What Is It About Jefferson?

What is it about Jefferson, Texas, that makes me not want to come home after I visit there? Could it be the countless amounts of antique stores and shops to visit? Maybe the plethora of lovely, historic hotels and Bed & Breakfasts at which to stay? Ghost hunting after dark? Or maybe it's peacefulness that overcomes me from just being able to sit on a park bench in the middle of town, in the middle of the day, and relax after a long walking excursion.  Whatever it is, it keeps me going back. 

My husband and I spent the 8th anniversary of our marriage (can't say "wedding" anniversary, since we never really had a wedding) in Jefferson.  It's where we spent our first night as a married couple -- and where we spend the majority of our time off together.  We've brought the little one with us several times.  This trip...it was just us.  While I missed my girl, the hubby and I did enjoy our "alone time."

Typically, we'll stay at the Excelsior House or Jefferson Inn in the downtown area.  This time, we opted for a Bed & Breakfast...The Captain's Castle.  It's a gorgeous historic home on E. Walker, and we stayed two nights -- with no other guests to worry about.  AND...we got the nicest room in the place, with the four-poster, "princess" bed...and the claw foot tub (with lace draperies...how awesome!!)  The Innkeepers, Angie & Bill, were super-nice -- and we spent hours chatting with them about a variety of topics, from sports, to our kids and pets, to being in the B&B business, to music.  If you're wondering about the breakfast...since there were only two of us, we got more custom meals -- omelets, toast, fruit, grit patties (you MUST try these!!) and bacon on morning one...scrambled eggs with cheese and sausage, hash browns, fruit and little smoked sausages and cinnamon rolls (on a skewer!) on morning two.  It was FAN-TAS-TIC!  Just trust me on that.

One of the first things we noticed on our initial walk through downtown Jefferson was that the BBQ place had burned.  The whole place was gutted.  It was a sad thing to see...we've eaten there numerous times, and always loved it.  The guys working to rebuild the place told us the fire happened about a month ago...but that the restaurant will be back.  That was good news.  We also saw a small home very close to the downtown area that had burned.

A big disappointment our first night in town...our favorite restaurant/bar there, Auntie Skinner's, was closed.  That left us searching for somewhere else to dine and have a few adult beverages.  We settled on Don Juan's, which was O.K...but how can you be a Mexican restaurant without having frozen margaritas ready to go?  I never got the one I ordered.  Incidentally, we later discovered that Auntie Skinner's closes every Monday after Jefferson's big Mardi Gras celebration (which was last weekend)...to clean.  A good idea, but wished we'd known sooner.  We ended up going for an evening walk, doing some ghost-hunting (with the hub's new Ghost Radar phone app), watching some TV and going to bed early.

Day two was spent doing a LOT of walking around, shopping, eating...we ate at Auntie Skinner's twice that day...for lunch and dinner.  The evening was one of irony...leave it to us to travel to Jefferson for OUR anniversary...only to run into a couple from SHREVEPORT, also celebrating THEIR anniversary (second for them)! We just happened to be playing pool next to them, and I thought they looked somewhat familiar.  We ended up hanging out and goofing around with the Ghost Radar (they had it as an i-Pad app!) with them until the wee hours of the morning (when we all got tired and had maybe just a FEW too many of those adult beverages).  Wouldn't you know...they had the Jefferson Inn all to themselves.  How unusual!

All in all, it was a great trip.  I came back with lots of neat goodies for me (including a Renaissance-style dress, which I thought I might use for Halloween or a Renaissance Fair one of these days, that I picked up in an antique mall)...and, no surprise here, plenty of presents for the little girl.  I even brought some little gifts home for my Mom and Dad, who were nice enough to keep Emma for us while we were away. 

I know there were some things we didn't get a chance to do on our mini-vacation.  But I know we'll be back...probably sooner, rather than later.