Nice to meet you, Braxton!

Months ago my husband and I sat at the bar at Rail & Rye to have some drinks. Our bartender, Braxton Carnes, who then lived in Montgomery, was easy to talk to and made us feel welcome. We always enjoy a good bartender who chats with us as they’re working. David and I are both talkers over a good drink, and most times bartenders seem to have a creative honesty about them that we really enjoy. During our conversation he mentioned several things that interested me, and I went home wanting to know MORE about his story.

Fast forward several months later and he’s now the operations manager/ coordinator at the restaurant and I’m working there as a host a few hours a week during my summer break. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him further. I admire his work ethic. He’s kind and people oriented, but definitely gets down to business and runs a tight ship when he needs to!

Braxton was born in Houston, but his parents quickly moved to Montgomery in order to raise their kids in the country way of life. He recalls growing up in a happy home and going on several family vacations as a child. Some fun places he has traveled to are Cancun and Tulum, Mexico where he did some diving.

Braxton says his greatest strength is being compassionate and greatest weakness is being too nice at times. He is proud of overcoming dependency years ago. During his struggle, having to help care for his niece and nephews, the three people he is most proud of, has been motivation to do the right thing. His late brother, Bryce, has also been a motivation in his life. His hero is his mom who has been there for him through everything. She has been his rock and is the matriarch of the family.

Something interesting about his past is that he once met Vanilla Ice after performing one of his songs in a middle school talent show. Going back to school and taking online classes in business analysis is something interesting about his present life and he continues to see Rail & Rye in his future.

When asked, “Why Navasota?” Braxton says the job opportunity at Rail & Rye brought him here. He recently moved to Navasota in order to be a better employee at the restaurant and become more involved in the community. Braxton’s favorite thing about Navasota is its vibe. He loves how Navasota is progressing and growing. His favorite place in town is the creek area beside Brookshire Bros. because it’s quiet. He has even noticed a beaver home on his visits to the area. His favorite people in town are Chris and Jessica Tucker, owners of Rail & Rye. He appreciates how caring they are and enjoys learning from them.

Braxton regrets not being able to say I love you when the time was needed and being too judgemental and not very compassionate at times. Some interesting things about him are: he has a green thumb, his dream place to be is on a mountaintop in Colorado, if he could eat dinner with anyone it would be Chef Gordon Ramsay, if he won $5 million he would invest it and buy some land, on days off he enjoys gardening and sleeping, his favorite type of music is country, the last book he read was The Way of the Shepherd by Dr. Kevin Leman & Bill Pentak, and his dream job is to own a restaurant.

A few words I would use to describe him are leader, resilient, sincere, straightforward, polite, and caring.

Braxton - it is a pleasure working for you and getting to know MORE of your story. I am so glad you are our Navasota Neighbor!

The column represents the thoughts and opinions of Jennifer Ramirez. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner.

Jennifer is a lifelong resident of Navasota. She is passionate about her community and supports all things local.

Navasota Neighbor