West of Ft. Worth on HWY 377, near the town of Cresson, is the Pate Museum of Transportation.   It is an awesome place to take kids for a fun, educational trip that the whole family will enjoy.
Mr. A. M. Pate, Jr., started the musem in 1969 with a small collection.  It has grown through the years and now has treasured antique cars, airplanes, a railway palace car, Army tanks, a Navy minesweeper, to name a few.

When we went, our son really liked the periscope and enjoyed looking through it to see what was outside.  That was one of his and his friends’ favorite parts.

Many senior citizens could take a walk down memory lane looking at some of the vehicles. The two rarest cars are a 1917 Premier, which is probably the only model of its kind in existence and has a push-button transmission, and a 1904 Schacht, which looks like a horseless carriage.

It’s a fun place for the whole family, no matter what their age. Click to see more pictures from the museum.

Pictures by cmt2779 on Flickr

The Collin Street Bakery is located in Corsicana, TX, and is famous for its fruitcake.  The bakery, started in 1896 by a German baker during the oil rush, makes its way to every state in the United States as well as many countries.  As many as 4 million pounds are sold every year.   Wow, that’s a lot of fruitcake!

A FAMILY TRADITION:  When I was growing up, my parents received our first Collin Street Bakery Fruitcake as a Christmas gift. (also known by some Texans as a Corsicana Fruitcake) I thought it was the best fruitcake I had ever eaten!

Just a few years ago, my family drove by Corsicana and visited the bakery.  It was very interesting to learn the history of the bakery and fun to sample different kinds of cakes.  Our son really liked it and asked if we could order one of their fruitcakes for Christmas, and so we did.   Even if someone doesn’t like fruitcake that much, the bakery is fun to visit and sells all kinds of cookies and pastries.

The bakery has opened a second location which is conveniently located on Interstate 45.  I definitely want to visit there the next time we are passing by Corsicana.

Click for picture of historical marker in front of the original store.

This summer as we were traveling down I-35 towards Austin, TX, I asked my husband to take a short detour to the small community of Abbott, TX, which is just a couple of miles off the interstate.  I had always wanted to see the place where my mother attended high school.  Abbott just happened to be where Willie Nelson went to high school also.  Only he went there several years after my mother did.  The original high school was replaced many years ago, but it was neat to see the site where she attended even if it wasn’t the actual building.  We  drove a few more blocks to the main part of the community.  There were a few old stores still there and I realized that my mother probably went to some of the stores when she was a teenager.  And who knows, maybe Willie Nelson did also.

My mother passed away seven years ago, and so it meant a lot to me to visit where she had been even though the school had changed.  As we passed some old houses on the way back to the interstate, I thought about how some of my mother’s friends may have lived in those houses and she could have visited them.  I could imagine giggling girls talking about the cute boys in their classes , just as I had done, and just as our daughter had done.  Some things never change! 

Click to see picture of storefront  and other pictures in Abbott.

For those of you traveling in Texas, be sure to stop in West, Texas, the heart of the Czech community in this region.  However, West is not west.  In other words, the community of West is not in west Texas.  It’s actually in the central part of Texas and was founded in 1882.  It’s located on I-35 between Dallas-Ft. Worth and Austin.   West is famous for its Czech Stop & Little Czech Bakery which is well known for its “kolaches” (pastry buns filled with either fruit, poppy seeds, cream cheese, or sausage) and also for its cakes, pies, cookies, breads, and fudge.  They also serve a variety of sandwiches.

It’s a family tradition to stop there when we’re traveling, and it’s a very tasty tradition I might add!

If you’ve never been to First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, then be prepared for an all day experience.  Be sure to wear your most comfortable walking shoes.  There is so much to see!  And you won’t want to leave until you’ve seen it all.   Some people make a two day event out of it.   Bed and Breakfast accomodations are in the area which are always fun.   Two of my best friends from high school and I left kids and husbands at home and celebrated our 50th birthdays one weekend in Canton.  We caught up on each other’s lives and had a great time!   Here’s a little background on Canton.  It’s the county seat and was established in 1850.  There was a bitter fight to move the courthouse to Wills Point in 1877, but Canton eventually won.   That’s a good thing because we probably wouldn’t have “First Mondays” if Wills Point had won.    A famous recipe from Canton’s Dixie Hotel way back in the 1940′s & 1950′s was for “Osgood Pie from Dixie House.”  If you go to the Recipes Category of my blog you will find the recipe there.  If you make the pie, let me know how you like it.   And…if you decide to visit Canton, remember that First Monday is on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday preceding the first Monday in each month.