Blanco Texas…..small town (pop. 1535) that hasn’t changed a great deal since 1880 when my relatives where here. I walked the same streets and am sure I saw their footprints in some of the buildings I walked through. No architectural detail here, just simple stone structures, squares and rectangles built with the large gray stones that are abundant throughout the Hill Country. I’ve just begun to realize how young this part of our country is. The farmers and ranchers really only arrived in the early to mid 1800s. Before that it was Comanche territory. This section seems to have been settled by German immigrants and displaced southerners who migrated here after the Civil War.

For the Willie Nelson fans out there, our next stop was Luckenbach, (pop. 25). Downtown Luckenbach consists of the Post Office built in the early 1800s with a saloon in the back room and a Dance Hall. The saloon still plays host to aspiring as well as established Country Western artists. Spent a very enjoyable time among the local cowboys enjoying a jam session. This is the place where Willie and Waylon cut there teeth.