Gruene Dance Hall.
Hill Country vineyards ready for the growing season, outside Fredericksburg.
Landa Park, New Braunfels, with tourist train.
Luckenbach, outdoor stage and sculpture.
Just a 15-minute drive southeast of Fredericksburg leads to Luckenbach, a Hill Country jewel where country music legends once performed. With its worn creaky-floored outdoor stage, beer saloon, and legendary Dance Hall shaded by 500-year-old oak trees, Luckenbach is where Texas country rocker Jerry Jeff Walker recorded an album and where Willie Nelson held his annual Fourth of July Picnics until 1999 when 13,000 fans simply overwhelmed the small hamlet. Visitors come to relax with a cold beer alongside wooden shacks emblazoned with license plates from all over the U.S. “There’s nothing like it,” says local event planner Kat Boss after a tour of the Dance Hall and old Post Office / General Store selling T-shirts, cowgirl boots and cowboy hats. “You come and you either get it and it embraces you, or you don’t. If you do get it, you’ll really enjoy it because you can feel the past musicians, music and the whole atmosphere.” Founded in 1849 by German settlers, today Luckenbach remains a magnet for musicians and concerts seven days a week and allows self-contained RVs (no water or power hook-ups) for a maximum two- night stay in the upper parking lot at $20 a night. A similar quaint village with strong Texas music roots is Gruene (pronounced green) Historic District within the New Braunfels city limit. A water tower shoots up over the riverside Gristmill Restaurant and Bar with outdoor
tables, and with Shiner Bock and Lone Star longnecks chilling in ice. Next door is the legendary 1878 Gruene Dance Hall, one of Texas’ oldest, with wooden floors and bar walls studded with photos of musicians. “People come from all over the world to visit this place,” notes bartender Brian Connor. “Artists that have come through and played here—George Strait, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson—all talked about this place once they became popular.” I drive through New Braunfels’ central Main Plaza with the corner 1859 Comal County Courthouse built in Romanesque architectural style, typical of the elaborate designs of many of the state’s county courthouses. In nearby Landa Park, the Comal River flows gently, filled with fish darting amidst grassy water plants and with ducks and birds resting on small islands. But the main draw to the area is river tubing. “It’s on the Texas bucket list of things to do,” says Molly Stillwell with Comal Tubes, a tubing rental business with shuttle service to designated Comal and Guadalupe river areas, some with fast water tube shoots. “We’re always busy in the summertime with thousands of people down there. It’s a great way to cool off and relax.” Tubers also flock to San Marcos, just 19 miles north on I-35 for tubing on the creek-like San Marcos River. And
ROAMING THE HILL COUNTRY
COAST TO COAST SUMMER MAGAZINE 2020
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