Bluebonnets, Brenham and Blue Bell

by Richard Swim · Published 2009-03-15 · Updated 2021-01-25

March 14 – 15, 2009

The cold wet weather outside was not too enticing for an early start over to the meeting place for this weekend’s ride to Brenham. I hit the snooze button a couple of times before Deb and I crawled out of the warm bed. The Lone Star BMW Riders met at the Circle Grill in Dallas for the start. Bo and Joy, Keith and Regina, Herman and Patti, Jim and Paul (not a couple) were in the group that met at the grill, which was quite a place. Deb hitched a ride with Joy in the truck. The shoulder surgery is still not totally healed and the cold damp weather would not have been very comfortable for Debbie. Once leaving the grill, we had to center-punch Dallas to get out of town down I-45. We broke away from the interstate (thank goodness) at Richland south of Corsicana and headed down Hwy 14 for a while.


Capital Grill in East Dallas

The damp riding continued all the way down and broke briefly after a stop at Independence. The stone store built in 1939 was an interesting place, with local patrons having a good time early in the morning in the back room bar. The rain cleared enough for me to bring the camera out on to record some of the very pleasing turns and scenery on FM 390 on the way to Round Top.


Independence	FM 390

Royers Round Top Cafe was a hoot. It looked like a storage shed that someone stapled all of the stuff that belonged in boxes to the walls and ceiling. The sandwiches were great, and the apple pie and Amy’s ice cream was the best! The proprietor commented as we left that it figured the only bikers out on a wet day like today would be riding BMW’s. I donned full rain gear for the short ride over to Brenham. The roads and farms looked great, but attention had to be paid to negotiating the curves.


Royers Round Top Cafe

We met up in Brenham with Tom and Shalinda, and later Stephen and Vicki. The Ant Street Inn in Brenham was built in 1899 by a Swiss immigrant as a mercantile building. It is a great return to history with many things obviously left unchanged, including a freight elevator in Stephen and Vicki’s room. Dinner was at the Capital Grill after a late-afternoon social hour in the foyer. We visited again after dinner in the foyer and enjoyed some Blue Bell ice cream for desert. The beds and pillows felt great later, and I have to emphasize that Debbie really enjoyed the feather pillows. They worked great to prop around the shoulder.

Ant Street Inn, Brenham

Sunday morning, we enjoyed a tasty breakfast at the inn, and I explored around the town to find flowers and the Blue Bell ice cream plant. Found both, and headed back to regroup with the rest. It appeared for a while like the weather might break for the return ride, but mother nature lashed back again with a fierce looking storm approaching from the south. It looked like we would see more rain back towards home, so we decided to forgo the curvy back roads and we headed to the dreaded interstate to do a bolting ride back the metromess. Those planned back roads look really interesting, and I’m looking forward to a return to try them. We stopped for a lunch break at the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, filled ourselves with some great food and pastry, and made the final run for the home. Riders started peeling off as we approached Dallas, including Debbie and me to avoid the interstate loop around the city. Beltline road in the lowlands is a fairly interesting ride so close to the big city.


Early Spring Bluebonnets	Blue Bell Creameries

Thanks go out to Bo and the ride committee of the Lone Star BMW Riders. We had a great time, and Debbie is looking forward to doing the whole route on the bike later when she is better healed.

Ready to ride again!