Sitting in The Opening Bell Café in Dallas
AC on high
Writing on June 26, 2011
We woke up once again in Brantley State Park and got ready to continue the route to sweet ole Sweetwater, Texas. I was so excited to be the first person in my Dad’s small family to visit the place where grandma Mae Evelyn Williams Duke grew up. This is the stuff of family lore—apparently Evie bit her pet raccoon there (you’ll have to check with Aunt Fredde for that story). This is where Evie decided to peace out at the tender age of twenty something to try her hand at the Hollywood thing. I’m so glad she did, because Hollywood is where she met the incredibly charming, incomparable producer Maurice Duke, my grandpa.
Before we drove off to Sweetwater, however, we had one more adventure waiting for us at Brantley. We were almost finished packing up our tent (which was staked on a bed of gravel, bordered by railroad ties). I am really good at spotting creatures in the wild—as we say, I could spot a chipmunk in a rainstorm a mile a way. I heard a little rustle and looked over to see a striped, slithering reptilian body outside our tent borders. My first instinct was—King Snake. We had seen one in Palm Springs, so why not. But then, my eyes traveled up to the diamond shape brown and beige markings and back down to the rattle!!! Oh man. There was a rattlesnake living next to our tent.
I was actually more excited than terrified and managed to say, more or less calmly: “Oh my God, Teddy! Rattlesnake!” Our faithful camp host told us to alert the rangers if we saw a rattlesnake. I didn’t even have time to think about looking for the authorities, because, just then, I heard the rumble of the ranger truck at the campsite next to us. No matter that I was in a red bathing suit bottom and a red shirt and looked like I was in my underwear—I ran, barefoot over the gravel and asphalt waving my arms like a complete idiot.
“Rattlesnake! Now!”
The rangers came over to check out the situation—one had a shovel, and I was hoping he wouldn’t kill it. Ranger Rick the Rattlesnake was just trying to live his life, that’s all. They were just going to try to move the little guy with the shovel, but they watched as he slithered back into his home—a bush one foot from our tent. They would relocate him later. We relocated ourselves immediately and got out of there ASAP.
Below: Look CLOSELY! You can see the rattle and the stripey tail right in the middle of this pic:
Below: The sweetest little lizard was having a drink from the dribbles off the side of our Brita
Below: A fabulously dinosaur-like horned lizard.
So the plan in Sweetwater was to a) Find my relatives; b) Find the diner that my family owned; c) Get some good shots for Aunt Fredde’s documentary. Teddy was a real sport to take a pit stop in a random small town in Texas. Sweetwater really wasn’t out of the way at all—we left Carlsbad and drove in a pretty straight line east to Sweetwater, then to Abilene. We Yelped for any half way decent restaurant in Big Spring, Texas. We were starving and couldn’t wait for Sweetwater. Apparently, Alberto’s is a local favorite. The food was amazing. Maybe it was because we were so hungry, or maybe it was the fact that it was THE BEST MEXICAN FOOD EVER. I’m still thinking about it.
Below: The sweetest little lizard was having a drink from the dribbles off the side of our Brita
Below: A fabulously dinosaur-like horned lizard.
So the plan in Sweetwater was to a) Find my relatives; b) Find the diner that my family owned; c) Get some good shots for Aunt Fredde’s documentary. Teddy was a real sport to take a pit stop in a random small town in Texas. Sweetwater really wasn’t out of the way at all—we left Carlsbad and drove in a pretty straight line east to Sweetwater, then to Abilene. We Yelped for any half way decent restaurant in Big Spring, Texas. We were starving and couldn’t wait for Sweetwater. Apparently, Alberto’s is a local favorite. The food was amazing. Maybe it was because we were so hungry, or maybe it was the fact that it was THE BEST MEXICAN FOOD EVER. I’m still thinking about it.
Crystal Cafe? Okay!
As we rode into Sweetwater, I really started to get excited. I saw a few signs along the side of the road for “Sweetwater Wind Production” etc—that’s their main industry. When we got off the highway and into town, Sweetwater looked like a lot of other Texas towns/small towns we had seen so far. There were a lot of truck stops and fast food chains like Pizza Hut and Subway. But, we also discovered some little old coffee shops and odd vintage stores. I was expecting rather poor residential neighborhoods—we found some, with overgrown, dried up vegetation, unfinished siding and toys all over the lawn. There were, however, some really cute houses in well-kempt street: kind of reminded me of Burbank.
We found a black Sweetwater kitty in the driveway of one of these houses. Teddy filmed why I snuggled the kitteh and talked to him in “the voice”—patented by Evie. We tried to find the diner to no avail, but we did speak to a few shy characters around town; they were a bit confused by our mission, but we had fun chatting. About half of the businesses we visited closed at 2 pm, or did not answer the door. It was 105 degrees outside—maybe things just kind of shut down in small towns when the weather gets that intense.
On our way out, we finally found the Sweetwater sign! I was excited to take some pics under it—I did the twist for Evie and the Duke. Teddy had the idea to go to the cemetery, which turned out to be the closest we would come to finding my relatives. We knocked on the doors of the office, but no one answered. So, we decided to just walk up and down the rows looking for any “Griffith” or “Williams” we could find. We discovered a few Williams—Roy? Maybe I’m related. Maybe he just had a really common last name.
The best part was running into an old lady walking around in the sweltering heat. I called her over and asked if she worked there. She said no, she just comes to check on her husband. We asked her if it would be okay to film her and she kind of giggled—she was so sweet. She said yes. Her name was Marceline—she was born on the outskirts north of Sweetwater and said “you had to come into town to find a husband”. She went to Sweetwater High and was born in 1929. She was a few years older than Evie and didn’t remember the name. But, when I told her “Fred Williams”, she said—to my surprise—“Oh yeah, I knew Fred Williams.” I was so shocked and so excited. Yes, Fred Williams is a very common name—more common in Marceline’s generation. But the name belonged to both my great-grandfather and my great-uncle. Without getting any further details, we all happily agreed that it was most definitely the same Fred Williams.
There was a really sweet moment when I came upon Marceline about twenty minutes later, looking down at a gravestone. I went up to her and she said—“That’s him. There’s my husband” in a choked-up voice. I put my arm around her and she put her arm around me. He died in 2006—her name is written aside his on the headstone. We stood there for a moment, then she looked at me and said in a sweet southern twang: “Bye”. It was such a wonderful moment—she needed me that day and I needed her. She drove off in her enormous, incongruous orange Hummer. And that was the end of our day in Sweetwater.
As we rode into Sweetwater, I really started to get excited. I saw a few signs along the side of the road for “Sweetwater Wind Production” etc—that’s their main industry. When we got off the highway and into town, Sweetwater looked like a lot of other Texas towns/small towns we had seen so far. There were a lot of truck stops and fast food chains like Pizza Hut and Subway. But, we also discovered some little old coffee shops and odd vintage stores. I was expecting rather poor residential neighborhoods—we found some, with overgrown, dried up vegetation, unfinished siding and toys all over the lawn. There were, however, some really cute houses in well-kempt street: kind of reminded me of Burbank.
We found a black Sweetwater kitty in the driveway of one of these houses. Teddy filmed why I snuggled the kitteh and talked to him in “the voice”—patented by Evie. We tried to find the diner to no avail, but we did speak to a few shy characters around town; they were a bit confused by our mission, but we had fun chatting. About half of the businesses we visited closed at 2 pm, or did not answer the door. It was 105 degrees outside—maybe things just kind of shut down in small towns when the weather gets that intense.
On our way out, we finally found the Sweetwater sign! I was excited to take some pics under it—I did the twist for Evie and the Duke. Teddy had the idea to go to the cemetery, which turned out to be the closest we would come to finding my relatives. We knocked on the doors of the office, but no one answered. So, we decided to just walk up and down the rows looking for any “Griffith” or “Williams” we could find. We discovered a few Williams—Roy? Maybe I’m related. Maybe he just had a really common last name.
The best part was running into an old lady walking around in the sweltering heat. I called her over and asked if she worked there. She said no, she just comes to check on her husband. We asked her if it would be okay to film her and she kind of giggled—she was so sweet. She said yes. Her name was Marceline—she was born on the outskirts north of Sweetwater and said “you had to come into town to find a husband”. She went to Sweetwater High and was born in 1929. She was a few years older than Evie and didn’t remember the name. But, when I told her “Fred Williams”, she said—to my surprise—“Oh yeah, I knew Fred Williams.” I was so shocked and so excited. Yes, Fred Williams is a very common name—more common in Marceline’s generation. But the name belonged to both my great-grandfather and my great-uncle. Without getting any further details, we all happily agreed that it was most definitely the same Fred Williams.
There was a really sweet moment when I came upon Marceline about twenty minutes later, looking down at a gravestone. I went up to her and she said—“That’s him. There’s my husband” in a choked-up voice. I put my arm around her and she put her arm around me. He died in 2006—her name is written aside his on the headstone. We stood there for a moment, then she looked at me and said in a sweet southern twang: “Bye”. It was such a wonderful moment—she needed me that day and I needed her. She drove off in her enormous, incongruous orange Hummer. And that was the end of our day in Sweetwater.
Sweetwater puppy!
The Courtyard Marriot in Abilene, Texas was actually so nice—a relaxing respite from camping. We got into Abilene at about 8 pm and needed dinner. What better way to eat and be entertained than a double feature at a drive-in theatre? We were so excited when we found the Town and Country Drive-In on Googlemaps. Following a hearty recommendation from the concierge at the Marriot, we were on our way. It seemed like everyone else in Abilene had the same idea. It took us about twenty minutes to inch our way through the line of cars toward the ticket booth. We chose Screen Two which was playing The Green Lantern and X-Men First Class—a fully action-packed comic book lineup.
After picking a parking spot, we walked over to the concession area, which was a madhouse. Screen 1 was playing Cars 2, which came out that day, so everyone and their baby was there. I’m not kidding you, “God Bless the USA” was playing in the background. A girl about my age was standing in front of us in line. She was holding a little blonde yearling and holding hands with a four-year old girl. The baby boy in her arms was so cute—he had these Ross Perot ears and stunning blue eyes. I started “making annoying sounds at the baby” (as Teddy says) and then began chatting with the mother. The conversation was fascinating for me but also kind of sobering—she was just like me, but happened to be born in a different state, under a different set of circumstances. She was had a few tattoos, was single and had two kids, clearly from two different fathers. She had freckly pale skin and auburn hair—like my Grandma Evie. I thought about how different Evie’s life might have been if she had never left her small Texas town.
After picking up our hotdog, cheeseburger, fries and ungodly “Large” drink (it probably held about a liter of Coca Cola), we settled into the Matrix for our first drive-in. Later, we laughed about the fact that we spent our evening—another four hours—in our car. I wish drive-ins would make a comeback. It was the cheapest movie date of our life—$7.50 for the movie, $10 for the food—and it was so much fun.
The Courtyard Marriot in Abilene, Texas was actually so nice—a relaxing respite from camping. We got into Abilene at about 8 pm and needed dinner. What better way to eat and be entertained than a double feature at a drive-in theatre? We were so excited when we found the Town and Country Drive-In on Googlemaps. Following a hearty recommendation from the concierge at the Marriot, we were on our way. It seemed like everyone else in Abilene had the same idea. It took us about twenty minutes to inch our way through the line of cars toward the ticket booth. We chose Screen Two which was playing The Green Lantern and X-Men First Class—a fully action-packed comic book lineup.
After picking a parking spot, we walked over to the concession area, which was a madhouse. Screen 1 was playing Cars 2, which came out that day, so everyone and their baby was there. I’m not kidding you, “God Bless the USA” was playing in the background. A girl about my age was standing in front of us in line. She was holding a little blonde yearling and holding hands with a four-year old girl. The baby boy in her arms was so cute—he had these Ross Perot ears and stunning blue eyes. I started “making annoying sounds at the baby” (as Teddy says) and then began chatting with the mother. The conversation was fascinating for me but also kind of sobering—she was just like me, but happened to be born in a different state, under a different set of circumstances. She was had a few tattoos, was single and had two kids, clearly from two different fathers. She had freckly pale skin and auburn hair—like my Grandma Evie. I thought about how different Evie’s life might have been if she had never left her small Texas town.
After picking up our hotdog, cheeseburger, fries and ungodly “Large” drink (it probably held about a liter of Coca Cola), we settled into the Matrix for our first drive-in. Later, we laughed about the fact that we spent our evening—another four hours—in our car. I wish drive-ins would make a comeback. It was the cheapest movie date of our life—$7.50 for the movie, $10 for the food—and it was so much fun.
I'm so glad you made it to Sweetwater. It's a place worlds apart from your own, but so important to understand that it is still part of you. Love you Angel Girl.
ReplyDeleteNuvs...dAD
I cried a little again. :)
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