Archive | March 2019

Poston Gardens

Mar26

Waxahachie, TX

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I may never have the opportunity to travel to Holland in my lifetime to see tulips, but I have made it to a couple of tulip farms in Texas. That may be as close as I ever get! Does that count?

Last year my husband and trekked a hour north of Dallas to Texas Tulips in Pilot Point, Texas. This year, we drove an hour south of Dallas to quaint Waxahachie, Texas to check out the new Poston Gardens. 

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We visited  Poston Gardens this past weekend and were some of the first visitors on a beautiful Sunday morning. Parking was on-site and the entrance fee was $10 per person. Tulip stems run $3.00 each and you may keep both the tulip and bulb. The staff was most helpful and very friendly. We soon had a plan and a large plastic basket and were off on our way to pick tulips. 

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Several staff members drive carts throughout the fields and we quickly hitched a ride to the bottom (and largest) field that is home to over 400,000 tulips. The colors were a sensory overload! After picking and exploring here, we worked our way back up to three other fields on foot. Walking is easy, all the paths are well-marked. Rows of tulips are spaced far enough apart to make it all very easy.

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The flowers are breathtakingly beautiful! Candy colors, neon colors, soft pastels, pale whites – you name it – they are in full bloom!! There were 26 types of tulips planted this year and I loved and wanted them all. We managed to come home with 40 fresh stems (quite a few bulbs) and currently have two gorgeous tulip bouquets brightening up our home. A staff member gave us info on how to preserve our tulip bulbs so that we can plant them ourselves this winter. Hopefully we will be growing a few beautiful tulips in our yard next Spring! Fingers crossed.

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These tulip fields in Waxahachie are very new. Poston Gardens just opened on March 15th of this year. The owner, John Poston, has planted 40 acres of this 60 acre farm with over 1 million tulips. Mr. Poston decided to use his farm land to grow and sell tulips to help support Daymark Living (a facility located next door to Poston Gardens). Daymark is a resort-style community that teaches people with intellectual and developmental delays to live more independently. Poston’s 23-year-old son was born with Down syndrome and once he turned 18, there weren’t a lot of options for him to live a normal, independent life. Frustrated, Poston planned and built Daymark to help his son and others like him gain valuable life skills.  For every tulip sold, a portion of the profits goes directly to Daymark and its mission. Some of the Daymark residents even work in the gardens.

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The four large tulip fields are spread throughout the gently rolling farmland with some beautiful views. There are tents at a couple of locations where staffers will count, wrap, and prepare your tulips for the trip home. There are also restrooms, food trucks, and picnic tables located on the property. You can spend as little or as much time here as you choose. 

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If you are interested in tulip picking this year, GO SOON!  Poston Gardens will only be open for a few more weeks or as long as the tulips remain (usually through April). It was a fun experience for us both and makes us feel even better knowing that we contributed to a good cause.

Enjoy!

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(Suggestions: 1. Take a trowel if you want to extract the bulbs with the blooms.  2. Take a large container of cool water to place tulips in for the ride home  3. Wear gardening gloves to keep hands and nails clean!)  

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Mi Tierra

Mar5

San Antonio, TX

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Mi Tierra’s is not your average Tex Mex restaurant. 

Walking into Mi Tierra’s is a sensory overload. The smells of the fresh-cooked Tex Mex dishes, baked goods, coffees, and tortillas waft through the air. The atmosphere is loud and energetic. Regardless of the hour, there always seems to be lines of people standing inside and outside waiting for tables. Laughter fills the air. You are surrounded by lights, flowers, seasonal decorations, pinatas, photos, murals, tinsel, flags, etc. as a variety of colors explode on every wall, counter, table and ceiling. Dozens of brightly dressed servers hustle around with food-laden trays. Mi Tierra’s is a party waiting to happen. It is not just a breakfast, lunch or dinner place. It is a true dining experience.

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The official name of this restaurant is Mi Tierra Cafe y Panaderia. This San Antiono landmark began in 1941 as a three-table restaurant to feed the local farmers and workers who arrived at the San Antonio Mercado in the early morning hours before their work shifts. Seventy-eight years later, Mi Tierra’s is a world-famous landmark known for their authentic Tex Mex fare, margaritas, desserts, and mariachis. The cafe and bakery now seats over 500 patrons and is open 24/7. 

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Every opportunity I have to visit San Antonio, I will try to enjoy at least one meal at Mi Tierra’s, visit the bakery for take-out items, and shop at the Market Square. I dined here three decades ago with my husband, as a young married couple. We dined here with our kids as toddlers, adolescents, and then as teenagers.  We took relatives from North Carolina here to introduce them to Tex Mex. They loved the mariachis! I recently ate lunch here with good friends while enjoying a girls’ weekend of shopping in the area. Throughout the years, every visit has been memorable and we have enjoyed each and every meal. This past week, we spotted Elvis (complete with jet black hair, sunglasses, and a glittery cape) enjoying a bowl of tortilla soup for lunch.  You just never know who – or what – you may see.

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I readily admit that my favorite part of Mi Tierra’s (besides the festive year-round decorations) is the bakery or panaderia. The pastries, sweet rolls, pralines, empanadas, candied fruits, cookies, etc. are the reason the line for the bakery is always out the door. Patrons may also purchase tamales, tortillas, and a variety of salsas here as well. The pecan pralines, pumpkin empanadas, fig empanadas and the beautifully-colored Mexican conchas are the things my dreams are made of! Flaky crusts, sweet fillings, crunchy nuts, and pastel-colored sugar toppings – what is there NOT to like?

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If you find yourself in South Texas within driving distance of San Antonio and have a hankering for Tex Mex, I urge you to give Mi Tierra’s a try.  And let me know if, or when, you plan to head that way in the near future. I may want you to pick me up a little something from the bakery! 

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