Blanco is a little over an hour drive from where we live. We decided to go to the annual Blanco Lavender Festival.
Blanco was incorporated in 1853. Blanco means white and was named after the white cliffs on the nearby river. It originally was the county seat. But that changed after a few years when it was moved to Johnson City about 18 miles north. The Courthouse is huge. It has been a bank and other businesses throughout the years. The city is located in Highway 281 and is almost smack dab in the middle between Austin and San Antonio.
The area is beautiful. This is Texas Hill Country with surrounding small mountains. In the 1800’s to the early 1900’s livestock was the major commerce. They would have annual cattle drives, hog drives, and believe it or not turkey drives. You read it right, they had turkey drives. Can you imagine watching a turkey drive down the road? The hog drives consisted of a wagon full of corn. They would call the hogs and drop corn to get them to move. Cotton became a crop of choice. The city eventually had their own cotton gin.
By the way. The area did not start receiving electricity until 1939.
So back to our trip. We started late. It was my fault, I was just being lazy. By the time we left, it was over 90 outside.
Our drive was sunny and pleasant. We did not put the top down, it was to bright and hot. Our drive was winding around the hills going through Burnet, Marble Falls, Round Mountain, Johnson City, finally to Blanco. When we arrived, the place was packed. We ended up parking about four blocks away.
The first thing I noticed walking to the Courthouse Square was the width of the roads. The area was built before the automobile. The wide roads were designed to allow a horse and wagon to be able to turn around in the road. We parked in the residential area. That area all the way to the business area had wide roads.
Before we made it to the Square, Tracy just had to find out what a quilt hanging over a doorway meant. There was no sign, just a quilt flopping in the wind. We walked into a quilt supply store called the Textile Studio. This place is packed with everything you need to make a quilt. And it was very busy. I found it interesting, no signage. Obviously, it is working for them because they were very busy.
As we walked across Highway 281 all you could see was a sea of tent canopies around the Courthouse. I apologize for not providing pictures. I left my camera and cell phone at home. I felt naked all day.
As with most festivals, there was the usual knickknacks, lotions, and potions. We found original oil paintings and other handmade crafts.
About half was through we decided we were hungry. There is plenty of places to eat on the Square. We were told about the 4th Street Bistro. We didn’t see it. But we didn’t look too hard. It was hot outside. We decided on Blanco Bowling Club Café.
This place was packed. This place is also old, established in 1948. By the look of things, not much has changed since 1948. The place is clean and larger than you think. The Daily Special was pot roast, mashed potatoes, vegetable and salad. Tracy said it was quite tasty with real mashed potatoes. I had a cheeseburger with onion rings. Huge burger and hand made rings. It was a nice relaxing meal with lots of iced tea.
This place is also a bowling alley. In the back they play 9 pin bowling. Apparently, this is a German influenced type of bowling. There is a heavy German influence throughout Texas. Because there isn’t any equipment to set up the pins, they use the local kids to set the pins and return the balls. Can you imagine being the little kid?
We went back outside and walked through the rest of the booths in the Courthouse Square. Very interesting items we saw, and talked to many friendly people. Tracy did purchase a handful of Lavender from a local farm. She found out that you hang the bunch upside down to let dry. The oils remain for the fragrance. She said the Lavender will last up to five years hanging around the house.
Tracy did find a recipe for Lavender Steak. Guess what we are going to have tonight?
The east and south roads of the Square were closed for more booths. The east road had the food and beverage vendors. The most popular booth was the fresh lemonade stand. There must have been 30 people standing in line. The south road had a huge tent with the local wineries, breweries, and local merchants. When you enter, you will be surprised on how many local wineries and breweries there are. We did find some awesome beef jerky. We ended up buying four bags.
Like I aid before, it was sunny and hot outside. Six hours under the sun standing on blacktop was enough, so we decided to head towards home.
On the way out of town we saw the Buggy Barn Museum.. Unfortunately, it was closed for the day. That was disappointing! The place has a large assortment of old fashion wagons and buggies. Many were used as props in movies such as True Grit. Also, they have an Old West Studio that is rented out for movie sets, weddings and other gatherings.
While driving home we stopped at Lighthouse Hill Ranch. When we pulled into the parking lot, we were awestruck on the view. The place is located on top of a mountain and you can see for miles. We decided to not go in. We were still sweating with the A/C on.
We will be doing this run again soon. Our day did not go as planned.
We highly recommend this area. There is an over abundance of Bed & Breakfasts. There are two rivers nearby. Within 30 minutes there is plenty of place to visit. Johnson City has President LBJ’s Visitor Center. A little farther West is the Texas Whitehouse(LBJ’s Home). Wineries, Breweries, a ranch to drive through with exotic wildlife, a lake, rivers for tubing. There is a ton of stuff to do.
The net trip I promise to bring my camera.
