{Blue Bell, Bluebonnets & Baseball}

Today I am linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals for Show & Tell Tuesdays: Show us Your Hometown! Although I was born in Houston & lived there til I was 5, I will always consider Brenham my hometown {for those of you who haven't heard of it, Brenham is located halfway between Houston & Austin}.  My family is here, my friends are here, my job is here…this is – and will always be – HOME.  So many people I went to school with couldn’t wait to leave town once we graduated, but I wasn’t one of them.  Quite honestly, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. 

{photo by the very talented Kathlyn Dragna Photopgrahy}

Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to shopping & restaurants, we leave little to be desired.  We have Wal-Mart, HEB, Palais Royal {JCPenney closed a year ago}, Home Depot & Lowes…so if you can’t find it there – you are out of luck.  We finally got a Chili’s a few years back {our first “real” chain restaurant besides fast food}.  But no worries - if you are hungry for donuts or Mexican food - you are in luck….cause there’s one on every corner. =) I am a 30 minute drive to College Station {hello Fightin’ Texas Aggie football…Whoop!} and a 45 minute drive to Houston so when I need a “real” shopping trip or “real” restaurant fix – thankfully it's not far away.  

We are probably most famous for being the home of Blue Bell Creameries – maker of “The Best Ice Cream in the Country”…. because of course - “The Cows Think Brenham is Heaven”.  And I have had the privilege to work for them for the past 20 years.  I began in high school, continued through college & went full time upon graduation.  The past year has been a very difficult one for us, but things are finally looking up.  They really & truly are a great company to work for & I feel confident that we will come out of all this better & stronger than we were. 

 

A huge effort has been put into revitalizing our downtown area & they are doing a fabulous job!  We have 2 one way streets & a courthouse square lined with cute little shops & restaurants.  Every January, they host the Uptown Swirl {you can read about it here} & a summer concert series every July.  A few weeks ago, they held the grand reopening of the Simon Theatre where they periodically plan to show old movies in the 1925 theater. 

  

 

And we LOVE parades!  We have a parade for every.single.thing. Our biggest is Maifest held every May for the past 125 years.  We have kings & queens, kiddos dressed in adorable costumes & a festival/coronation at Fireman’s Park.  We also have a Juneteenth parade in June, fair parade in September, homecoming parade in October & Christmas parade in December.  See - what did I tell ya?! =)

 

During the spring, thousands of visitors flock to Washington County to see the rolling hills of bluebonnets.  They are beautiful & make for some gorgeous photo ops, but if you come visit – please be mindful of private property, traffic & snakes.  Just sayin.  And did I mention I am only about a 15 minute drive from the world-famous Warrenton/Round Top Antique Festival?!

 

We are also home to Blinn Junior College which is a great stepping stone for students wanting to eventually transfer to one of the many 4 year universities in Texas.  Blinn works especially close with students planning to transfer to nearby Texas A&M University.  Blinn {& Brenham} made the news a lot recently, as Super Bowl quarterback Cam Newton played at Blinn.  And speaking of sports, our local high school is known as the baseball capital of Texas! {& for the record, this sign is outdated...there have been way more playoff appearances since 2003 & even a state championship win in 2010}

I love my little hometown.  Everybody knows everybody.  I love running into the people I go to church with at the grocery store, working with the same people for the past 20 years & knowing all my neighbors.   You have to be careful who you talk about because there is a good chance they are related to someone {or everyone} in the room.  =) But that’s all part of its charm.

Now if only we could get a Target. And a Chick-Fil-A.  Then it really would be Heaven.