Come and Take It!

The past three weekends, my husband and I have been driving to nearby towns to explore and shop the antique stores. The little town I absolutely fell in love with was Gonzales, Texas. Gonzales is a quaint historical town just about an hour south of Austin. Originally established in 1826, abandoned after Indian attacks and rebuilt in 1827, Gonzales was home of the first skirmish in the Texas Revolution. At the outbreak of the battle, a group of Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to retrieve the cannon, previously left behind. On October 2, 1835, they were met by Texans under the command of John H. Moore. The Texans had fashioned a flag with the words "Come and Take It". Victoriously, the Texans resisted the federal troops in what became known as the Battle of Gonzales.

We arrived around lunch time and headed to the Gonzales Food Market to try the barbeque. The smoky aroma permeated the town square as we walked to the front door. Inside, the market looked like an older convenience store. However, as we continued to walk toward the center of the store, we could see a great deal of activity behind a large square counter. There was cookin’ goin’ on!

A cafeteria style setup arrayed the numerous types of barbequed meats – ribs, chicken, sausage, brisket – and the most side dishes I’ve seen in a long time. The choices ranged from homemade fried potatoes to homemade green beans to the traditional potato salad, pinto beans and slaw. The cole slaw was unusual, made with raisins, but quite tasty.

Gonzales Food Market certainly made us feel welcome. The staff was so friendly, asking if it was our first time to visit, and asked lots of questions about where we were from. The small town hospitality can’t be beat!

After lunch we stopped in at The Hearty Gourmet, a gourmet cookware store. There, I found a Jim Shore rooster salt & pepper shaker set. I adore Jim Shore Christmas ornaments, because on each ornament has a quilting pattern on it. The rooster salt & pepper shakers also had quilting patterns on them.

Next door was Laurel Ridge Antiques. As my husband entered, he said, “Uh oh.” He knows how much I love Christmas ornaments and this lovely store, set in a delightful old home, was full of ornaments. I’d hit the jackpot! Knowing how I could get carried away, I agreed to only buy two ornaments. I selected a hummingbird and a decorative egg, both by Old World Christmas ornaments.


After shopping, Gene started driving around the historical section of town. There was a self-guided driving tour of old, historical homes, which was accessed through an AM radio channel. Although it was difficult to hear, the commentary was interesting, explaining who built the house and in what year, as well as any significant historical events that happened in the house.

Suddenly, I could picture myself in one of those old homes, weeding my flower garden and repainting my white picket fence. I began taking pictures of the old homes and some of them had ‘For Sale’ signs out front. I started to salivate. Even if we moved, I surmised, I could continue to work for the same company since I’m a full-time telecommuter and work out of my house. My mind got very busy. I didn’t want to leave Gonzales, but on the other hand, I wanted to get back to Austin, so I could research the sales prices of some of the homes.

Below are pictures of some of our favorite historical homes in Gonzales.

This lovely yellow house was for sale for around $560,000.





The house below had my name written all over it. While it wasn’t located within the historical district, it was only a few streets away. Later, I found out the house was a bank repossession and was listed for $170,000….a mere pittance, I thought to myself. The indoor photos online showed a poor taste of paint color and a need for some sprucing up, but overall, it looked to be quite a buy.


Gene finally brought me back down to reality a few days later when he said, “Hon, we’re not really moving to Gonzales. You know that, don’t you?”

Did I? Okay, so our house here in Austin is paid off. So, Gene’s business is located in Austin. So, all our friends and family live in or near Austin. Yes, I succumbed to the idea that we weren’t really going to move to Gonzales, Texas. But, just in case, I checked the nearest LDS church building, doctors and dentists offices and average real estate taxes. You never know, one of these days, we might just ‘Come and Take It’!

Explore the Possibilities, Y’all!