Business Trip to Palestine and Rusk

Bob Jones and I traveled by Amtrak to San Antonio, Texas on a business trip to visit Palestine and Rusk, Texas. Palestine is the location of the bed and breakfast we want to purchase. In San Antonio, we rented a Chrysler 300--what a mistake that was. We were charged taxes for some strange things, such as Texas Reimbursement Fee, Airport Access Fee (two times), Texas Motor Vehicle Fee and Bexar County Sports Venue. If you watch your dollars like we do, rent a car away from an airport.

The purpose of this trip was to become acquainted with Palestine and Rusk with regards to the purchase of 911 N. Sycamore, Palestine and to visit Thomas the Tank Engine at the Texas State Railroad. We gathered information about banks, mortgage companies and businesses in the cities of Palestine and Rusk. Since the Texas State Railroad is a major part of the Palestine tourism, we visited the Rusk station to take pictures of Thomas the Tank Engine and to gather information about the show.

Our first visit was the unique Tourist Information Center to ask the directions to Davey Dogwood Park. The center is located in a Restored Historic Depot. The agent gave us a map of Palestine and an attractive booklet, entitled Relax & Rejuvenate Getaway to Palestine!

We drove through the Davey Dogwood Park, which covers more than 200 acres. The park is featured during the annual Texas Dogwood Trails Festival during the last two weeks in March and the first week in April.

We toured the Anderson County Courthouse, a neo-classical architecture with a double-spiral staircase. The dome encases a beautiful stained glass montage. Admission is free. The courthouse is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

We drove around Palestine to look at some of our competition. We saw Apple Annie’s Bed and Breakfast, Little Bear’s Big Green House, The Naylor House and the Fig Tree Manor Bed, Breakfast and Bistro. We also drove buy Dyerwood Inn, which is the Bed and Breakfast we offered to buy.

Our intentions were to have lunch at the Fig Tree Manor Bed, Breakfast and Bistro but it was closed for construction. Instead, we ate lunch at the Ranch House. We were pleased with the food at the Ranch House. Located next to the Ranch House is Old Town Palestine, pictured on the left of this paragraph.

Later in the afternoon, we checked-in at the Best Western located on Palestine Avenue. For dinner, we had Italian food at Giovanni’s Italian Restaurant. While we thought the Ranch House food was better than expected, we believed that Giovanni’s food tastes were below expectations. We will reserve the right not to refer our customers to Giovanni’s.

The next morning we traveled Highway 84 toward Rusk to the Texas State Railroad where we saw Thomas the Tank Engine.