HISTORICAL FORT SCOTT AND LUCKENBACH, TEXAS

Friday, March 13 – We stopped at Fort Martin Scott Historic Site.

We took the self-guided tour of this pre-Civil War military outpost to learn about one of the first frontier Army forts in Texas. The fort was originally established as Camp Houston on December 5, 1848. The Fort consisted of a complex of twenty-one buildings.

Officers' Quarters

Looking through the dirty window.

One mission of the outpost was to protect settlers from the Indians.

Guardhouse

As the settlers pushed farther west, Fort Martin Scott lost its strategic significance. In 1853, Army inspectors recommended that the fort be closed. The Eighth Military Department renamed the camp in December 1849 for Major Martin Scott, who was killed at the Battle of Molino del Rey in the Mexican War in 1847.

Fort Martin Scott never fought a battle with the Indians.

Marsha loves these historic sites. There is no admission charge. They've done a pretty good job using signage to let you know what you're viewing.

Our last stop was a return visit to Luckenbach where “Everybody’s Somebody." This is our second visit to Luckenbach. Nothing has changed since 2010.

Luckenbach was established in 1849. One of the first settlers in the area was Jacob Luckenbach (1817-1911). In 1977, Bobby Emmons and Chips Moman – penned an idyllic ode to the burg—“Luckenbach Texas (Back to the Basics)”—which became a massive musical hit for Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson, bringing Luckenbach to its ultimate worldwide fame.

This picture is for our friend, Shoeless Joe.

We walked around town (only 3 buildings) for a short visit.

Post Office

Dance hall


For a tiny town, this place has lots of places to buy beverages.

Roosters are everywhere.

There is someone pickin' every day.

They were having a band tonight at 8 p.m. We considered returning for a little Texas 2-Steppin' but alas, we decided to stay comfy at home.

For the ladies…thank goodness these are gone!

There are so many other attractions to visit in Hill Country. In 2010, we did climb Enchanted Rock, visited many of the Missions, walk the town of  Boerne, toured LBJ State Park and Historic Site just to name a few. To do the area justice, a two to three week stay is needed. Put it on your list…great place to visit.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Friday, March 13 – Having seen most of the touristy stops around Fredericksburg several years ago  (Enchanted Rock, LBJ Museum & Ranch, Museum of the Pacific War, OPA's Smoked Meats, etc.), we visited a few smaller sights today.

We walked around a roadside pottery an metal shop looking at some of the crazy metal art. They did have some beautiful pottery, but we have all we can carry packed in the RV.

The Wildseed Farm is a pretty neat stopping experience.

It is a family-owned farm since 1983. John R. Thomas, Wildseed's founder and president, turned his sideline turf seeding business into a full-time wildflower farm. In addition, he developed a machine to plant the tiny seeds and another to harvest them. The new company pioneered the practice of planting wildflowers in rows on large acreage. The farm has more than 1,000 cultivated acres in Texas and over 200 acres of wildflower fields at its Hill Country. They plant, harvest and sell seed of over 100 species of wildflowers, herbs and garden variety flowers.

They have hundreds of metal sculptures. The cacti below are all metal.

They have two very nice gift shop that Marsha enjoyed strolling around.

Make this one of your stops when visiting Hill Country.

We then stopped at das Peach Haus.

We were a little disappointed with this stop. Founded in 1969 on the grounds of the Wieser family orchards, the tourist literature describes it as having developed into a premier country store. We aren't too sure of that! Pretty small and not much to see. This is the only place we did find free wine tasting though.

More about our day in tomorrow's blog.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

GERMANY MEETS HILL COUNTRY..FREDERICKSBURG

Thursday, March 7 – We made it into Fredericksburg today to walk around and checkout all the little shops.

Willkommen mean welcome.

This is the main tourist stop for Texas Hill Country. This town has a heavy mixture of German heritage with the typical Texan hospitality. The result is an inviting blend of architecture, shopping, arts and crafts, peach orchards, wildflowers (not blooming yet), historical sites, museums and live Texas music.

 

Flowers are blooming all over town.

We visited the Pioneer Memorial and Pioneer Garden.

The gentleman that worked in the Museum told us about his grandparents being one of the first to arrive in Fredericksburg. He showed us a picture of the boat they came over on.

Yes, there were Comanche Indians when they arrived in 1848. He told us tons of wonderful tails that his parents had told him and what he knew to be "the truth." He just turned 90. He took so much pride in his job.

The Gardens

There are also over 70 restaurants available. Whether you're craving traditional Texan favorites or Biergarten casual, there's a place waiting for you. And don't forget German bakeries with their sweets and breads.

Notice the difference in the color of beer. Marsha isn't a big beer drinker. She will drink beer only if it doesn't taste like beer…you figure that one out.

Biergarten

We stopped at one of those German bakeries for a German Sweet Pretzel. It's pretty much a cinnamon roll in the shape of a pretzel. Pretty good, but nothing to write home about.

Another stop was Rustlin Rob's Texas Gourmet Foods for some tasting. They sell all kinds of sauces, salsas, dips, and jellies. We walked through the store tasting dozens of products. We did find a dip we liked (one of those you mix with sour cream), so we made a small purchase.

It was a day of walking around Fredericksburg, enjoying people watching and a little window shopping. Nothing much has changed since we were here in 2010. We highly recommend a stop in historic Fredericksburg.

We did purchase a wine bottle holder. It won't hold all the wine we have purchased but will get us started on our tasting.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!