Fredricksburg, TX (& my biggest surprise yet to come!)

Before I tell you anything about Fredericksburg, TX – I have to set the stage.

I knew that Luckenbach, TX was on our way to Fredricksburg but we wanted to get to Fredricksburg first. Going to Luckenbach, TX has been on my bucket list FOREVER! I mean, the town has a major country song written about! I thought it had to be a place like Winslow, AR, right? There was a song written about Winslow! I was so excited – today would be the day I’d get to visit Luckenbach, TX!

We make our way through gorgeous Texas Hill Country going to Fredericksburg. We stumbled upon this little produce, meat, cheese market and of course I had to go in. Wonderful sandwiches! Here’s their FB page! Fresh Pickings If you ever find yourself at the intersection of Hwy 290 and TX FM 1376 – find them!!

We got on into Fredericksburg, TX and we went to the Pioneer Museum. The part we found most interesting is that the settlers we’d read about at Magnolia Beach, TX and Indianola, TX were actually the ones that migrated here to call home in the late 1800’s. So, the trip that took us 2.5 hours to get here took them 16 days! Those were determined people!

Here’s a look around at Fredericksburg. There are lots of shops, the museum, the Nimitz Museum (a lot of info on General Nimitz here) and some very interesting architecture.

For me, I get much more out of seeing a place by diving into the history and very local things. I don’t care for the touristy shops or even the breweries. There seems to be a brewery on every corner nowadays. But, hey that’s just me.

I love looking at the landscape they looked at 200 years ago – and wonder – how’d they get here, what was the first thing they did, how’d they survive, what did they live in, were there schools, how’d they get supplies. And the list goes on my wondering list.

Here’s a glimpse in Fredericksburg, TX – and answers to some of those questions I always have. Remember these German immigrants made a 16-weeks ship (think Pirates of the Caribbean ship – not Carnival Cruise Line) to a promised land that looked just like the pictures I posted of Magnolia Beach, TX) Where they landed was only 5 miles further south from where we stayed. Needless to say there is nothing out there!

The Welcome Center. $7 per person. My husband is a Veteran so he got in for $3.50 and $7 for me.

In the Welcome Center you’ll be given a map of the property. It’s a walking tour but it’s only about 1/2 mile in total. Very easy and level. As you walk into the various buildings an audio recording will begin (in each building on a loud speaker) and you’ll hear about the space your in. Really cool tour. Took us about 1 1/2 hours.

So this community was set-up with everything they needed to support life.

There were cottages and a couple houses, a barber and hot bath place all-in-one, a general store, a barn, a blacksmith shop, gardens, and church.

The museum was not all inclusive to the community – some of the structures had been moved there but only a couple. Some of the structures were on the original land. How cool is that?

The General Store was run out of the front room of a house. The owners lived in the back rooms.

This kitchen was in the most developed house in the community. This fireplace served as the stove, oven, water heater, house heat, and laundry (for hot water).

In the barn/workshop was the largest wood planer I’ve ever seen. This thing had to have been at least 10′ long. I can’t image how they got this function. Did it take a lot of people as it only has one handle in the middle. Pretty crazy.

The next three pictures are of the Barber Shop/Bath House. As we toured around and walked in this building – I just wondered…. if someone was in the bath were there also patrons in the chairs? A little multi-tasking? I don’t know the answer to that. And then I noticed Creepy Fella but then all the original furniture and tools of the trade and time.

And from this picture – you can see more of the German influence as that was the language they were taught in school. Trapper served in the Army in Germany so he was giving me a little pronunciation lesson while we were here!

The chalk board spells out the basics – How are you? Then responses to basic questions and the days of the week.

As crazy as it sounds, one of the most interesting things I saw in Fredericksburg was this fencing machine dated 1883.

You can’t really see it in this only photo I took, but to the left are about 10 strands of field wire – in the middle it goes through some mechanics and on the far right it comes out as perfectly designed diamond shape field fencing. For this machinery to exists back in 1883 – just blew me away!

While your here you can visit the Nimitz Museum and the 6 acre National Museum of the Pacific War.

Now let’s get out of here and go see Luckenbach, TX!!!!!