Fredericksburg

Saturday is sleep in day. Actually each day seems to be lately. We wanted to take a real exercise walk, so we walked to the golf course in the park. It was a rolling terrain but not as severe as the course at Lake Junaluska. We walked to the clubhouse and learned that the weekday rate for 18 and a cart is $29.50. That is not outrageous as some courses are. We walked back to the coach where I showered and vacuumed the floor since we had electricity. I went out and disconnected everything, and we left around 11:30. We drove to the Wal-Mart, parked and went to town. We went to the Fredericksburg Micro Brewery for lunch. We had a pork chop with cheese on it. The meal had a German name including schnitzel (German for pork). We then paraded the streets for a while, encountering more people than last evening. We learned from a shopkeeper that the art stores would be open tonight. ( I later learned that the information was bogus. I plan to write the chamber of commerce complaining of false advertising. There were posters all over announcing what turned out to be a non event. I had had a couple of beers with lunch but the waiter had charged me for only one, so I had to correct him and pay for the second. I was hoping it was a free refill but no such thing. I mention this because Evelyn kept steering us into the many wine tasting shops along the street. I tasted some but was already over the legal limit. It is legal to carry beer and wine on the main street of town as many tourists did. I didn’t; I just tasted. There are a surprising number of wineries in Texas. We made our way to the Nimitz museum which is closed for refurbishing but there is still a walk with many memorial plaques commemorating those who served mainly in the Pacific theater in WW II. One large plaque honored Harlon Block, one of six marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. He was from Weslaco. It was interesting to see how each president from Eisenhower through Bush 41 had served in some wartime capacity. I guess that should have been obvious, but I had never thought of that. We left there and drove east to a wildflower farm. It was decorated for fall but most of the plants were dormant since it is winter. We left there and went to the famous village (?) of Luckenbach, TX. It is a town of three buildings made famous by the man who bought it and his friend who publicized it on his radio program from New York several years ago. It was quite a thrill to be there. I jokingly asked for a city map but was informed that they could all tell visitors where to go. There was a dance hall there, and we had hoped there would be a dance there tonight. There wasn’t. There was one last week. So we left there and returned to the coach for a sandwich before dressing for the dance at the local Turner Hall. We got there early and talked with a real Mr. Luckenbach who was president of the dance club. We then danced until around 10. We met a couple from Victoria. She was a teacher and he a machinist for an oil equipment company. They were friendly but never exchanged names with us. When we left, I gave them a card in case they ever came to the Valley. We came home and went to bed before 11. We will go to church tomorrow morning before leaving for Kerrville and Bandera.