It was a dark and stormy night…

Well it wasn’t stormy, but it was exceedingly dark and I had been stuck in traffic for an

Grapevine spillway and fall foliage

inordinate amount of time. So knowing that I had a GPS, I turned off on a road that I thought went the direction I wanted to go and headed west. Very shortly I was driving through a warehouse district, and shortly after that a tree and field lined lane. I was exceedingly happy to see lights of what looked like stores just ahead. The signs said, ‘Lakeside’ and I still wondered where I was. Eventually, with a lot of twists and turns through rural Texas, my GPS got me back home. I was determined to find the places I’d not seen in the dark and find out if there was anything interesting in the area. It turned out that I’d been winding around through a corner of Flower Mound, a city just north of Grapevine and west of Lewisville.


The folks from Peters colony named Flower Mound for a fifty-foot-high hill covered with Indian paintbrush, big bluestem, little bluestem, and Indian grasses. When it’s time to bloom,

Lake Grapevine

dozens of varieties of flowers grow on its slopes, moistened by the water retained in the gilgai formations. This mound was once used by Indians as a holy place in the blackland prairie. In the 1840s, the settlers used this area as a religious camp. At first, the Presbyterians held camps for a few weeks at a time, but by the mid-1850s, residents had established a church in an area generally referred to as ‘Long Prairie’. The town rocked along for several decades until the City of Irving moved to annex it; in 1961 Flower Mound residents voted to incorporate. In the 1970s, Edward S. Marcus and Raymond Nasher began a planned community project, but the residents would have none of it and the land was given over to tree farms. These farms remained and the population didn’t really begin to grow until the construction of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

On a shining fall day we found the Lakeside area of Flower Mound and started looking for

Park and Gaylord Texas Resort

places to eat. What we did find were some lovely small parks as well as an entire series of parks with connected trails along Lake Grapevine. A good base to start from is Murrell Park, but there are lots of places to access Northshore Trail. This trail has nice views of the Lake Grapevine and of the Gaylord Texas Resort. Also in this area are two scenic golf courses, Grapevine Golf Course and the Cowboy Golf Club. With the trees changing color and the bright blue sky, the trip along Fairway Drive was gorgeous.

Eventually we found our way to one of the busier areas of Flower Mound and began our search, in earnest, for a local restaurant that was open for lunch. While there are lots of places to eat in this town, most are chain restaurants, ‘fast food’, or not open for lunch. 

Three Carrots

Top, L to R: Angelina's, Chips and salsa
Bottom, L to R: Puff tacos, Chicken enchiladas

We finally located a Mexican restaurant that was only one of two; the other was located in Corinth, Texas. Ironically, Angelina’s Mexican Restaurant (1396 W Main St, Lewisville, TX 75067-3326, 972-221-6790) was just across the border in Lewisville. Perhaps one day we will visit and review a restaurant that is actually in Flower Mound. For information about my rating system, see Reading the Reviews. The food at Angelina’s was very nice. The chips were crisp and fresh; while the salsa was tasty, it wasn’t the fiery Tex-Mex that is more common. The chicken enchiladas, with their sour cream were excellent and the puffed tacos were very good, too. The rice and beans were okay. Service was good and our waiter was knowledgeable and efficient.

Golf course and fall foliage 

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