Destinations

DESTINATIONS

Luckenbach,Texas

A SETTLEMENT OF LESS THAN two dozen inhabitants, Luckenbach is tucked around a small clearing next to a creek in the Texas Hill Country north of San Antonio. A few houses are nestled under giant oaks; landmarks are an old barn and a weather-worn wooden building that was a U.S. post office from 1850 through 1971. But most important are the winding roads that lead to Luckenbach, making it a perfect destination for a motorcycle ride.

The Hill Country’s local ranchers were occasionally drawn to this unlikely place because of its rustic tavern and because Willie Nelson, and other country-and-western stars, sometimes gathered under the oaks to make music.

Nelson became so taken by the area’s remoteness and lack of stress that he wrote a song and named it for the town. And that song started a tourist invasion.

When souvenir-happy tourists arrived in Luckenbach, they found none of the expected attractions. After a visit to the aging, wooden-floored bar, located behind the post office building and decorated inside-and-out with thousands

of old Texas

license plates, they would leave without the usual, tacky mementos proving they had actually been to Luckenbach.

The road signs that directed visitors to Luckenbach became the documentation many tourists sought. But for proof of my visit, I don’t need stolen signs—which, by now, the Texas Road Department has given up replacing. My souvenir is the memory of my ride through the Hill Country, and of my stop in one of the most-peaceful little towns I’ve ever seen. —Ron Griewe

Information

State Department of Highways Travel and Information Division P.O. Box 5064 Austin, TX 78763-5064 800/888-8TEX