In our family there are two road trip guarantees: at least one playing of Life is a Highway and lots of potty breaks. Recently, I decided that I wanted to pack a little more punch into our pit stop routine, so I decided to eschew the typical gas station stops with their questionable bathrooms and start looking for a quick stop that would offer a little more pizzazz.
Just outside Waco, TX (en route to Austin), we made our first bathroom stop at the Antiquibles Antique Mall. The kids usually really enjoy antiques and collectibles (one of the many reasons why I think they are super cool), but the draw of this slightly worn building was the promise of the World’s Largest Dog Collection.
There are over 7,000 canine collectibles in this Texas sized collection that includes everything from dog themed toys from the sixties to a rare 1700s gun with a carved dog head. The collection is painstakingly arranged in glass cases with like items arranged together and catalogued. In one case you can find dog buttons, in the next dog salt and pepper shakers, and in the next all manner of Greyhound bus memorabilia. There is no shortage of dog figurines made of all materials, and although poodles seem to have been a favorite of the collectors, you can find just about every breed imaginable. The collection is quite vast and is reported to have been collected from all around the world as the owners traveled.
Despite the stuffiness and slight oddity of the collection, the kids really enjoyed looking in the cases as they stretched their legs for the next part of our journey. It was a welcome change from the flickering florescent lights and sticky floors we find in so many gas stations. Not only did we relieve ourselves for the next few miles, I left feeling somewhat proud that we had used our bathroom break time so positively, to grab a quick look at just one more of the weird and wonderful things the world has to offer.
This is a test.
What a fun rest stop!