Cupids, Dragons, and Sasquatches, Oh My!

Since we moved to Texas 13+ years ago, we've made regular trips to Houston. At first, we drove into the city for its touristy establishments, like museums or the zoo, or to access the airport. But eventually we started driving to Houston much more regularly - almost every weekend for at least six months of the year - for Will's soccer games. My best estimate is that we've make the trek to the Houston area at least 200 times, but that number is probably closer to 250. 

Why does this matter, you ask? Because the number of times we've driven to Houston is not much higher than the number of times we've driven past Frazier's Ornamental Concrete. 

According to their website, Frazier's is "one of Texas' best known resources for home and garden décor and commercial site furnishings." That sounds kind of boring, and not like a topic about which to write a blog post, but believe me when I tell you that this place isn't what you're envisioning. (Unless you've been there, of course. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about.) Everything is bigger in Texas...and that includes home and garden stores.

Frazier's has been in business for more than 50 years, offering customers traditional as well as unique (and even strange or weird, in some cases) ornamental and architectural pottery, planters, sculptures, statues, furniture, and fountains...and offering passersby an interesting visual distraction as they transition from Highway 6 to Highway 290 or vice versa. Frazier's can apparently do special orders, but I'm not sure why anyone would need to place a special order because, from what I've seen, they carry just about anything you could imagine already. 

Benches, fountains, wishing wells? ✔

Birds, owls, deer? ✔

Cats, dogs, barnyard animals? ✔

Polar bears and gorillas? ✔

Statue of Liberty, Cupid, Mother Mary? ✔

UFOs, aliens, sasquatches? ✔

Dragons, dinosaurs, gargoyles? ✔

I read that Frazier's is popular among tourists - and that actual tour buses stop there on occasion - which makes sense, given both what they offer and the sheer size of the property. Again, everything is bigger in Texas.

Sculptures and statues as far as I could see in
this direction...and in most other directions as well.

A couple of months before his birthday, Tom decided he wanted a chiminea as a gift. I did a little research online and popped into a few local garden shops and bigger chain stores, but I couldn't find one I liked. So one afternoon on our way home from Houston (our trip to the Museum of Illusion), the kids and I - completely on a whim - whipped off the highway and into the Frazier's parking lot. 

It was a million degrees outside. More accurately, it was 100 degrees outside. But it felt like a million degrees outside because there were no clouds in the sky and there was no breeze, and Frazier's IS NOT AIR CONDITIONED. The chimineas were outside anyway, but it would have been nice to have the option of cooling off inside after wandering the chiminea "department." 

We browsed for only a few short minutes, both because of the heat and because of what felt like hundreds of wasps planning an attack against us. And while we found a few we liked, I just didn't feel like I could make a decision under those conditions. I completely understand not being able to have all product inside - the grounds go on for what feels like forever - but the conditions just weren't ripe for shopping.

I knew I wanted to purchase Tom's chiminea from Frazier's though - they had the nicest product and getting one from this Texas landmark would make the gift more special. So a few days later, Hallie and I dressed in our coolest and most breathable attire, steeled ourselves to face the wasps, and drove back to Frazier's. We made our selection, paid for our purchase in the non-air conditioned building, and waited patiently while they graciously loaded and secured our extraordinarily heavy chiminea in the back of my car. (Getting it out of the car later was a challenge, but Hallie and I managed it on our own!)

Her permanent location is yet-to-be-determined -
she's been seeing how she feels in different spots
while Tom does some backyard cleaning. 

Tom loved his birthday present, and it's been fun for all of us to have something from this Texas establishment at our home. Frazier's website invites customers to "come and experience how just walking into Frazier's can lift your spirit and, perhaps, change your life for the better." And while I feel like that assessment is a bit of an exaggeration, I admit that after visiting Frazier's myself I definitely consider this shopping destination worth a road trip! But maybe not in the middle of summer...