#12 Hico - 03/18/2010

Hico was town 4 of 4 on our Thursday day trip during Spring Break 2010. This turned out to be quite an enjoyable town to visit! As I researched Hico on the internet, I saw a picture of the bank and knew I had to get that picture. This is the picture I took. I edited it and made it monochrome for that "old look".

Downtown Hico was fun and interesting.

More downtown Hico.

This was our first "Hico sign" as we were driving into town.

We could not find the "official" town sign. I asked a shop keeper downtown where it might be. She must have been connected cause she called City Hall and said "Hi (calling whoever answered by name), this is Shy..." and she asked about the sign. They didn't have the answer so she called some other city official she knew by name and got the answer for us.

Hico (pronounced "high-coh") is a city in Hamilton County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,341 at the 2000 census. Each July, Hico hosts the Hico Old Settlers Reunion.
Ollie P. Roberts a/k/a "Brushy Bill", a resident of Hico, claimed to be Billy The Kid. Although his claim has been largely discredited by historians, Hico has capitalized to a small extent on his fame (or infamy) by opening a "Billy The Kid" museum where visitors can decide whether Brushy Bill was or was not the infamous outlaw. (Hico, TX web page)

Amanda demonstrating her flair for the dramatic and for fun posing in front of a Billy the Kid statue.

The Billy the Kid museum wasn't all that exciting, but the story was interesting.

I can't remember if this was supposed to be an actual jail cell that held Billy the Kid or not. It was a fun picture nonetheless.

OK, these things always look goofy, but why is it we always want to stop and get our picture taken anyway?

#11 Stephenville - 03/18/2010

We stopped in Stephenville only long enough to take this picture. We were on our way to Dublin, TX to tour the Dr. Pepper museum. Took this day trip on Thursday during Spring Break. Seems like there might be more to see in the "Cowboy Capital of the World", so perhaps we can pass through this way again.

#10 Glen Rose - 03/18/2010

We took a day trip to Glen Rose last year and visited Dinosaur World, so we didn't spend much time in Glen Rose on our way through visiting four of our Texas towns on this day trip during Spring Break. We did, however, come back through Glen Rose returning to the camp ground so we could have dinner at one of my favorite BBQ places, Hammond's BBQ. The food was great, as usual, but I was disappointed that they were out of peanut butter pie. :(

#9 Cleburne - 03/18/2010

On Thursday of Spring Break we took our second day trip. We hit four of our Texas cities and stopped by the Dr. Pepper museum in Dublin. Since we had a number of cities we were trying to hit including the tour at the Dr. Pepper museum and making it back to Glen Rose for dinner, we didn't stop long in some of our cities. We just took pictures in Cleburne as we passed through.

Welcome to Cleburne!

#8 Greenville - 03/16/10

Greenville, population 23,960, was our second (and last stop) during Tuesday's Spring Break outing. According to Wikipedia, "Greenville was named for Thomas J. Green, a general in the Texas Army in the war for independence from Mexico. He later became a member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas. The city was almost named “Pinckneyville” in honor of James Pinckney Henderson, the first Governor of Texas."

We look for a green city sign (the one that states the population, too) when we visit a town, but we saw Greenville's sign along the highway too late. Amanda spotted this sign on the way in and it worked well for our picture.

We walked for a bit downtown near city hall and saw Central Christian Church. "The towers and art glass in this 1899 Gothic Revival church building are a downtown treasure." (Greenville Historic Walking Tour).

As usual, I did an internet search to see what sights we might want to visit in Greenville. Mary of Puddin Hill popped several times. To be honest, the most exciting part of visiting here was getting this pretty picture. I read something about a self-guided tour, but we didn't see much to tour. The 6 turtle candies we bought were good, but I don't think they lived up to the $12 price tag.

As we were crossing Lake Ray Hubbard on the way back to the campground, Brooke saw the Beef Jerky Outlet and wanted to stop. Brooke got some jerky which made her happy. They had a t-shirt that I thought was hilarious. It read, "Fat People Are Harder to Kidnap".

Amanda liked the rock candy from the Beef Jerky Outlet.

#7 Lone Oak - 3/16/10

It has become a Hurt family tradition to camp during Spring Break. We borrow Mom & Dad's camper and camp at Cedar Hill State Park. Since the State Park is local (down the road just 25 minutes), we take day trips during the week. Spring Break was a perfect time to hit a few Texas towns.

On Tuesday, we headed north and east from the campground toward Lone Oak, and then on to Greenville.

Tex the stuffed armadillo got to go camping with us this year so that he would be ready for our road trips. Here he is with Brooke and Amanda in front of the Lone Oak sign.

With a population of 521, there was not a lot to see in Lone Oak. We followed the GPS down a couple alleys (literally) to get to City Hall. Thought this was worth a picture.