Gonzalez (TX) -- Dave's Parents Visit Austin (March & April 2006) -- Part Two

Dave’s Parents Visit Austin (The Visitation – Day Two, 31 March 2006)

I ate breakfast at the house so I could use up the milk and cereal (as I generally doesn’t eat them in the morning any more), instead of taking advantage of the buffet at the hotel.  The buffet was for the guests, and I didn’t feel right eating the hotel’s food when I wasn’t a guest of a guest.  I had no quibbles about using the pool as you can see, but that’s different.  The High County Flyer out of Cedar Park (to Burnet) sounded like an all-day affair, Mum & Dad wanted to save that another trip.  Mum had heard about some potentially interesting things down in Gonzalez, but I wasn’t able to find any info about it.  I still suggested that we could jet down to Gonzalez, see what’s there, and then perhaps hit Burnet in the later part of the day.  If anything, I’m sure the drive would be nice.

We took 183 towards Lockhart, and Gonzalez was far beyond that.  It was a nice drive, but the country was flat and mostly farm land.  Arriving in center of Gonzalez, it reminded me of the center of San Marcos (nice square, but really nothing around it).  At the visitors center (which was located in an old jail, no less) we discovered there were a number of historical things in Gonzalez.  The tour of the jail was really interesting.  I got to hang off the indoor gallows.  From there we did a driving tour of the various historical houses and locations in Gonzalez. The tour guide, Leon, sat shotgun as I followed directions (although the driving tour was well marked with signs).  At the conclusion of the tour, Leon recommended the Gonzalez Food Market for lunch where Mum & Dad had their first taste of Texas brisket.  I thought it wasn’t as good as Rudy’s.

After lunch, we went to a small museum in Gonzalez that actually housed the cannon that started the whole battle for Texas Independence.  The Mexicans had given the cannon to settlers in Gonzalez to help keep away Indians, and when the settlers were starting to get antsy Mexico requested its return.  The response was “Come and Take It” which was followed by a skirmish with the settlers using the cannon against the Mexicans.  As with any fish story, it gets bigger and grander with each retelling (as well as each replica).  The actual cannon was about the size of a loaf of bread.  Considering that “everything is bigger in Texas,” the cannon that started the whole thing was pretty frakking tiny.

One thing that was really interesting about the museum was the marble that was used to build the museum was covered in shell fossils.  This was not a handful or scattering of fossils, but wall-to-wall fossils.  This was kind of nice to show how the previous day Mum & Dad had learned that once Texas had been all underwater.  There was also a little amphitheater out back which I started with the “To Be or Not To Be” from Hamlet, but finished with a speech about revolution in Rome.

Since the day was warm, we went back to the center of Gonzalez to this old bar called the Long Branch Saloon that looked like it hadn’t changed in a hundred years.  The walls were peeling, the ceiling still had the Victorian tin tiles, and most of the wall hangings were circa 1920.  It had the tradition Old West-style swinging doors on the front, and a couple locals hanging out in the dank light of the bar.  There was a television that just happened to be playing the most recent Alamo movie (the one with Billy Bob Thorton), which was the town reliving its old glory to a certain degree.  Dad got to try Lone Star for the first time, which he enjoyed.

Now maybe it’s just I’m being too cynical, but I never advertise that I’m a tourist.  I certainly tried not to point out this fact in a town that was a Southern rural farm town that felt like something right out of Dukes of Hazzard (complete with a couple “good ol’ boys” and a token non-white person).  Dad got his beer for the lady tending bar, and proceeded to mention they had come down from New York.  People in Austin don’t care if you’re from New York because most people in Austin are transients; but to small Texas (and Southern) towns people from New York are “Yankees!!”  (Notice the vehemence that was said with, much in the same way Southerners say “Varmits!!”)

Much to our surprise it turned out the lady’s husband was from Cape Vincent (NY), where the cottage is.  Needless to say, there was a lot of good conversation at the bar.  The world gets smaller and smaller when you go away from home and run into people who know the small little places you know as well.

We stopped at Pioneer Village on the way out, which was a small village of buildings that had come from different points around Gonzalez.  It was interesting looking at the old buildings, but if they’d been there on the weekend there would’ve been people in garb doing reenactment or “living history.”  Pioneer Village were setting up for their opening weekend, so while they were open there was no one there but the historians and the half-dozen good behavior prisoners setting up the pavilion.  In all Gonzalez turned out to be worth the long trip southeast, and by now it was too late to trek northwest past Austin to get to Cedar Park/Burnet area.

In an effort to avoid Austin rush hour traffic, I went eastward, missed the road I was looking for, and ended up in Shiner, where we drove past the brewery.  I’d gotten a brochure for the brewery tour, but didn’t have it with me.  That would’ve been a great opportunity to stop and burn up some time before coming back to Austin.  Since I did have the MapCo book, I wasn’t at all lost.  I’d just plot a different route back to Austin.  We breezed through a number of small towns between large expanses of farmland.  It reminded me of going down Route 40 towards Troy (except without the mountains in the distance).  Mum and Dad got to say they had been to Bastrop, Elgin, and Tyler, as the route brought them into Round Rock.  Mum said she saw an ostrich at Tyler.  I didn’t see it because I was too busy making sure we got on the correct road.

Back at the hotel, it was time for dinner.  Before coming down, Dave had asked Mum if there were any particular places she wanted to eat, and I’d made some suggestions for her to try (like Rudy’s, Shardeneze Grill, County Line, or Kobe).  Mum commented that she had really liked Texas Land & Cattle, so that was the target for tonight’s dinner.  After dinner, we went back to the hotel for some additional swimming.  Like the previous night, there was no one in the pool room, so we had it all to ourselves.  As it was set to be a full day, everyone slept at a proper hour.

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