Weekend in Cow Heaven

Kate and I met my folks in Brenham on Saturday to celebrate my mom's 62nd birthday, which was last Thursday.

I've driven through Brenham dozens of times when traveling between Austin and Houston, but I hadn't seen downtown Brenham in several years. I think the last time I was there was in 1980, when my reading group took Amtrak from Houston to Brenham just so we could experience the "magic" of endangered American passenger rail service. As it was, the return train was about four or five hours late. I haven't ridden Amtrak since.

In the intervening years, Brenham's town square has undergone a renaissance of sorts. B&Bs, antique shops and scented candle peddlers have taken over the city's former commercial center, which has largely decamped for the U.S. 290 bypass on the edge of town. The WPA-era art deco courthouse seems a bit out of place here, but they've done a nice job of restoring it.

We ate at a bistro-style restaurant called Ernie's. Their lunch menu consisted primarily of sandwiches, salad and pastas. I had the crab cake sandwich with Cajun remoulade. It was both filling and tasty. Then we shared two servings of apple cobbler with a certain brand of vanilla ice cream I can't quite put my finger on.