Wichita Falls to Brownsville on U.S. 281

Rare books, blueberry pie, a faith healer's shrine—and one deep hole.

by Katy Vine

May 2002

(Page 2 of 2)

Overall, I can report that there is fabulous home cooking to be eaten in the Hill Country, notably at the Bluebonnet Café in Marble Falls (where the lemon-meringue pies are as big as a woman's hat), the Hill Country Cupboard in Johnson City, and the Blanco Bowling Club and Café; in Blanco. The sign at the Cupboard that read "World's Best Chicken-Fried Steak, Nearly Three Dozen Sold" drew me inside, where a Wranglers-wearing singer led a roomful of locals in "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and "Brown Eyed Girl" as I ate what was indeed one of the world's best chicken-fried steaks. On the Blanco square, whose antiques stores evidenced an economic upturn, I asked a shopkeeper about other places I could eat. I wasn't quite ready to eat health food yet, though that was an option, so I picked the Bowling Club and ate my blueberry pie surrounded by pipe-smoking men and the comforting thunder of nine-pin bowling—still vital and serious recreation in this community.

As the Hill Country gave way to San Antonio, I passed Brackenridge Park, with its huge Japanese garden; the Liberty Bar, a popular restaurant that leans so dramatically it looks as if it might collapse; and the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The last, in my opinion, is one of the most underappreciated attractions in San Antonio. A friend frequently reminds me of the time we watched a gorgeous teenage bride-to-be at Mission San José; pull up her gown and run with confidence across the grass and into the church, where at least three rows of bridesmaids in purple dresses stood at attention.

From San Antonio through the Rio Grande Valley—fruit-stand country—I noticed that the locals were friendlier than they had been on the north end of the road, where folks had been clipped and private in their conversation. On the southern outskirts of San Antonio at La Cabaña Mexican Restaurant, for instance, I was approached by a woman in her seventies dressed as if she had just left a Sunday church service. Having overheard my conversation about 281 with my waitress, she told me proudly, "I'm from this road. What would you like to know?" Like a lot of people I ran into, she had never drifted far from 281's gravitational force. Down the road in George West, I met another woman who was "from 281" and who explained, "People in George West are more philosophical and laid-back than the people just north of here in Three Rivers. Three Rivers people are a little more aggressive, a little wild. The women divorce and remarry and get jobs. They're different up there. They don't have as much money, and they've fallen on hard times because of flooding, while we in George West profited from newfound uranium. Maybe that changes things."

As I drove farther south, I also watched the complexion and flavor of the state slowly begin to change—hearing a different Texas on the radio and in the local accents. A fifth-generation Hispanic Texan pointed out the three-year-old Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Museum in Alice, the Birthplace of Tejano, which proudly exhibited items from Narciso Martinez (the Father of Conjunto) and Beto Villa (the Father of the Orquesta Tejana). Of course, the tastes changed as well. While fast-food chains dominate the streets in the bigger cities in the Valley, I found particularly fresh Mexican fare at Chentes Restaurant in Alice and farther down the line at La Casa del Taco in McAllen.

With only RVs to block my view on the flat stretch to Falfurrias, I got a little carried away with my speed and was ticketed for going fifteen miles an hour over the limit. According to the trooper who handed me my fine, getting pulled over is a frequent experience in these parts. Perhaps appropriately, my next stop was Falfurria's famous Don Pedrito Shrine, named for the area's popular faith healer. The milagros and prayers lining the interior of the small concrete building offer much about the local Catholics' worries: "Don Pedrito, I'm asking for your help. I've been struggling to get a job to help my family—" and "Please keep my family with my dad who drinks a lot. Please make him stop and be a better husband. He treats my mother cruelly." Buttons of football players were tacked next to family photographs, drivers' licenses, and business cards. One read, "Crewleader. Onions."

Down where the landscape turned from scrub ranchland into stretches of yawning green farmland pinned down by fluttering palm trees, the winter Texans were out in abundance. I spotted a few near McAllen at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Though the refuge's tour had already left, Trail A allowed me a sweet-smelling stroll through dense Spanish moss and views of the Altamira oriole, the long-toed jacana, the least grebe (smallest of all grebes), and many binocular-bearing senior citizens wearing ball caps emblazoned with sayings like "Whatever."

Now six hundred­some miles from the Windthorst General Store and its spartan displays of necessities, I slowly wound my way to the car-clogged end of the road in Brownsville, where the highway dived straight into the bustling downtown. A young boy wearing a cowboy hat and belt buckle held onto his grandma's hand, and teenage girls in tight pants sipped soda through straws as they walked along the busy street, which bore signs for Nueva York Trading Company, El Toro Sporting Goods, and El Gran Mercado. And then, before I knew it, the international bridge was on my right, allowing a teenage couple feeding each other ice cream to go farther than 281 allowed. There, the highway stopped, made a pin curve, and turned me back to the long road north.

Directory:

Blanco Bowling Club and Café, 310 Fourth, Blanco; 830-833-4416; no credit cards

Bluebonnet Café, 211 US 281, Marble Falls; 830-693-2344; brunch only on Sun

Booked Up, 216 S Center, Archer City; 940-574-2511; closed Sun

Chentes Restaurant, 107 Cecilia, Alice; 361-668-9781; closed Sun

Don Pedrito Shrine, east of US 281 on FM 1418, Falfurrias; 361-325-2224

Hill Country Cupboard, US 281 at US 290, Johnson City; 830-868-4625; dinner only, closed Sun

Historic Moses Hughes Ranch Bed and Breakfast, 7075 FM 580 West, Lampasas; 512-556-5923; rooms $80 to $100

Homestead Guesthouse, 1200 Bulverde, Bulverde; 866-336-3809; rooms $125

La Cabaña Mexican Restaurant, 23425 US 281 South, San Antonio; 210-626-2726; dinner only Thur and Fri, closed Mon through Wed

La Casa del Taco, 1100 Houston, McAllen; 956-971-8110

Lazy T's BBQ, 901 S Rice, Hamilton; 254-386-4466; closed Mon; no credit cards

Liberty Bar, 328 E Josephine, San Antonio; 210-227-1187

Lonesome Dove Inn, 225 W Main, Archer City; 940-574-2700; from $65 for a single room to $150 for a suite; no credit cards

Longhorn Cavern State Park, 6 miles west of US 281 on Park Road 4, Burnet; 512-756-4680; tours daily at 11, 1, and 3; $8, children 6 to 12 $4.50, 5 and under free

Luke Jones Music Hall, FM 581 at US 281, Adamsville; 512-768-9990; open second and fourth Sat of each month

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Stonewall; 14 miles west of Johnson City on US 290; 830-644-2252; tours daily from 10 to 4; $3

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, San Antonio; from downtown go south on St Mary's to Mission Rd; 210-932-1001

Royal Theater, 109 E Main, Archer City; 940-574-2489 or toll-free 877-729-7692

St. Mary's Grotto, S Church and US 281, Windthorst

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, on US 281 just east of FM 907, 7 miles east of Hidalgo; 956-787-3079; $3 per vehicle

Specht's Store, Restaurant, and Saloon, 122 W Specht, San Antonio; 830-980-7121; brunch only on Sun

Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame Museum, 213 N Wright, Alice; 361-664-8000; closed Sun through Tues

Windthorst General Store, FM 174 and US 281, Windthorst; 940-423-6205

Pages: 1 2