Go West? Yes, to the town of West, a small Texan farming community known for its Czech Stop bakery on the side of highway I35. The town's named after Thomas West, the town's first Postmaster who sold land to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railway in 1881.
West grew up around the rails and prospered along with its Postmaster, attracting immigrants from Czechoslovakia who were drawn to the area by the heady lure of rich farmland and all-round opportunity.
You can see their influence today in the catholicism of the place and its several bars or pubs, to say nothing of various bakeries, not least the notorious Czech Stop. The Czechs are there today as of the 2012 census, which credits West with the highest concentration of Czechoslovakians in the state.
The railway still bisects this curiously attractive town, though it's now sadly restricted to freight. What a shame, it'd be a far more civilized thing to be able to get on a train at Hillsboro, ride to West or Waco, have fun, then ride the rails back home as opposed to driving on the hideous and deadly I35.
Who knows, maybe that day will return in some form or another, but hopefully not in the way of another Crush Crash. You can see all about that infamous disaster here.
Crush Crash aside, it was good to go to the Two Amigos restaurant with a crew of churchpeople, and they say, interestingly, that a congregation which meets during the week is more likely to grow than one which doesn't. Good point.
Sound
They also say a church which actually believes in Christianity is more likely to grow than one that doesn't. Bizarre, perhaps someone should inform Pope Francis and his lesser colleague, the apologetic Archbishop of Canterbury. But therein lies another story.
Travellers Club Forever,
LSP
