Gruene Day

Hi Blog! On Saturday, February 15th, we drove to the historic district of Gruene (pronounced "Green") located in the City of New Braunfels to meet up with our friends, Connie and Karen.  They are staying down near San Antonio, while we are camped up near Austin. Since we were so close (by Texas standards), we decided to pick a place half-way between us to meet up.

After looking at the map and checking out the tourist sites, we discovered that this past Saturday would be Market Day in Gruene.  Over 100 vendors featured handmade crafts and packaged Texas foods. We'd also have the chance to walk around at see all the buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and try out some good old German country cooking.  What's not to like - let the shopping begin! Just look at all those tents packed with goodies just waiting to be discovered.

We promised ourselves one complete pass around the tents before succumbing to the need to buy every delicious thing we tasted.  It wasn't easy, but we managed to make it around one time. However, by the end of our second pass, the shopping bags were full. We filled our bag with candied pecans, olive oil, stuffed olives, hot and spicy mustard, jelly, salsa and BBQ sauce.

All that shopping was exhausting, especially for the boys who got to carry the heavy shopping bags around. After depositing the goodies back in our trucks, we set out in search of some good grub. After consulting our handy-dandy Gruene Historic District Map, we settled on the Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar.  The restaurant was hopping.  Apparently, this is the place to have lunch when visiting Gruene. The wait was going to be 20 minutes, so here we are hanging out in the bar area enjoying a couple Texas brews.

You know what they say about time flying when you are having fun. Before long we were seated in the outside dining area soaking up the sun and tucking into some homemade chips and salsa.  You can't tell by looking at this photo, but Connie and Karen are mumbling under their breath - hurry up and take the damn photo so we can eat!

After stuffing ourselves, we had to digest a little before heading over to the famous Gruene Dance Hall. We took a stroll down to see the Guadalupe River.

The river powered the cotton gin until 1922. When the mill burned down it was replaced by a modern electric model down the road.  The economic disasters of the boll weevil and the Depression were too much for Gruene.  By the 1950s, it was virtually a ghost town.  It wasn't until 1974 that things began to pick up again.  Now, there are over 20 speciality shops located around town.  Here Kathy checks out the gargantuan wind chimes that hang outside the Dancing Bear collectible shop.

Just next door is the Grapevine in Gruene.  They have an outside garden and host local performers on the weekend.  Here is Bo Porter entertaining the crowd by offering a choice of Texas  Blues, Swing, Country, HonkyTonk, Americana, Rockabilly or Original Music. Today's crowd was definitely into the Blues - must be all that the cold winter weather.

After tapping our toes for a few beats, we could feel the pull of the Gruene Dance Hall. Built in 1876, it’s the oldest continually running hall in Texas. Since we just learned how to do the Texas Two-Step, we were eager to get out on the dance floor and show off what we learned (which wasn't much). However, the band was more interested in playing the blues, and we didn't get much of chance to strut our stuff.  We did, however, see two or three couples demonstrate how your really swing the Texas two-step!

As twilight approached, we decided to drive over to New Braunfels and check out this historic German-American town.  New Braunfels was established in 1845 by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. Prince Solms named the settlement in honor of his home of Solms-Braunfels, Germany.  Here is Karen getting a history lesson from the Prince himself. History learned that the Prince had a secret agenda. Prince Solms had planned to establish a German feudal state by secretly bringing in immigrants and placing them in military fortresses. Sounds a lot like Texas today.

The German-Americans in New Braunfels are proud of their German and Texas heritage.  They created the Historic Outdoor Art Museum to enhance the historic district while teaching and celebrating local history and heritage through art for local and visitor alike. Here is the Lindheimer mural, featuring the Father of Texas Botany.  It was painted by San Antonio mural artist, Alex Brochon. The mural was dedicated on May 21, 2001 in celebration of Lindheimer’s 200th birthday and to honor his botanical achievements with well over 50 plants bearing his name as well as starting the community’s first German newspaper, that, although in English, still exists today.

Here Kathy admires the very first mural, City of a Prince, which portrays the founding of New Braunfels and was dedicated on March 21, 1999 commemorating the arrival of the settlers in 1845. It is painted by Texas Senate honored muralist and historian Clinton Baermann.  You might have trouble spotting Kathy, but she's in the lower left corner, disguising herself as one of the settlers:

As we began our walking tour, we encountered a formally-clad Texas couple entering the convention center for a gala event.  We asked them if they knew of a good German restaurant.  The husband quickly recommend Alpine Haus and Friesenhaus. Both have great food - Alpine House being more formal, while Friesenhaus more fun.  We could immediately tell from his wife's reaction that we were not properly dressed to dine at the Alpine Haus, so Friesenhaus it was.

Besides we like fun better than formal anyway.  The Friesenhaus did not disappoint. We knew we picked the right place when we noticed the giant mural depicting large kegs of beer.  As we entered the restaurant, we learned that there would be live German music. We quickly took our seats, ordered some good German beers and got ready to enjoy some "Accordion with an Attitude" by Terry Cavanagh.  Terry was quite remarkable, in that he has an Irish name, Hispanic heritage, playing German dance hall music - which makes it easy to understand why he calls himself the "World's Most Dangerous Accordion Player."

It didn't take Terry long to get folks up and dancing.  What's not to love about the Chicken Dance or perhaps you prefer the more athletic Hat Dance.  Now all that dancing can build up a powerful appetite. Once I saw this mural outside, we knew it would be sausages for us!

The Philly girl in Kathy just could not resist the Bavarian Pretzel with sauerkraut and Oktoberfest Sausage. Our waitress, Hildegun, did her best to try and entice us with dessert, but we were stuffed.

And so ends another adventure with Connie and Karen.  Thanks guys for a great day.