Ya’ll Come Back Saloon
This past week I was in East Texas – yee-haw! I flew into Houston and then drove to Nacogdoches (about a 2.5 hour drive north of Houston). The hotels that were recommended to me were all booked (who knew that Nacogdoches was such a popular place to be on a Monday night) so I went on Hotels.com to pick something out. I was drawn to the Nacogdoches Inn because it touted free internet and a “life size mural of Texas history in the lobby.” Now that was something I had to see.
There were no problems getting up to Nacogdoches, but I had a small problem finding the hotel. The problem was that the inn was marked by only a small plastic sign above the door. From the outside it actually looked like an abandoned building. It was, in fact, in operation. They also had a sign outside showing they were charging a “renovation special” of only $50/night. Damn – too bad I already paid $80 to hotels.com for the evening and they couldn’t undo the charges (or didn’t want to).
The “Life sized mural of Texas history” was also a disappointment. Apparently Texas history consists of 5 things: 1) Stephen A. Austin University football, 2) women’s basketball, 3) really muscular Native Americans, 4) bull riding and 5) fishing.
The hotel had not aged well. The rugs in the hallways were pretty worn. I also think there were people living in the hotel – full time. When I came in the back door there was a lady moving stuff out that you definitely don’t need for a hotel stay (do you need a kitchen table in your hotel room?). I dropped the stuff off in my room and set out to see what other adventures were in the hotel. There was a pool – as advertised. The pool was quite dirty, but it was there. A hot tub also existed, but it was the same temperature as the pool – in other words, cold. I’m pretty sure my sheets hadn’t been washed in a while either because I had to brush several unidentified hairs out of it before going to bed. At least the shower had hot water.
Ian, the consultant I was shadowing for the week, met me the next morning at 7am and we went to work. The next three days were long, but very educational. I also got to hear more deer hunting stories during the week than I can count.
For Friday night I stayed at the same Houston hotel I was in for my interview a few weeks ago. This time, however, I had to wade through about 8 company Christmas parties to get to the reception desk.
Friday I spent the day with another consultant then flew back Friday night without incident.
