Ever since Brandon became a photog and started shooting with me, he always said “I wanna go shoot the Baker.” Baker this and Baker that. I’m all, yeah yeah yeah one day when we get a chance. If you’re not familiar with the old Baker Hotel, well feast your eyes on this amazing beauty. If you happen to be driving through Mineral Wells and you’ve never been there before – all the sudden you’ll see this fabulous building just sticking out of the skyline of this itty bitty and (sadly) kinda empty town.

Ok, it’s not EMPTY – my mom’s absolute favorite scrapbook store, Cat’s Creations Scrapbooks, is there. They have some resturants and that’s where my dad has his airplanes. But really there are so many old houses built in the day of the Baker – and other stores that are just empty. You see, Mineral Wells apparently has this special water. The water has healing properties. People flocked to Mineral Wells as a vacation spot. The Baker Hotel was a luxurious hotel for the rich and famous. Yes, the rich and famous of the day came to Mineral Wells! Well anyway, this is the story on the baker. If you want to know more just google it.

Well we finally hopped in the van with my mom and jetted off to the Baker for a fun photo shoot. The current owner has it up for sale and won’t do anything with it (or can’t) and vandals really went to town so the city has really boarded it up. We didn’t attempt to crawl inside, as my mom was already fit to be tied that we walked on the property (thanks to a giant whole in the fence) and all around the pool. Brandon was the first to break the law. He took off (how can we stop him?) and jumped down in the pool.  While my mom frets I’m all, “I’m following him!” to which I say, “hey mom, live it up.” and sooner or later, she’s there too. :)

We were the only people there at first. By the time we were done taking hoards of photos – other travelers had shown up (no not the gypsy kind) they were checking out the place, snapping shots, and just standing in awe. Because really, if you take the time to drive out to a sleepy little town and you actually pull over and stop and get out… you’ll find yourself standing in front of this building in awe. It’s amazing. Enjoy these images!