Crazy About Fayetteville, Texas

We would love to tell you why we have fallen in love with Fayetteville, Texas, but the truth is: we aren’t sure why. There must be something special there, because we can’t seem to stop going back … and back again.

We discovered our small-town soulmate quite by accident. We were taking a back road to Round Top and stopped for lunch at a diner on the town square. The burger was so good, we decided we’d go back one day and have another.

But you know how that goes.

After lunch, we walked around. There were antique shops and art galleries and a small museum, but everything was closed except for the grocery store and the bank. We made a mental note not to visit again on a Monday and headed back to the car. That’s when we noticed the old hotel just across the street from the diner.  It had an official Texas historical marker on the front. Lace curtains hung in the windows and a couple of green plastic chairs sat on the sidewalk. The door was locked, so we peaked through the windows. We could see someone was taking good care of the old place. We decided that next time we stopped in Fayetteville, we would call and see if we could take a tour.

Our next visit was less than a month later. We wanted another burger, but mostly, we wanted to see the little town again. And we wanted to see what was inside the Country Place Hotel. We decided the best way to get the full tour was to spend the night, so we made reservations.

The historic structure, built in 1900, is owned by architects, Clovis and Maryann Heimsath. They also operate the bed and breakfast. The instant we stepped inside, we knew we were going to love the place. (How can you get more Texas than this?)

There is an upstairs and downstairs parlor.

Eight comfortable bedrooms line a long hallway.

The balcony is perfect for enjoying wine in the evenings (they leave a carafe for guests) and it’s perfect for drinking morning coffee.

The hotel even has a basement. It was a speakeasy during prohibition.

So many things go on in this little town. There is the Annual Crawfish boil (May 19), art classes galore, a Chamber Music Festival at the old hotel (this month), and the Fayetteville Picking Park, a live jazz music jam on the square. It’s the third Saturday of each month, except in December. Bring a lawn chair; it starts at 1:00 p.m. They have their own antique festival that coincides with the one in Round Top and more fairs and festivals than we can list.

But we choose to visit Fayetteville when there isn’t much going on, just like the day we first stopped by. We enjoy sitting on the balcony of the Country Place Hotel watching the Czech flag fly beside the Stars and Stripes.  We like seeing the little, white courthouse through the oak trees and listening to its chiming clock mark the hour.

And at night, we like to walk to Joe’s Place and have an old fashion steak, the kind you can douse with catsup without upsetting the waitstaff.

By the way, can you tell they have beer at Joe’s?

Of course, we’ll be back in Fayetteville soon. We can’t stay away too long.  We’ll need another burger from Orsak’s Cafe and another steak from Joe’s.  

And we need one more night in that charming, old hotel.  

Thanks for coming along!