No pictures

I don’t have any pictures to match this little tale. It’s about a small place, and I do have a frame of reference. There’s a site that, these days, is nothing more than a pointer and scraper. Points to yet another series of images, for its namesake and scrapes this blog off the web to publish it.

Named for the badge on an abandoned gas station alongside the north side of a south-bound freeway, not far from the post office I use. I just liked its shapes, colors, and textures. I’m not the only person to be captured and captivated by such a structure. I’m just the latest in a long list of folks interested in old gas stations that are less than a century old yet hold amazing historical-cultural-sociological data.

Back “in the day,” when Ross Avenue (Near East Dallas) was a “bad” place, there was – okay two place of note. One was a called “Gwad’s” (Gringo for Guadalajara’s) and that was a late night Mexican food place. Frequently, we’d be the only anglos in the place. Stop. This isn’t about that, this is about another place, same stretch of Ross Avenue, a place called the Texaco Lunch Box. I’m pretty sure it’s now gone, but for a dozen years or more, it was the source for some of the best egg rolls and Vietnamese food on this side of the planet.

Last time I cruised Ross Avenue, all I could find was the empty shell where the Texaco Lunch Box used to be.

The sad part about the Humble Oils station, all bricked up and sweating in the South Texas Sun? The station itself is probably too small to do anything with, as in, not enough square footage to be viable as a business. Be a great coffee shop, except too far off the eaten path.

The name “Texaco Lunch Box” and the notion that reusing an abandoned station as something other than an auto fuel stop brings up the next destination: The Filling Station, cafe and bar.

Me? I like it for espresso. Pizza is good, too.

Free Astrology/astrofish.net workshop:

One night only, in old San Antonio: Lecture/Workshop
Astrology/astrofish.net Chalk Talk

at C4Workspace
108 King William
San Antonio, TX 78204
Plenty of free parking!
RSVP, seating is limited.