Home Cookin' By the Cake Lady

​Mount Vernon, Texas

​

This was quite a little find at the beginning of our road trip last fall. The window on the left said Home Cookin' and the window on the right said The Cake Lady. I still don't know which is the name.

​A Tiny Town
​

We were headed from Fort Worth, Texas to Hot Springs, Arkansas.  This 2-lane road was not the fastest route, but Don loves an old highway and he was intrigued with Highway 67, which starts in Presidio, TX and ends around Davenport, Iowa. 

Alp Cafe

 

It was a Sunday, and small town cafes are often closed.  But we spotted an old blue neon sign that said "Alp Cafe" and there seemed to be a car in the lot. 

The sign itself was worth the stop.

​Flag and Curtains
​

You never know what you might find when you venture into a  little cafe on the edge of town.  And the last thing you want to do is walk in and insult the owners by not staying.  But the curtains in the window and the un-tattered flag seemed to be a good sign.  Plus there was a big tree in back with a glimpse of a wooden deck. This must be good.
​

Donna, the Cake Lady
​

I have no pics of the omelet and fried eggs we ordered.  They were fine, but the chatty owner Donna was the finest.  She'd just been open 6 months, but seemed mighty happy with things so far.   She had 7 kids and 27 grandkids and figured if she was always going to be cooking anyway, she might as well open a restaurant. As for her name... people started calling her The Cake Lady for the delicious treats she used to sell on the town square.
​

A Little History
​
​We asked about  The Alp Cafe sign and  Donna said that was the original name. The old sign recently was discovered in a river and rescued. 

The Alp, was a 24-hour joint back in the 1930's.  Donna said she'd heard a lot of wild stories about the men who headed over to the Alp late at night... after taking their dates home.  At that time there had been no bathroom, so the customers had to go over to the filling station. You can see the building next door, with the restroom doors on the side.  I'm sure there's still a worn path between the two buildings...but I didn't really want to look.
​

Daily Special
​
​The cook, who may have been a relative, rang the bell a few times to announce an order. That was sort of amusing, since for most of the time we were the only customers.

   

I should have taken that bell sound as a signal and looked up at that window.  I would have made a wiser choice with my order!  We had chosen breakfast since it was before noon, but we could have had the $6.95 special!  It was an amazing platter of stuffed pork chops, green beans and dressing! 

Next Time!  We'll have to come back and catch up on more news with Donna and for sure get the daily special.