Luckenbach, Texas the little place made famous by a country songApril 15, 2007. We parked our motorhome at Lady Bird Johnson City Park 3-miles south of Fredericksburg on SR-16; $20 FHU including cable with paved sites. We tend to like Lady Bird Johnson City Park when we are in Fredericksburg because the RV-sites are situated under the canopy of mature pecan trees but there are several more that are good as well. The Fredericksburg RV-Park on Highway street is another good park but it cost more and doesn't have mature trees that provide shade. Luckenbach is only a few buildings 10-miles southeast of Fredericksburg. Located on a small loop of paved road off RR-1376 the small cluster of buildings have withstood the raveges of weather and time without any noticable help in decades. Explaining Luckenbach is difficult since it is something different to each individual that visits. The facilities consist of a dance hall, a place for food (appropriately called the feed lot) and the old post office that is now a store and beer joint combined. Outside restrooms and a few out buildings make up what attracts people to Luckenbach. A few houses, probably less than 5, are scattered around the loop. One of these house is a historic residence. The other residences are not noteworthy. The outside parking area: Much of the ambience at Luckenbach is the outside parking area, especially for the motorcycle crowd. Parking nearest the store is more or less reserved --if only by tradition, for motorcycles. Weekends in the Hill Country of Texas is motorcycle cruising time. Hundreds of motorcycles cruise through the areas roads. Luckenbach is a mandatory stop on any motorcycle outing. It might be that all motor cycle outings require at least two stops at Luckenbach. For the most part motorcycle riders stop by for a cool one then head out again within 30-minutes. Most of the motorcycle crowd socializes in this area where they can inspect each others cycles and attire. Motorcycle parking at Luckenbach, Texas
Motorcycle parking at Luckenbach, Texas
This old pecan tree is one of the motorcycle gathering areas. The scenery under this old tree is continuously changing as groups gather and roar off only to be replaced by new groups.
Motorcycle parking at Luckenbach, Texas
These Bikers are hanging out under the old pecan tree in front of the old post office and store.
Motorcycle parking at Luckenbach, Texas
These bikers are hanging out under the oaks near the Dance Hall, while a constant flow of vehicles pass by on the road separating the two spots. Motorcycles come in different pods. I don't know that I can classify all the different genre represented but the Harley owners like to let everyone hear the distinctive deep growl of their Harley. I think they compete to see who's hog has the deepest growl or possibly the loudest growl. One of the other genre are the bikes where riders have their rear end higher than their heads when moving down the highway. Biker attire seems to be as important the bike. Black leather is a must and the more of it the better.
Luckenbach Bikes
Another tree and even more bikes. Many bikers like to park under the oak trees near the Dance Hall.
Luckenbach Dance Hall
The Luckenbach Dance Hall is a large structure. Most of the time this building is unused but it is used for big weddings and occasional dances where name entertainment performs. If you are around Fredericksburg you should check to see if special entertainment is scheduled for the Luckenbach Dance Hall.
Luckenbach, Texas Dance Hall
Luckenbach, Texas Dance Hall
That is the dance hall on the left. During the hot summer the sides open up and air flows through the building.
Old Post Office ------ now the Luckenbach store & beer joint. This is "THE" building that epitomizes Luckenbach. However, the building is just the location. Much of the attraction revolves around the musicians that gather out back of this building to jam. Joyce Hendrix Luckenbach, Texas
Joyce is standing in front of the old Luckenbach Post Office that now serves as the Luckenbach store and beer joint. The couple seem to be enjoying the parade of motorcycles.
Old Luckenbach postoffice, store and beer joint
This is the north side of the store/old Post Office during an unusual quiet moment. At times 100 or more people would be in this picture. The road (Luckenbach Loop) that passes through Luckenbach is between where we are taking this picture and the old Luckenbach Post Office. The open door on the side leads to the beer and soft drink sales area and were the music crowd hangs in inclimate weather. We were crowded in that tiny place Saturday night when upwards of 8 to 10 musicians were performing. It was very crowded but the music was great, especially one Mexican fellow with a "squeeze box" aka an accordian. His accordian was a great addition to the fiddle, mandalin, and acoustic guitars. One time during his turn he sang a song part in Mexican and part in English. Everyone, except us, knew the words ------ both the Mexican and the English words and the whole place sang along with him. He was a crowd favorite on this evening.
Luckenbach memorabelia shop
Joyce took these pictures in the Luckenbach Store. It ain't nothing fancy just memorabelia.
Luckenbach memorabelia shop
The outside jam session area:
The outside jam area is located behind the Luckenbach store and juke joint. Joyce Hendrix listening to perfromers at Luckenbach
A crowd listening to performers. Note that this crowd is NOT the biker crowd that is mostly hanging out near their bikes. This is mostly an eclectic bunch of old geezers and much younger college kids.
Luckenbach, Texas crowd
Geezers and college kids enjoying music in back of the Luckenbach store.
Luckenbach, Texas
This picture was taken from the outside performance area looking across the street to the Dance Hall and feed lot
Luckenbach, Texas performers
Two of the performers entertaining on this day are featured in the picture on the right.
Performers just show up. That is part of the ambience. No one knows who might show up. Performers take turns. There may be 6 to 10 musicians, each with their own instruments. Most sing but some just play. The performers take turns deciding which song to play and usually the one choosing is the singer while the remainder join in and accompany. Some performers just sing like the girl you see in the picture above. On Saturday night it was cold and everyone was huddled on the inside around a large pot bellied stove listening to a large group of performers. One of the performers was a latino with a "squeeze-box" Texas slang for a small accordian. A 20-something female had a fiddle while another a mandolin. Acoustic guitars are common. The crowd got a good performance from this wide variety of perfomers and instruments. Later we saw several of these musicians as they entertained in paying gigs in restaurants and bars in Fredericksburg. After seeing these performers in the different vinues around town we realized that we had been treated to something special in Luckenbach late Saturday night. The Latino fellow with the small "squeeze-box" brought the house down when he performed. We will especially remember him.
Outdoor seating at Luckenbach
People sitting at these picnic tables are enjoying music provided by these performers.
Luckenbach, Texas
This shows the back side of the store where cool ones are dispensed. That open window in the back of the building is where most of the beverages are served. Not all beverages are beer, many people are consuming soft drinks. You will note that the people congregated around the musicians are NOT bikers. The bikers seem to huddle in the vicinity of their bikes, you can take note of this in the various pictures.
Luckenbach, Texas
The performers are huddled on the right side of that large oak tree near the center of the picture.
Luckenbach performers
Only four performers are in the performing box at this time.
Joyce Hendrix: Luckenbach, Texas
Luckenbach stools
This picture shows what performers are sitting on. Those are oak logs. This area is so dry that these logs last for years.
The historic old homestead:
Luckenbach homestead
You can read about this old house and the history of Luckenbach in the historic plaque located outside this old house.
Luckenbach out buildings:
This hat stand is only open on weekends and holidays. Joyce likes the sign.
Luckenbach Feed Lot
Needless to say this is the sign on the food building at Luckenbach.
Restrooms at Luckenbach
The building is the Luckenbach rest rooms. It may look like an outhouse but it is an almost normal restroom. Normal enough that the ladies do not grouse about it and that is a pretty good test. The people milling around are in the outside jam area enjoying the performers.
Restrooms at Luckenbach
Another picture of the restrooms during a much quieter period.
Luckenbach livestock: Luckenbach roosters
No discussion of Luckenbach would be complete without mention of their livestock. Luckenbach livestock consists of 6 to 8 chickens as far as I can determine. This rooster was making his presence known. Some of the others stayed up in the oak trees. At times they are part of the performance.
Luckenbach spelling
You just gotta love these Luckenbach signs. They constitute part of the ambience. Spelling does not appear to be a virtue in these parts, but again it is part of the ambience.
If you enjoyed this Travel Adventure you might like some of these: Texas Hill Country Fences & Gates Willow Loop Scenic Drive north of Fredericksburg Kerrville, Bandera, Hunt & Ingram; Texas Wildlife of the Texas Hill Country
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Until next time remember how good life is. Mike & Joyce Hendrix
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