Time Traveling on Main Street in Grapevine, Texas

I would be remiss if I did not tell of our last evening activity when visiting Debbie.

It was dark outside and just before Christmas, so I was ready to call it a night (because I am a boring, old lady who sleeps when it is dark outside). But not Debbie. When I said, "Nah.. It's dark outside," she said, "Uh uh. Come on, let's go," and told her daughter to grab her sweater because we were going out. My daughter, Anne, heard the command and slipped her jacket on. So what else could I do but follow suit? I was trapped -- but I have to admit it was a good kind of being trapped.

We all clambered into Debbie's car and she drove us to the bustling town of +Grapevine, Texas. This small dot between Dallas and Fort Worth on the Texas map is home to almost 50,000 people and I think they all may have been out with us on Main Street that evening. It was very crowded with shoppers, sight-seers, and people just enjoying the holiday atmosphere. I have no idea how Debbie managed to find a parking stall but she did. She is amazing.

We parked and began walking up the street. So close to Christmas, all the shops were open and Debbie suggested we stop for some hot chocolate. I do not remember the name of the little coffee shop where we bought it, but it was good -- the perfect thing to sip while walking outside on a brisk evening.

It did not take long for a couple of trouble-makers like Debbie and me to get in trouble with the local law. They tried to lock us up but, as you can see from this picture, their jail was padlocked. We escaped custody when the officer instructed us to wait for him to get the key from the mayor and we RAN. (Just kidding but this is a photo of us in front of Grapevine's first jail and it WAS padlocked when we were there.)

Main Street has a lot of sight seeing activities. Main Street, itself, has a small area with historic monuments. It is kind of like merging the current time with history. I would kind of like to go back when it is daytime and not crowded with Christmas shoppers. On the other hand, if it was not Christmas and dark outside, there would not be so many Christmas lights or decorations to see.








Here is one that would be there when it is not Christmas season: An old, horse-drawn carriage. (Here you see how we tried to make our getaway in this carriage. The sheriff almost caught us! But then we realized the carriage's engine was not starting because it was supposed to be powered by horses! There were no horses nearby so we got out and RAN for our freedom.)

Short story on this photo. After we had our girls take it, Debbie successfully managed the mundane task of getting out of the carriage. But I must still have been tired from the long drive from two days earlier because I did not. Do you see how there is a large "lip" at the bottom of the carriage where we are sitting? Clearly, it is there to help people stay INSIDE the vehicle. Clearly, one needs to step OVER it to get out of the vehicle. Tired me does not think clearly because tired me does not think.

I stepped out of the carriage fine with my first foot. It was the second foot that had problems. I completely blame this on the foot, mind you. IT tripped me. (Because slipping in the bowling alley on the previous day was not enough, of course.) I landed face first on the ground and people from the line came to my aid. How embarrassing!

It's okay. That foot got its just desserts. (See its big bruise?) My left knee, though? Not so much. It was still suffering from the previous day's bowling injury when it got slammed again. My poor left knee got an appointment with the chiropractor as soon as we got home. (It feels much better now.)

While fleeing the Grapevine law, we came across this lovely new family who pointed the way for us.

We then traveled through a magical tunnel of light to return to our final destination: Home.

Only... The home we left was not the home we returned to. Our old home was located in December 2015. The home we returned to was in a much earlier era.

Thankfully, Anne and I were scheduled to leave the next morning. So we we able to continue to the next stop in our trip. (Whew!)

I am sure Debbie and her daughter will figure out how to get home in due time.