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It was a short trip.
Just four days.
Going out of our way to visit a small town wasn’t an easy choice with so little time.
Especially when traveling with someone else.
It took some convincing.
As soon as we landed,
we picked up a rental car and drove for about forty to fifty minutes.
It was a small town.
But it was more charming than I had imagined.
We arrived on a weekday morning.
Shopkeepers were getting ready to open,
and delivery trucks were unloading along the street.
The streets were quiet,
but the town was beginning to stir.
For such a small place,
there were a surprising number of shops and restaurants.
How could so many businesses survive here?
What brought people all the way to this little town?
On weekends,
many people from nearby cities
come to visit.
They browse the shops,
stop for a meal,
and take cruises around the lake.
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With those questions still on my mind,
I wandered through the streets.
I peeked into shops,
took photographs,
and explored the side streets.
The buildings were old,
but each had a character of its own.
It was almost as if they were saying,
“Come take a look at me.”
I turned a corner, walked a little farther,
and came upon a lake.
It was larger than I expected.
The sky reflected on the calm water,
and houses lined the opposite shore.
Perhaps this was what people came to see.
Then I noticed a warning sign
right at the dock.
It warned of alligators and snakes in the area.
I looked out across the lake again.
The water was calm,
and everything around me was quiet.
There were no alligators in sight.
No snakes, either.
Just gentle ripples
moving across the water.
Originally published at https://hallelujah.com on October 8, 2026.
