Thats Seventy-one years!

  I learned today that the Blanco Bowling Club Cafe, opened in 1948, closed two months ago! Blanco is about a thirty minute drive from what used to be my small town- Dripping Springs.We are small no longer, thanks or blame ( depending on your point of view) to nearby Austins growth. But Blanco has been just beyond the growth of Austin or San Antonio and a pleasant drive through the hill country for a good "old time" meal at a true country café! Open for breakfast or lunch- hamburgers patted out by hand and cooked on the grill along with the hashbrowns and sunnyside eggs! There was always a lunch special- meat and two sides along with that tray of saucers of cake slices or cups of pudding for dessert, just help yourself! The cabinet of pies with sky high meringue wasn't that accessible but each slice was well worth the extra money! So today when we decided lunch there was long overdue we took a drive only to learn this sad news.
  Its a condition of age that so many places I've frequented are no longer open and unfortunately not even missed by most of those now living nearby, unless a tv news show mentions the closing on a slow night! When a chain closes you certainly don't see an empty parking lot like this one- stained with 71 years of "country vehicles" leaked oil!
  The Blanco Bowling Club is still open, a set of nine-pin lanes- pins set by hand and the bar still serving cold beer but no coconut cream pie with eight inches of perfect meringue!

This used to be

the last weekend of summer! Well, not officially, but practically. Back when I was a kid ( as my daughter used to call it- the sepia days) Labor Day marked the end of summer vacation! The day after Labor Day meant the return to school, but certainly not the end of summer weather! There was still plenty of very hot weather yet to come and the idea of air conditioning a school was unheard of! Of course neither was our house! Now here in Texas most public schools have been in session for a week or more and since I'm retired I don't have the "luxury" of a three day weekend! I still hope you enjoy your Labor Day!