Last June, 12 members of my family loaded up three cars and headed to Abilene for a long weekend. The ages of our group ranged from 3 to 82. Our goal was to find something for everyone, and we found more than enough. We chose to stay at Sayles Ranch Guesthouses, which is not really a ranch but a cluster of 10 houses in the historic district of town.
Founder Terry Browder has meticulously restored and decorated each property to reflect his love of West Texas. The homes range from a one-bedroom cozy garage apartment to the “swankiest” house, City Slickers. Naturally our brood moved into City Slickers, and once we were settled in, we didn’t want to leave. The back porch overlooks a saltwater swimming pool where we spent a great deal of our time. The living room has a 56-inch TV, and every night we made popcorn and s’mores and watched old movies together. Each branch of the family contributed food, and the full kitchen was perfect for heating up Granny Nick’s lasagna. One night, we headed down the road to and feasted on steaks at the famous Perini Ranch Steakhouse.
Getting out of the Ralph Lauren sheets each morning was difficult, but we’d also come to Abilene to attend the first Children’s Art & Literacy Festival, which featured the works of Dr. Seuss. Almost all of the businesses downtown had decorated their windows Seuss-style, and attendees roamed the streets dressed in costumes. We watched Seuss movies, attended a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast (yes, with real green eggs), went to readings, and looked at children’s art.
In 2013, the festival will take place June 13-16 and will highlight Walter Wick, the illustrator of the I Spy books and author/creator of the Can You See What I See? series. Between the swimming pool and the festivities downtown, we managed to visit the world-class Frontier Texas museum, where the tales of western heritage are demonstrated with holograms.
Topping off the trip, on the drive back to Dallas we stopped off for a football-size chicken-fried steak at Mary’s Cafe in Strawn.
Distance From Dallas: 181 Miles // 2 Hours 47 Minutes
