The Garden Co. Marketplace & Cafe • Schulenburg, TX

On The Crush List because…

We should meet for lunch!

thegardencoandcafe.com

Garden Co Sign

For the third post in a row, we’re driving up and over the bluff behind LaGrange to the town of Schulenburg. Our two previous visits have taken us to church and on a lovely history hike and I know you’re too polite to say it out loud, but you’re definitely thinking, “This has been such a great field trip but for heaven’s sake I’m absolutely famished. Could we maybe stop and get some lunch somewhere?”

So glad you asked.  The Garden Co. Marketplace and Cafe is one of those oozy charmy spots that would be everyone’s favorite in any quaint town. Or big city for that matter. The decor is spot on country chic, mixing industrial with mid-century with vintage ruralist with cottage with repurposed. Servers are welcoming and enthusiastic, the food is just exactly what you hoped it would be and the store & nursery are hard to get out of without a purchase or two.  A pepper plant and gauzy tunic top last time if you must know.

Of course you want to hear more about the food, so I’ll be happy to share descriptions from the lunch menu as you take your  photo tour of the dining spaces and places. Don’t miss the farm tool chandelier in this very first photo…

Garden Co Entry Wide

Garden Co Side Room

Pesto marinated grilled portobello mushrooms topped with goat cheese and pecans served with field greens and balsamic drizzle.

Crisp boston leaf lettuce and and mixed greens topped with chimichurri marinated grilled hanger steak, hardwood smoked bacon, red onions, tomatoes and crumbled blue cheese with a honey balsamic vinaigrette.

Garden Co Wall Art

Garden Co Tables Right

Grilled sourdough bread with sharp cheddar, swiss, gruyére and bleu cheese served with side servings of dijon mustard and a fruit chutney.

Buttery toasted brioche bread with thick bacon, lettuce & tomato with roasted garlic aioli.

Garden Co Crostinis

Garden Co Tables Left

Garden Co Dessert Tray

Garden Co Restrooms

Here’s why the chill little seating area in the back is so great:  Let’s say you and your friends have driven from wherever over to Schulenburg to meet for a nice dinner of seared duck breast and brussel sprouts. You’ve finished your meal and everyone’s thinking it’s probably time to get up from the table but you kind of want to spend a bit more time together since you’ve come all this way. It’s late, and it’s not Houston or anything, so there aren’t too many other spots in town to move to for a nightcap or dessert. Well how great, your group can go back to the comfy lounge area and hang out for a while. And how convenient that you’ll pass the wine bar on the way there!

Garden Co Wine

Garden Co Planter

Garden Co Sofa Right

Garden Co Sofa Left

Garden Co Macrame Hanger

Want to shop in the Marketplace & Nursery real quick before we head home?  I thought you might!

Garden Co Silo

Garden Co Silo Light
Garden Co Garden Shop

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P.S. If your field trip this time is to Round Top not Schulenburg, there’s also a Garden Co. Marketplace shop right across Henkel Square from Pie Haven.

The Painted Churches • Fayette County, TX

On The Crush List because…

“They blended religion and art and science because, at base, science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle.”

Ray Bradbury

Map of the Painted Churches of Fayette County

 

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If ever a picture was worth thousands of my words, it’s now.

And really, isn’t what we all need most just a quiet moment of sanctuary?

So here are my photos from St. Mary Catholic Church in High Hill, aka the Queen of the Painted Churches, and I’ll leave the explaining to what’s already been said.

St Mary Ceiling

Painted Churches Alter

Painted Churches Fan

Painted Churches Pieta

Painted Churches Stained Glass

Painted Churches Preserved

Painted Churches Old New

Painted Churches Holy Water

Painted Churches Frames

Painted Churches Entry

Painted Churches Sidewalk

St Marys Steeple

St Marys Gift Shop