WHEN YOU DON'T REALIZE WHERE YOU ARE (Cheri)

Mark, his father, and I were driving back from Fredericksburg, Texas when the alternator on the car went out.

(Image Credit:  Mark Young)

We seemed to be quite a ways from anything, but Yelp told me that there was a highly-rated basic garage 4.5 miles ahead on the two-lane highway we were traveling, where we arrived without having to swelter in the 98° weather while awaiting a tow truck.

We landed in Stonewall, Texas, which was named after Stonewall Jackson.

This was the market across the street from the garage:

Image Credit:  https://weinheimerandson.com

Weinheimer & Sons had everything inside, from groceries and a manned deli/meat counter, to hardware, ranch clothing, and school supplies.  (I picked up ice cream!)

I texted my friend Paula that we were had been saved courtesy of a town populated by about 35 souls, but I exaggerated; Wikipedia says that 451 people live in Stonewall.

And, as it turns out, if we had walked about one mile down the highway, we would have arrived at the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site Visitor Center, i.e., the LBJ Ranch.

Image Credit:  Uncertain

You might recall that I said the temperature was HOT, plus Dad has significant heart problems, so we stayed put until Mark's brother-in-law came to pick us up.  Another day for that tour.

It truly wasn't the time for it, anyway, because most of the structures at LBJ's beloved Ranch are being rehabilitated due to structural problems.

On the way back to San Antonio, I noticed a sign for the Albert Ice House and Dance Hall, and made a note to stop when we came back to pick up Dad's car.

Southwest Texas's icehouses are legendary; they served as combination basic groceries, open-air bars, and social hubs for tiny communities.

Here are a whole bunch of articles on their history:

• Texas Farm Bureau Insurance (my favorite)
• San Antonio Current
• Texas Highways
• Southern Ice Company
• Southern Living Magazine
• Texas Monthly
• Imbibe magazine

There is even an Ice House Museum in Silsbee, Texas, and the museum has an online quilt exhibit.  (Surprise!)

Anyway, Lyndon Johnson attended school and church as a boy in Albert, which is now categorized as a "ghost town" on Wikipedia.

Image Credit:  Uncertain

The town has been bought and sold several times in the last 20 years, but it appears to be a successful social and events location now.

It was a late Friday afternoon when I was there.  A small bridal shower was enjoying themselves, and live country music was tuning up for the night.

An agricultural area behind the parking lot:

and a shed a little ways down the road:

After getting these pictures, I headed back, through Blanco, where I got this picture of a SmartCar with advertising:

and a side door to the nearby shop:

California readers may remember our similar SmartCar, with Pacific Physical Therapy advertising wrapped around it:

(Yeah, that's a random guy in the picture, taken somewhere in San Francisco.)