in less than a decade.

So that was my Friday May 02ND 2025 in North Texas. It was a fun day of chicken, grade school, Australian surfing, and more chicken. Next #TravelThursday – it’s Part 4 of my fun with family, as we attend a full Catholic church service and watch my oldest niece get confirmed. And then I fly back home to Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp