The "Oh Well" Trip

 Oh Well, I Tried

Fall is in the air and what better time to get away and head for my beloved Texas Hill Country.  I know some of you laugh at our hills, because yours are so much taller than ours.  Well whoopy do, I don't care, I love my Texas Hill Country.  Three days and two nights of Heaven....or was supposed to be.

Time to hit the road and head for the Marble Falls Library Thrift Store.  Other than the Austin Creative Reuse store this is my favorite place to thrift.  If ever in the area stop in, nice people, great prices, and a wide variety of items.

I did save a lot of money, because they were closed for construction.  The photo above was off their website:  https://marblefallslibrary.org/thrift-store/  

No worries, I will return another day.

Then it was time for lunch at the Bluebonnet Cafe with one of my favorite people, my daughter.  I did not get photos from the outside because we were seated almost immediately, but here's a couple from inside.

The kitchen is open for all to see.

Good marketing, you have to pass the pies to get to your table.  (try the German Chocolate!!)

Established 1939

God's gift to me, I could hear the angels singing with every bite:  Chicken livers and mashed potatoes with cream gravy, fried okra, and a cup of soup to go.  All washed down with fresh iced tea.  No room for that German Chocolate Pie.

But I had dessert of another kind instead.  Marble Falls is on the migration path of the Monarch butterflies and they are on the move.  Swarms of them fluttering around.  As you can tell by one of the photos, it isn't always an easy trip.

Check out his lower wing, poor baby.

After lunch I headed over to the The Falls on the Colorado Museum. 

 

Historical marker reads:  

Conrad Fuchs House

Conrad L. Fuchs, born in Germany in 1834, came to Texas in 1845 with his parents, Pastor and Mrs. Adolph Fuchs, who settled in Austin County.  The Fuchs family moved into this area of Burnet Country in 1853.  In 1861 Conrad Fuchs married Anna E. Perlitz at Black Jack Springs, in Fayette County, and soon returned to move into a log cabin on this property, which was granted to him by the state of Texas on May 15, 1862.  When Fuchs decided to join the Confederate Army he took his wife back to Fayette County and enlisted in an artillery unit.

After the Civil War he returned here and built a steam grist and saw mill on nearby Tiger Creek.  On September 2, 1872 the "Tiger Mill" Post Office was opened, and Conrad Fuchs named Postmaster.  Located on the Burnet-Willow City Road, Tiger Mill became the community center for the early settlers in this area.

In the late 1870's or early 1880's Conrad Fuchs built this house to accommodate the post office and his growing family of six children.  It was constructed of field stone in the pioneer German style, with a large central hall, shingled roof, and plastered interior.  Mrs. Fuchs held school for area children in the home.  

After Conrad Fuchs death, February16, 1898, Mrs. Fuchs sold the property.  The home was restored in 1972-73.

website:  https://www.fallsmuseum.org/ 

I was lucky they were having a special exhibit  "A Time Before Texas".  Nice collection of artifacts throughout the history of Marble Falls.  I'm not a real big museum buff, unlike my husband who read every.....single.....placard.....on.....every.....single.....display whenever we went anywhere.  Thank goodness for gift shops and outdoor gardens.

A few of the displays that caught my interest, photos were taken at odd angles, around people, up down and backwards, but you get the gist.

  

National Cash Register

Class 900

Early 1900 model of NCR 9 drawer used at

Michel's Drugstore until it closed in 1991.

The Lacy dog breed was named after Lacy Brothers who moved to Texas in 1858, settling in Burnet County.  The Lacy breed, according to the Lacy family, is a mixture of English Shepherd,  greyhound, scent hound, and wolf (coyote).  The Lacy brothers originally developed the dogs' natural herding instincts to work the family's free roaming hogs that would be taken to market.

Texas Governor, Rick Perry, signed legislation adopting the Lacy as the Official State Dog Breed on June 18, 2015.

The Lacy Brothers
Young Ewin, Francis (Frank), John Hiram (Harry)
and George Washington Lacy, Circa 1879

Grocery shopping was a bit cheaper in 1941.  but since the average annual wage was $2,050 or thirty cents hourly I guess not too bad and maybe a bit high since you had to work almost an hour for a pound of bacon.

Once you got home from George's you literally fired up the stove and started cooking, or if early enough in the day you might do some ironing.  I still have my great grandmother's irons like this.

Time to freshen up for church or sadly it could be a funeral, and put on one of those freshly ironed dresses.  Either way it would be done in the corner of the bedroom with water heated on the wood burning stove.

Long before George's and smoothies there was another source of protein, I hope that a family was fed, whether two legged or four legged.

But enough of the past, we have the present to enjoy and what better way than with a cold glass of cider from the Round Mountain Cider Mill

or not....

Due to construction from what seemed like from Alaska to the Florida Keys on 281 the entrance was closed to the cider mill.  Well that got put on the list with the library thrift shop to try again.  Oh well off to the distillery for a sippy sip or two.

or not.....

No construction, but it was Monday and many retailers in the Texas hill country close on Mondays.  I assume that was the case here.  On the list it went.

Since that wasn't happening, I pulled from Tuesday's list and headed to Dead Man's Hole.  It certainly wouldn't be closed (I hoped) but I did have to drive back through all that construction to get there.  

From the Historical Marker

Entomologist Ferdinand Lueders made the earliest recorded discovery of this cave in 1821.  Notorious in the Civil War era, the hole is believed to have been the dumping ground for up to 17 bodies, including those of pro-Union Judge John R. Scott and settler Adolph Hoppe, several reconstruction-era county government officials, and Ben McKeever, who had a conflict with local freedmen.  An oak tree which once stood over the cave was said to have rope marks caused by hangings.  Powerful gases prevented thorough exploration of the site until 1951.  The hole was platted in 1968 by the Texas Speleological Society and was found to be 155 feet deep and 50 feet long.

Just another hole in the ground....or is it?

Only so much time you can spend looking at hole so I called the hostess of the cabin to see if I could check in a little early.  Thankfully it was no problem so I headed to the Salty Dog Ranch to settle in.

This is my idea of beautiful - I do love me some rural Texas.

Not sure if this was Bud or Sissy
but I fell in love.

These two never introduced themselves, just came for breakfast and trotted off.  They are welcome at my breakfast table any day.  Very polite and as you can see very handsome/beautiful.

Then there was Dune Bug who decided I was the never ending treat dispenser and if he hung around long enough I would give him every treat provided.  Not so, but he still wouldn't leave, just staring at me like that would work magic.  The many faces of Dune Bug.

I hope you have something that tastes
better than this railing.

Hey!!  I said I was hungry!

You think you are being sneaky?  I can see that 
jar of treats on the counter.  I'm going to stand
here until you open it again.

And with that the mini-vacation was over.  Unfortunately, I had to leave a day early and miss out on a couple of things that were on the list.  But I got to see the sunrise through the oaks and that made it all worthwhile.

Until the next time, listen for the whispers of the backroads, they tell a story.