:Cobblestone on main streets…

Sisters’ Weekend by its very nature would be expected to be nostalgic. We met in a small town..well, small by lots of standards – for western Nebraska, Alliance is large with a population of 8,000some. Norfolk’s population was 20,000 when I was growing up. I don’t know what the population is now. Norfolk was – and is – one of the larger towns in Nebraska. The idea of our weekend was to back roads trip it. Get in the car, drive somewhere, anywhere, nowhere taking country roads, maybe stumbling upon an old cemetery or two. This was easier said than done because western Nebraska’s roads aren’t laid out in a grid system. But we didn’t do too bad. In fact, the ranger at Agate Fossil Beds was surprised to learn we’d come in the ‘back way’. 25 miles of gravel road. That’s back road trippin’ at its finest!

Just after getting in the car and heading towards main street (there’s always a main street in little towns), we came upon this..

Zesto! When we were growing up there was Zesto and Dairy Queen. Too bad it was closed for the season. We could have started the day with ice cream. Downtown (yep, that’s what it’s called – a little different than uptown and downtown in New York City) we pulled over because Kelly wanted photos of the cobblestone streets…

And I wanted photos of this cool art deco movie theater…

We parked on a side street for the photo op and quickly discovered an awesome clothes boutique right there. I mean, right there…

The above shot is taken from the side street where the car was parked. Here’s the entrance as we went around the corner…

The clothes in the window were awesome. How could we resist being drawn in?! Nothing like a combo of nostalgia and cool clothes. If I lived in the area, this store – Rhoades 2 Clothing – would become a main stay. A main stay on main street.

A few years ago, at some swim meet in some large city somewhere in Texas (they all run together in my mind) there was a new shopping complex. The center was park-like, about a city block square, with streets on all four sides. On the other side of each street were stores in two-story brick buildings with pull in parking, not parallel parking. Only the pristine sparkle of new and the stores’ names let you know you hadn’t time traveled. The Repackaging of the American Dream, as Anthony pointed out. I have seen more and more of this ‘new’ main street style. Makes one wonder why it was ever left behind. In some places, it never was.

:Coffee, not chai…almost…soon!

Dawn’s soft glow is hitting the mountain. Not so quietly, I unloaded the dishwasher. Allowing myself ten minutes with a cuppa joe and the blog, here I am. Back home. Almost back to normal. Winding down the past month of whirlwind after whirlwind, I met my sisters – Lori and Kelly – in Alliance, Nebraska which is about half-way for all of us. My sisters live in my hometown, Norfolk, Nebraska. For the people that only know the state looking out the car window while rushing through…well, they’ve missed the beauty.

You might look at the above photos, thinking what the heck is that?! Pretty?! Maybe Deb needs her eye prescription adjusted. Stay tuned! I’m going to share more – cobblestone streets, an art deco movie theater, Nebraska wine, memories for my sisters…  But, right now I’ve got to swing by Dr. Hess’s for Ponya’s progesterone test.