Thursday, October 25, 2018

Sister Trips in Quirky Quarters--Flophouze Hotel, Round Top, Tx--Overnight in a Shipping Container!


STAY THE NIGHT…
Entrance to Flophouze Hotel
As we entered the gates of the salvage yard, we began to wonder just what we had gotten ourselves into this time.  Another “sister trip in quirky quarters” had led us to Recycle the Past, an architectural salvage outside of Round Top, Texas, to spend the weekend in a shipping container.  You read that correctly…a shipping container in a salvage yard.

Warm interior of shipping container
Who knew a shipping container could be so…well, glamorous and cozy!  In the back of the yard were six shipping containers lined up, and ours were the two on the end where the back doors (now turned sliding glass doors) served as the entrance to an overnight wonder featuring a seating area, a small kitchen, a full bath, and separate bedroom.

Functional kitchen
Flophouze Hotel has turned these beasts of the highways into the perfect weekend getaway for the road weary.  The kitchen contained a mini frig, a microwave, a sink, and fully stocked cabinets with a coffeemaker.  (Bring your own food!)
Vintage pocket doors separate bath from kitchen and bedroom
The full bath features a walk in shower and plenty of room for dressing.  The bedrooms came with either a queen bed, two twin beds, or a queen and bunk beds to sleep more.  And yes…they have all the modern conveniences including heating and air conditioning.

Reclaimed wood adds a rustic charm
The recycled containers live up to the sign at the gate…Recycle the Past.  True to form the interiors are outfitted in reclaimed wood, installed windows from a salvaged school, and the counter tops are old bowling alley floors!

Enjoying the outdoors
But the view, you say?  The shipping containers were backed up to a verdant green pasture with meandering cows peacefully grazing as the sun set.  The deck outside the sliding glass doors and the firepit and Adirondack chairs made for some pleasant evening chats and early morning sunrise breakfasts.  Oh, and did I mention the swinging hammock?

Pastoral view from the deck
You’ll find no TV here, but put an LP on the vintage record player, slide open the back door, and sit back and get in touch with nature, the quiet, and each other.

SEE THE SITES…
On Henkel Market Square in Round Top
Flophouze Hotel is located just down the road from Round Top in Central Texas (pop. 90).  For most of the year, it is a sleepy little village with a few quaint stores hovered around the very well kept Henkel Square Market, as when we visited.  But in the spring and the fall, the entire area is transformed into an enormous shopping mall.  Round Top Antiques Fair is an outdoor gathering that draws antique dealers and shoppers from all over the country. 

A slice of pie heaven!
A stop for a bite of dessert heaven is a must at Royers Pie Haven where homemade goodness and a few unique combinations and some old-time favorites make for some good eating!

Our focus for sightseeing, however, was Adventure 290, a “hunt for history” drive along a portion of Highway 290 between Chappell Hill and Elgin.  Each of the participating eight towns along the route provided a scavenger hunt to encourage travelers to stop in the little communities that might otherwise be bypassed by speedy travelers between Houston and Austin.   Download your Adventure 290 Passport here.
Chappell Hill Museum
First stop, Chappell Hill.  Although the little village is full of historic sites, not to mention a lavender farm, it was the Chappell Hill Historical Society Museum that brought us to town.  Located in a 1927 school building, among its many exhibits it chronicles plantation, Civil War, and Reconstruction history, as well as the story of two previous schools which stood on the same location in the 1850s.

Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham
 Next a visit to Brenham, home of Blue Bell Creameries.  And who doesn’t love ice cream…especially Blue Bell…a true Texas icon, so of course we stopped in for a scoop.  But Adventure 290 took us to historic Toubin Park, a unique pocket park featuring one of the original cisterns built to store rainwater for firefighters and there learn about the burning of Brenham in 1866.

Texas Cotton Gin Museum in Burton
 On to…Burton, home of the Texas Cotton Gin Museum, the official Cotton Gin Museum of Texas.  Step back 100 years when cotton was king and walk through history to view the inner workings of a real cotton gin built in 1914 and operated for over 60 years.  The 1925 mighty Bessemer engine still bales and gins cotton each year during the annual Cotton Gin Festival in April.

Historic Texas pink granite block in Carmine
The next stop found us in tiny Carmine at the Carmine Visitor Center and Museum, which was once the Southern Pacific Railroad depot.  Note the 4’x4’ pink granite rock at the entrance which came from Granite Mountain, the same stone used in the Galveston Seawall and the state’s capitol.

"Cowboys Receiving the Mail" mural in Giddings
 In Giddings, we found a unique piece of Americana inside the post office.  During the Great Depression, the mural “Cowboys Receiving the Mail” was one of 109 works of art commissioned by Franklin D. Roosevelt to adorn the walls of post offices and federal buildings around the country.

Paige Historical Museum
 Next on 290 was Paige, one of the many little towns whose history was determined by the railroad that ran through it.  The small museum housed in the old depot highlights its history.

Medallion marks the spot of Wild West in McDade
 The sleepy little town of McDade was the backdrop for quite a different bit of history.  In the late 1800s, it was the setting for saloons, outlaws, and gunfights that would rival any old Western movie.  Today, all that’s left to remind us of its turbulent past is the state historical medallion on the outside of one of the old downtown buildings now the McDade Historical Museum.

Elgin Depot Museum
Elgin, our last stop on the Adventure 290 scavenger hunt, is known as the Sausage Capital of Texas.  But that is not what brought us here.  Another museum in another depot in another railroad town drew us in, but by the time we finished the trail, the museum was closed.  Oh well, another adventure for another day, and another good reason to head on back to our comfortable upscale shipping container and enjoy a Texas sunset from the deck.

Another Texas sunset...that's life!

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