Roadside America Museum Vehicles

ROADSIDE AMERICA MUSEUM
Hillsboro Texas

In the picture above Dear Readers, you can see what a beautiful Spring day we enjoyed on our trip to Hillsboro and the visit to the Roadside America Museum.  This post will be about the cars Mr. Estes had on display.

Here is the famous 1932 Goose Creek Penitentiary Bus. The outside looks a little rough but it still runs.  Mr. Estes has completely reworked the engine and now it runs so well he recently drove it to a car show in Austin.

Here is a classic 1953 Chevy Belair soft top. Love that aqua color.  The inside has also been restored. This is the Chevy brings back dreams of penny loafers, bobby socks, ponytails and sock hops in the gym....maybe even stopping for a Coke or Dr Pepper and onion rings at the Pig Stand!!

If you are a Texan most of us have a love of pickup trucks. This beauty is a 
1968 Chevy C10!

This piece of eye candy is a 1955 Pontiac Star Chief Wagon and the interior has been updated as well.

This is the beautiful white interior of the 1955 Star Chief Wagon.  Can you see the Pontiac Chief on the top of the seats in red?  Oh so beautiful! 

And a gorgeous 1966 Pontiac Bonneville...this picture does not do it justice...so beautiful! 

 On risers is a restored black 1929 Pontiac.

A beautifully restored 1935 Dodge truck with an added flatbed trailer.

Here is the oldest vehicle Mr. Estes has in his collection, a doctor's wagon.  Still has much of its original features and equipment.

What a fun time we had at the Roadside Attractions Museum in Hillsboro.  

After the tour, we were rather hungry and went to a local eatery just across across the street from the museum  called "A Tisket-A Tasket Cafe". 

We had a yummy lunch ordering the Blue Plate special. It had a large roasted chicken breast, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans and a hot roll.  We could not finish our entire lunch plate as we wanted to save room for dessert.  The cafe is known for their large variety of homemade ice cream.  The Travelling Toe must admit she ordered vanilla....oh so good!!  Dear Friend ordered a scoop of honey - lavender and one scoop of cream cheese.  What a satisfactory way to end a scrumptious lunch.

Well, after that we had to visit at least one antique mall. We shopped at The Hillsboro Antique Mall, which  it is just a block down from the cafe and easy to find. This place is packed full of treasures. The Travelling Toe did find a delicate cup and saucer with purple tulips as a souvenir of this fun and enjoyable trip. Plus it was 50% off!!  What a deal!!!!!

It was time to hit the road back home and head out as I-35 can sometimes be a pain to travel on during rush hour and we wanted to avoid it all if possible.  

Another fun adventure in a small Texas town!

Day Trip to Hillsboro to see Roadside America Musume

On a beautiful Spring day, The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend headed out on Highway 
I 35 South to visit the small Texas town of Hillsboro.  As we zoomed down the highway, the byways were covered in wildflowers including the wild pink primroses and beautiful bluebonnets, which are the state flower of Texas  

The reason for the trip was to visit the "Roadside America Museum".  It has been featured on several regional television shows such as Texas Country Reporter and The (Texas) Daytripper. The owner of the museum is Carroll Estes. He is well know in the antique car show circuit as he has restored numerous vintage vehicles and has won a number of trophies which he has on display. Mr. Estes renovated an empty Ford Dealership building to store his collection, some of his cars and trophies. 

As we entered the building one of the first display cabinets we saw, was make out of original Cadillac fins and houses vintage toy cars and other vehicles. Sorry the picture is a tad dark but the lighting was a bit dim.

If you are a Grapette fan, Carroll has one of the largest collections of Grapette memorabilia.
(these pictures feature just a few items)

Also on display is a huge "Big Boy" and Carroll said only 3 are known to exist and he has one of them. Along with the "Big Boy" is a Grapette figure and a large Hot Dog.

For those of you Dear Readers that from the Fort Worth-Dallas area, you might remember the famous Pig Stand drive-ins that were the place to go back n the day. The first one opened up in 1921 in Dallas. (in my memory banks they had the best onion rings!) The menu listes a jumbo hamburger for only 20 cents! YUM

The cute metal wagon sitting on top of the Grapette cooler was made in 1933 by Metal Craft.  It even had a place for batteries so the wagon could have headlights. The wagon is in great condition considering its age!  And yes that is an ESSO tiger in the back with Wylie Coyote on his back

Here's a Pepsi sign with great patina

And a sign for Orange Crush fans. 

And can't forget Nehi.

Here's Squirt!

Remember the Hamm's Beer commercials featuring the Hamm's Bear...well here he is!

And of course some Coke goodies as well!

This horse is named Sandy and she is a bit ragged but still works...and no we decided not to damage her more with a short ride!

A bumper car from past times.

We don't see these machines out everywhere any longer!

These are also long gone...love the saddle shoes!!

But here is one of the most astounding things he has in his collection that is on display. It is an original poster!!  And if you are a certain age you will know the significance of it.

The Day The Music Died

This is only a glance of all the interesting and fun items Carroll has on display.  A separate post will highlight a few of his vintage vehicles.

To end this post, here is a funny sign that cracked us both up!!

what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!
(even in Hillsboro, Texas!!)

"Guys and Dolls" at the Granbury Opera House

GUYS AND DOLLS
play program

The Travelling Toe and 3 Dear Friends attended the Sunday matinee performance of "Guys and Dolls" at the Granbury Opera House.  The "action" takes place in 1950's New York City and is based on short stories written by Damon Runyon.

The 1955 movie starred Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit, Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson, Jean Simmons as Sarah Brown and Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide.

movie poster

Nathan, a gambler, needs to find a place to hold a high stakes craps game.  But the "heat" is on and all the regular places are either off limits or require a large down payment that Narthan does not have.  So Nathan comes up with a sucker bet for Sky Masterson.  Nathan bets Sky that he can not get local Missionary, Sarah Brown, to go out on a date with him.  But Sky bamboozles Sarah into going to Cuba with him.  She thinks she will be doing some missionary work on the trip.  But needless to say that is not what Sky has planned nor what really happens. Cubra Libre anyone?

This musical is full of fun songs such as:

            A Bushel And A Peck

           Guys & Dolls

           If I Were A Bell

          Take Back Your Mink

          Luck Be A Lady Tonight

          Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat 

All the cast members were wonderful in their roles.  The four leads had lovely singing voices and shined in their solo numbers. The stage setting was inventive and the costumes, hairstyles and makeup reflected the 1950's.  

Cast photo on display in the lobby

Sky won a big bet while he was singing "Luck Be A Lady Tonight", so maybe next time you buy a lottery ticket sing that song and perhaps you will get lucky too!!


This was another fun time at the Granbury Opera House!

Granbury Theatre Company

Pink Martini with the FWSO Pops

FORT WORTH SYMPHONY POPS CONCERT
program

The last FWSO Pops concert of the season featured Portland based "Pink Martini".  They have performed numerous times at Bass Hall and always are popular with audience members.

The concert kicked off with Pink Martini and the string section of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra playing Maurice Rave's "Bolero".  From there, it was a surprise as to what songs were played.  As it states in the program, "selections will be announced from the stage".  One fun song they played and sang was "?Donde Estas Yolanda". 

But you can be sure each song is unique and fun to enjoy.  What other group can sing songs in Italian, French, Spanish, Turkish, Armenian, Japanese and English? Plus they don't just sell CD's but also vinyl records and even socks!

After a short intermission, the second part of the show started with "Malaguena" by composer Ernesto Lecuona.

If Pink Martini ever comes your way or comes back to Fort Worth, do go see them.  They are high energy and perform unique and fun songs. Oh and a conga line closes the show leading everyone down the aisles and out the door!!

www.pinkmartini.com

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

C.J.Box author presentation sponsored by Friends of the North Richland Hills Library

C.J. Box
www.cjbox.net

Before the last bout of bronchitis hit, The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend attended a author presentation at the North Richland Hills Library.

North Richland Hills Library
www.librarynrhtx.com

The guest author was C.J. Box who writes a very successful series set in Wyoming and features a game warden by the name of Joe Pickett.  Mr. Box has also written several stand alone novels as well, with a total of 24 books to his credit.





He has won numerous awards including the Edgar Award, as well as the Western Heritage Award for Literature by the National Cowboy Museum.  

A rather large crowd gathered to hear the author speak about his characters, his books and his life story.  Mr. Box began the program by reading several paragraphs from his new book, "The Disappeared".  He spoke about how the previous book, "Vicious Circle" ties into this new book.

He said that as a young boy of 12 years old, he would ride his bike to the library in Casper and look at all the books in the B section trying to see where his books would be placed when he became a successful author.  It appears the dream started early!

He did take a few questions from audience members and was asked if he had shadowed a game warden to help with his character development.  C.J. said he has ridden  along with a local game warden and has learned a lot about the job. Game wardens are heavily armed, as they are out in the field, alone, all day.  He said he had 3 dogs, Labradors, as most game wardens have Labradors with them as they patrol. 

An audience member asked if in the near future the "Joe Pickett" series could to be made into a TV movie or series.  C.J. said that it might be as they are in the process of discussing the project.  He did say he is already working on the next Joe Pickett book and the characters will continue on in it.  

He was most amiable and answered questions about his writing technique, character development and book tours.

After the alloted time, C.J. signed books for audience members.

What another fun and interesting author event set up by the Friends of The North Richland Hills Library.