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ROUTE 90 |
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| ANCIENT ROCK SHELTERS ALONG THE RIO GRANDE: To see this you have to go into Langtry and keep going
through town, such as it is, and when the road turns to caliche just look ahead. That's
Mexico over there...
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  ince this article has to end someday,
we're gonna pretend I told you all about the straight roads and endless fence lines and we
just turned right at Langtry. This is one of my favorite places and a must stop for
any tourist. Here is the most well-equipped visitor center I've ever seen. You'll find brochures on just about anyplace in Texas plus free booklets, maps etc. Also, just behind the headquarters is an impressive botanical garden displaying flora of the Southwest. This is free and open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's a great place to settle those little disputes about plant names which are bound to arise sooner or later. I'm sure most everyone is familiar with the legend of Judge Roy Bean, the Law West of the Pecos, The Jersy Lilly and such so we'll skip that too. However the old saloon still stands but some of the other structures in town haven't shared the same fate. Never-the-less they are interesting just the way they are. If you turn right at the park headquarters and go straight ahead past the dilapidated abodes from more a more prosperous era you'll get a great view into Mexico and some magnificent rock shelters just across the Rio Grande.
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Texas Hill Country Wine: Torrie de Pietra Vineyards and Winery near Fredericksburg Texas |
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I recommend dedicating at least an hour to explore Langtry and once you've done that you're good for decades to come. I was last there in 1990 and it seems exactly the same -- which, I suppose, accounts for my fondness of the place.
I'm plumb tuckered out writing this article and anyway the sun was heading for the western
horizon on our way out of Langtry. We passed by the Amistad
Reservoir which is about as blue a piece of water in Texas and the destination for
fishermen and fisherwomen in the state. It's bigger than big -- it's Texas size. Although it was late in the evening when we entered Uvalde I can't conclude this article without commenting on this place. Even during our brief drive around town at night the place was exceptional made even more so with all of the Christmas lights that seemed to adorn every building. We took in a big chunk of West Texas and one day. We saw
more than time or space allows and passed up ten times more. I left out 40 or more
pictures, nearly all of the Historical Markers, and the geological stuff which is really
interesting in this piece of the state -- but that's best left to folks who really know
what they're talking about. PAGE 1: VAN HORN TO SAN ANTONE (INTRODUCTION) |
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