Is Real Texas Honky Tonk Heaven?
There are those of us of a certain age who would say yes.
And here is what I mean by that statement. A few days ago, we went to see Augie Meyers and the Texas Tornadoes at a Texas Honky Tonk in San Angelo known as the Stagecoach Saloon. We got to be friends with Augie and his sweet wife Sara this past January when they went with us on the Tex Mex Fandango Cruise out of Galveston all booked through…what else, Texas Cruise Company.
Augie and the rest of the gang with the Texas Tornadoes were at the Stagecoach and we got in a lot of visiting and catching up. The Texas Tornadoes are now made up of Augie, Shawn Sahm, Flaco Jiminez, and the rest of the very talented band.
But back to Texas Honky Tonks. Those of us of that certain age grew up with them in nearly every small town in Texas. Of course there are a bunch I remember from a misspent youth but they are mainly out in Real Texas (wherever you find it) with a few in old Mexico. Some of the famous ones are those like London Hall, Gruene Hall, Club 21 which recently burned down, Kendalia Halle, Sanger, Coupeland Dance Hall and Tavern, Clear Springs, Cedar Springs, Dessau Music Hall, Fischer Dance Hall, Grapetown Dance Hall, Twin Sisters Dance Hall, Boots and Saddles, The Dixie Club, The Cotton Club, and plenty more. There were some spots better than others and I remember most of the old beer joints in the little Texas towns always had a sign painted or hung on the building somewhere that said “beer and dancing”. I think most of those small town joints were mainly interested in beer. The guys I saw going into those places weren’t the most desirable dance partners.
Some of these dance halls are Real Texas institutions. Take Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar Saloon in Bandera for instance. Bandera is known far and wide as ‘The Cowboy Capital of Texas’ and there has been plenty of two steppin’ at that particular place.
Now a true Texas dance hall is not a beer joint per se. It’s there for dancin’. The parents very often didn’t have babysitters and the kids just went along. If they got tired, the momma would make ’em a pallet in the corner or along the wall and keep right on dancin’ while the kiddos slept. Last I heard, not a one was corrupted from that practice.
I have always appreciated good dancers and have seen some doozies at places such as The Broken Spoke and Billy Bob’s Texas. I have always just been a casual dancer myself, but I intend to get better since we have been going to more events promoting the Tex Mex Fandango Cruise coming up in January 2012. I do admire the really good dancers. They take something that is kinda hard and make it seem effortless.
Later on this month I’ll be at Gruene Hall listening to Jerry Jeff with friends. The last few weeks have been really hectic and my gas bill has been outrageous with a few trips back and forth on business. Get out and enjoy Texas! I’ll bet there is something going on close to you somewhere that will make life more interesting. I’ve see plenty of folks who just come in to listen to good music, watch dancers, drink bottled water and have a good time.
Do you have a favorite honky tonk near where you live?
I’m David out in Real Texas
At home sweet home for a week or so
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks David for a great article. I just posted it to my Facebook page. I’ll be adding the places listed in the article to our bucket list. My husband has never been to Bandera but my son and I have fond memories of staying at the Dixie Dude Ranch many years ago. Because my son was too young at the time, I never got a chance to visit Arkey Blue’s saloon. You can bet that we will this time!
David, You and your readers might like the following website. It is the honkey tonk list of Texas.
http://www.honkytonktx.com/dancehalls/
Lowell…thanks so much for alerting us to this website. It’s great. I’m so impressed with the number of dance halls that we have in Texas. They’ll all be going on my bucket list. I guess we’ll just call it our Honkey Tonk Tour…via RV.
Vickie,
Good luck as you change your lifestyle. We have a diesel pusher and are retired but can’t make the leap to full timing yet. Maybe someday.
Lowell
Thanks Vickie and Lowell! Great website and a great Real Texas resource. As always, we love hearing from you both……
David, Up here in the play ground of Texans. We have a small
Honky Tonk known as the NO SCUM ALLOWED SALOON, it is located in White Oaks, NM open only on Fri, Sat, and Sun. Except during special events, like this week of the AspenCash Rally. the web site is http://www.noscumallowedsaloon.com/index.html
I have great memories of honky tonks in and around San Antonio. The one that we frequented the most was Braun’s Hall. We also traveled across town and went to St. Hedwig’s. Most of my memories are somewhat clouded in that whenever I was at any of these places I seemed to be under the consumption — if you know what I mean, and I think you do! There was also Texas Star Inn which was great — it’s still there, but it’s a BBQ joint and just not the same. So you have to hold on to those memories —- if you can just remember them.
I had to laugh at that one! I do know what you mean. Last weekend I went to a Jerry Jeff concert at Gruene Hall and it reminded me of a Wurstfest many moons ago when I woke up on the golf course. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. I just wasn’t where I expected to be.