Sunday, April 24, 2011

Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas...

I haven't posted nearly as much during the past year for various reasons. I used to take little day trips here and there, but got kind of burned out because you have to drive so dang far (that's right...I said "dang") to get anywhere, I just stopped doing it. Well, last weekend, I decided to take a little ride to Fredericksburg just because it's been a couple of years since I've been there and I felt like giving my camera a little workout. And that I did. When I got home, I was shocked to see that I had taken 222 photos in about five hours. I don't think I've even done that on Isla! (Well, maybe.) Anyway, that's why the warning. This post is a tad photo-heavy for reasons I will explain in a bit. So, I guess I'm making up for a lack in posting all at once...haha!

I always like to try new places to eat on my little trips. I haven't had pizza in a long time, so I stopped here at a place just outside of Wimberley.

And here's the pizza. It was okay...nothing outstanding. Anyway, I was checking out my map while I was eating and decided to stop by Luckenbach on the way to Fredericksburg since it was on the way.

I've been to Luckenbach a couple times before, but thought I'd swing by since it had been awhile. Apparently, a lot of other people thought the same thing because it was pretty crowded and the bikers were plentiful. Keep in mind that Luckenbach is a tiny little place out in the middle of nowhere off a rural highway. The first time I went there, I drove by the place three times before I found it.

Behind the little general store is a little stage for entertainment. These ladies were actually pretty good.

Kind of an earthy, country sound (whatever that means)...

Hats for sale...

They had several of these pretty chickens running around...

Feed lot...

You can buy pavement bricks. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can see that some of these are happy and some are sad...

I'm going to bite my tongue on this one...

Sidebar: The department at the university where I work has a transportation section in which a motorcycle safety course is offered. Since the beginning of the year, I have been in charge of registering people in this course. A few years ago, Texas started enforcing a new law in which everyone owning a motorcycle HAD to have a motorcycle endorsement on their driver's license to be street-legal...and to get this endorsement, you HAD to take this course. So we have a lot of people who are in their 50s and 60s who have been riding for 30-40 years and aren't real happy about having to take this basic course...especially to the tune of $171.00. But since I took the course last summer, I tell them it's fun and easy...and most people end up having a good time, anyway.

So now I deal with all kinds of bikers on an almost daily basis...which isn't always a good thing because I have found that some of them can be a couple french fries short of a Happy Meal...but most of them are pretty nice.

So, Luckenbach is all about bikers.

I always like to check out the bikes. There weren't too many unusual ones here. I think these "Beamer" bikes are really weird. They look more like tiny cars than a motorcycle...or like some space-age thing that could fly. Just weird.


Nice fringe on the footrests...

The "loner" bike...no passengers on this baby...

And the "ape hanger" bike. For the life of me, I don't know why anyone would want to ride one of these. Talk about uncomfortable after about ten minutes.

Here's mine. Hahaha...I kid. But this would be the size I would want...

Always fun to see where people are from...or where they've been...

Okay, so now we get to the part why this post is so long. I've been in the general store before, but never really paid attention to what they sold. This time I did, and was amazed at how many different items they had promoting Luckenbach. Keep in mind that this little store is about the size of an average living room with hundreds of people milling around through it. Meanwhile, this crazy woman is taking pictures of everything and getting in everyone's way. (Haha! That would be me!)

So, here we go.

Wine bottle corks...

Money holders...

Ornaments...

Doo-rags...

Stationery...

Thimbles...

Spoons...

Leather beer koozies...

Regular koozies...

Pocket knives...

Lighters...

Keychains...

Bottle openers key chains...

Dominoes...

Picture frames...

Beer glasses...

Iced tea set...

Mugs...

(Hmmm...an "oriental" version of Luckenbach. I think they need to stick to cowboy/Texas/western look.)

Canteens...

Metal wall "art"...

Leather pouches...

Coffee...

Coasters...

Rain measurers (which is totally ridiculous because it never rains here)...

Golf balls...

Match box holders...

Kids t-shirts...

Bibs...

Toy trucks...

Tiny guitars...

Trailer hitch covers...

Tiny ceramic boots (I don't know what you'd use these for...maybe toothpick holders?)...

Wine...

Aprons...

Tank tops...

Wine glasses...

Denim vests and jackets...

Gloves...

Seasoning and sauces...

Playing cards...

And signs...

They also had some non-Luckenbach items worth mentioning.

Texas back scratcher...

Interesting drain covers...

I thought these wine bottle corks were kind of interesting...



And a "Bubba Stik". Only in Texas...

So...pretty amazing, huh? All that stuff crammed in a very small area. I didn't buy anything, by the way.

I also decided against getting on "Ol' Bue" for a photo op...

Everything you'd ever need...right in Luckenbach, Texas. Fredericksburg will be next, so stay tuned.