I’d been waiting to make a return
trip to San Marcos
ever since I discovered there was a Commemorative Air Force-affiliated flight
museum there, as well as classic car museum. I’d done research online to
see the museum only had about four planes (which wouldn’t take me that long to
see), and the car place didn’t sound like it was anywhere near as huge as the
one in Rosanky (which was unfortunately now closed). And there was a
place I liked to eat near the Outlet Malls, so I grabbed route 80 to bring me
directly to San Marcos .
Okay,
because the traffic greatly increased in volume as I reached the city limits
(and thus close to IH-35), I missed the road for the flight museum, where the
CAF Central Texas Wing was located. I would’ve needed to take the road
towards the municipal airport, which wasn’t marked very well. I figured I
could catch it on the way out, if there was time. It wasn’t open to many
hours on the weekend.
I was a little hungry, and considering
I hadn’t much to eat today, it made more sense to eat earlier than later.
I stopped at Centerpoint Station for a cheeseburger and a chocolate
milkshake. Because I don’t get down here very often, I consider this
place a treat. The milkshake was very thick, and it would have to thaw a
bit before I could drink the vast portion of it.
It was only a short hop down the
road to get to car museum. Located off of the same road that the
WonderWorld cave is, Dick’s Classic Garage was a smaller building than I
expected. Its literature touted that it had a Tucker, which I wonder if
it obtained from when the Rosanky museum closed. In addition to various
cars, there were also murals and old advertisements on the wall.
The cars were lined up in nice neat
rows, which made sense when you realized that each one of these are still
drivable. All were nicely washed, polished, and chrome. Of course, working for GM, I liked to note
the older styles of their vehicles. In
same manner, we’re used to brands like Oldsmobile which have been discontinued
recently, GM had other brands which have fallen by the wayside. An example of this is this 1940 LaSalle,
which was meant to “bridge the gap” between Buick and Cadillac. It was to be the “poor man’s Caddy,” and this
one only cost about $1,500 when it was released.
It’s great to find things I wasn’t
aware of, like there was an auto manufacturer in San Antonio back in the early 20th
Century. This is the last known
surviving 1919 Lone Star, made by the Lone Star Truck and Tractor Association. Advertised as “being made in Texas ,” these were all actually assembled in Virginia .
The majority of the cars here were
from the post-WW2 period, plus some that book-ended the decade on either side.
Among the ones I found interesting was a 1936 Cord Convertible (like what
western star Tom Mix died driving), the 1950 Nash Ambassador (with the
split-back front bench seat, which gave it the dubious distinction of being the
“make-out mobile” of the time), the 1954 Packard, and of course the 1948 Tucker
Torpedo.
Ever since reading the Jon Sable, Freelance series, I’ve always
thought the Studebaker was an interesting car.
Mum liked this brand because she spent a lot of time riding around with
my Grandfather and his brother Ken (many times as a young teenager she said how
she had to drive them home from the bar).
The 1951 convertible shown here has the “bullet nose” which went on to
define the Studebaker brand.
Having lived through the period
when these were new, Mum & Dad would’ve probably to have liked this.
Some of these here would’ve cars they rode in before getting their own
licenses. Seeing some of the early
muscle cars, like the 1957 Ford Thunderbird, and the 1958 Packard Hawk pictured
here, these must’ve been on the “want list” to be able to drive.
It was a nice visit, and I’m glad I
checked it out, but it lacked a lot of the early 20th Century models
which made the Central Texas Museum of Automotive History (in Rosanky) so
interesting. This is still worth checking out if you’re in the area.
A quick check of the time and map
was done to see easily I could slide over to Wimberley for a visit to the Pie
Company. I’d be rushing to get there before it closed, and that would put
me on the opposite side of town than I wanted to be on. I like to drive,
and unlimited miles on the rental aside, but I wanted to spend more time
outside of the car today than I was in it. I knew where the second-run
theatres were, and there were a couple other social stops I could do which
would round out my vacation.
It was a great week of exploring
unfamiliar areas, and seeing new sites. I was able to cross “NASA” off my
bucket list, although that is a place I would go back to. The city of Webster was a very
accommodating location, and a good base of operations. As there were a
few things in Galveston
I didn’t get to this time, and the Museum District of Houston is still
something I want to check out, I plan on coming back this way again. The principle of having my parents fly into a
different city, and me driving out to meet them, worked out very well, so we’ll
have to look at what other cities we can do that with. Depending on
what’s available that we want to see, perhaps we’ll try this with Dallas next time.
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Commemorative
Air Force: http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/
CAF Central Texas Wing: http://www.cafcentex.com/
Centerpoint
Station: http://www.centerpointstation.com/
Dick’s
Classic Garage: http://www.dicksclassicgarage.com/
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