LULING, TX (Mark)

We left the Bulverde area of San Antonio after a long hug with my dad, a hug and thank you to my sister, and handshake with my brother-in-law.  Cheri had the road atlas in her lap and I had the wheel in hand and we started heading east.  After driving through Geronimo, we made our first stop:

Luling, Texas, population 5,600, is partly in Caldwell County, partly in Guadalupe County.  Founded in 1874 as a railroad town, it was an integral part of the Chisolm Trail cattle drives.  It was known as the “Toughest town in Texas.”

Across the street from the brightly painted sign was a slightly less bright advertisement:

It was very old, cut into later for some doorways that I couldn't get in-shot.  And no, I can't tell you what type of axe was being advertised.

Looking down the street along the south part of town.  I ran out of battery on my camera and forgot to get a picture of the Watermelon Thumping grounds, where the yearly festival and seed-spitting contest is held in the last full weekend of June.  You can eat, thump, and otherwise generally have fun with watermelons.

"The Luling Oil Museum is in Luling because, well, they drilled a lot of oil there.  It is the other very well-known aspect of the town.  In 1922 oil was struck and the town's industry changed from railroad, cattle, and cotton to oil.  The oil field was expanded to an area 12 miles long and three miles wide.  By 1924 15,000,000 barrels of oil was being pulled from the ground annually.

As I was wandering the town taking photographs, Cheri was inside this particular business.  Actually I was wandering around because Cheri is the navigator, and sometimes we end up in quilting destinations.

A couple of spaces away, someone had set up a display of vintage sewing machines in an empty storefront:

She also liked the confidence exhibited at this shop.  (Tough font to read, though.)

This is the second story window of a business housing an antique store.  The window ID definitely period correct for the business.

I am a sucker for old trucks, and Luling has several along the downtown area.  This one is very similar to the 1949 Chevy my younger brother has:

And a shot of the dashboard:

It looks like it has been quite a while since the Stanley Theater was projecting a movie onto the screen.  Hopefully someone will find a use for this building again.

After spending time in Luling we got back on the road.  We decided to take a two-block detour to see the town square of 4,400-person La Grange and found ourselves in front of this:

We had no idea!  Cheri had read about the Texas Quilt Museum, but made no note of where it was.  Unfortunately it was closed for the holidays.

When we visit La Grange again, we will have to visit the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center, since my mother had Czech heritage.  We won't go to the "Shack Outside La Grange," however.  (If you know the ZZ Top reference, great!  In case you don't, I'm not adding a link.)

We got back on the road, drove through the spot on the road called Old Dime Box, and ended up in College Station.  We arrived in time to beat the worst of the storm that has been lighting up the sky as I write this post.  The place we are staying is right across from Kyle Field.

The stadium holds over 102,000 people on Texas A&M Aggie game days; basically seven times the number of people that live in Pacific Grove, for you California Central Coast readers.