Due to great weather today, Baxter and I finally left our hotel room and explored Downtown Palestine. I was quite excited about this since I'm a real history geek and the city centre here contains some of the oldest buildings in Texas. However, I was quite disappointed!
It seems that while Palestine's city council is trying hard to attract tourism to the area and improve the small town's economy through the restoration of the city into its original charm... the locals do not welcome tourists or visitors of any kind with a friendly eye! I would never have expected people in a town like this to be unfriendly, yet they really are! At times I felt unsafe walking from my hotel as cars actually slowed down to stare at Baxter and I or to yell mean things out of their windows!
It's such a shame that I can't recommend this place as somewhere to visit. The old-world charm of the entire town, the local wineries and the ancient steam train (registered with American Heritage Railways) that is still in working condition providing rides and tours: made me think that it would be a shoe-in on my "awesome American places" list. But aside from the unwelcoming, unsmiling faces of the locals, the tourism industry here is poorly organized and not at all as inviting as portrayed!
Sorry Palestine! Instead of spending millions in renovating, maybe the town should invest in some people skills!
PS: Loved all the staff at the Holiday Inn :-) theirs were the only smiling faces I saw the entire time!
I'm looking forward to leaving in the morning - Forth Worth Texas here we come!
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