About this time last year, I was down in San Antonio, Texas for the Romance Writers of America national convention. I don’t attend every year, but since it was in Texas, I stole my husband away with me for a little mini-vacation. This was the first time my hubby tagged along at one of these conferences, so he and I had a lot of fun exploring in the evenings. The River Walk was gorgeous, of course, and the Alamo is a classic not to be missed, but my favorite attraction of the week was the chuck wagon dinner and wild west show we treated ourselves to at Enchanted Springs Ranch.
The Wild West lives on at the ranch with an authentic old west town on this 86-acre wor
king cattle ranch. They have a herd of longhorn cattle as well as many exotic animals. For example:
Pet alpacas named Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Wild oryx and zebras we saw on our tractor ride to the fun feathered friend strutting down main street in all his plumed glory.
The ranch boasted numerous buildings. A church with it’s own graveyard. Two saloons. A gunsmith. A dressmaker. A general store. The blacksmith. Even a Texas Ranger office filled with museum worthy exhibits.
The buildings were so much fun to explore and proved great fodder for the imagination. However, there were two true highlights of the evening for me.
The first was the singing cowboy who entertained us while we feasted on barbeque chicken, brisket, warm potato salad, and peach & blueberry cobbler.
Dressed in cowboy gear and playing guitar, our host sang the greatest cowboy songs of all time. Everything from The Streets of Laredo to Home on the Range to Happy Trails. His voice was smooth, his guitar melodic, and in between, he gave us a little history lesson regarding the origins of each song. Fabulous!
After the supper dishes had been cleared away, we all gathered around the corral for a rootin’-tootin’ wild west show in the style of Buffalo Bill Cody. The show featured Pistol Packin’ Paula. She was a tiny little thing, but she sure packed a wallop! She is an honest to goodness, two-time world champion pistol twirler. She spun those pistols around her fingers faster than a blink, in and out of the holsters, over her shoulders, around her back. Whew! It was crazy. Then she started in with the trick shooting. She even reproduced Annie Oakley’s famous, over the shoulder rifle shot with a hand mirror. Her horse Jake did tricks as well.
Overall, it was a fabulous evening. It was hot as blazes with temps in the upper ’90s but no one seemed to care. If you are ever in the San Antonio area, make the short trip to Enchanted Springs Ranch and treat yourself to the chuck wagon dinner. You’ll be glad you did!
- What is your favorite hidden vacation gem?
- Any historical-themed places you would recommend for a visit?
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What an interesting place to visit! THANKS for sharing!
Ummmm… “they have a HEARD ON longhorn cattle as well as….” (Don’t you just love spell check & auto correct!? NOT!)
Thanks for that editorial catch, MS. I went in and fixed it. That’s what I get for being in a hurry. Ha!
What fun, Karen! You’ve inspired me to try something new and different this summer instead of doing the “same old” things. Thanks!
It was a great little discovery, Lynn. I hope you find some hidden treasures this summer, too. 🙂
Loved this post, Karen. You have me yearning to see those sites and visit that ranch. Maybe I should think about visiting my brother and his family who live in San Antonio. But I think this Wisconsin girl would choose a time when the weather is cooler. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Beth! Great to see you here! Yes, the ranch was wonderful even with the heat. I bet you would enjoy it. I’m not sure if the ranch is open during the off season or not. It would definitely be worth checking out, though. 🙂
I love exploring little off-the-beaten-path places like the one you describe! I was recently in Round Top, Texas. They’ve done a fabulous job of bringing in historical buildings and placing them, intermixed with a few new buildings built with old-time flair, in a semi-circle facing a green. All of the old houses are in use! It’s such fun because most contain shops and we were able to spend an afternoon browsing through them. There’s a church. An event hall. A bakery famous for its pies. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed touring the old houses in other ‘historical villages’ I’ve been to. But this one is extra special and memorable because the building are still bustling with life.
How wonderful, Becky! That sounds like so much fun. Especially the pies. Yumm! 🙂
Looks and sounds great, Karen. All those great visuals for the next story, right? Love the old west. Kids took the grandkids to Tombstone recently and had a blast (pun intended). We go to a different vacation world now that we are in a different place. The wide expanses of the huge cliffed Pacific hold our heart, now. It was home for a season and we long to go back to the refreshment.
I’ve never been to Tombstone, Sandy. I’ll definitely need to add that to my bucket list. It’s fun to explore places close to home, too. Sometime the best held secrets are only known by the locals. 🙂
So true Karen! We pretend to be tourists wherever we live and have lots of fun.
Sounds like a wonderful experience, Karen!
Enjoyed your photos too (and of course now I’m really hungry for barbecue chicken and cobbler, LOL). 😉
As I type this my middle daughter and her husband are flying back to Georgia from a wonderful week visiting friends
in San Diego. After viewing some of their photos (my son-in-law posted some on facebook, and e-mailed me a photo of
a lovely little lighthouse they saw!) it makes me want to see that part of our country.
Are you attending RWA this year? Sadly, I’m unable to attend neither RWA or ACFW – – I’m going to have “conference withdrawals”!
Hi, Patti Jo.
I’ll be missing RWA this year, too. NYC is just too expensive and work is too busy for me to attend this year. I will be at ACFW, though. I’ll be co-teaching a session with my agent and doing some paid critiques. I’ll miss not seeing you there.
San Diego is a lovely part of California. I’m sure you would enjoy it immensely if you ever get down that way.
Have a blessed weekend!
i love Gatlinburg, TN
I’ve never been to Gatlinburg, Sheila, but I’ve heard great things about it. I bet I would love it. I’ll have to add that to my list of places to see. Thanks!