So
I had read in my Texas guide book that this little town of Gruene (pronounced
‘green’) was worth a visit. But despite
my best efforts and creative thinking, I could not get my Garmin to locate it. Search as he did, “Dan” our Garmi man, kept
telling me it could not be found. How is
that possible? If Lonely Planet says its
worth a visit, it must exist.
In
the end, I had to put in the attraction of ‘Gruene Hall’ to get anywhere. Well, according to “Dan”, Gruene is a suburb
of New Braunfels (which is today a semi-suburb of San Antonio). So with the panic abated, off I set to
explore Gruene.
Well
for those who know, I grew up in a small town but this one takes the cake. Wandering down the main drag of Gruene
takes….oooh, 5 minutes. It is a very
quaint little town with its history seated in German settlers. Apparently, old Ernst Gruene and his wife
came to settle in New Braunfels but found the land too expensive there so
bought this block of land just outside New Braunfels on the river. There he built his home and planted
cotton. Well, cotton of course became a
huge cash crop in the 1840s in the south here so he imported 20 to 30 other
German families to work his land and he built homes for them too. He just kept on building then, and
established trading companies, shops and then, as is always necessary, a dance
hall and saloon (the Gruene Hall).
So
his legacy today, after all that building, is a wonderful little village with
cute little shops, arts and crafts, antique shops, wonderful gardens, and a fabulous
old dance hall that reminds me of the Victoria Hill Hall of which I have great
childhood memories.
With
that visit over, I concur with LP – Gruene is worth a visit!!
