It was a beautiful winter day in Texas, bright
sunshine and temperatures in the mid-60s,
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Interesting door design,
downtown Temple |
when three of us hit the road to Temple,
Texas for fun with likeminded artists and artisans. Temple is a relatively
small town fairly close to the center of the state; most of its ‘good stuff’ is
hidden from the view when you’re on the freeway. Last year we nearly missed the
town because of the highway construction; this year the construction seems
worse but we found the correct exit with only one detour. What can you expect
from an area suffering/benefiting from a rapid growth in population?
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| Historic architecture |
This year I explored a bit of old downtown
Temple (information about the history of the town is in Tempting
Temple). There is a movement afoot to conduct a major renovation of the
area since some wonderful old architecture exists here. From talking to a
person who used to work in the area, I learned that the owners of the downtown
businesses had been losing money to the newer construction ‘out on the loop’,
and consequently let entropy take its course. However, some enterprising
investors saw a bargain, purchasing buildings with sound construction and
beginning the job of renovation. Currently there are three restaurants in
downtown and a set of cute shops at The Hub.
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Left: Arcadia Theater
Right T to B: Masonic Lodge, FUMC |
Along with the turn of the century architecture on
Second Street are some interesting other buildings just off the main drag. The
old Arcadia Theater, boarded up mainly because the roof has fallen in, sits
next to what once was a hotel. Both are architecturally interesting and may be
on the list for restoration. The Masonic
Lodge, a red-brick edifice, is still in use as is the tree shaded First United Methodist
Church, with its 1890s era gate posts. I am interested to see how the
downtown continues to be revitalized when I’m back in Temple for next year’s
bead retreat.
The Texas
Bead Retreat celebrated its 18th year with about 100 people (and
one dog, Ike)
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| Floating Heart |
in attendance. Classes are taught by volunteers, some of whom
have a national following. This year three projects caught my fancy; one needed
a hammer! Glenn Webster, one of my favorite instructors and co-owner of Just Because Bead Boutique,
taught a class on metal working. After some satisfying bashing I came away with
a lovely Floating Heart that I got to
wear away from class. I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be one of my favorite
pieces even though I stamped the date on it as 2019 instead of 2017…sigh. In
any case, I once again enjoyed taking a class from Glenn and subsequently
visiting with him at the remarkable Bead Boutique.
The second piece I’m still working to finish,
but only because one has to eat, sleep and attend to other aspects of life
rather than spend a couple of hours beading. Chris Overberg, one of the Wild West Bead Society
members, taught a Flat Cellini SuperDuo
Bracelet class. I was really tickled that she made a kit up just for me
with turquoise, coral and black beads; the bracelet is going to be yummy! Chris
was very patient with us, particularly those of us who couldn’t seem to count
out the correct number of beads and ended up with a piece that was shrinking in
places that it shouldn’t. This year I met a number of folks from the Bead
Society and although it’s a ‘far piece’ from my house, I’m thinking seriously
of joining their inviting and entertaining group.
And my third project was designed and taught by Ralonda Pattrson.
The Rainbow Bridge Bracelet caught my
fancy because of its colors and spikes. This is an intense piece that has lots
of components – some of which are not playing nicely with me. However, I will persevere!
The pattern is well written and easy to follow, it’s those pesky beads that are
slowing me down. The class was fun, and Ralonda is a good teacher.
One of the best parts of the TBR this year was
the Bead Challenge. We were all sent packets of beads and told to make
something. The included seed beads were glow-in-the-dark and also changed color
under black light. The triangles had two holes, making it a challenge to know
just how to
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| L to R: Winning entry without and with black light |
use them. Those of us who participated turned in our products, which
were displayed anonymously. We all got to vote for our favorite pieces. The ingenuity
and creativity displayed in all of the pieces was inspiring; we were asked to
‘think outside the box’ and we did. It was really exciting when one of the
Near-Normal Travelers, Linnea, won first place!
Where we stayed:
Three of us shared a room at the Hilton Garden Inn (1749 Scott Boulevard, Temple, TX 76504,
254-773-0200). It was as nice as last year, but still had one too few waste
baskets. (See Tempting
Temple for a full review). For information about my rating system, see Reading the
Reviews.
What we ate:
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| Three and one-half carrots |
This year we ventured out for one breakfast and
one dinner. Both were at Megg’s Café
(1749 Everton Drive, Temple, TX 76504, 254-771-3800) because the food was
so good. We thought the service was a bit slow, but found this was because
almost everything is cooked when you order it. Even the breads are made on-site
and you can taste the freshness.
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Top L to R: Menu, Eggs, Beet salad
Bottom L to R: Texas Farm salad, Omelet |
Breakfast is served all day, so Barb and
Linnea enjoyed their favorite meal, twice. I indulged in two different salads.
Barb had scrambled eggs, bacon, and two types of toast. Linnea had a ham and
cheese omelet for dinner and scrambled eggs with sausage and two types of toast
for breakfast. Both got home fried potatoes. Linnea and Barb agreed that their food was very good! I
had the small Roasted Beet salad with bib lettuce, goat cheese, and candied
pecans for dinner, then the small Texas Farm Vegetable salad with wild arugula,
charred broccoli, cauliflower, pancetta, soft boiled egg, pecorino, spicy
garlic bread crumbs, and a charred lemon vinaigrette. Even the small salads are
large and both were delightful. We’d all go back to Megg’s in a heartbeat! If
you visit at prime eating times you are going to wait; this is a popular place
for good reason.
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