Come Home to Alpine….

You hear the word neighborhood all the time. It falls flat anymore. There was a time in America where your neighborhood was your identity in many ways. In the Sheehan house neighborhood, neighborhood still means something. Here, its means a place where you are safe. A home. It means a group of people who stand up for and with each other. A place where kids bicycle safely up and down the streets, gather and play in the rain and splash in the creek when it runs. It’s a place to walk peacefully and safety any time, day or night. A place to sit on the front porch with a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning and greet your friends and neighbors. It’s a community within a community. You get to know, not only your neighbors but their dogs names as they pass by. It’s a place where you might open the door to find a neighbor had heard about your rough day and had brought you a warm apple pie just to say they care. We have a saying around here, that no one fights alone here and it is even more prevalent in this neighborhood. When the chips are down, we stand up and fight for you. It’s a place where the rest of the world passes you by while being loved as if you were family.

There is something about a tea party that just speaks to my soul. The very best china is set. Silver sparkles and shines. Lovely napkins adorn the table. There is a style, elegance and grace to a beautifully set table whether a dinner table, a tea table or buffet table.

The art of a tea party is delightful. The invitations are sent. The flowers are ordered, because who has a tea party without them? The linens have been starched. The sinful finger foods are laid on the doilies adorning the silver platters. The tea is hot and ready. Tiny crystal like sugar cubes glisten. Cream awaits to be poured. There is a quivering air of expectation.

The door bell rings! Ladies step into the room like gorgeous swaying tulips and irises, beautifully dressed and swaying with excitement.

Everyone is seated and prepared with their own scone, ribbon sandwich or niblet. The tea has been poured. Ladies slowly partake of an age old social tradition. Style and grace fill the room.

The Sheehan house is the perfect place to host a tea party or just a get together with your tribe!

A small city in 1882, named Osborne, sprang up at the foot of what is now proudly called “A” mountain. Cattlemen and railroaders living in tents were the start of what is now considered one of fifty safest cities in the United States. This small tent city was fed by a cool spring on land then owned by the Murphy brothers. The railroad, in need of water offered the brothers the right to call the settlement Murphyville in exchange for the use of the water from the spring. Murphyville was then registered as the new name with the Presido County Clerk, as the area was then part of said county. In 1888 the citizens petitioned for a name change to Alpine that was granted. The town continued to grow until 1921 when Sul Ross State Normal college was opened. This helped bring about huge changes to Alpine. City utilities were brought in. Streets were paved. In 1940 Big Bend National Park was created bringing more people into the area.

With a vast area of open lands surrounding Alpine there is a wildness here. You can drive for days and never see it all. The dry climate is great year round. The cool desert evenings in even the hottest part of the summer bring a respite that few places can match. Paired with the open skies full of stars most can only imagine, the area haunts souls with its magic.