Tag Archives: north texas ramblings

McKinney Historic District

Posted on by

Searching for a relaxed day trip near home? McKinney offers public art, upscale shopping, and fine dining in its walkable downtown. Established in1849, McKinney has escaped the plight of many Texas-pioneer towns. An infusion of private investment refurbished century-old buildings allowing the area to pivot from a collection of dusty antique malls and empty store fronts to a thriving collection of high-end boutiques and eateries. And, even with newcomers and McKinney’s rapid growth, the historic downtown retains its small town charm.

Western Wear to Handcrafted Décor

birds and words for home decor

The old Collin County Courthouse, now home to the McKinney Performing Arts Center, anchors dozens of surrounding shops. If you seek chic-western, you’ll find it at Orisons. Or visit McKinney Hat Company to be fitted for an iconic Stetson hat. A cluster of women’s boutiques can be found along Virginia Street. My favorite shopping is at the smaller, home décor stores like birds & words. The store sells a mix of new merchandise and items crafted from found objects. Another of my favorites is Petals and Vine where I’m guaranteed to find that perfect gift. And finally, if looking for a vintage item, try the Antique Company Mall and its expansive collection of everything from vinyl records to grandma’s fine china.

McKinney Dining

Portions of the area around the courthouse sport extra-wide sidewalks, allowing outdoor seating areas. Sip a glass of wine at Landon Winery or enjoy Spoons Cafe’s all-day breakfast alfresco. It’s a grand way to relax and do a little people watching. Other casual establishments like Cadillac Pizza Pub and The Yard have limited indoor seating but offer large patio dining.

In addition to relaxed eateries, McKinney is home to a variety of upscale restaurants. Rick’s Chophouse is the type of restaurant reserved for those special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. Rick’s specializes in steaks, but also offers an exceptional selection of seafood. Lunch is a wonderful and a less expensive way to sample Rick’s fare. A new restaurant, Fontina Ristorante, masters Italian cooking with nuanced, house-made sauces, and is well worth a visit. Local Yokel, a long-time McKinney store selling farm fresh meat and eggs, opened a fine dining restaurant a short half-mile from the courthouse. Local Yokel BBQ and Grill elevates barbeque to haute cuisine.

McKinney Arts Community

Unique by Nature is McKinney’s city motto. I might have come up with a different motto—like—Uniquely Artistic. Long before the city’s downtown renovation, visual and musical artists drew people to the historic district with events like Second Saturday art walks. A collective of local artists now manages The Cove. Check their website for local art exhibits. The Millhouse, an all-women creative collective, is located at the old cotton gin and often hosts exhibits.

Van Helton Silo Mural

In 2016, the City of McKinney commissioned its first large mural. Many are found in alleys. One of my favorites is a waist-high, block-long, playful mural depicting Texas flora and fauna by artist Theresa Holmes. It’s a bit like a scavenger hunt finding all the outdoor murals as you walk the area.

The most impressive is the mural painted on old grain silos at the now defunct flour mill. Guido Van Helten, an Australian artist, took over five months to complete the behemoth project. Van Helten is renowned for his large-scale, photorealistic murals.

McKinney City Festivals

McKinney always finds a reason to celebrate. Check the city calendar for events. Three festivals not to be missed are Arts in the Square (April), Oktoberfest (last weekend in September), and Christmas on the Square (Thanksgiving weekend). I’m also a big fan of the McKinney Art Studio Tour. Held on the second weekend of November, local artists open their studios to visitors. It’s fascinating to see the artists at work and gives an appreciation of the breadth and depth of the local creative community.

When you go

Parking is free and abundant around the old courthouse. In addition to ground lots, a parking garage is located at Chestnut and Davis. Store locations: Orisons (102 N Tennessee), McKinney Hat Company (213 N Kentucky), birds and words (100 W Virginia), Petals and Vine (205 N Kentucky), and Antique Company Mall (213 E Virginia). Restaurant locations: Landon Winery (101 N Kentucky), Spoons (100 E Louisiana), Cadillac Pizza (112 S Kentucky), The Yard (107 S Church), Rick’s Chophouse (107 N Kentucky), Fontina Ristorante (216 E Virginia), Local Yokel BBQ and Grill (350 E Louisiana).

Fun Fact: Money magazine named McKinney the best place to live in 2016

Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

Posted on by

Preston Trails Farm

It’s pumpkin time! If you are looking for a Fall family outing, check out The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm at Preston Trail Farms. Located in rural Gunter, a trip to the farm makes for a relaxed, low-key afternoon in the country.

More than a pumpkin patch

The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm has a little something for everyone. Of course, you’ll find the requisite furrowed field with small pumpkins positioned along the rows. Ah, but there is so much more.

Petting zoo

Preston Trails Farm petting zoo

My personal favorite is the petting zoo with its cattle (including longhorns), sheep, and goats. Your admission includes a small sack of feed, all you need to make close friends of the animal kind. Unlike other petting zoos, you don’t go into the livestock enclosures but feed the begging goats at the fence. This worked much better for my younger grandkids. The fence barrier kept the farm critters from surrounding and overwhelming the little kids. If you haven’t seen a longhorn cow up close and personal, here’s your chance.

Hayride and maze

A farm tractor pulls several flatbeds with hay bale seating for you ride. The course is just around the farm perimeter, but there’s more. Be sure to read the whiteboards posted along the track, as they tell a clever little story about Farmer Rick. As you round the last curve of the route you’ll discover the fate of the missing farmer.

The maze, created from bales and rolls of hay was surprisingly difficult. There are enough dead ends and crazy twists to give maze runners a challenge. Not far from the maze are several wooden sawhorses where older kids (and adults) can practice their lasso skills. And on weekends, the kiddos can ride the farm train, a tractor-pulled train of barrel cars.

Photo op

Be sure to bring your camera. Scattered throughout the grounds, family photo opportunities abound. There are hay rolls painted as pigs and pumpkins, great wooden cutouts to stick your face through, and picturesque old farm equipment. And of course … there are pumpkins!

Preston Trail Farms

The whole pumpkin patch experience is behind Preston Trail Farms, a year-round general store. It’s a cross between a feed and hardware store, just like the ones I remember from my youth. The general store even has three different kiddie rides out front, the type that used to be in front of grocery stores, in this case a mechanical horse, longhorn, and two-seater carousel.  

Tender Smokehouse is a small restaurant, is tucked into one corner of the store. The smokehouse has a limited menu serving breakfast tacos and BBQ sandwiches and banana pudding.

Once pumpkin season passes, you can shop the store, grab lunch at Tender Smokehouse, and enjoy the year-round petting zoo out back.

COVID-19 precautions

The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm encourages mask wearing in all places. While we were there, about half the folks wore masks. There are cute signs all throughout encouraging six-foot distancing and the hayride seating also encourages distancing. I’d suggest visiting the farm during the weekdays or early in the morning to avoid crowds.

When you go

Preston Trails Farm (15102 Preston Road) is located in Gunter. Admission to the farm is $10 for all over the age of two. Your admission includes a small bag of food for the petting zoo. On weekdays your admission also includes a small pumpkin. On weekends, you pay for pumpkins in the store. The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm is open seven days a week now until November 25. Hours are 8 am to 8 pm.

History Trivia Fact. Preston Trail Farms and the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm are on the old Shawnee Trail cattle drive route.

Post Oak Creek Fossil Hunting

Posted on by
Fossil Hunting at Post Oak Creek in Sherman, Texas

Post Oak Creek in Sherman teams with fossils waiting to be discovered. Most trek to the rural creek in search of shark teeth. For me, I’m content to gather any type of fossil. Summer, despite the heat, is a prime time to visit. The creek water level is low, exposing sandbars and allowing hunters the opportunity to walk miles up and down the stream bed.

Abundance of shells

In geological time, the formation exposed at Post Oak Creek is from the late Cretaceous period, some 90 to 66 million years ago. At that time, an inland sea covered the area. Seawater rose and receded with events like the formation of the Rocky Mountains.

Sedimentary rock embedded with fossil shells

Walking in Post Oak Creek, I literally reached into the water and retrieved millions-year-old shells. No digging or much hunting required. Fossil shells, mostly oyster, layer the sedimentary rock lining sections of the stream’s bank, exposed over years of erosion. If you want to find a fossil, Post Oak Creek is the spot.

Shark tooth prospectors

Oyster shells abound throughout the creek area, but most visitors search for more elusive finds like shark teeth and the even rarer mastodon bone or tooth fragment. Shark’s teeth range in size from a quarter to dime, and their shape reminds me of a fat capital letter-T. Sharks have been swimming in oceans for 400 million years, and some of the teeth found at Post Oak are from now extinct Cretalamna and Petaldus species.

To successfully hunt teeth, you need simple tools and patience. It’s a little like panning for gold. Scoop up some stream gravel, place it in a sieve, and then sluice the sieve around in the water to rinse out clay and dirt. From there, you can examine the remaining rocks for fossil treasures. A garden trowel or small hand shovel works well for the digging. The day I visited, people used all sorts of things for sieves including box screens and vegetable colanders. In fact, one clever family used plastic hamburger baskets – the red ones with the side slats — as sieves.

Other Post Oak finds

In addition to fossils, the careful scavenger may find other artifacts like arrowheads, more recent bone from mammals, and old pottery and glass. Through the years, the town of Sherman was home to many different factories. One lucky hunter found an old 1890 bottle from the now defunct Sherman Bottling Works.

South Travis Street Bridge

Post Oak Creek meanders through south Sherman, but getting to the creek itself can be a challenge. The easiest access is at the Travis Street Bridge. Here you can park on the road shoulder and use a short trail down to the stream. The address, 2400 South Travis Street, Sherman, works well for directions in most mapping programs. The creek flows under US 75, and some fossil hunters recommend the access road near the interstate as another egress. My recommendation is to stick to South Travis Street. It’s true, this area is well-picked over from scores of visitors, however, just hike up or down stream to get to less congested hunting grounds.

When you go

Be weather aware. In the height of summer, creek levels are low, however, strong rains fill the creek rapidly and can create a dangerous flash flood situation. This is not a park. No restrooms. It’s good ol’ Texas-styled boondocks. Come prepared with hat, bug spray, sunscreen, and lots of water on hot days.

I wore wading boots, in part, to protect myself from water snakes. I confess, I was the only one in the crowd in my galoshes. Still be watchful and alert for snakes. Wear clothes you don’t mind getting wet and dirty. A hand trowel and sieve is all you need to hunt shark teeth, though I also recommend bringing lots of baggies for storing your finds. I found a gallon bucket worked well for lugging around my equipment and for storing larger finds. If you don’t mind carrying it, a small camp stool can be useful for sitting in the creek while you search the gravel for treasures.

After you come home

The website Your Fossil Adventure has a page dedicated to Post Oak Creek. Here you’ll find pictures identifying the fossils typical to the location. Also, if you aren’t sure what you have, the Facebook page Texas Fossil Hunting is wonderful. Post a picture of your find and ask for help identifying it.

Dallas Arboretum Reopens

Posted on by
Dallas Arboretum Sculpture
Celebrating the Familiar at the Dallas Arboretum

How do you ramble in the midst of a pandemic? For me, it’s finding uncrowded outdoor spaces. Dallas summer heat adds to the challenge, but, with a little pre-planning, Dallas Arboretum suits. The quintessential garden reopened to the public June 1. Though some areas, like the Rory Meyer Children’s Adventure Garden remain closed, much of the Dallas Arboretum is open for a leisurely stroll and even a picnic. Best part, the garden is ablaze with color from blooming annuals.

Dallas Arboretum summer color
Summer annuals add bursts of color

What’s Changed

Pre-purchased tickets, procured by phone or online are needed for entrance …even for Arboretum members. The timed reservation allocates four hours garden admission to the ticketholder. I reserved online, printed my tickets at home, and swapped them at the entrance for color-coded wrist bands. While the garden recommends wearing masks, almost all visitors dispensed with face coverings once inside the grounds. Everyone was respectful of social distancing. Please note, however, masks are required in public restrooms.  

Not all gardens are open. The tram isn’t running. What is available is a mile loop around the garden. To prevent crowding, the trail is directional, with arrows and signage guiding visitors. I thought I’d find this too limiting. It wasn’t. The loop takes you along the entire perimeter of the Arboretum and includes the Woman’s Garden. Much of the route meanders through shade and past water features, a wonderful respite from the heat.

Seward Johnson Summer Sculpture

You won’t find the seasonal playhouses for children that graced the Dallas Arboretum in previous summers. What you will find are twenty-five, bronze statues from Seward Johnson’s Celebrating the Familiar. When I spied the first statue, I mistook it for an actual person. Johnson’s art are life-sized sculptures ‘dressed’ in painted bronze … almost like store manikins. Most had me taking another look to determine if it was a garden visitor or a Seward Johnson sculpture, like the young girl sitting on the park bench with a rabbit in her lap. The exhibit opens on June 22, though most of the sculptures were already in position during my visit this week.

Seward Johnson Celebrating the Familiar at the Dallas Arboretum
Seward Johnson – Celebrating the Familiar

Seward Johnson, grandson to a Johnson & Johnson founder, died at 89 this past March. His sculptures have been described as ‘hyperreal’ and some art critics consider them ‘kitsch.’ I found them delightful snippets of everyday life and a treat to discover during my garden walk.

Consider a Membership

Timing is everything. If you want to beat Dallas heat, the earlier in the day you visit, the more pleasant the experience. The Dallas Arboretum opens at 9 am. Through November, however, Arboretum members can reserve a 7 to 11 am admission ticket. The early entry option is a wonderful perk with even fewer people around, and best of all, less heat to contend with. My family’s favorite is early admission, walk, and then a breakfast picnic. Members have an additional option to enjoy a twilight garden walk, Thursdays from 4 to 8 pm.

Picnic

Unlike other formal gardens, the Dallas Arboretum encourages picnicking. Under the current reopening, dining locations are limited. I strongly urge bringing your own food and drink. There is a water refill station at the main entrance, but other drinking fountains are not available. During our visit, we found folks using benches, ubiquitously located along the pathway, for al fresco dining. Magnolia Glade offers tables under massive trees. My favorite spot, the cabanas at Three Sisters Overlook, even has rotating fans to cool you off.

Three Sisters Overlook

When you go The Dallas Arboretum is located at 8525 Garland Road, Dallas.  Garden admission is daily 9 am to 5 pm. Pre-purchase tickets by phone at (214) 515-6615 or online. Seward Johnson’s Celebrating the Familiar will be on display June 22 through July 17. As Dallas Arboretum reopens to the public, expect changes. Please consult their website for the latest updates and guidance. Virtual garden tours are also available right from your home computer.

Eastern Cottontail

Posted on by

Texas Backyard Critters

Hoppy, an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

Exploring my backyard has replaced day trips, as we all do our part to stop the spread of covid-19 and stay home. I am amazed and entertained by the microcosm of life around me. One frequent visitor to my garden oasis, consistently maintains at least the CDC prescribed six-foot distance – an eastern cottontail rabbit my family named Hoppy. This little guy … could be a gal … it’s difficult to sex a rabbit … lives under a tool shed in the corner. The yard is fenced, offering Hoppy protection from most predators, though I’ve noted he’s beginning to foray out in the evenings. And while he does prefer to dine on black eyed susan plants, he’s discovered that seeds, dropped by squirrels raiding the bird feeder, are mighty tasty, too.

While many view the rabbit as a pest, I admire its adaptability.  The eastern cottontail is ubiquitous adjusting to North Texas’ changing landscape and creating habitat for itself in among suburban subdivisions.  On my neighborhood walks, I frequently spy at least one fluff-tailed critter. An herbivore, the rabbit dines on lawns and makes its home in shrubs. An opportunistic vegetarian, the eastern cottontail will gladly switch from its native diet of grasses to other garden plants, like my black eyed susan, when available.

These small mammals weigh just two to four pounds. They are crepuscular, meaning they’re active during dawn and dusk, generally resting during the day. I often find Hoppy catching a little afternoon sun and taking a nap nestled in the garden bed mulch.

In the wild, rabbits live just a little over a year contending with predators like bobcat, fox, coyote, owls, and hawks. To survive, cottontails possess exceptional eyesight and hearing.  If they sense danger, the rabbit will freeze in place or dash for cover.  Backyard naturalists likely have seen both behaviors.  Cottontails can jump up to 15 feet and often will flee in a zigzag pattern – done to throw a predator off its scent.

Life is tough for the eastern cottontail, even in suburbia. Backyard bunnies, like Hoppy, have to contend with predatory dogs and cats, but most are killed by cars. Still, rabbits thrive in North Texas often birthing several litters of kits each season. Unlike their cousin the hare, rabbits are helpless at birth, born both blind and hairless. The new kit (baby rabbit) will quickly grow its fur and open its eyes, leaving the nest within about two weeks. Kits mature to full grown adults within four or five months. I’ve watched Hoppy grow from small kit to full grown rabbit over the past several months. He continues to captivate me with his cuteness.

More Rabbit Tidbits

  • Eastern cottontails are not social animals and prefer to live singularly.
  • The female cottontail is larger than the male.
  • Cottontails rarely drink water, getting most of their water from the plants they eat.
  • In winter, if green plants are not available, the cottontail will eat twigs and bark.
  • Cottontails will sometimes eat their own droppings to get all the nutrients from the food they ate.