Country Roads

While taking a winter trip in Texas, we made a stop in a favorite town called Fredericksburg. Every time we go to Texas, it is a stop we make. It’s in the Texas Hill Country and is known for it’s big and small ranches, peach and pecan groves, cowboy attire and friendly people. It was founded by Germans. This is carried out within the town by food, clean streets, tidy and well kept houses and in their ancestor’s customs. Western music plays at the eating establishments, daytime and night time.

We aren’t the only outsiders who have been drawn to this town. For good or bad, things are changing. Crowds arrive to shop at the many popular stores on the town’s main street. The town’s location has drawn people from the surrounding cities and also from other states. In recent years, wineries have and still are popping up and wine tours take people from one winery to the next.

There is a store we enjoy stopping at since we first visited this town many years ago. The store is called Dooley’s and it is third generation quaint Five and Dime store. It reminds me of those beloved dime stores where I grew up, Rhea’s Variety of Mankato and Hested’s of Superior. A person could find almost anything in these stores and such is the case with Dooley’s. As we approached the glass doors to enter Dooley’s, we faced a sign placed on the door, announcing the store would be closing later this year. We looked at one another in disbelief. We knew we had to make the most of our last visit to this store that took us back to our past. The wooden floors were polished and display cases were on each side of the long aisles. There was the area for greeting cards, gift wrapping paper, sewing necessities, baby items, house ware items, towels, cleaning items, women and men’s clothing, notebooks, toiletries and dishware. Then there was the area for toys of all kinds and not just the updated toys, the simple toys like those used in years past filled most of the shelves. There were games such a Tiddle-De-Winks, Pick Up Sticks, Old Maids and marbles. There was a whole aisle of candies, current favorites and favorites of the past years. So many things offered, it would take almost half a day to look it all over.

We selected treasures from Dooley’s and headed to the check out counter where we found out the two check out women had worked at their jobs for many years. They too hated to see the store close its doors. A local woman standing behind us overheard our visit with the check out women, and added her input. The local woman said the current owner was of retirement age and couldn’t find anyone to purchase the store. She also added those moving into the main street and opening the more modern, fancy, larger stores were driving out all the local smaller stores. She added, “Well, I guess that’s progress but we are sure going to miss this store.”

I was sorry to hear of this store’s plight. I’m sure going to miss making those yearly visits to this store. I imagine the locals are going to miss it even more.