Saturday, 17, 2018.  I have been wanting to go to Luckenbach, Tx for sometime.  Remember the song about Luchenbach?  Anyway, people from the area will tell you that Luchenbach isn’t just a little western-style town, it’s a Texas State of Mind.  Their motto is, “Everybody’s somebody in Luchenbach”. The town was originally a trading post owned and run by the Engel family. When the last Engel owner retired, he put the whole town up for sale, lock, stock, and dance hall. The place was purchased by a character named Honda Crouch and his cohorts. Honda proclaimed himself mayor and head imagineer and his friends were named Sheriff and Postmaster of the town.  It became a venue for song-picking, domino playing, and beer drinking under the 500 year old live oak trees.  The place became famous after Waylon Jennings song about Luchenbach. People still come out to sit under the big oak trees and listen to the pickers, just like we did today.  On some weekends they have dances in the big Dance Hall. If you look closely at Pops’ picture of the tree you can see a rooster way up in the branches. Dogs are welcome and several cats roam around.  We heard that Luchenbach is one of Willie Nelson’s favorite places, but we didn’t see him there today.

After Luchenbach, we drove 20 miles north to Willow City Loop.  This is a 13 mile picturesque ranch road that is famous for the bluebonnet displays in the spring.  There were no bluebonnets today, of course, but the drive was still nice. The gently rolling hills of the Hill Country change to small canyons and rugged cliffs with panoramic views.  And the boots on the fence posts added a little fun.

We finished off the day by having supper at the historic Pecan Grove Store, Icehouse and Beergarten. It is located about 5 miles north of Fredericksburg and is more of a locals place.  It was built in 1957 and serves greasy Dino Burgers and beer. Pops and I split a burger because they were huge.  Even splitting, we got our grease quota for the week!  But they were delicious and the place is really cute.