Stepping down from the stagecoach, the passengers wiped their foreheads and swallowed hard from the dust and dry of the Chisholm Trail. A young girl ladled clear spring water into tin cups and handed them to the weary travelers to slacken their thirst.

Behind the refreshing water, another pretty waitress began reciting, from memory, without a piece of paper to assist the oration:

“Tonight, the Shady Villa Inn is serving fried chicken, catfish or steak, your choice. With each meal, you will start with cornbread, rolls and butter. For drinks, we have cold mineral water, milk and coffee. With your main course, you will be served generous portions of mashed potatoes and gravy, corn-on-the-cob and green beans. For dessert, you have the choice of apple or peach pie. Ladies and gentlemen, the entire meal is yours for only 2 cents a plate. I can take your orders now and the food will be ready in the dining room.”

That was 1867. Things haven’t changed that much at the inn, except the name. Today, the Stagecoach Inn in Salado, Texas is the longest, continuously operating hotel and restaurant in the state. General George A. Custer, Captain Robert E. Lee (son of the general), Shanghai Pierce, Charles Goodnight, Sam Houston, Sam Bass and Jesse James have stepped into the lobby and signed the guest book, along with a lengthy assortment of other notables, cowboys and desperadoes, not to mention the mess of just plain folks with a mighty hunger. Most everyone has enjoyed a meal in that restaurant without a written menu and the smiling waitress with the good memory.

Last Friday evening, we stopped by and sure enough that waitress just started talking that menu right through with nary a note and waiting for us, wide-eyed and amazed, to make our selections.

The list of entrees has expanded, with modern dishes like stuffed shrimp, chicken-fried steak and grilled tilapia to choose from. Every meal comes with cornbread fingers and rolls, a choice of shrimp cocktail, tomato aspic or fruit cup, and a lettuce salad with your favorite dressing. With your entree, the twice-baked potato, squash casserole, and Italian green beans are complimentary. For dessert, you can pick from the famous strawberry kiss, fudge pecan pie or sherbet.

Now, that is a worthy feast at the inn, and it’s all one price fixed, depending on your choice of entree. Plus, the service is quick, attentive and smiling as only a stagecoach inn can be to a weary traveler.

If you adjust for inflation, that 2 cents in 1867 is about what you pay for the meal today in 2012. So, the price is the same and the food has been excellent for as long as anyone can remember. Depending on your perspective, however, the dinner guests may be somewhat less notorious and, hopefully, more law abiding. There were no gunfights during our meal.

After dinner, we left to join the shoppers strolling the businesses and open-air stands for the annual Salado Christmas Stroll. Most of us had come by car, bus and van. The only stagecoach in site was a carefully preserved antique in front of the restaurant. That old stage is planted nicely in a flower bed not far from the old log cabin that now sells hand-designed aprons and custom-made lady’s hats and jewelry above an old black cat sleeping under the counter.

In its way, I think that old cowboy town and its new ways would make even Jerry Jeff Walker proud. In fact, I think I even heard that old outlaw crooning away on his guitar as we walked down the street from shop to brightly lit holiday shop.

Texas is a funny state. In ways, things change a whole lot. In other ways, they don’t change much at all.

Take a stroll and see what you think yourselves,

Grandpa Jim