Previous page: Letters, February 2001 ..........

(Webmaster's Note: We are working on the pages on our emails between October, 2000 and January, 2001. Check back on this link again soon)

Wednesday, October 18, 2000
.......... As I entered your website, it took me into many small Texas Towns. I mean it TOOK me there. I felt as if I was visiting the actual towns. Unbelievable! Your pictures are very well chosen and the writings are snappy and not boring. I take off my hat and salute your site. I would think the Texas State Government would embrace your site as the shining, bright, north star to lead each of us into Texas. Your site does more for tourism than any other website. I am sure that your site has been the main reason, many people have chosen Texas as their vacation State! Please keep up the good work. - Mike Calaman

Wednesday, October 18, 2000
I visited your site tonight for the first time and found it very enjoyable and very educational. I plan to tell all my friends about Texas Escapes! Thank you - Mike Stanford

Sunday, October 08, 2000
My comments are sincere, very few sites ANYWHERE touch on the neat things you do, that "actually take you there" to the interesting little town. Texas' official website SHOULD include a link to your site as you offer so much for the "little towns" that so many people find interesting. Mike Gerrick

Sunday, October 08, 2000
Subject: Newsletter & Texas towns
Your "3 New Ghost Towns ( Stiles, Texon, Girvin ) for Halloween" can be summed up in one word: ABSOLUTELY SPECTACTULAR-EXCELLENT-STUNNING PHOTOS-SUPER CHOICE OF TOWNS-WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your choices are always excellent, as well as photos. The Most important thing about your reviews is somehow you present the towns in a manner which causes the reader to really feel like you're there. The well chosen photos also add to this feeling of "being there". No glitter, no neon, no smog, you present the "soul" of the town. Your stories are an asset to the county your reporting from, and your excellent presentations are a shining beacon to the state of Texas. - Mike Gerrick

Tuesday, October 03, 2000
Subject: PS
I have spent months at many Texas sites and I do mean many. Let me assure you that when I say yours is excellent, I mean it. Your site is not the brassy high city life you see on many sites, when you visit your site, you HONESTLY feel like you're IN TEXAS! - Mike Gerrick

Monday, October 02, 2000
Subject: Your Newsletters
One word describes your newsletters......EXCELLENT!!!!! I love the ones with GHOST-TOWNS. I'm coming the entire month of January to Texas, to visit my 50 acres I bought on Ebay and to Visit some ghost towns I saw on TexasEscapes like Lobo,TX so I can see if there is one I might be able to purchase! I learned in '96, '97 and '98 that when you're in Texas, it is earth's version of Heaven!!! Texas is fantastic!!! In 2 years, when I sell my golfcourse, I'm moving to Heaven, oh I mean TEXAS! - Mike Gerrick

Thursday, September 21, 2000
Subject: Education thank you
I am an 8th grade English teacher at Frankston Middle School. I also teach our 8th grade Pre-Advanced Placement (honors) class. I have been racking my brain for a six weeks project for them. I started searching for small towns in Texas and ran across your site. It is AWESOME!!!!!
The kids are going to start a research project on historical towns next week. This web site will be a great help to them. Thank you,
Jeana R. Pierce Brooks, Frankston Middle School

Thursday, September 14, 2000
Your site is my favorite on the entire Internet. Lois

Tuesday, September 12, 2000
... Fayetteville ... is the cutest little town in Texas with lots of history, a typical town square with the clapboard-sided-courthouse and the Seth Thomas on top that chimes hourly, one hundred-year-old-storefronts where merchants still do business today, heritage museum, shops, restaurants, bed & breakfasts, a 2,700 acre Lake just outside of town, and so much charm! And, can you believe it, they still blow the noon whistle here! It's centrally located among Houston, Austin, and San Antonio.... - Dorothy Stall, Fayetteville

Tuesday, September 12, 2000
..... One of my colleagues said she spent three hours on (Texas Escapes) last evening and enjoyed every minute of it. ....... You are doing a great job of making people aware of what the little Texas towns, off the beaten path, have to offer. - Murray Montgomery, Gonzales Inquirer.

Monday, September 11, 2000
Haven't finished reading the latest edition of Cabbages and Kinks--it's spread out on the COFFEE table in front of me as we speak--but I want you to know that the Strange Case of Dr. Wong and Mr. Coffee is good. What a concept: a medical doctor who presents, in living black and white, information worth knowing, in terms that make sense; a doctor doesn't come across as somebody auditioning for the part of Henny Penny or somebody with "Starbuck" in their last name. As I am a devout and practicing hypochondriac (and have been so long enough to have picked up a thing or two, and I'm not talking 'things' you take care of with a shooter of penicillin, know what I mean, Bubba, get where I'm comin' from?), I have been exposed to a generous share of the medical "mumbo unless it's jumbo, or perhaps it's gumbo" rap. I can hardly wait until tomorrow morning so I can really kick back and enjoy my one medically-allowed mug of coffee in the a.m. with a clear conscience. (Note: I've used a "gold" filter for years and recommend it without reservation.) - M Jarvis

Sunday, September 10, 2000
Subject: UT pet sweater and satire
The internet is a strange road, to say the least. I was attempting to find a pet sweater from the University of Texas for my dog, Tex. I looked up the UT website and they did not show any pet sweaters. I then plugged in: "Texas Pets" and found you guys.I just finished reading your satire to my daughter. We both want more. We also want the aforementioned pet sweater. Any information you can provide will be greatly appreciated. - T. Baynham

Saturday, September 09, 2000
......if you make it to Comanche they have another famous tree where they hung John Wesley Hardin`s cousin after the shooting of the Brown County Deputy Sheriff. Either it was a case of mistaken identity or they just needed someone to hang. - R Spivey.

Tuesday, September 05, 2000
I have also gotten some great feedback from local folks in the area about 'Texas Escapes' - people around here love the site. A fellow I work with at the paper is retired military and he emailed me tonight saying how much he loved the piece on old Camp Swift. My Dad was also stationed there for a time. A recent 'Times Past' article about a local WW II hero has had some very nice comments. - Murray Montgomery.

Tuesday, September 05, 2000
Subject: Dedicated journalist
My wife and I REALLY enjoyed the article regarding the old hotel, located in Gonzales, by Murray Montgomery. We have read other historic articles written by this dedicated journalist and he seems to put a lot of interest and soul into the research. We hope that more of his articles will appear in future editions of Texas Escapes. Incidentally we enjoy all of the articles and information within Texas Escapes. - W.L. Morgan, Retired, USAF

Sunday, September 03, 2000
.......... I'm still enjoying the Texas Escapes website as it gives me an excuse not to clean house and allows me to spend hours indoors without turning on the TV. Some may say that the time is not spent in a constructive manner, but I believe that four hours of laughing so hard that beer squirts through my nose is not time wasted. (In fact, with our temperature in the Metroplex today at F 111 [hey, we beat Algeria!], cold beer dripping down one's chin to shirtfront feels pretty darn good!)

Besides, the site provides me with much inspiration that keeps my mind off the perspiration. Many of the articles bring up old memories and reacquaint me with the familiar fun and foolishness this great state has to offer.

To Raoul Hashimoto, who is looking for more computer spell check items, I send this:

I type "Both Richland Hills and Hurst, Texas are located in Tarrant County."

Computer replies:
Richland -- Riceland
Hurst -- Huts, Hurts, Hearst, Burst
Tarrant -- Tart, Tarring, Torrent, Tarot
This leads me to type, "No tart of Hearst would dare go out tarring her hut in the Riceland when neither Richland Hills nor Hurst has had a burst of a torrent in Tarrant and they are now consulting the Tarot to find when it won't be so hot that it hurts."

To Rick Vanderpool who wonders about catching a buzzard to carrion with his baggage:

In the early 80's, I worked for a small weekly in Bridgeport, Tx. In those times, gas was cheap as was time for long Sunday afternoon drives to Nodestination. I enjoyed the time spent in my car on all the FMs (roads) while tuning the FM (radio) between Alvord, Bridgeport, Chico, Decatur, Forestburg and on into the Sunset. I had the opportunity to cross the circles of many buzzards in that area, and being from the big city, I excitedly reported my sightings to a longtime resident.

She then told me when sighting buzzards to drive cautiously as she had friends who had been dive-bombed by buzzards. She said "buzzard bombs" rank right up there with "cow in middle of road" as a cause of country road accidents. Apparently, these large feathered sanitation engineers of nature are startled by the sunlight reflecting off of brightly polished chrome and windshield glass, and have been driven to attack.

So, Mr. Vanderpool, if you are interested in bagging a buzzard for banding and sharing, polish the pickup and travel Wise (County).

Well, I must bring this one to a close as I'm checking out travel sites on the web in search of climates cooler than North Texas. I understand New Delhi is lovely this time of year and that they have a marvelous petting zoo! - Ms. PJH

Sunday, September 03, 2000
Your site just continues to get better and better. I think it is great that you are featuring Rick Vanderpool's work and I can't wait to see his Coffee Ring book. I am also very glad that P.J. Harbruck has joined your staff. She really loves Texas and her insights are interesting, her sense of humor terrific!! Keep up the good work. - R Smith

Friday, September 01, 2000
I like Sheffield. Iraan is larger. Ben's brother D.B. is burried there. He actually worked as a Constable and a Nightwatchman there. Went thru Barnhart where the family lived for a while. - Arthur Soule

Editor's note : We are assembling a page for all the significant letters we received in August, but it's turning out to be quite a job.

Friday, August 04, 2000
I am a physician from Harlingen ....... (Texas Escapes) is truly awesome, first class, second to none...WOW!. ...... I will take sometime during the weekend to see the site better (has already earned a place on my favorite list). - Carlos A. Arche, M.D. Harlingen, Texas

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