Downtown Wimberley

I didn't get any good pics of the main street of Wimberley, but there are lots on the local promotional website.

It's a cute little town of the sort that frequently springs up within daytripping distance of large cities ... lots of overpriced antiques, food and galleries. There were a couple of stores that caught my eye. One was this clothing store with the big ticket sales message "We have Oprah's Favorite Jeans." Suddenly I felt a powerful urge to buy Oprah endorsed denim products, an impulse checked only by my extreme poverty. Perhaps it was the hypnotic effects of the swirly font.



Even more difficult to resist was Ulli Johnston's Wild West Store, specialising in Vintage cowboy boots. The building was like a miniature house with a miniature front porch. A grey cat snoozed in the shadows of the porch and Ulli herself pottered around in a pair of striking cowboy boots, watering the garden. She followed us into the store and I spoke with her for a while. She explained her special gift: "I can just look at a person and know what boots will fit them. They can just tell me whether they want fancy or plain, or what style and I can find them the perfect pair. They call me the boot psychic."



I looked at the collection and suddenly I was a believer, a believer who wanted a boot psychic reading. I wanted to know what pair of boots from the 1930s or 40s Ulli would picture me in. Maybe the bold red pair on the top shelf in the back room? Or the black ones with white polka dots on the same shelf? Or the bright blue boots? Or the soft lambskin ones with the turn down tops that are around the corner from this photo? Alas, the rest of our little crowd was heading out the door and I chose to follow them instead of lingering for the full Ulli treatment. I am tortured by the knowledge that my boot future may now be forever shrouded in mystery.

If you're ever in Wimberley, be sure to visit Ulli's store. Make sure you try on whatever boots she divines for you. You'll be sorry if you don't.