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| What does an Easter Island statue have to do with Stonehenge? |
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| No idea, but this guy built two of them! |
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| Got the T-shirt |
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| Luckenbach, Population 3 |
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| For a small town, the beer selection at the bar was great! |
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| The band - a rag tag group of locals |
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| Already a BC licence plate, so we didn't have to leave ours! |
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| Just passin' through on the way to the henhouse |
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| Inside the bar |
We made the short trip from our campground in Fredricksburg to check it out. Didn’t disappoint, though we were there in the off-season, so it was rather quiet and no big-name musicians were playing the day we visited. Still, live music + burger + beer + unique venue = fun afternoon.
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| Wine tasting in Fredericksburg - though none are grown in Texas |
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| Shopping for salsa and jam at Rustlin' Rob's Texas Gourmet Foods in Fredricksburg |
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| Allens Boots in Fredericksburg - the biggest cowboy boot shop I've ever seen! |
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| Armadillos are everywhere in Texas, but this is the only one we saw |
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| Wild Javelinas in our campsite at Falcon State Park |
We stayed for a couple nights at Falcon State Park, close to the Mexican border, and one of the rangers recommended we ride our bikes the 10Km or so to the Salineño Wildlife Preserve, right on the Rio Grande. We were told you can see all sorts of birds here, that you cannot see anywhere else in the USA. We arrived at the wildlife preserve, parked our bikes and sat in plastic chairs at the ‘viewing area’. In hushed tones, Bob the caretaker (retired whale biologist and birdwatcher) described all the birds we were seeing. There were hundreds in the trees, feeding form the oranges and other fruit that had been strategically placed in the trees. The sound was almost deafening, but breathtakingly beautiful.
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| Roadrunners don't look anything like the one on Bugs Bunny! |
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| That's a Cardinal |
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| And another Cardinal |
Please don’t ask me to name off all the birds we saw that day. Needless to say, it was a spectacular afternoon! (Drew did mention in our journal that we saw red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, and even an Anna’s Hummingbird, which is quite rare for that area.)
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| Standing on the bank of the Rio Grande, with Mexico on the other side |
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| Gruene Hall |
A friend told me about Gruene (pronounced Green) Hall, Texas’ oldest continually operating dance hall, and said, “You have to go!”
Originally built in 1878, Gruene Hall hasn’t changed much over the years. A few modern conveniences have been added - the bathrooms were installed in the 1970’s, and the bar has running water. Much has remained the same though, including the original wooden dance floor, which creaks when you walk on it. (I do love that sound!)
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| Inside Gruene Hall, by day |
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| Some of the musicians that have played at the hall over the years |
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| Of course there is a gift shop! |
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| What every redneck needs - patio lights made from shotgun shells! |
When my friend and her husband visited, it must have been on a Sunday afternoon, as she mentioned it was a local musician playing, and they offered line dancing lessons, or maybe it was two-stepping lessons. Anyway, I purchased tickets for what I thought would be something similar, but on a Friday night.
Boy, was I wrong.
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| The opening act - The Powell Brothers |
The headlining musician was someone called Stoney LeRue. We had no idea who he was, but we found out he’s a pretty big deal in Texas, and pretty much everywhere else in this part of the country. We realized we were in for something big when we arrived for the show and noted the tables that had been set up around the dance floor earlier in the day were now gone. The hall was empty of everything but the bar and the stage. As the opening band played, the hall began to fill up, and by the time Stoney came on stage, we had to stand on the wooden benches lining the perimeter of the dance hall just so we could see. The room was filled to its 800 capacity (and I suspect maybe more?) with screaming women in short skirts and cowboy boots, and men in baseball caps (!) and belt buckles the size of plates. I’m not sure if there’s such a thing as a country music mosh pit, but we very well may have been in one.
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| Stoney LaRue brought in quite a crowd |
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Though we had a very interesting and fun evening, I have to admit, I liked the music of the opening band, The Powell Brothers of Houston, better than Stoney LeRue! But I may have been the only one there who felt that way that night.
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| Our bike ride into the city took us along the San Antonio River |
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| Some of the lovely mansions we passed along the Mission Trail |
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In my trunk of antiquities at home, which includes my high school year book and a Beanie Baby, I have a vintage Davy Crockett comic book. My mother gave it to me years ago, though I don’t recall ever reading it. The story of Davy Crockett really did not have much significance to me growing up, though Drew has a better, albeit somewhat romantic notion of this historical legend. His memories are highly inspired by the Disney movie and song “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier”, that was popular when he was young.
Visiting The Alamo put things into a better perspective for both of us. The Battle of the Alamo in 1836 was an important moment in history, when Texas (at that time a Mexican state) sought independence from Mexico. In all, 189 Texan defenders (all men), including Davy Crockett, died during the siege at the Alamo. Despite the Texan’s defeat, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of resistance against Mexican oppression, and helped unite Texans. “Remember the Alamo!” became the rally cry for the Texan army, and motivated them to ultimately defeat the Mexicans and gain independence just six weeks later.
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| The Alamo |
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| Inside the Alamo, restoration is ongoing |
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| Graffiti dating 1848 on the walls inside! |
But San Antonio is not just about the Battle of the Alamo. The city is built around the San Antonio River, and the River Walk is 15 miles of unique riverside shops, restaurants, and historical sites. Talking a break from sightseeing, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant along the river and were serenaded by a group of three mariachi performers, as the tourist boats and ducks floated by. Although it was only January, the weather was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the scenery.
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| Bright umbrellas of the restaurants along the River Walk |
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| Colourful tour boat on the river |
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| Street musicians on the River Walk |
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| These guys were hoping for a free lunch! |
On our final day in San Antonio, we ventured just outside the city to visit Mission San José, one of the most impressive of the five Spanish colonial missions in the area. It was a cold and rainy day, so we didn’t spend as much time as I’d have liked touring the mission, but we did have the opportunity to hear the church bells ring on the hour, just as they have done since 1778.
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| The walls at the mission are almost 4' thick and made of a rock called Tufa |
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| A view of the Mission San Jose church from the playa |
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| The church was build in 1772 |
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| Communal oven in front of the living quarters |
