Meet Manor...pronounced (MAY-nor)

As I have noted before, I really love being conveniently located to the great city called Austin, but every now and then I find some little jewels in my own backyard. One of my favorite things about living in Manor is the tranquility. 20 years ago this would not have appealed to me, now it's a basic necessity.

I also love the long and winding vastness of the farm roads here. Driving along, I feel like I could go on forever in peaceful bliss along the seemingly never ending roads. I now know why my father loved the act of driving.

The other day I had to get out to get our yearly emissions test done on our car. It was a gloomy, overcast and a very cold day. The test was located only a couple of miles down the road. I figured since I had gotten dressed just to go out in the freezing cold for a 15 minute emissions test I would take my camera and make use of my outing by trying to do some sightseeing of some of the areas in Manor that I have not yet ventured.

My little sidekick does not have the same opinion of the Sunday afternoon drive as I do. From the beginning of the drive she kept wanting to know where we were going. She does not get just driving around to "look". She believes there should always be a destination.

Well I actually did have a destination. There have been a few movies filmed in Manor. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of them. Out of curiosity I felt the need to see the locations in person.

I am not typically a gory movie watching kind of person but I do remember watching the original one from 1974 at the insistence of my first boyfriend, Duncan. Back then movies weren't as gory as they make them now but I do remember it being pretty on the edge kind of scary.

Thinking back, I can remember at the young age of 17 going to stay with my aunt and uncle in Sequin (right outside San Antonio, Texas) and being scared at night because the area reminded me so much of Texas Chainsaw Massacre landscape. Right out in the middle of nowhere I had visions of a crazy chainsaw man lurking about in the prickly pear. Little did I know at the time I was just 50 short miles or so from the filming location.

I headed north in Manor towards one of the filming locations of Texas Chainsaw. The run-down old building is actually a BBQ restaurant. From my understanding it is only open Friday and Saturday and holds true to the dark, dreary atmosphere as depicted in the movie. I also understand the barbecue is very good and is served to you on butcher paper. I sure want to try this place out one day.....but not alone.

Here is a pic of Cele's:




Rewind....on the way to Cele's I noticed a church in the distance. It took me a while to figure out how to get to the church but I finally made it. I'm not really a religious person but I do appreciate architecture. This is the New Sweden Lutheran Church in New Sweden:



Nearby the church there was a group of cows that kept Summer and Brandi (the dog) entertained: You could tell the cows didn't get much company out on that lonely road.



A couple miles from my house is the famous water tower that Leonardo DiCaprio climbed on in the movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape".....which was a very good movie I might add, if you haven't seen it. Leonardo DiCaprio celebrated his 18th birthday in Manor....I'm sure that was a big Whoop for him. ;-) My pic is a little dark but here it is.



I enjoyed my "Sunday afternoon drive" but I think Summer was a little glad to get back to civilization. :-)