After doing a spot of research last night, and organising an early check in at our last stop, we are ready to hit the open road and head to an animal park. I know Matthew’s love of goats is a real thing, so I have managed to find a small place called Gators and Friends which also boats a bunch of animals you can get up close and personal with – including GOATS! World’s Best Wife award incoming!

We aren’t expecting any too fancy having taken note of where it is located, and the size of the venue on the map, but once again – it’s what’s inside that counts. The small car park is full and it’s 10.30am on a Wednesday, and there is an iconic yellow school bus parked in there too. The screams of kids inside tells us we might just be surrounded by little people. We get out tickets and we are told there’s a whole school inside. Fortunately schools aren’t that big but there are still a lot of them in this small space.

We’d paid for some food for the animals and are told we can feed any of the animals – except the lemurs and the alligators. Good thing I wasn’t planning on it.

All kinds of animals were there, deer, goats, emus, kangaroos, lemurs, sheep, a Zedonk, a hilarious miniature highland cow, and of course alligators. Such a weird but wonderful mix. The kangaroos surely felt safe with me as I literally said G’day as we fed them. The very entertaining but gorgeous miniature highland cow stuck its tongue out to be fed, and seeing the Zedonk was so strange. I even stopped to talk to the sheep in their own language. I am a woman of many talents. I also speak dolphin for those interested.

The kids have moved over enmass to the alligator feeding, so mostly we’re afforded a quiet stroll and basically the rest of the place to ourselves to explore and interact with the animals.

And then, a bit of magic happened. The kind of moment where you say “you can’t make this shit up”. We walk up to a small enclosure watching a guy hand feed some pygmy goat kids. There’s about half a dozen of them and they are hilariously butting him in the leg while he is trying to feed them one at time. We say hi, and learn he takes the babies home sometimes to hand rear them. He is such a beautiful warm guy who clearly loves his job and the animals.

He says we can come inside the enclosure if we like and invited us to just pick one up for a cuddle. Matthew is beaming as he has never cuddled a baby goat before and basically living out his dream. He asked the guy what the names are of the 2 we are holding. The magical moment happens – he said I am holding Minnie, because she has a Mickey Mouse shape in black on her fur. What…..the……actual……fuck?? Thank you universe for this gorgeous serendipitous moment.

It isn’t even 12pm yet and we have enough stories to finish our day – but it ain’t over yet. We farewell the animals and decide to head for an American institution for lunch, Applebee’s. While it’s a chain store, the set up and the locals there still make it the kind of stop we love.

We’re greeted by Lexi who tells us she’s from Arizona, here as her husband has a job out here. With 2 daughters 3 and 4 years old, and working mornings while her husband does opposite hours so they don’t have to rely on day care. Here in Marshall the day care systems are mostly run by religious organisations of which she doesn’t subscribe, and their preschools and day cares heavily focusses on this.

We finish our lunch after a lot of chatter and offer her some Aussie badges for her daughters and for herself. She lights up, runs out the back and returns with a gift in return. She hands over two stones and explains them in the most down to earth way. The purple one, Amethyst, is meant to quiet the mind and help you trust your gut. The green one, Aventurine, is apparently the “good luck, good things coming” stone. Together, she says, they’re for calm, protection and a bit of extra magic on our travels.

It is such a sweet, unexpected gesture, and when we thank her she beams and says, “Y’all made my day.” And honestly, she kind of made ours too.

After a quick shopping stop at a bargain store and an outlet, we head for the last place we’ll be calling home on this trip: Marshall, Texas. We chose this spot for its quirkiness and history. The place was built in 1891 and has been refurbished inside, but they’ve kept the original brick walls exposed, giving it that beautiful, lived‑in, historical feel that makes you instantly want to know its stories.

After some chill time in front of the TV we’ve found a cool place to stop for dinner. It’s called Rueggenbach Brewing Co. We’ve learned places like this, for us anyway, aren’t about the beer, but the locals and the atmosphere. We walk in and the place is pretty quiet and at first impression, kind of lifeless. A guy at the bar, looking like he was purposefully not wanting to engage, and a bartender who was more interested in talking with the other staff than chatting with us.

Then the flood gates open. The guy at the bar starts a conversation with us. An ex-marine, now X-ray machine repairer, who has 2 sons, one about to start college in a band program with a knack for learning and playing woodwind instruments. He’s originally a saxophone player, now plays the oboe, flute and clarinet. Turns out he’s at the college in Natchitoches where we’ve just come from, and they were sought out by their music program to attend.

We also get chatting to the guy who introduces himself as the General Manager and son of the owners. The place used to be a fire station, and both him and his dad are volunteer firies. When they looked into the history after buying it, they worked out his Great-Great-Great grandfather was a fireman in that exact place.

The bartender turns out to be super friendly and gives us all kinds of recommendations after overhearing us chat about our holiday which mostly avoids big city stops. She also offers up some history of the town – linked to all their different brews. Apparently Marshall is the origin of the Boogie Woogie music genre too. This all is so interesting, but it is time to settle the check and I ask some curious questions about tipping now there are automated options on EFTPOS now. While there are cash tip jars across this bar, the bartender tells us that her pay check will have the tips that came through on cards during the shifts she has, and that’s how she makes her money.

After getting a takeaway container it’s time to head home, but as we pull in I suggest we pop down to Ginocchio’s (I love that it rhymes with Pinocchio’s) which is considered a bit more of an upscale restaurant in the area, who’s history crosses over with the home we are staying in. I didn’t realise we could just have a drink there until our AirBNB host had told us earlier today when we checked in.

Literally right across the street from us and next to the train line, we walk in and are warmly greeted and shown to a back bar area. The place is busy, and before long a guy at the bar wants to introduce himself to Matthew and I. He says his name is Alan and is the owner of the place, who happens to be in town, as he calls Austin TX home normally.

He tells us about the venue, it’s history, past presidents that frequented, and also future plans for the stories above us, which currently are just used for storage. He’s an interesting guy with a double degree in engineering and law but is an entrepreneur at heart, also having purchased an old Coca-Cola building in town which is the home of a medical testing facility and a residential area set up for him to live in when he comes to town.

We take in the gorgeous architecture, and the amazing staircase made from spiralled pine (stunning) and the Edison arches – as in Thomas Edison – the oldest Edison arches in the USA. We farewell Alan, and head for home, just steps away.

After getting a glimpse of the town, we can’t wait to explore it more tomorrow, with local tips in our back pocket, and Google ready to map out our day out.

I cannot believe this day has been so amazing…….again!

The rest of the day’s blogs you can find here.