Showing posts with label Texas...San Angelo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas...San Angelo. Show all posts

Sunday, May 1, 2011

HISTORIC FORT CONCHO IN SAN ANGELO

Saturday, April 30 – We did NOTHING! Rode our bikes, took a hike, sat outside, ate Pizza Rolls and watched the Indians win! Perfect day.

This is our favorite bird. The Double-Tailed Fly Catcher. Look how long the tail is. It is so fast…amazed we got this picture.

fly-catcher-bird

Sunday, May 1 – WOW….. has the weather changed. Yesterday we had 100 degrees, and now today it is 55 with winds that could get as high as 50 mph. Crazy.

We were at the busiest Laundromat we have ever seen. People just kept coming and going. We were seated right next to the gal that works the desk and could not believe what they charge to do people’s laundry. One gentleman brought in his laundry…one basket and one carry-in pile…$67.00. He then gave her a $10 tip. She said it was so expensive because he had so many jeans. They charge by the pound. We were amazed!

We all know what a BIG fan Marsha is of the Cleveland Indians. A gentleman seated next to us noticed she had on a Cleveland Indians Spring Training t-shirt. He told us that he used to be one of the cooks from 1973-79 for the team when they did spring training in Tucson. We asked him how many autographs he got. He looked, smiled and said NONE. Marsha just about lost it. He said he never even thought about it. He was a Boston Red Sox fan. How do you like that, Ed and Linda? One of your kind.

Do you know what this is?

mistoe

It is mistletoe. It grows in the Mesquite trees in this area. Pretty neat to see it growing on the tree next to our MH.

Flashback to Friday
-  Our last visit was the
Historic Fort Concho. Founded in 1867 as a frontier outpost to protect early Texans against unfriendly Indians, it is now a National Historic Landmark. Fort Concho served as regimental headquarters for some of the most famous frontier units like the 4th and 10th Cavalry. Seventeen buildings on the fort grounds have been restored and offer a glimpse at life in early San Angelo.

We toured the Museum first. We watched a short movie about the Fort which was very informative. Marsha found some interesting items.

This quilt was made in 1897 from ties. This picture is for Marsha’s friend, Louise, who makes beautiful quilts.

2

Did you know that General George McClellan, Union Army officer during the Civil War, was responsible for the design of the military saddle. This saddle became the standard issue saddle for the US Army from 1859-1943.

10

This item is a man’s harness used for harnessing men to the tongue of the cannon when horses could not be used to maneuver in tight quarters.  It was 18 ft. in length and usually took ten men to pull one cannon or piece of equipment.

14

Constructed for the most part of native limestone, Fort Concho consisted of at least forty buildings and covered more than 1600 acres.  This is the main drill field.  See the surrounding buildings.  Notice how dry the grass is in west Texas.

24

One of the cannons.

25

Paul explains how the cannon is attached to this piece for hauling. Yes it is a bit windy! Hold on to your hat Paul.

26

Enlisted Men's Barrack - August 1869.  Each of the barracks was built for two squadrons of men.   Each squadron room was 82' long with a sally port (bathroom) between the rooms. A single company occupied each squadron room.

27

19

Behind all barracks were the company mess halls.

23

The Adjutant Officer was the administrative assistant to the commanding officer of the post.

30

The Clerk and Orderly room served as the main business and record office for the post.

34

They actually had one room dedicated to Court Martial cases.

35

The Hospital was the first and finest building to be built.

42

Looks like cleaning up cat litter.

40

The Officer’s Quarters were actually pretty nice.

44

45

The School/Chapel was the last building built. It doubled as the school during the week and place of worship on the weekend.

42-b

We had a nice visit stepping back in time. We are glad we didn’t have to live during this time.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya’ll back real soon. Have a great day!

 

Saturday, April 30, 2011

DELIGHTFUL MIXTURE OF ARTS AND CULTURE

Friday, April 29 – Drove into San Angelo today....much bigger city than I thought. Over 100,000 in population....WOW! First stop was the Visitor’s Center. A very nice visitors center, to say the least. A very nice lady volunteer steered us in the right direction, reinforcing many of our planned visits. The visitors center is part of the beautiful Concho River Walk Area.

Front
1-visitor

Back
2

For many, many years, San Angelo was known as the 'wool capital of the world' because of their huge sheep market. The nationally televised 'Miss Wool of America' pageant was broadcast live from San Angelo. Celebrities such as Johnny Carson and Art Linkletter hosted the show. The Miss Wool of America is no longer held.

In October, San Angelo celebrates…Sheeptacular. Local businesses and individuals buy bigger-than-life fiberglass sheep. Then local artists paint the bare sheep statues with original designs. The community votes for their favorite sheep. The winner is crowned 'Miss Wool.'

There are 38 sheep all around the town with at least five more to be added this October. They are really a colorful addition to the town. We only took a picture of a few of them.

Lucky Ewe
23-lucky-ewe...2007

Welcoming Ewe
21

Wool Gathering
22

“Merino” Antoinette
20-sheep

We first drove around town viewing many of the Historical Murals of San Angelo. Marsha took many pictures of these well done murals. Here are a few.

This one is for our friend Duane. It is called…what else but The Blacksmith. 13

Elmer Kelton is a six-time winner of the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. He worked for the San Angelo paper for many years. This mural is dedicated to him.
14-a 

We visited the historic Cactus Hotel. The Cactus Hotel is an historic 14-story building constructed in 1929 and was one of Conrad Hilton's first hotels. The building, which includes an impressive lobby and second floor ballroom is now home to several civic organizations, small businesses and living spaces. It stands as the tallest building in San Angelo.

16-a-inside

The Ballroom is on the second floor.
17-cactus-inside

The light fixtures were beautiful.
17a

Miss Hatties Cafe & Saloon is a gorgeous historical building. We chose not to have lunch in the beautiful restaurant.

30-miss-bardo

We even skipped having a beverage in the quaint old style bar.

36

34

They have the many of the original furnishings. Most of the table covers are original.
37

Marsha loved this lamp. Of course the beer bottles in the background are not part of the original furnishings…LOL
38

You could just imagine the gentlemen stopping in for a drink on their way to Miss Hatties Bordello several doors down the street.

Can you see why the men might want to talk with Miss Hattie? OOOO La La.
39

Eggemeyer's General Store is an unbelievable old time five and dime style store selling just about everything.
6-bregeman

It has vintage wall art to electric toy trains. They offer tasty treats of homemade fudge, jams and jellies, dip mixes, snacks and even glazed hams prepared right there in the store. We enjoyed strolling around the store.

7-inside

9

9a

We continued walking around downtown in the area called “Block One.” Its an eclectic group of shops including restaurants, antiques and unique gift items.

Another wonderful day of exploring. Be sure to stop for a few days in San Angelo. It’s a delightful mixture of arts and culture.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya’ll back real soon. Have a great day!