“Getting Back to Basics” on the Road to Luckenbach

By Sandra Scott

In some cases it is the concept more than the actual lyrics of a song the grab me.  Such is the case with Waylon Jenning’s song about Luckenbach, Texas.  I am not about to “Buy some boots and faded jeans and go away” but there are many days when I want to escape and as the song says, “get back to the basics.” I am not sure exactly what getting back to basics means but I was willing to go looking for the basics. John, my husband, agreed when I suggested, “We need to get away. Let's take the advice of the song and ‘go to Luckenbach Texas with Waylon and Willie and the boys.’”

If getting back to basics means connecting with the past then we were on the right road.  Entering though the glass and bronze doors of the Drury Hotel we were dazzled by the marble walls, wainscoting, and travertine floors. We applauded their decision to preserve the 1929 Art Deco former Alamo Bank building by turning it into a hotel. Only a short walk from the Drury is San Antonio’s famed Riverwalk, Paseo Del Rio. On the way we walked through the Aztec Theater where the architecture took us back to the days before videotapes and DVDs when movies were shown in grand “palaces.” The Aztec Theater is the only surviving exotic-themed theater left in Texas. Built in 1926, Aztec on the River has been elaborately restored and includes a free special effects show in the Grand Lobby that ends with Quetzalcoatl, the Aztez feathered serpent god, rising from the netherworld.  Ambling along the Riverwalk and on the boat ride we could feel the tension brought on by “This successful life we're livin'” subsiding.  We had just enough time to visit the Alamo before heading to Luckenbach.  There is a hush that settles on the stream of visitors as they enter the Alamo. It is a show of respect for those that perished on March 6, 1836, and became symbols of courage and sacrifice.

On the 70-mile drive from San Antonio to Luckenbach John and I reflected on how we often look at the past as a time of simplicity and wish the present was more like the past.  But few would really want to trade today for those difficult times in 1836. Would getting back to basics be as wonderful as we think it would be?

Located in the Hill Country, Fredericksburg is the jumping-off point for Luckenbach and a great place to get back to basics. In reality it the only place to stay if Luckenbach is the destination. The Germans immigrants who settled Fredericksburg in mid 1800s created a village like the ones in their homeland with a main street wide enough so that a team of oxen could turn around. The original timber and masonry Fachwerk houses still line the streets but are now home to trendy shops and restaurants.

A relaxing walk around town ended at the Pioneer Museum where the early days of Fredericksburg are remembered. The solitude created by being the only visitors let us use our imagination to envision the work that went on in the kitchen and around the farm. Imagine cooking for a family that worked up a huge appetite working on the farm. Preparing a meal started with growing the food and finished with doing the dishes with water that had to be carried from a well. It was a “getting back to the basics” that I never wanted to be part of.

The 1800s was a time when most people were farmers and coming into town was a one-a-week event to sell their goods and go to church services.  Many families built one-room houses in Fredericksburg that they used only on the weekends – their Sunday House.  I wished I could step back into the past for just one meal in a one-room Sunday House and chat with the adults while the youngsters scampered around.  Without all the distractions of the modern, technological world people worked hard – very hard – but derived pride and satisfaction from their labors whereas today we seem to get our satisfaction from the material things we accumulate not so much from the toil itself. “We’ve been so busy keeping up with the Jones, four-car garage and we’re still building on…”. 

Heading East from Fredericksburg on Route 290 we passed the turnoff for Luckenbach and continued to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park. I don’t know if LBJ ever went to Luckenbach but he knew a lot about getting back to basics. We gained a new appreciation for Johnson and an understanding for his need to spend so much time at his ranch, the Texas White House.  From the little boy who hid under the porch to listen to political conversations came the man who became president and said, "I know - from personal experience - that abiding values and abundant visions are learned in the homes of our people." The Texas White House was where Johnson got back to basics.  Johnson aides said that they could see a physical and mental change in LBJ when he was on the ranch. One of my favorite Johnson quotes is “The best fertilizer for the land is the footsteps of the owner.” I guess he was “getting back to basics.”

On the way back to Fredericksburg we stopped in Luckenbach – our ultimate destination. Robert Kern, Luckenbach’s World Ambassador, greeted us. With a broad grin he said, “See that dance hall?  That’s where I had my first dance, my first kiss, and my first beer.”  Somehow the sharing made us feel like we belonged.  After all Luckenbach is where “Everybody is somebody.”  John expected more but Luckenbach was just what I hoped it would be.  There were no special events going on, just a handful of people sitting under a tree strummin’ and pluckin’ a few songs while sipping beer. How basic is that?  Waylon, Willie and the boys were not there but it didn’t matter.  For a short time the rest of the world slipped into oblivion. We were in Luckenbach Texas where “ain't nobody feelin' no pain.”

Luckenbach, Texas is a state of mind, where you can kick back, relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We felt like we had gotten back to “basics.”  We don’t have “diamond rings” to sell or a “four car garage” to add on to. But our journey to Luckenbach made us take stock of what we have, to enjoy the time we live in, and to appreciate all that went before so we can enjoy “This successful life we're livin'.” Maybe that is what it is all about. Luckenbach is “Where everyone feels like somebody.” John said, “Getting back to the basics, isn’t a place, or a time, it is a state of mind.”

www.sanantoniocvb.com/
www.fredericksburg-texas.com/
www.luckenbachtexas.com