Lone Star Bar & Grill, Luckenbach TX, LBJ Ranch, Hill Country wineries…

All in 1 day! Last night was a hoot. Lone Star Bar & Grill is a Harvest Host host, meaning you can stay on their property for free but expectation is that you buy whatever they are selling. In this case, it was Lone Star beer and pulled pork tacos. Yum!! And a singer singing the old songs, the ones for slow dancing and the Texas two-step. Shades of high school memories when we would go to the dance hall at the fairgrounds: a big square building with cut-outs on the walls that flipped open for windows, booths around the sides, a stage for a band, and a nice slick wooden floor for slidin’ to the tunes. Nothing better. The Lone Star B&G was lit up with hanging lights, tables outside, a bar with cold Lone Star beer (and a few others), and a food truck dishing up the tacos, wings, frito pies, and apple fries, and a dance floor. It’s a real “Texas” place worth going to. So nostalgic of my growing up days in LaGrange, another German/Czech town not far from here.

LaGrange, New Braunfels, and Fredricksburg are all German communities in a swath south of Austin. Fredricksburg has really kept up its authentic German heritage. Good German food. A store that will custom make your boots. Homemade ice cream. A real five & dime store. Stetson hats. Western stores that smell of leather selling leather jackets with fringe like I used to wear. Beautiful live oak trees reaching far and wide, just like at home in LaGrange. A beautifully restored church that had been segregated back in the day. And….Kolaches! Had poppy seed and apricot ones. Mummm…melt in your mouth. (But..shhh…the ones in LaGrange still the best.) Did I mention the nostalgia??

Next stop was Luckenbach, TX. Played the song driving down. Only fitting. What a kick Luckenbach is. Population is 3. But from the looks of the parking lot, those 3 are overwhelmed with visitors at night when there is music in the dance hall and beer on tap.

Continuing down the road we made a pumpkin patch stop. Didn’t buy one even though they were really good looking. Just took pics.

Then a trip to LBJ ranch which is a national and state park along the Pedernales River. A restful place that was LBJ’s birthplace & Texas White House. The house he was born in is across the street from the cemetary where he was buried. There is a working homestead on the property being worked and maintained like in the early 1900’s when he was growing up. His plane is parked in its hanger. Small jet that he called Air Force One-half because the runway was too short for the real deal. Loved walking among the live oaks. My favorite tree from childhood.

We topped off the day with a private wine tasting at Kuhlman Cellars. Female owned with a female wine master who has just the right pedigree. It was superb. One of the pairings was with their herb almonds. To die for!!! Walked away with 2 bottles of wine, the goat cheese, and the almonds, of course! A full, fantastic day! Spent the night at a very nice rest stop next to a beautiful 100+ year old Luthern Church on the edge of the LBJ Ranch. Appropriate place to listen to the last debate for the 2020 election while eating more goat cheese and drinking wine.