9/28/50 - Column by Virgil Taylor about trip to Texas BY-WAYS - 9/28/50 - Column by Virgil Taylor about trip to Texas - Sept. 22, 1950

Dear BY-WAYS readers.

Florence told you about my vacation trip to Texas, and one of the conditions attached to the trip was that I write one or two articles for the Press. Keeping an accurate inventory of carpet is much more in my line, but I will try to give you some of the highlights of the trip. Travelling by bus has always been very interesting to me, even though my aging knees rebel at times. The drivers are courteous, efficient, and seldom show any annoyance at anything that happens. My seat-mate between Cleveland and Cincinnati was a young man from Alabama, working in Cleveland, going home for a Labor Day visit with his family. The bus had scarcely left the depot when he pulled out a bottle and offered me a drink, which I politely refused. From Cinci, as it is called, I sat near a young mother with three children, ages one, three, and five, going all the way to Fresno, California. Just before we pulled into Memphis, our bus broke down and we were transferred to another one, and in the exchange this mother lost the bag containing all the clothes for the baby, and when I left the bus between Texarkana and Dallas the only clothes the little chap still had were three-cornered pants.

All Texans are mighty proud of their state, and they have a great deal of which to be proud besides the size of Texas. I covered most of the eastern half of Texas, and wherever I went - to a home, or a store, or a gas station, or public building - the courtesy and cordiality of all impressed me. My first destination was Tyler, where Florence's niece Judith, and her splendid husband Wesley Marsten live, with their two sweet little girls, augmented by a third girl born the day after I started home. Florence's sister, Mary, and daughter Ellen Mary (or "Muggins") drove up from Austin for the holiday week-end. At Tyler are the most extensive rose gardens in the world. They have an annual rose tournament with floats. I spent a most delightful Sunday and Monday there. I found that Mary had planned a trip for her and me that was very aptly described by Wesley when he said, "We have long ago given up trying to keep up with mother, and you are going to have a trip the like of which you have never had." It started at six o'clock Tuesday morning and ended at ten o'clock Wednesday night when we arrived at Austin, covering 650 miles via San Jacinto Battleground, Texas City, the scene of the terrible explosion three years ago; Galveston; Houston; San Antonio; then Austin. I will describe these places in the next letter.

Sincerely,
Virgil J. Taylor

Next - 10/5/50 - Continuation on the trip to Texas
BY-WAYS Table of Contents