I love a good railroad town which was why I chose Palestine as a one night stop on our way to Hot Springs, Arkansas. As soon as we checked in at the Holiday Inn Express, we were off to find the Railroad Heritage Center. They were so nice and welcomed Kismet too. They were curious how we found them and it was because of a travel brochure in the lobby of another one of our Texas hotels.
I have seen a lot of miniature train displays but the cathedral was a first.
After this, Kismet had to go back to the hotel but I had found a steak house that sounded amazing and it was. The Home Grill is a spot for locals and they were as happy to have us as the RR museum. Our waiter had on a theatre shirt and we enjoyed chatting with him about the plays that he had directed recently.
We had seen a lot of stockyards during our time in NM and Texas. In one sense, I felt is should discourage me from eating steak but sadly it did not. And this was absolutely top notch and reasonably priced. I had the ribeye and Carol had the filet. We both had hushpuppies and the only red wine they had which was a Pinot Noir.
The town was actually named for Palestine, Illinois by a preacher who had migrated from that town. The population is around 18,000 and is geographically in the center between Dallas, Houston, and Shreveport, Louisiana. It is full of historical sites and was the western terminus of the Texas State Railroad.