by Ester Harrison
The next morning we woke up in our peaceful room at Rest and wondered over to have a delicious oatmeal pancake breakfast at the main house. After eating, we talked to our hosts, Laurie and Robert Williamson for a while about Dallas, changes in West Texas, and similar interests in farming, art and wine. They recommended that we head about an hour southeast to a tiny town called Eola. What's in Eola? Well, not much, except for the Eola Schoolhouse Brewery and Restaurant. Thirteen years ago its owner, Mark Cannon decided to move from Portland back to Texas and purchased this school house as his home. Sound interesting? Well, Mark is quite the character. We spent some time (okay, a few hours) talking to Mark, eating lunch, getting a tour of the school house all while tasting his microbrewery beers. For a town in the middle of nowhere, it was visited by 5 various groups of people who had headed to that region of Texas for one thing: Mark's famous beers (and I imagine his fun attitude too). We had a hard time leaving, but eventually hit the road back to Valera. On the way we pulled over to catch the last of a beautiful Texas sunset, as you do while in the Lone Star State.
After a few lost hours in Eola, we thought it might be best to head back to Rancho Loma and prepare for dinner at the restaurant. Our drive was calm and we followed a new path back to Valera, even enjoying a scenic Texas sunset just as we arrived back at Rest. Our dinner? The most amazingly sumptuous 5 courses of seasonal flavors. We started with a root vegetable soup teaser. Our next course was a colorful Winter Caprese Salad topped with sundried tomatoes, microgreens and a homemade pesto. This was followed by a creamy, but simple Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper) Pasta made in house by Laurie. It was exquisite. The main course was the most beautiful Bone-In Akaushi Rib Eye Steak with a Roasted Bone Marrow served with crisp bread and a fresh parsley salad. Goodness was it delicious, and enormous. We took over half of it back to the hotel room with us. And for dessert? A rich Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. We couldn't handle that at the time, so we ended up enjoying it a bit later while stargazing on the Rest outdoor lounge area.
We had a hard time leaving the next day. Not only was our scrambled egg and biscuit breakfast way too delicious, but the fresh air was intoxicating. We reluctantly packed up the car, along with the dozen eggs that Laurie and Robert shared from their hens and headed back to Dallas. If you happen to be in West Texas, make sure to stop at Rancho Loma. I hope that we get back there soon!
