A really cool place!

We recently had to travel to San Antonio for a family event. On our way home, we got really hungry around San Marcos. I was born in San Marcos and raised in Austin, but I don't remember any places to eat in San Marcos (and if I did, it probably wouldn't be there anymore). I hate to eat in chain resteraunts when I am in another town because by doing so, you miss the culture and flavor of the place you are visiting. As I am always grumpy when I am hungry, I gave my husband the task of finding a place to eat. WELL...he pulls up at this "hole in the wall" looking dump and I have to say I was hoppin' mad at his choice. But, I did give him the task to find a place to eat, so I bit my tongue...really, really hard...and followed him inside. I am so glad I did! This place was really cool, and very Central Texas. The glassed-in porch area had neat items from a day gone by the kids could play on. Right inside the door they sold homemade fudge and had a wonderful eclectic shopping area that was part boutique and part Texas chic. I think the entire area had been formed from three old buildings moved to the location and attached together. The wood and floors were too old and too mismatched to be one of those new places made to look old. The food was amazing - again, part Texas chic (hamburgers and the best fries I have ever put in my mouth) and part refined (with chicken salad stuffed avacados as one example)! It is called "Centerpoint Station" and is at the outlet mall exit in San Marcos on the opposite side of the freeway from the outlets.

Needless to say, I had to have some pictures. I think this is one of the cutest children I have ever photographed...but I might be biased. There might have been another cute child in the photos but only one seemed to want to cooperate that day! If you are ever in San Marcos, be sure to stop by...but be prepared to stay awhile. If we hadn't been on a time crunch to get home, I could easily have parked there for a few hours!

This was an old version of the current electric jeeps kids ride around on these days. This one ran on foot power but the kids thought it was really cool. Be sure to note the "new" smile he has adopted since the loss of the first tooth on the bottom!

When was the last time you saw one of these mechanical horses? Now we have Barney and Dora sitting in big cheap plastic cars for the kids to play on in stores. The horse allows for much more imagination!

The entire place was filled with old signs - all for sale. I feel a photography road trip coming on. I only got away with these pictures because of the kids. I wanted to spend hours recording the signs and antique items with my camera. Sigh...next time....