SCHULENBURG AND PRAHA TEXAS

Sunday, December 27 – We pulled out of Rainbow's End, Livingston, TX in route to Columbus, TX. We are staying at Columbus RV Park, which is about 90 miles West of Houston. It is located in the middle of 12 quiet acres within the city limits of historic Columbus,Texas. "Quiet" because it is not on the freeway, and there are no railroad tracks nearby. Obviously, the owners have not stayed in the Park. We hear train whistles several times a day and night. We agree that the railroad tracks are not next to the Park but to say no railroad tracks is a bit misleading. Bella is having a big time here. There is a lot of wooded areas, and a trail in the woods that she just loves. The bathrooms here are so clean and very pretty.

Can you tell which on is for the men?

Cleaner than some restaurants!

The campground brochure mentions that we may see deer grazing in or around the campground.....well Bella (our cat) found some animals grazing near our Motorhome.....NOT deer but CHICKENS!!!! She certainly was ready to pounce!....ha ha ha!!!

Such a pretty little thing

Just strutting her stuff

Here is something you don’t see in Ohio. This is a new mix.



We drove to see an original saloon and dance hall in Schulenburg, TX. This was a very old town, with many historic buildings.The dance hall is called the Sengelmann Hall. Sengelmann Hall is a restored 1890’s Texas dance hall, restaurant, saloon, biergarten & Czech bakery. In the saloon and biergarten, they have 14 beers on tap, a lively menu of pre-Prohibition cocktails and a secret recipe Sengelmann Hall Punch.The saloon has a dance hall upstairs. The dancehall features live music and dancing on the original 115 year-old, long leaf pine floor every Friday and Saturday night. Dance to traditional Country, Texas Country, Western Swing, Cajun and Polka music. Unfortunately, due to the Christmas weekend there was no live band today. You know how good a polka dancer Paul is…..LOL.

Original building	Original bar….really beautiful
Dancehall upstairs	Seating area in dance hall
Original ice chest still being used.	Original staircase. Really beautiful

More pictures of Sengelmann Hall.

After a beer at Sengelmann Hall, we drove to Praha. A penniless immigrant from Czechoslovakia, Mathias Novak, settled in the area in 1854 and is credited with creating the mother colony of the many Czech settlements throughout Texas. As time passed, other Czechs immigrating from Europe joined him and the town was given the name Praha which means "Prague" in the Czech language. The town became the center of a rich agricultural area and by the 1880s had a population of seven hundred residents. Today, the Czech colony remains quiet and seemingly almost abandoned except for Sundays when worshipers come from afar to attend services in the church. Praha population is 37.  St. Mary’s Church is located in Praha. This is one of the famous painted churches. Awesome.  They are very ornate, and the ceilings are beautifully painted.  St. Mary's was built in 1895, making it one of the oldest of the painted churches. It is a large, sturdy church. The front façade of St. Mary's is of stone. There is a bust of a crucified Christ in a niche above the main entrance. The bust is painted in realistic colors. It foreshadows the bright painting and exuberant decorating that awaits inside. We were told there are about six of these churches in the area. Have to see how many we see before heading West.

Beautiful outside	Outside church
Wooden altar	Organ
Painted ceiling	Beautiful ceiling

More pictures for you to enjoy.

Thanks for visiting. Y’all come back now…..hear!?!