Postcard from Fredericksburg, TX



Scrappy

On the way back to my hotel room, I passed something that made me turn around and go back for a closer inspection. I had found Scrappy. Scrappy is the name of the mascot for a local high school, Kerrville Tivy, whose nickname is the Antlers. The Scrappy statue was created by Brett & Tammy Prang of Incredible Metal in Kadoka, South Dakota out of car parts, motorcycle gas tanks, barbed wire, and chains. The figure of a full antlered deer, Scrappy is 16 feet tall and stands on a smashed car body. It took 18 months to make and is mounted on concrete pillars behind a limestone façade, making it 25 feet tall overall. Placed beside Hwy-16 between Fredericksburg and Kerrville and dedicated in July, 2010, its kind of hard to miss.

Sunset in Buckhorn RV Park

Late that afternoon, I spent some very enjoyable time visiting with a few old RVing friends I hadn't seen in over 10 years and meeting some new friends. Two couples and myself went to a Mexican food place for dinner and good conversation. The food was pretty good, but the conversation was better. Later, they needed to visit Wally Mart for some essentials and I went back to the hotel to catch up on email and write a blog entry.

The next morning, my friend Kim, who was going to visit Fredericksburg with me & some other friends, found himself with a work fire on his hands so he couldn't get away. His nice wife Christi decided she still wanted to go even if he couldn't so we jumped in my truck and off we went.

Originally a hotel, now the Nimitz Museum

Our first stop was the Nimitz National Museum of the Pacific War. Housed in what was originally the Nimitz Steamboat Hotel and restored to its 1890 appearance on the outside, the museum follows the history of the WWII Pacific War campaign through murals, movie clips containing actual historical footage, dioramas, photographs, and artifacts. The mission statement reads: Provide the resources and support to preserve, interpret, and advance the understanding and education of current and future generations about the historical significance and factual record of World War II in the Pacific Area of Operations within the broader context of American military history; to inspire the virtues of honor and patriotism; to preserve the memory and achievements of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz; and to honor the men and women, including their families, who have served in the armed services of the United States and its Allies; in order to promote the learning about American military heritage and affairs.

One of several crashed WWII war planes
 recovered and put on display in the museum.

It took 2 1/2 hours to tour just the main exhibits and part of the courtyard with its 2,000 commemorative plaques honoring individuals, units and ships that served in the Pacific Theater. By then we were hungry so we left the newest portion, the George H. W. Bush Gallery, for later exploration.

After walking along the main drag for a couple of blocks waiting for an eating establishment to strike our fancy, Wheelers looked pretty good and there were a lot of people inside so we joined them for lunch. We were promptly escorted to a table right by a front window where we could see folks walking along. Since I enjoy people watching, the place scored points right up front. There were a number of good looking items on the menu, none of them exactly real heart healthy except for a salad and I wasn't in the mood for another salad just then. I took a rather safe route and ordered a hamburger, no cheese with just water to drink. One of the items that really tempted me was cornbread and beans, a traditional southern meal and one I like a lot, but it came covered with cheese and jalapenos and I wasn't sure whether it would be healthy for me, not too bad for me, or, as my dear wife refers to certain food items, absolutely not! So I passed. Christi ordered the Beans and Cornbread. Aarg! That's what I really wanted! Well, when they brought out our food, I wasn't sure if I wanted that beans and cornbread meal even more or not. It was huge! As it turned out, my burger was excellent and Christi couldn't finish all of her cornbread so I helped her out with a couple of bites. Oh my yes, scrumptious! And with the very reasonable prices, Wheelers received 2 thumbs up.

After paying for lunch, we began walking and window shopping around downtown to wear off some of the food we had over-imbibed. From our somewhat limited excursion I can tell you, if you don't find something in Fredericksburg you just can't live without, then you are either flat broke or walking around with your eyes tightly closed. Although mightily tempted several times, Christi and I were both doing a good job of hanging onto our money until we wondered into Rustlin Rob's Texas Gourmet Foods. It's a food sampler's heaven. Salsa, Queso, hot sauces, jams, jellies, dips and dozens of different butters; hundreds of jars of stuff and all of them with an open sample jar with chips and crackers nearby for dipping. I was still full from Wheeler's, but I managed to find a little corner in my belly that could hold a few more bites. After jumping up and down a couple of times to pack it down and make room for just another sample or two, I chose a jar of Fredericksburg Farms' all natural and gluten free Rio Grande Black Bean Corn Salsa to bring back home to share with the Momma-woman. And a jar of Rustlin Rob's strawberry preserves. OK, yes, I also bought a jar of Green Chili Dip, but don't tell the wife cause there probably won't be any left by the time I get back home. So much yummy stuff! I also grabbed a circular with their web site advertised. I have a feeling I'll be doing a little online shopping.

Just one corner in Rustlin Rob's.

Waddling back toward the museum, I already knew I would not be joining the crowd for supper that night. I had enough food in me to last several days and was in great danger of exploding right then and there. But oh what a happy waddle! Every day of the trip, I did good on my eating healthy goal; every day except this one. It was a well deserved splurge. I'll be good tomorrow.

Along the way, we passed the house where Chester Nimitz was born on 24 February, 1885. He grew up in Fredericksburg and eventually obtained the rank of 5 Star Admiral and Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II. He graduated with honors from the Naval Academy in 1905. For the first 2 years of World War I, he served on several ships until becoming an Aid to Admiral Robison who was the commander of the Atlantic submarine forces. On September 2, 1945 Nimitz signed for the United States when Japan formally surrendered on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.  He then served as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1945 until 1947. Nimitz suffered a stroke, complicated by pneumonia, in late 1965 and died the evening of February 20, 1966. He was the United States' last surviving Fleet Admiral.

We eventually made it back to the museum and took in the part which we had not gone through earlier in the day. It was just as interesting as the morning's tour. By the time we made it back out to the outdoor courtyard and started looking at the plaques we had skipped earlier, it was getting really hot and about time to head home so off we went back to Kerrville.

Shopping in Fredericksburg, Texas

Chester Nimitz was born here.

Fredericksburg is definitely worth 2 or 3 days of visiting. Nice, clean, friendly folks, and lots of things to see and do.




(Please click here to read the first post of this series.)

Postcard From God's Country



She ran right in front of my truck and jumped 
the ditch by the road.

After leaving Cherry Mountain School, a little ways down the "found a nugget" road was another little road that called to me. I still had a few hours before meeting with my old RV friends that evening so I answered the call. No more specific nuggets were found, but I drove down this little country road for 45 minutes and never did see another car or person - a nugget in and of itself. I did see deer - lots of deer. I saw enough deer it seemed for all God's children to each have one of their very own.

Quiet, peaceful family cemetery out in
God's country.

I saw several small, family cemeteries, a handful of headstones fenced in, out in the fields of cactus and mesquite trees. Old timers deeply connected to their land who didn't want to leave it even in death. In my opinion, they chose wise - eternity in God's country.

And as I drove back in the general direction of Kerrville and traffic and McDonalds and Starbucks and my Hampton Inn upgraded room with a couch and a great view of the overly bright "Welcome To Kerrville" sign, I saw lots and lots of God's country.

Texas Hill Country vista.

After I hit the lottery or convince a million nice folks to pay me $1 each to read my musings, this is where you will find me; a nice little 100 acre ranchette on a hill with a little cabin right in the middle of it. And when my days are over, look for a memorial headstone inside a little fence that marks where my ashes were spread and know I'm a happy camper spending eternity in God's country.



(Please click here to read the first post of this series.)



Postcard From Cherry Mountain School

After my visit to Cherry Spring, I went sightseeing with no destination in mind, no route chosen, no real time limit, just drive around until I see a road and think, huh, I wonder what's down there? You might be surprised at some of the interesting things you run across doing this. A good friend calls these delightful unexpected encounters "road nuggets." I like road nuggets.

Blue flowers, but not Bluebonnets

Between Cherry Spring and Fredericksburg, I came across a road that was signed Cherry Mountain Loop. I wondered what's down there and lo and behold, I found a nugget! The first thing I ran across was some wild flowers, one of the few patches I had seen and the biggest field of them by far. They weren't bluebonnets, but they were pretty. A bit further along and there were more flowers of a different sort. I'm not a certified Master Gardener, but the Momma-woman is. I took a picture of these flowers, sent them to her for identification and she called them "mean weeds with pretty flowers." I really appreciated her keen insight.

Mean weeds with pretty flowers

Another 100 yards down the road and someone had 3 Texas Longhorns in a large fenced pasture. No, not the human kind like me and my fellow University of Texas graduates, the cow kind. But it was several hundred more yards down the road and around a curve where the unexpected nugget popped up - an old school complex right smack in the middle of nowhere.

I spent the next hour walking around looking and thinking about the kids and teachers who had spent some of their lives here. I sat for a while under a shade-giving tree and heard the sounds of children playing, chasing each other in games of tag and leap-frog and wondered if any of the boys had tried to put a frog down the back of a little girl's dress. The whole time I was there, I was alone with my thoughts. No car, no farm truck passed by on the little black-top road. A few birds chirped, a couple of grasshoppers jumped and some wasps flew around their nest under the building's eaves; these were the only things that disturbed the perfect silence. In the middle of a hot summer's day in rural Texas, I heard peace.

Texas Longhorn

After getting back to my room that evening, I did some research and found the history of what I stumbled onto. In 1883, ten students enrolled for classes in their new school at Cherry Mountain. The first school building was a log cabin to which a room constructed of limestone was later added. Teachers lived on the property in the loft or with close neighbors. When the school first started, drinking water was obtained from a residence located about 250 yards from the school. Later, a well was drilled on the school property. At first children drank water from a bucket using a single dipper, then students brought their own cups that were kept in their desks. A second building was constructed in 1926. Otto Thiele donated 1 1/2 acres for this new school and J.F. Oehler was the first teacher. Enrollment in the first year was 39 students, with 36 in attendance the second year.



Newest structure built in 1926

The first school started with five grades; later two more grades were added and eventually the eighth grade was added. In 1927-28, the ninth grade was also taught. Night school for eighth and ninth grades was added in 1931-33. Reinhold Weber was the teacher at the time. The school eventually consolidated with Fredericksburg and closed  in 1949.  

Today, the buildings are owned by the Cherry Mountain Community Club and are used for meetings, weddings, reunions and special parties.

Original unisex bathroom

It's been a long time since classes were held and the kids who actually went to school here have all grown old and few are left, but on certain days, if you stop and listen, really listen, the laughter of children can still be heard.



(Please click here to read the first post in this series.)