I stopped in Granger, Texas, to take a look around and to get something to drink. I pulled into a Texaco about a block off the highway in a big old-style gas station that had been recently overlaid with a thick coat of Texaco gray paint. It was next to the abandoned Alamo Hotel, which looked like it could have been an interesting place in its younger days.
This particular Texaco had signs outside saying that it was an antique store too, and it was -- albeit an extremely overpriced one. For example, a Japanese-style pitcher and four glasses from the sixties that caught my eye-- we had a set just like it when I was a kid -- was selling for $199.99. I'm no expert, but I think they must have been smoking crack.
They had a lot of furniture, too, but a strong smell of cat piss made me cut my visit short before I could see all the wares. I did buy a couple of bottles of water (tightly sealed) and two bags of ice (stored outside) that I deposited into the cooler in the back of my truck before saying my goodbyes to Granger. I'd read that Granger is home to Texas' only Czech-language newspaper, but a copy didn't present itself to me, and I didn't search quite hard enough to track one down.
© 2000 E.V. Hobbs