Watch Movies Like a Texan: Rent Hope Floats

Hope Floats is a 1998 American romantic drama film directed by Forest Whittaker and starring Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick, Jr. and Gena Rowlands.

Birdee (Sandra Bullock) is an unassuming housewife whose life is disrupted when her husband (Michael Pare) reveals his infidelity to her on a Jerry Springer style television show. She goes home to Texas and her mother and the small Texas town she grew up in where everyone knows of her televised marital collapse. Things only get worse as a family tragedy brings her ex-husband back for an official divorce. Meanwhile an old friend, Justin (Harry Connick Jr.), has entered her life, sparking a romance. While Justin's intentions are clear and good, Birdee struggles with the decision to let him fully into her life.

Hope Floats was filmed in Smithville, Texas. The home in the movie is at 201 E. Eighth. The Elementary School in the movie is a 1924 High School building.The church used was Saints Peter and Paul Church in Kovar, TX, about 6 miles from Smithville. The church was built in 1921.

If you are a Texan you will enjoy this movie for at least one reason: it is one of the greatest pictures of Texas culture ever portrayed on screen - the accents, the diction, the interactions, the setting, and heart of the characters captures what Texans are. 

Texas Architecture: The Tower Life Building, San Antonio, Texas

Construction of the tower began in 1927 and the building rises 403 feet (123 meters) and has 30 floors. The building, which opened in 1929 was originally named the Smith-Young Tower and is the central component of a partially completed development called the Bowen Island Skyscrapers. The eight sided, neo-gothic brick and terra-cotta tower (complete with gargoyles) was designed by noted local architectural firm Ayers & Ayers. The building also housed San Antonio's first Sears, Roebuck & Company store in its lowest 6 levels.

The other completed building in the development is the former Plaza Hotel (also designed by Ayers & Ayers), which opened in 1927. The property became the local outlet of Hilton Hotels in 1956 and was converted into the Granada Apartments in 1966. Subsequent structures in the development were never built as a direct result of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

The building is now named for its current owner, Tower Life Insurance Company.

Read Like a Texan: The Good Old Boys by Kelton

Simply put, The Good Old Boys is as good as it gets. The characters and dialog are real. Kelton's prose is as comfortable as the old boots his characters wear. This isn't just a pulp western - it's a fine piece of literature. The story of regular people making their way in a time of change is both of its time and timeless.

Drink Like A Texan: Pour Common Grounds' Cowboy Coffee

Located right off Interstate 35 near Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Common Grounds homespun feel makes for a great environment - one that also has a strong Texas feel to it - as evidenced by the menus and decor.

But what's more than that - they have great coffee.  Get the Cowboy Coffee.  Nothing more Texas than hot coffee on the dashboard when a cold front's on the way.

Travel Like a Texan: Lodge at the Driskill

The city of Austin offers more to activities and sites than this post can contain - including the Texas Capital, nearby lakes, live music, and a hosts of great Texas restaurants.  

When you go there - stay at the Driskill.

The Driskill Hotel, a Romanesque style building completed in 1886, is the oldest operating hotel in Austin, and one of the best-known hotels in Texas generally. The Driskill was conceived and built by Col. Jesse Driskill, a cattleman who spent his fortune constructing "the finest hotel south of St. Louis."

Today the Driskill remains one of the premier hotels in Texas, featuring lavish bridal suites, two restaurants, and a grand ballroom. 

The hotel is located at 604 Brazos Street.

Know Your Texas History: The Texas Oil Boom

The Texas Oil Boom, sometimes called the Gusher Age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a large petroleum reserve near Beaumont, Texas. The find was unprecedented in its size and ushered in an age of rapid regional development and industrialization that has few parallels in U.S. history. Texas quickly became one of the leading oil producing states in the U.S.; soon the nation overtook the Russian Empire as the top producer of petroleum. By 1940 Texas had come to dominate U.S. production. Some historians even define the beginning of the world's Oil Age as the beginning of this era in Texas.

The major petroleum strikes that began the rapid growth in petroleum exploration and speculation occurred in Southeast Texas, but soon reserves were found across Texas and wells were constructed in North Texas, East Texas, and the Permian Basin in West Texas. 

This period had a transformative effect on Texas. At the turn of the century, the state was predominantly rural with no large cities. By the end of World War II, the state was heavily industrialized, and the populations of Texas cities had broken into the top 20 nationally. The city of Houston was among the greatest beneficiaries of the boom, and the Houston area became home to the largest concentration of refineries and petrochemical plants in the world. The city grew from a small commercial center in 1900 to one of the largest cities in the United States during the decades following the era. 

Watch Sports Like a Texan

Mavs play the Grizzlies @ 7:00 pm on 1/ 15.

Rockets play the Hawks @ 6:00 pm on 1/15.

Spurs play the Nuggets @ 8:00 pm on 1/16.

Eat Like A Texan: Amarillo's The Big Texan

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is a steakhouse restaurant located in Amarillo, Texas which opened on the previous U.S. Route 66 in 1960 and moved to its present location on Interstate 40 in 1970. 

The Big Texan is best known for its 72 ounce (4.5 pounds or 2.041 kg) steak, nicknamed "The Texas King." The steak is free to anyone who, in less than one hour, can eat the entire meal, consisting of the steak itself, plus bread roll with butter, baked potato, ranch beans, shrimp cocktail, and salad; otherwise, the meal costs $72.00. Those who have successfully consumed the Texas King meal have their names recorded and posted at the restaurant. To date, about 8,000 people have met that distinction out of 48,000.

When traveling north to ski the slopes of New Mexico or fly fish in Colorado, Texans often make sure to time their travels to allow for a meal at the Big Texan.

Listen to Music Like a Texan: Play Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: The Live Anthology

Petty might have been born and raised in Florida, but his songs still speak to the heart of a Texan.  And who could forget Petty had a recurring role as the voice of Texan Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt in the animated show King of the Hill.

 Personal favorite is Learning to Fly but it also has hits like Free Falling and Won't Back Down.

Know Your Texas History: The 1900 Hurricane

The Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900. It had estimated winds of 135 miles per hour (217 km/h) at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

The hurricane caused great loss of life with the estimated death toll between 6,000 and 12,000 individuals; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000, giving the storm the third-highest number of casualties of any Atlantic Hurricane, after the Great Hurricane of 1780 and 1998's Hurricane Mitch. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is to date the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. By contrast, the deadliest storm of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, claimed the lives of approximately 1,800 people.

At the end of the 19th century, the city of Galveston, Texas, was a booming town with a population of 42,000 residents. Its position on the natural harbor of Galveston Bay along the Gulf of Mexico made it the center of trade and the biggest city in the state of Texas.  At the time of the hurricane, the concentration of wealth within the city - per capita - was one of highest in American history.

The hurricane had brought with it a storm surge of over 15 feet, which washed over the entire island. The surge knocked buildings off their foundations and the surf pounded them to pieces. Over 3,600 homes were destroyed and a wall of debris faced the ocean. The few buildings which survived were solidly built mansions and houses along the Strand District. The highest measured wind speed was 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) just after 6 p.m., but the Weather Bureau's anemometer was blown off the building shortly after that measurement was recorded.

After the hurricane, Galvestonians constructed a seawall along the shoreline to protect the city against future storm surges.  Reporting in the aftermath of the 1983 Hurricane Alicia, the Corps of Engineers estimated that $100 million in damage was avoided because of the seawall.

Dress Like A Texan: Wear A Stetson Felt 6X High Point

The cowboy hat is an imperative aspect to a Texan's wardrobe, even if only worn on special occasions.  Every man should have a felt hat for the winter season and a straw hat for the fall.  Since it is winter, I suggest the Stetson Felt 6X High Point.

Here's some background and justification in the purchase: the cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American Cowboy. The first western model was the open crowned "Boss of the plains," and after that came the front creased Carlsbad, destined to become “the” cowboy style. The high crowned, wide brimmed, soft felt western hats that followed are intimately associated with the cowboy image.

As the mystique of the "Wild West" was popularized by entertainers such as Buffalo Bill Cody and western movies, the Cowboy hat came to symbolize the American West. John Wayne christened them "the hat that won the West.^" 

The first American law-enforcement agency to adopt Stetson’s western hat as part of their uniform was the Texas Rangers.

Cowboy hats are not just for those that work on the ranch.  Below are presidents who wore hats.

Also, in the television show Dallas, wealthy Texas businessmen seamlessly wore hats.

Read Like A Texan: Check out Log of a Cowboy

Andy Adams was a prolific writer. This true-to-life story of an 1882 cattle drive is his best known.

Here the protagonist is a young cowboy much like the author, who trailed beef from Texas to Montana at a time just after the buffalo herds were being extinguished from the short grass prairies and homesteading had not yet fenced in the high plains. Oklahoma was still "Indian Territory," Little Big Horn was a recent memory, and Native Americans were in the last shameful stages of being forced off the open rangeland. The railroads were snaking across the land making frontier boom towns where law and order either prevailed (Dodge) or more often did not (Ogallala), and the vast cattle herds of Texas and Mexico finally had a market and access to it.

Adams was born into this world and as a young man cowboyed during the height of the cattle drive era. His book is an account of one trek, delivering 3,000 head of cattle to the Blackfoot Agency in northern Montana. For the protagonist, the initial excitement wears off once the daily routine is established, and besides the occasional stampede and wet weather, the highlights of the journey are brief visits to the cowtowns they pass along the way and the many river crossings, some of which pose enormous difficulties.

Watch Movies Like a Texan: Rent 8 Seconds

8 Seconds  is a 1994 biopic about American rodeo legend and world bull riding champion Lane Frost. The film details his life from his youth learning how to ride bulls, until his death in 1989. 8 Seconds stars Luke Perry as Lane Frost, Stephen Baldwin as real life rodeo legend Tuff Hedeman, and Red Mitchell as cowboy poet Cody Lambert. The title refers to the length of time a bull rider is required to stay on for a ride to be scored.

If you know/care nothing about rodeo, then you will still love this film.  It's the story of a good man, who falls in love with and marries a good Texas girl, and the struggles that come with fame.

Relax Like A Texan: Play the Guitar

Playing an instrument is a great way to relax - and there is no instrument more Texan than the guitar.  In fact, it is the official instrument of Texas.  

If you didn't pick up the habit of playing the guitar in college, its okay.  The guitar is an instrument that just about anyone can teach themselves.  And if you really want to learn how to play the right way, you can take lessons.

Eat Like a Texan: Chris Madrid's Tostada Burger - Macho Size

 

Winner of many awards, including Texas Monthly, the San Antonio Tex-Mex burger joint is awesome.  The Tostada Burger is composed of homemade refried beans, chips, onions,and creamy cheddar cheese on a beef patty. Top it with homemade salsa.

 

 

 

Watch Sports Like A Texan: The Cotton Bowl Classic

 

The Cotton Bowl Classic is a college football bowl game that was played annually since 1937 at its namesake stadium in Dallas, Texas. On February 27, 2007, it was announced that the game would move to Cowboys Stadium in nearby Arlington beginning on January 1, 2010.

This year Texas A&M will take on LSU.

This will be the first Cotton Bowl Classic to be played in prime time, as well as the latest calendar date for the game.

Collect Art Like a Texan: Woodland Reflections by Windberg

Dalhart Windberg (born 1933 in Goliad County, Texas) is a painter that is known for his masterful use of light, color, and shadow in still life and landscape paintings.  He has executed romantic still lifes and figurative oil paintings depicting life in Texas, Mexico, Spain and the United States.  Two biographies have been written about the artist: In The Paths of the Masters, published in 1978 and Dalhart Windberg - Artist of Texas, published by the University of Texas press in 1984. Its title was bestowed on the artist by the state legislature in 1979.  Windberg and his wife Evelyn live and work in Georgetown, Texas. 

Know Texas Triva: The State Tree is the Pecan Tree

The pecan, Carya illinoinensis or illinoensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America.  In 1919 the 36th Texas Legislature made the pecan tree the state tree of Texas. In southeast Texas, the Texas Pecan Festival is celebrated every year. In 1906 then Texas Governor James Stephen Hogg asked that a pecan tree be planted at his grave instead of a traditional headstone, requesting that the pecans it produced be distributed throughout the state.

Talk Like a Texan: Fixin' To

When you are about to go and do something, state that you are "fixing to" do it.

Listen To Music Like A Texan: Play Sean McConnell's Saints, Thieves, and Liars

McConnell's unique blend of rock, soul, americana, and country make this album a hit.  His songs are genuine and honest.  Personal favorite: Saints Heart in Sinner's Skin; like most Texans, its a prayer I've often prayed.

Dress Like A Texan: Silver Creek® Aged Bark Wallet

Texan's carry tall wallets in their back pocket. 

Texas Architecture: The Spanish Influence

                                               University Baptist Church, Austin, Texas

 
                                                  St. Francisca Parish, Waco, Texas

By the end of the 17th century, the Spanish were establishing presidios, missions and towns throughout Texas based on building traditions and town patterns from Spain.  Missions were fortified churches that included convents, apartments and defense walls.  This left a lasting impact on Texas architecture, as evidenced by two churches that are still functioning in Texas today.

Relax Like A Texan: Build a Campfire

A true Texan loves nothing more than a campfire on the open range.  This isn't always possible as society becomes more urban.

Find a local state park that allows fire pits, and following proper park procedure, build a campfire and remember why this is such a favorable past time.

Read Like A Texan: Check Out No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a 2005 novel by author Cormac McCarthy. Set in West Texas in 1980, the story concerns an illicit drug deal gone wrong in a remote desert location. The title comes from the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats. The book was adapted into the 2007 film bearing the same name which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

William J. Cobb, in a review published in the Houston Chronicle characterizes McCarthy as "our greatest living writer" and describes the book as "a heated story that brands the reader's mind as if seared by a knife heated upon campfire flames."

Know Your Texas History: Goliad Massacre

The Goliad Massacre, was a battle fought by the Republic of Texas and Mexico. The Mexicans, led by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, quickly routed and crushed the Texan volunteer army, and Texan Colonel James Fannin was captured and executed. The entire Texan force was killed except for twenty-eight men who feigned death and escaped. The massive number of Texan casualties and the "take-no-prisoners" attitude of the Mexican army led to Goliad to be called a "Massacre" by Texas-American forces.

The Mexicans took the Texans back to Goliad, where they were held as prisoners at Fort Defiance. The Texans thought they would likely be set free in a few weeks. General Urrea departed Goliad, leaving command to Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla. Urrea wrote to Santa Anna to ask for clemency for the Texians. Urrea wrote in his diary that he "...wished to elude these orders as far as possible without compromising my personal responsibility." On March 26, 1836, 19:00, Santa Anna ordered Portilla to execute the prisoners.

The next day, Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Colonel Portilla had the 342 Texians marched out of Fort Defiance into three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road, between two rows of Mexican soldiers; they were shot pointblank, and any survivors were clubbed and knifed to death.

Colonel Fannin was the last to be executed, after seeing his men executed. Age 32, he was taken by Mexican soldiers to the courtyard in front of the chapel, blindfolded, and seated in a chair (due to his leg wound from the battle). He made three requests: he asked for his personal possessions to be sent to his family, to be shot in his heart and not his face, and to be given a Christian burial. The soldiers took his belongings,shot his face, spit on his face, and burned Fannin's body along with the other Texans who died that day.

This loss helped give the Texans the passion to continue its fight over Mexican tyranny.

Travel in Texas: Go to the Gage Hotel

Alfred Gage came to Texas from Vermont in 1878, his enthusiasm for Texas fueled by a vast land that offered the opportunity to make his fortune as a rancher, banker and businessman. In 1927, Gage commissioned El Paso architects Trost and Trost to design The Gage as a hotel and ranch headquarters for his 500,000-acre ranch. Sadly, Gage died in 1928, only one year after construction was completed.

In 1978, J.P. Bryan and his wife, Mary Jon, bought the building and returned The Gage Hotel to its turn-of-the-century trans-Pecos glory, melding the region’s rich ranching heritage of Mexican, Spanish and Native American cultures. The Gage Hotel has served up West Texas hospitality with big-city service ever since.

 The Gage Hotel is a luxury hotel in the old west. A short shot to Big Bend National Park, Marfa, Texas, and the Starlight Theater, the Gage is an essential part to a trip every Texan should take: a trip to the old west.

Eat Like a Texan: Kirby Lane's Cowboy Queso

Cowboy Queso:Black beans and guacamole covered with queso and topped with pico de gallo. Served with salsa and tortilla chips. $8.05.

Eat Like a Texan: Bar-B-Que Brisket

Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef.

Cooking brisket in Texas includes rubbing with a spice rub or marinating the meat, then cooking slowly over indirect heat from a wood fire. This is a form of smoking the meat. Additional basting of the meat is often done during the cooking process. This normally tough cut of meat, due to the collagen fibers that make up the significant connective tissue in the cut, is tenderized when the collagen gelatinizes, resulting in more tender brisket, despite the fact that the cut is usually cooked well beyond what would normally be considered "well done".

A hardwood, such as oak, pecan, hickory, or mesquite, is sometimes added, alone or in combination with other hardwoods, to the main heat source. Sometimes, they make up all of the heat source, with chefs often prizing characteristics of certain woods. The smoke from these woods and from burnt dripping juices further enhances the flavor.

Drink Like A Texan: Pour Shiner Boch

Shiner Boch is brewed at the Spoetzl Brewery, located in Shiner, Texas.  If Texas had a national beer, this would be it.

Dress Like a Texan: Wear Jeans

Texans cannot always wears jeans.  But when possible, they do.

 Every Texans should own a pair of Wrangler® Cowboy Cut™ Bleach Original Fit Tall Jeans.  They are classic.

Texas Architecture: The Big White House With the Big Front Porch

To appreciate a culture you have to appreciate its architecture.  While, both the culture and architecture of Texas are diverse, we can agree that there some structures are simply Texan.

Most small towns in Texas have at least a couple of those big white houses, with the big columns and the big porches, like the one pictured above and featured in the film "Hope Floats."  The houses are big, inviting and warm - just like Texas.

Know Texas Triva: The First Rodeo

The world's first rodeo was held in Pecos on July 4, 1883. 

Collect Art Like a Texan: The Surrender of Santa Anna by Huddle

Artist William Henry Huddle painted the scene of the morning of April 22, 1836, the day after Texas' victory over Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto. Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna, in the uniform of a private soldier, was brought before Texas General Sam Houston as a prisoner of war. Houston, wounded in the battle, rested on a pallet under the oak tree while arranging an armistice with Santa Anna. To the right, seated on a log, was Erastus (Deaf) Smith, famous Texas scout; the captured Mexican battle flags were leaning nearby against the tree. To the left and rear of Houston was his Secretary of War, Thomas Jefferson Rusk, who was standing next to Colonel Mirabeau B. Lamar. Over thirty other historical figures were depicted in this painting. It has been on display in the first floor south wing of the Capitol since February 1891.

Watch TV Like A Texan: Tune Into "Friday Night Lights"

Friday Night Lights is a television series adapted from a book and film of the same name. During the first three seasons the series detailed events surrounding the Dillon Panthers, a high school football team based in fictional Dillon, Texas with particular focus given to the team's coach, Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his family. In the fourth season Taylor took over at East Dillon High School, where he coached the Lions.

The series has consistently received a strong critical reviews. Virginia Heffernan wrote for the New York Times that "if the season is anything like the pilot, this new drama about high school football could be great — and not just television great, but great in the way of a poem or painting." The Washington Post similarly praised the series as "[e]xtraordinary in just about every conceivable way."  Bill Simmons, a former columnist for ESPN Magazine implored readers of his column in the September 24, 2007 issue to watch the show, calling it "the greatest sports-related show ever made."

But the real success of the show - in the eyes of a Texan - is the truth that the show reveals.  Real people who, despite their many mistakes, are walking out life doing the best they can with what they've been given, all the while loving God and football. Doesn't get more Texan than that.

Listen To Music Like A Texan: Play Robert Earle Keen's A Bigger Piece of Sky

A Bigger Piece of Sky is an album by Texas-based folk singer-songwriter Robert Earle Keen. It was released in the in 1993. The title of the album comes from a line in the opening verse of "Paint the Town Beige":

I gave up the fast lane for a blacktop country road

Just burned out on all that talk about the motherload,

I traded for a songbird and a bigger piece of sky

When I miss the good old days I can't imagine why.

The album is frequently cited to be one of Keen's best if not the best and is considered to be a transitional point in his career as an artist. The album brings together various elements of alternative country such as roots-rock, honky-tonk, and folk to form Keen's own cohesive blend of Texas music. Reviewers cite "Corpus Christi Bay", "Whenever Kindness Fails", "So I Can Take My Rest", and "Paint the Town Beige" as stand-out tracks. Keen's down-beat duet with Irish singer Maura O'Connell, "Night Right for Love" is also worthy of note as is Keen's cover of Terry Allen's "Amarillo Highway".

My personal favorite is Jesse With the Long Hair.  Listen to the story.  Its classic.  Listen to it here.

Talk Like a Texan: Call It Coke

In Texas, if you are referring to a soft drink, it is called a "coke." No matter the name brand.

So if you want a Dublin Dr. Pepper and holler at your amigo to grab you a "coke" and he walks back with Dr. Pepper - you know you are Texan.

Dress Like A Texan: Wear A Carhartt Jacket

Not a coat you will wear everywhere.  But when running up to a greasy spoon diner, a high school football game, working in the pasture, hunting (unless it gets too faded) or running errands around town, this is a great jacket to own.  It is durable, tough, and warm. 

A Texan can get away with wearing this jacket in all the places listed above and more because this jacket really is about the country, our farms, our ranches, and the land - the work we do there and the time we spend there.  Thus, it isn't a blue collar jacket - this is a jacket for all Texans. 

Read Like A Texan: Check Out Lonesome Dove

Lonesome Dove is a 1985 award winning novel written by Larry McMurtry. 

In some of his books, McMurtry has depicted the modern degeneration of the myth of the American West (ie The Last Picture Show).

However, the subject of Lonesome Dove, cowboys herding cattle on a great trail-drive, seems like the very stuff of that cliched myth, but McMurtry bravely tackles the task of creating meaningful literature out of it. At first the novel seems the kind of anti-mythic, anti-heroic story one might expect: the main protagonists are a drunken and inarticulate pair of former Texas Rangers turned horse rustlers. Yet when the trail begins, the story picks up an energy and a drive that makes heroes of these men. Their mission may be historically insignificant, or pointless--McMurtry is smart enough to address both possibilities--but there is an undoubted valor in their lives. The result is a historically aware, intelligent, romantic novel of the mythic west that won the 1986 Pulitzer Price for fiction.

Travel in Texas: Go To Gruene

To be a true Texan, you have to know your state.  The discussion of the different places to travel will progress and in this post we'll just discuss a great weekend.

To learn more about traveling in Texas, click here.

1. Saturday Morning: Go To Schlitterbahn:

Schlitterbahn,  is located in New Braunfels, Texas along the cool, springfed Comal River.  One of Schlitterbahn's most defining features is the park's water source. Much of the water used is pumped from the Comal River that flows along the park's southern boundary. The water is filtered and cleaned and after use is released back into the river. No chemicals are used in the cleaning process so as to maintain the river's pristine state.  There are tube shoots, body slides, and the world's first water roller coaster located at the water park. 

2. Saturday Evening: Supper at the Gristmill:

Situated on the banks of the Guadalupe River, The Gristmill (located very near Schlitterbahn) is a great Texas restaurant.  Also, it is located nextdoor to the famous Gruene Hall.  It serves steaks, burgers, chicken friend steak, chicken and fish.

 3. Saturday Night: Dancing at Gruene Hall:

Afterwards, walk next door to Gruene Hall.  Gruene Hall was built in 1878, and bills itself as the oldest continuously run dancehall in Texas. The live music line-up is outstanding.

Walk over the the Gruene Mansion Inn for great night's rest.