Tui Snider - author & speaker

petrified wood

Unexpected Texas Reviewed on Less Beaten Paths today

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#UnexTex Unexpected Texas book release prizes (photo by Tui Snider)
#UnexTex Unexpected Texas book release prizes (photo by Tui Snider)

#UnexTex is reviewed on Less Beaten Paths today

Welcome to Day 6 of the #UnexTex Unexpected Texas Book Release Blog Tour for my quirky travel guide Unexpected Texas. My book is now on sale as a paperback and eBook on Amazon. I’m also thrilled to report that on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 my book reached #1 on the Amazon Bestsellers list for Dallas – Fort Worth Travel books!

Today, Unexpected Texas is featured on David Sumoflam Kravetz’s Less Beaten Paths blog, Sumoflam’s Story Shots Tumblr, and also Sumoflam’s Singlewide blog. I met David through Twitter, and immediately realized that he is a kindred spirit. We both love exploring offbeat and overlooked places, and are especially fond of the quirky and humorous.

David Sumoflam Kravetz is another quirky traveler (photo by Tui Snider)
David Sumoflam Kravetz is another quirky traveler (photo by Tui Snider)

David is a prolific blogger and photographer who has lived and worked all over the world, including China and Japan. He even speaks Japanese fluently and worked as a translator.

I swear, too, that David has been just about everywhere. So it was a big surprise to learn that he had not seen or heard of a few (only a few, mind you!) of the places I mention in Unexpected Texas, such as the gas station/speakeasy made of petrified wood in Glen Rose and the petrified wood motel and cafe in Decatur.

Day 6 #UnexTex Prizes

Because David and I both love road trips so much, I used that as inspiration for the prize giveaway at his stop on the #UnexTex book release blog tour. One lucky winner will receive: a paperback of Unexpected Texas, an Unexpected Texas notebook, and some really cute road trip stickers for scrapbooking.

2 Ways to Win Today’s #UnexTex Prizes

You can win the items mentioned above by entering the Rafflecopter below. Afterwards, you can enter *again* over at David’s Less Beaten Paths website. Prize winners will be chosen on March 11, 2014. If you use Twitter, you can even re-enter this giveaway daily!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please help me build #UnexTex Buzz

If you are on Twitter, or any other social media platform that uses hashtags, please help me build buzz for my book book by using the hashtag #UnexTex to talk about it. Thank you! :)

Blog Hop Your Way to More Prizes

To visit all the stops along the #UnexTex Book Release Blog Tour, simply click your way through the numbered links below. There are prizes offered at each stop. The winners will be chosen March 11, 2014, so you can enter daily! Have fun! :)

Historic Petrified Wood Tourist Camp & Gas Station in Decatur, Texas

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Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)
Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)

Texas Tourist Camp

In 1927, E.F. Boydston bought a feed lot in Decatur, Texas and turned it into the Texas Tourist Camp. As grand as that sounds, in the beginning, it was merely a gas station that offered campsites. Next came a restaurant, which started as the Texas Lunchroom, but soon became known as the Texas Cafe.

Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)
Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)

Petrified Wood & Infamous Guests

In the 1930’s, Mr. Boydston added several cabins with attached garages, thereby creating a rustic motel for tourists passing through town on the new highway.

In 1935, he spruced things up by covering all the buildings in petrified wood. It’s rumored that shortly before their bloody demise, the infamous gangster duo, Bonnie and Clyde stayed a night or two here.

Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)
Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)

Local Highway Kept Business Thriving

Business boomed at the gas station, cabins and restaurant until the 1960’s, when the highway was diverted to the west side of town. With fewer people driving by, business withered away. The cafe went under in 1964, the cabins scraped by until 1970, and the gas station finally closed its doors in 1989.

It looked as though the petrified wood complex was going to go the way of the dinosaur, or at least fall to rack and ruin like so many places I see in north Texas.(Check out my photos in the post, Glen Rose, Texas: Dinosaurs Galore & Much, Much More. That little town is full of petrified wood buildings, but many are falling apart.)

Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)
Historic Petrified Wood Travel Station in Decatur, Texas (photo by Tui Snider)

A Petrified Wood Renaissance

Luckily, one of E.F. Boydston’s grandkids, Nancy Rosendahl, and her husband, Jim, stepped in to restore the petrified wood complex in the 1990’s.

These days, Jim uses the old gas station as an office, and the restaurant, now known as the Whistle Stop Cafe (904 S Business 81/287 Decatur, Texas), is a local hot spot. On the day my husband and I had lunch there with a friend, the food was good and the joint was jumping.

If you are ever in the Decatur area – which is about an hour’s drive from Dallas, Texas – I highly recommend checking out the historic Texas Tourist Camp and grabbing a bite to eat at the Whistle Stop Cafe.