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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1982)
8 Focus, The Battalion Friday, April 2, 1982 The end of the road: a shack and windmill on Highway 6 near Reagan, Texas. To the north ... The first leg of the Great High way 6 Odyssey is to the north, in the direction of Waco and Dallas. It's raining, naturally. College Station isn't the only place where it rains. The trip through downtown Bryan is familiar — the banks, seedy restaurants and car deal ers lining Texas Avenue are of little interest. Already boredom has set in. Cleaning the inside of the car windows helps a little, but when there's nothing to see, why bother to see it clearly? Soon the commercial region of Bryan is past, and we're in the nether regions of the town, where dilapidated houses slump in yards full of junked cars, old dogs and weeds. It's like Lewis and Clark, exploring new areas. What's out there? Still not much. A few bosses — maybe this is Bonanza. The Rest-Ever Memorial Park is on the right. The cemetery has only plastic flowers by the graves, no stones. At 8.8 miles we rejoin the bypass; 9.5 and we're in the wilds of Texas. It looks like a jungle. A sign says "Plant En trance;" we didn't see any enter ing, though. The first metropolis along the road is Benchley. The big attrac tion here is Leon's Truck Stop. It's still raining, and we're still awake, so we pass by. We're an xious to reach Heame, a reputed Mafia hangout. There's really no place for them to hang, but maybe they enjoy the peace and quiet. Heame looks like an extended truck stop — a town of gas sta tions, car dealers and cafes with names like Sidetrack, the Main Cafe and Pitt Grill, and a sign proclaiming "The cheapest way to feed a cow is Lone Star Ferti lizer." Then we're in the jungle again. ^Waco CALVERT An unexpected oasis farther on down the road — Calvert. Behind the crumbling storefronts are some of the most fascinat ing antique pieces in the state. And just off Highway 6 are 37 blocks of restored Victorian homes. It's raining harder now, but the first shop we enter is warmed by a wood stove and the smiles of the couple who run it. Wiley and Ruby Kirk moved to Calvert from Kansas to open the Ox-Cart. "We just wanted to quit punching a time clock and do some thing fun," Mrs. Kirk says. Their shop is full of small knick-knacks and larger pieces. They show us an overgrown courtyard connecting several of the stores. Grass is sprouting out through the brick patio and some of the doors are crumbling, but Mrs. Kirk is fixing it up. Further down the street, at the Boll Weevil, Sallie Tucker Ander son has a shop full of all kinds of antiques. Most impressive are the old wooden bars, but they're not for sale, she says, because they are from the Calvert area. And so on down the street, more beautiful articles from long ago. We could have spent the entire day visiting with the friendly antique dealers up and down the street, but the open road, and deadline, were calling. Photos by Diana Sultenfuss Stories by Cathy Saathoff On the road again Wiley Kirk is reflected in the mirror of an antique dresser in the Ox-Cart in Calvert. More grass and trees,! houses. Dead tires awii| litter the road. We're keeping a closel the odometer. Howniiidl er to 50 miles? At 46 we™ ted to stop at Swick'sf Store. At last to big five-oti beside a tree. For interest's sake, w| picture of a shack and* up ahead, and go juslij further to the town offe With such a name, ta| miss? Easily. The return trip is i even more so than thefi In the middle of i taxi passes by. Somelw bie should get a goodfai that, but where could I going? In Heame, the looks too good topassup] it be the Dixie Diner Jim fett sang about? After overcoming fhel of being the only peopi restaurant not wearingi] caps, we settle down toft of meal you can't findintl Station, the kind momft Sunday afternoons. Then it's back to A$ raining still.