We had a barbecue lunch near Ellinger, Texas. The brisket and sausage were out of this world! We were among the first 25 or so that showed up. A few minutes later there were 4 times this amount of people and T’s.
After lunch we stuffed ourselves back in the T and headed for La Grange. There were a few breakdowns, mostly minor in nature. One fellow got his '26 roadster taken back on the vulture wagon because the rear axle pinion key sheared (he thinks).
We visited one of the “Painted Churches” outside La Grange, TX. This is about 1/2 the Model T’s, they came and went for an hour or so.
This is all that remains of a ghost town called Hackberry, TX. It died around 1935. Of all the buildings in the town, only the Neuhaus family store remains. The building is about 30 ’ by 100 feet and in very good condition externally.
We spotted this gigantic device next to the railroad tracks in downtown Schullenburg in the morning on day 2, Thursday October 11, 2018. It is about 35 feet tall, and has a tank on top that might have held water. We don’t know what it is, but it is old and interesting.
Lunch on day 2 was at the Moravia dance hall. We parked across the street at another of the famous “painted churches”.
Lunch on day 2 was wonderful fried chicken, local kielbasa sausage, home made sauerkraut and all the sides that you can imagine. We were stuffed like ticks!
Day 3 was Friday, October 12 2018. We drove up to La Grange again and visited the quilt museum, military history museum, and saw the county court house. We had lunch at Las Fuentes where my plate of pork tamales smothered in chili and cheese was fabulous!
The roads outside Dubina, TX provided excellent Model T motoring. One interesting stretch of Piano Bridge Road had, of course, the Piano Bridge.
Erected in 1885, the Piano Bridge was named for the twanging sound that was made when crossing the bridge. The bridge spans the Navidad River and connects the communities of High Hill and Dubina, Texas’ first Czech community. The connection established an economic and social value to the communities that affected the quality of daily life. Piano Bridge has seen the evolution of transportation from riding horseback to the horse-drawn carriage to Model T cars to modern vehicles.
Recently, the planks of the bridge were nailed down, resulting in the twanging noise of the bridge to cease. Due to weathering and time, the bridge has slowly deteriorated and the future of the bridge is uncertain. Discussion of building a new bridge has been brought up, but local officials feel that by-passing Piano Bridge will lead to its further destruction. Local and state officials are determined to preserve the historical value and integrity of Piano Bridge.
Also see preservationtexas.org
There’s not much left of Dubina other than its painted church. We spent a while under the majestic 125 year old Live Oak trees around the church admiring each other’s cars and tour dogs.
Later we stopped at a “Meadery”. Mead is a wine made from honey; reportedly the oldest known fermented beverage. I tried it but was not a big fan.
Dinner that night was the tour banquet at Senglemann Hall in Schulenburg. It is a real old time honky tonk, complete with a fabulous Texas band. They played both kinds of music, country and western!
Here’s a sample:
country western
We went home on day 4 as it was predicted to be a very rainy day. Many thanks to the Space City T club for another fabulous T Party!
