In and around Decatur, Texas
January 2, 2010
Toolbox: HipstaMatic
"When In Rhome"
"A Good Day on US 287 3"
"A Good Day on US 287 2"
"A Good Day on US 287 1"
I love to drive the old Federal highways — the ones with the police badge-shaped highway markers. They’re no longer the best way to get there fast. The routes are usually less direct, but more often I find myself just wanting to stop and photograph the cool relics from past times that still dot the roadsides of the old US highway system — the mom & pop traveler’s hotels, old gas stations, cool signs.
Some of them are remarkably well maintained considering that the world now passes them by one mile to the west. Others are beautiful yet sad in their decay. Especially in this part of Texas, where the towns are spaced about a half a day’s ride by horse, some of the main streets are still alive and preserved. The pace of life is much slower than at the Burger King nearby at the exit off the interstate.
There are lines and curves and color and texture and history in the old architecture. The newer metal-framed, steel-sided buildings by the interstate will be old someday as well, but I doubt they’ll have the charm the old towns still have.
The weather was crisp, but the sky was beautiful. The golden hour brought out the warmth of the often faded colors. It was a good day on old US Highway 287.
=M=
