About a month ago or so I tried to do a good thing, and ended up doing a very stupid thing which required me to do a desperate thing which required me to find someone to help me do this desperate thing…. Ok so I’m stretching for a catchy intro.

The story goes like this: My son and I were driving around Lake Palestine where we stopped to sit on a pier for a few minutes and get our feet wet. After a little while the dock became crowded so we gather our few belongings and left. When we got to the car I noticed another visitor stuck in the mud so I set my phone on top of the car and went to offer assistance. As we were driving up 155 toward Tyler, I notice an item fly off the roof of my car. Of course it was my aforementioned phone.

Ok so this is where the story gets a bit more complicated. As I have recently become engaged my fiancée and I had rolled our AT&T accounts into one. We did this right before she left for Europe. So knowing that we had an upgrade coming, I went to the AT&T store at the Mall right next to Chipotle. The “service” I received at that location was absolutely terrible. I will not revisit that location as long as I remain a customer with AT&T. When I explained my situation to the specialist at the store she pulled up my account and found that for some reason I was not primary on the account and I would have to contact my fiancée. I reminded the specialist that she was in Europe, it was two in the morning there and I now had no phone with which to contact her. The reps response: “I’m sorry then there’s nothing I can do to help you.” I left the store to seek some other options which did not in fact pan out. However, in my comings and goings I happened to pass the new AT&T store in the Village at Cumberland Park.

From the moment I entered the new AT&T location, it was different. I explained my circumstances to the rep and we spent three hours trying to figure out how to get a new phone. By the end of the session I had a new phone, which by the way is considerably better than my previous phone. The difference was amazing. How can two branches of the same company function so differently? Simply put, the agent at the new branch wanted to help, the other obviously did not.

Over the last few years the East Texas area has seen an explosion of little Mexican taquerias. It started with the chain of El Lugar family restaurants, then came Don Juan’s and then any number of other little taco stands and carry- out only establishments. I really love street food, and these places represent the best of Texan and Mexican regional cuisine. On 69 just south of Lindale is Koko’s Mexican and American Grill. Koko’s is little more than a taco stand with a small sit down area indoors, and a porch for outdoor dining. While the atmosphere is not exactly fine dining, the food is really delicious and moderately priced. Located between Tyler and Lindale it lacks the urban charm one sometimes hopes for when discovering a hole in the wall restaurant or street food. But it’s all about the food at Koko’s. If you don’t mind a grabbing and going or if the people accompanying you are good sports, this is a great option.

I’m glad to see Tylerites break free from the microwave tyranny of the Jalapeno Tree, Mercado’s and On the Boarder. To my mind, these corporate giants can’t come near the quality of a place like Koko’s. My advice, next time you have out of town guests stay away from the large boring chains and hit a place like Koko’s. It’s located at 10981 US Hwy 69 S between Tyler and Lindale.

Ok, so this is a primarily a Tyler business / culture site first and foremost. And while the subject matter we discuss here tends run the gambit (and hopefully proves amusing from time to time), I have a few actual businesses to blog about today. I’ll start with a couple of new restaurants, well new to me anyway.

The first is a restaurant with a past, or at least the location has a past. I remember spending a good portion of my late teens and early to mid-twenties reading, hanging out, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes until all hours of the morning at the Denny’s on the southwest loop in Tyler. I can’t imagine that what we had to talk about was even remotely that important, but that’s what we did. Well thankfully, Denny’s is no longer there, and the walls have kept their secrets to themselves. No the entire place has undergone a face lift recently, including the menu. It’s now Athena Greek and American family Restaurant.

Athena is a locally family owned establishment that deserves to become a local staple. The food is fresh and authentic, probably prepared by an actual Greek grandmother, or at least that is how it tastes, and it’s moderately priced. This is the kind of place our city needs. While it may not be the type of regional cuisine we are used to seeing here, there’s nothing corporate about Athena. It’s all hand- made goodness. It also adds some much needed variety to our local diets. In a city that always seem to gravitate toward the latest trending chain restaurant, It’s been really encouraging to see some great locally owned culinary diversity start to settle in of late, (I apologize for my use of the word diversity. I promise to do my best to avoid using such clichés in the future). But from regional favs like Don Juan’s and Stanley’s to recent transplants like Taj Mahal’s and Athens, local family eateries are on the rise in Tyler. Athena Greek and American family Restaurant is located at 1593 West Southwest Loop 323 in Tyler.

Just a reminder; the East Texas Pump Jacks’ season has officially began, and they will play their first home game Thursday, June 4 when they play host to the Acadiana Cane Cutters in a two-game series, followed by another pair of games against the Brazos Valley Bombers Saturday and Sunday.

This year marks the first year for the Pump Jacks to play in Tyler as they spent seven years playing their home games at Driller Park in Kilgore. The league that the Pump Jacks are a part of is a college minor league that allows college students to continue to play ball while taking a break from school and their college teams.

Their home games will take place at Irwin Field on the campus of University of Texas at Tyler.

Last season, the Pump Jacks finished in fourth place out of six teams in their league, with an overall record of 24-33. The Bombers finished in first place with an overall record of 42-14. In second place were the Victoria Generals who finished with an overall record of 38-23, then the third place Cane Cutters who came away with an overall record of 31-24. Finishing below the Pump Jacks were the Texas Marshall who had a 19-37 record and the Woodlands Strykers who had an 18-41 record.

For some of us, summer is already here. For the rest of us, it’s right around the corner. In other words it’s fixing to get really, really hot. Not to mention, with the kids out of school, many of us will be in search of ways to keep them entertained and cool.

One way of killing two birds with one stone is by taking them to the Villages Resort. At the villages, you can find pretty much everything, such as a large outdoor swimming pool and water park. Those who come can take part in horseshoes, basketball, shuffleboard, tennis, mini-golf, and volleyball. The Villages also offer boating, fishing and horseback riding.

There are also fun activities and accessories for the whole family, such as an arcade, a playground, a movie theater and activity center.

I remember attending the Villages as a kid and it was always a fun event. We spent hours upon hours of the summer heat in the pool, followed by a pickup game of basketball and/or putt-putt golf, followed by more swimming to cool down again.

I’ve not been to the Villages recently but it’s not because I don’t enjoy it. In fact, I might have to end that streak this summer with a visit back to the Villages.