You know which restaurant I miss sometimes? Steak and Ale.

Remember them? They had such a cozy, British pub feel to the inside of their restaurant. We passed an old Steak and Ale location this morning that had been closed down for years now. The building was falling apart.

I don’t know of any comparable steak houses right now that have that old world appeal in food and feel. The steak houses that we seem to frequent now all have a Texas and western vibe to them.

And Bennigans. That was another restaurant that I liked to go to back in the late 80′s. They had the first fried cheesesticks I ever tried. But alas, they went the way of Steak and Ale. They were both owned by the same company and sold a few times to different corporate conglomerates. Maybe that is what led to their downfall. Corporate mismanagement.

Do you have any restaurants that were favorites but are now closed and gone?

The latest news on my new business venture is that the logo design is complete. Thanks to Jon Hebert of Northlinx Web & Graphics for his design prowess.

Now that the logo is done, I have lots more work to do. Like setting up a website, Twitter page, and Facebook page. Ordering a sign for the business and other items that need the logo.

So without further ado, here is the logo for my new shop:

 The name for my business came from the creek that runs near my home in Iuka. It is the creek that we played in as children. I always thought it had a sort of mystical sounding name. So I named my business after Pennywinkle Creek. And as for the Station part of the name: Iuka is an old railroad town which was founded back before the Civil War. The train still runs right through old downtown Iuka where my store is to be located. So I thought it fitting to name my business partly after a train station.

Projected opening for my new business is February 2012.

Last night we were driving to have dinner at a restaurant we love on the seawall in Galveston. We drove down Broadway which is the main drag through the heart of Galveston and where many of the historic homes are lined up.

Christmas decorations are now in full-swing everywhere we go, including along Broadway. We oohed and aahed at some of the fine displays of electrical waste. The Bishop’s Palace looked especially lovely lit up in the foggy night even though it wasn’t decorated with twinkling Christmas lights.

But the one house that I loved the best and appreciated the most had the simplest of decorations. I didn’t have time to take a picture. It probably wouldn’t have turned out well anyway since it was nighttime and fog was blanketing the island for a second evening in a row. That house was a beautiful old wooden home from over a hundred years ago. It was two stories tall and painted a cream color. And on every window outside the home owners had placed an evergreen wreath with a simple red bow.

That’s it.

Just a wreath on every window. It looked perfectly beautiful and I enjoyed it far better than all the garish Christmas lights at the surrounding houses. It brought to mind a traditional Christmas like Currier & Ives would have illustrated. I’m such a sucker for those Currier & Ives pictures. And yet I have none in my possession right now. I once owned a very large old illustrated book by that company. But alas, it burned up in our house fire of 2006.

 A background note about that big Currier & Ives book I once owned: about 20-something years ago I accompanied my maternal grandmother and step-grandfather to an auction. During the auction, they auctioned off boxes of household goods and lots of antiques. I was a college student at the time and did not have much money at all. But a box of curtains came up for auction and I needed some for my apartment. So I bid on them. And I got the box for a mere $5. And way in the bottom was a very large book of Currier & Ives lithographs.

I loved that big book. And I never bothered to look up the value of it until just now. And believe me, it was far more than the $5 I paid for that box at auction. Perhaps someday I will replace it. But for now, I’ll just admire the Currier & Ives Christmas pictures on-line and drive about the countryside looking for the perfect Currier & Ives setting.

A Texas boot filled with yellow roses

Last night we went to Moody Gardens Festival of Lights in Galveston. It was quite cold walking around the lighted trails which sit directly by the water. But the lights were beautiful and it really got us into the Christmas spirit.

We kept craving hot cocoa because it was cold outside and hot cocoa would simply go perfectly with the Christmas atmosphere. We missed the first hot cocoa station. Then the second one we came to had ran out. Finally the third and last place to get hot cocoa had run out but expected to have more in about 10 minutes. So we got a turkey leg and a frito pie (I know! But we hadn’t taken the time to eat dinner) and waited for the hot cocoa. Unfortunately, when it came, the only thing it had going for it was that it was hot. Since they have to make the hot cocoa in such large quantities they apparently use the cheapest cocoa mix. You end up with a sweet watery hot drink that is nothing whatsoever like the drinking chocolate I make at home. Ah well.

After touring around and looking at the lights, we went inside and watched the adapted version of The Polar Express in 4D. Complete with seats that poke you when Santa whips the reindeer and snow that hits you when the train skids on the frozen lake. It was a good short film version of the movie and the 4D features reminded me mightily of the It’s Tough To Be A Bug attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Since we have yearly memberships to Moody Gardens, I think we will go back again a couple of times before Christmas. Because the place just makes us happy. And the Christmas decorations are beautiful.

And perhaps we will try our hand (or feet) at the outdoor ice-skating rink they have set up at Moody Gardens.