Wow!! After experiencing 45 - 75 mile per hour headwinds and crosswinds, we found out how fast your mileage can go from 9 to 4! As the snow began to blow across the Texas plains, we turned into a whiteout and were glad to see the Cactus Inn! When we arrived, the manager came out and said that all evening activities were cancelled, but they were glad we were there. But stop...as we drove into the town of McClean, Texas, we thought it was actually a ghost-town - all buildings were boarded up, and not a running car in sight. Imagine our delight when the manager (Christine) warmly welcomed us with her down parka on, apologizing for the weather, and bringing a tray with champagne, roses and stemware to thank us for celebrating their 5th anniversary and Valentine's Day! Within an hour the snow had stopped, the sun came out, and it was chilly but beautiful. We walked the short distance to the local steakhouse - delicious and, a first for Jim, alcohol-free (ha-ha!) Jim also took note of how strange it was to be in an "open carry state". Read into that what you will - just a bit of a surprise for us northerners!
After dinner we drove into the "town" - sadly, very desolate, but the warm and friendly people had us praying that there would be a revival of this quaint place right on Route 66. We stopped at the local Taphouse and Jim gave it the college try - I was not able to go in the building as it was very old and had quite a bit of mold. However, Cagney and I enjoyed spending time in the sun in their outdoor garden area - it was ALMOST 50 degrees.
We have high hopes that this town will be a "happening" place in the future and we will definitely plan on a return visit. We did not get to meet the owner, but we think about all of them every time we uses our stemware!
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