Texas Hill Country

This is where the Beverly Hillbillies originated from, before hitting the big time, just kidding! Having said that, it is feasible given they struck oil to make their fortune. There’s a lot of oil in Texas as y’all know, and the polluting refineries are everywhere, but not Hill Country. This part of Texas is rolling hillsides, and is a kind of gateway between the East and West of Texas. Lots of historically remote rural towns but now growing suburbia’s and retirement communities. One thing is for sure, its very ‘Cowboy’.

Primarily following hwy 90 East, we headed to the first of our Texas Hill Country towns to explore, Banderas. It was fascinating for us to see loads of election advertising roadside on the route, thankfully not Trump, but for every other imaginable person of office. Must be Texas election time but what is so odd for us is that the people elect the District Attorney, the Sheriff, the Constables, the State Representatives etc etc. All of the adverts had a political bias and we wondered about corruption and where the scrutiny comes from for fairness and independence. Yes we elect governments and local authorities but can you imagine voting for your local police chief or magistrates in Europe? The road sign “You are in Gods Country, don’t drive like you are in Hell” said it all about so many things!

Anyhow, Banderas claims to be the Cowboy Capital of Texas and to be fair, walking around, it’s a reasonable claim if shops selling Cowboy Boots and Hats are the required credentials. More appropriate would be people riding Texas Longhorn down the street… oh yeah… we saw that too! Being Texas we also saw, and this was repeated as we journeyed on, Taxidermy and Kill Processing shops. We knew we were in Texas when the guy behind the counter in a coffee shop was wearing his gun… what did he think was going to happen?! This was the first we’d seen of this but not the last. Banderas isn’t far at all from a mass school shooting tragedy in May 2022…. thank goodness we don’t have children in Europe going to school with gun fear. Signs outside saying ‘Our Teachers are Armed’ are surreal to us.

Bandera was full of great old buildings, from its early days of the 1830’s when it was a milling area (wood, flour, cloth) Very different feel to places we’d been prior. It’s robust Jail and Courthouse testimony to the old times. Bandera was a ‘camp’ originally, and in 1854 made up of 16 Polish families who came to build the dam. Bandera also, as have all the HC towns, strong German heritage, there are many ‘Haus’ references. It didn’t translate into peoples names though, Toots Mansfield and Scooter Fries being local cowboy champions we noted on a fabulous dedication statue!

The town of Boerne was less Cowboy more Gentry. Very smart, lots of fab buildings again but also antique shops so less of the charm. We are seriously trying to stay objective but when a small town has a ‘Black Rifle Coffee’ with a rifle inset into the bar, T shirts referencing terrorism and safety and several shops that are all things hunting, it is difficult not to see the messaging everywhere that guns are good for you….blah blah… On the positive, we found a great place, Flashback Funtiques, full of vintage vending machines and other Americana, at ridiculous prices. It was a lovely town to be fair, although we reckon they put vegetarians on the menu’s as could we find anything to eat…. nah… y’all not eat meat? You weirdo!

We went to Comfort, for a break… A really super hill country town with a great vibe and different to the others so far. Possibly as a result of The German Freethinkers’ who arrived there mid 1800’s. Known to be liberal, tolerant and cultured Germans who advocated for many positives (equal rights for example) they talked to reason and democracy over religious and political autocracy… if only…. Sadly, and perhaps no surprise, many lost their lives during the Civil War, for their beliefs. (Texas was Confederate during the Civil War) After an explore of Comfort we then sought out Stonehenge, yes that’s right although this is no. 2. A ‘replica’ (I use the term loosely) built as a bit of fun and donated to the town after the builders death. We can imagine the conversation between his children; right, which schmucks can we off load this onto as a bit of outdoor art….

Temperatures dropping fast, it got as warm as -3 all day we headed out in Kerrville. Again a town founded mid 1800’s and built on milling and shingle making. It was a Frenchman, Charles Schreiner who put it on the map though, moving there in 1852. He had a general store, next to a fanciful house, as it was on a wagon trade route and then got into banking, the telephone exchange, ranching (600k acres of land) etc. A bit like ‘Potter’ from Its a Wonderful Life, he had his fingers in all the pies but unlike Potter, the town thrived and boomed after the Civil War when rebuilding was happening everywhere. His department store is still there and many legacy buildings. We found a smart place to warm up too, not his legacy!

Hill Country is also known as a wine area and none more so than the town of Fredericksburg. What the prolonged negative temperatures have done for the vines though, who knows. Again of German heritage, Fredericksburg is probably the most ‘German’ of the towns we visited although what a giant chicken has to do with it..?? Flags and real German food (so they say!) at the hostelries, many buildings looked European but not specifically Germanic we felt. The old Courthouse stands proud on the main street, now the library, surrounded by numerous wine shops, tasting rooms and bars. Loved the fact that ‘Something for Men’ included knives.

Really lovely though and quite charming. Being Martin Luther King Day, many places were closed but not the Cowboy Boot shop with over 7k pairs in stock! An excuse to warm up, we enjoyed talking to the folks in there and understanding all the different styles, leathers etc. We resisted the hard sell! After exploring, finding stand out churches, Old and New St Mary’s, just because we hadn’t seen such a European one anywhere, we found ourselves in one of those bars, not many were open. We needed to warm up you’ll understand 😉 Shooting pool at the campsite was tricky after that!

Luckenbach has a population of zero peoples and 14 cats, one being Mayor… until recently it had 3 people, they just haven’t updated the stickers yet in the shop. The Trading Post opened in 1849 followed by, in 1886, the Post Office/Store/Beer shop, catering to ‘Pioneers, Farmers and Comache Indians’ passing through. In 1970 however the town was put up for sale, and was bought by a larger than life character Hondo Grouch and his pals who, with perhaps overactive imaginations, created a principality. He titled himself ‘Clown Prince’ and as you can imagine, his magical spell put it on the map. Musicians and creative folk started hanging out there, recording music in the old dance hall. Willie Nelson held a number of his “4th July Picnic’s” there and so it endures. Daily, the tiny bar hosts ‘pickers’ for tourists to listen to, there’s a Jazz Festival (there are a number of permanent stages) and of course an oversized gift shop. A fun place!

Lyndon B Johnson was born locally and unusually for US presidents is buried at his ranch at Stonewall, now part of a State Park and Historic Site. A really fascinating place to explore, see his early boyhood home and The Texas White House where he escaped to and apparently conducted 25% of his presidential duties from, becoming President after JFK was assassinated. Finding out about the man there and also at Johnson City, which has a fabulously informative visitor centre, gave us some real insight. Criticised by many Americans as a result of The Vietnam War (inherited from JFK) is a shame in a way, as he actually spearheaded legislation on Civil rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and many other landscape transforming amendments, many for social and societal improvements and security. We read that Civil unrest stoked by the Republican party inciting lawlessness, at the same time as white Democratic voters shifting to the Republican ‘law and order’ stance, was his downfall (with the prolonged Vietnam War). Does it sound like history is repeating itself? It seems a shame, as in the round, he was a pretty decent guy who wanted to do right by the people, was our take on him.

Still uber cold, we wandered Johnson City, which actually isn’t named after LBJ but Sam E Johnson Sr. In Blanco County, Johnson City became the county seat in 1879, no doubt James Polk Johnson donating 320 acres helped with the naming convention! The fab 1916 Blanco County Courthouse dominates. Willie Nelson gets everywhere in these parts! From there, a short hike to Hamilton Pool was stark in it’s contrast, the magical waterfall had frozen in the cold and we stood for an age watching melt drips and the occasional snap and fall of the icicles.

The final stop in Texas Hill Country was Wimberley. We noticed that as we got closer to Austin, the towns became more gentrified and less cowboy. Wimberley was a great example of cutesville, ‘Keep Wimberley Beautiful’ signs everywhere, they were certainly trying to, if you like twee. It was a great spot though with a river walk along The River Blanco. Not a town for its architecture and not particularly photogenic, but lots of small shops catering to homewares/antiques/junk for day trippers and retirees. They also had an outdoor Painted Cowboy Boot fetish it seemed. Not wanting to fall into that category we hot footed it rather than line danced, to Austin for big city blues and maybe some more, and different, perspectives!