Wednesday we got a little later start than usual being lazy and laying in bed until well after daylight. Felt pretty good after all the early mornings manning the gate!
The weather was cloudy and cool today. The temperatures were not supposed to be out of the 50's and there was a chance for some rain. We decided to pack a lunch and drive to Langtry, Texas location of the Jersey Lilly Saloon and home to Judge Roy Bean "the law west of the Pecos".
Langtry is about 50 miles west of Del Rio on US 90 which follows the Rio Grand River (on the good side) and you get some good views of Lake Amistad about 1/2 way there.
The water level is very low due to the drought that has hit this area the past few years. Even with the lake levels down this is still a huge body of water! I'm sure this is a popular vacation spot during the long hot summer :-).
The State of Texas operates a museum at the site of Judge Bean's "courthouse". He was Justice of the peace and not only tried cases but you could get married for $5.00 or divorced for $10.00. The trials were held in the Judges Saloon and the jury, witness', defendant and anyone else present could buy a drink at every recess, pretty smart on the old Judges part don't ya think? The original saloon burned and the Judge rebuilt it attaching a pool hall on the side and built his "Opera House" behind which was his home and never hosted any kind of opera. Here is a little history on the Judge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Bean
Before leaving the grounds we ate our picnic lunch in the cab of the truck. They had a few picnic tables on the grounds but it was just too cool and windy to sit outside.
We made the trip back to Del Rio and and made a stop at Wal Mart for some supplies. On the way back to the campground I saw a sign advertising a mission. I followed the directions thinking it may be an old Spanish style historical building. I followed the road south and it dead ended at a fence next to a river ..... "hey that's Mexico over there!", guess I better turn around :-).
We did find the mission but it was more of a soup kitchen instead of a historical site so we skipped the tour :-). Can I pick em or what? :-)
The rest of the evening was spent enjoying a crock pot full of ham and beans as well as relaxing and watching some TV. No real plans for Thursday except to take it easy since we have been running kind of hard since arriving here. I'll keep you posted.
No comments:
Post a Comment