Shut down Luckenbach

I shut down Luchenbach

It’s a true statement in a roundabout sort of way.  Let me explain.

I have had the pleasure (short lived until the next morning) of staying until closing time (shutting down) two Real Texas icons.  The first was Billy Bob’s Texas many moons ago.  The second was Luckenbach just a few days ago.

Let me tell you about Billy Bob’s first.  Our bunch of revelers stayed until the bitter end and the lights were flashed at us to try and make us leave.  I really didn’t think the lights flashing were meant for me, because I was having too good of a time, and besides that, I was almost invisible.

It was the year I was president of a regional press association and the annual convention was held ‘where the west begins’ in Fort Worth.  It was in the Americana Hotel and my room had a baby grand piano in it.  Yes, it is called The Worthington Hotel now.  I think I was in a room called the Van Cliburn room, but not sure about that anymore.  Somehow I’ve lost brain cells along the way.

Billy Bob’s is a Texas icon for sure and yes it is just as big as anyone ever told you it was.  There was live bull riding inside and I was somewhat concerned about that because I have actually seen bulls jump up into the coliseum seating more than once at rodeos.  Don’t tell me a bull can’t jump out of any pen you put him in. If a bull were to jump out of a pen in that big honky tonk, he would be mobbed by about a hundred cowboys and would be cowboys just for braggin’ rights.

The dance hall at Billy Bob’s was adequate and the refreshments bountiful.  We stayed until closing time.  Actually, our group was sorta escorted out….in a nice way.

Kenny Grimes, T Gozney Thornton, KR Wood, Rob Davis, and Lynn Daniels

On July 2nd just a few days ago, we were at Luckenbach  and enjoyed the music of our friends T. Gozney Thornton and  K.R. Wood and his Gone to Texas Band.  K.R. sings a unique brand of Texas music interspersed with healthy doses of Texas History facts and tidbits.  The crowd was lively and interested and two city girls sat at our table with us and we enjoyed their company.  They got a healthy dose of our brand of b.s. and seemed to enjoy, and maybe even believe some of it.

The evening rocked along and came to an end too quickly as it usually does when you are having a good time with friendly fellow Texans.  The bartender started flashing the lights and invited us to go on home.  By the way, the bartender is a direct descendent of Davy Crockett and we sure didn’t want the Davy Crockett clan on our bad side so we started making for the cars and pickups.  It was a short drive into Fredericksbug where we stayed the night.  You can find a calendar of events of Luckenbach by clicking here. 

Pam Thornton, Joann Deanda, Janette Crothers, T Gozney Thornton, Ramona and David Werst

After tending to some errands the next day, we started home.  T. Gozney went through Mason and Menard and Ramona and I headed down I-10.  He called  and suggested we stop at Fort McKavett to check on the proprietors of Pete’s Trading Post.  I turned right off I-35 a little past Junction and he turned left off his highway and we met in the middle.  It’s a good little drive and Fort McKavett is only 26 miles off the interstate.  It’s true Real Texas country and the drought is very evident out here.

We broke the drought at Pete’s Trading Post and the owners Joann Deanda and Jannett Crouthers were there to serve up some refreshments.  They both went with us on the Texas Mex Fandango Cruise last year

So, it is a dubious claim to have shut down both Billy Bob’s and Luckenbach, but it is true….in a round a bout sort of way.  There’s always plenty to do right here in Texas, and we intend to keep on doing it…until we just can’t anymore.

I’m David out in Real Texas

Enjoying all I can in The Great State

P.S. Coming soon, another great post  in the series of How To Be Texan, Wherever You Are!  Be sure and get your free-updates-by-email of our famous Texas Tidbits.  It’s all Texas, all the time.

Tagged as: Luckenbach, Texas Humor, Texas Music