Yesterday seemed like a great day to do a little adventuring with my friend Mary Jane. We tossed around a few ideas and then decided to give Seguin TX a visit. It isn't far down I-10. Actually, we headed out the back way on Hwy 78. Our first stop was Stahlmann's RV. We both have RVs, Mary Jane bought hers from Stahlmann's but it is always fun to look at RVs. Sometimes you get ideas you can incorporate in your RV....sometimes it makes you appreciate the RV you already have even more. MJ has never used her awning because she didn't know how to operate it. The salesman demonstrated a similar one and told her to bring hers by and he would show her exactly how to do it. (Update: today MJ and I set up her awning for the first time. It's in great shape and not hard to set up at all even though manual.)
Then we headed into town....at least we tried. Finding downtown was not easy. I finally told my phone to show me the way to the Courthouse and....voila.....we were there.
Our first actual stop was the Visitor's Center. We got some brochures and advice from the woman working there. Also, let her know what a hassle it is to find the downtown area. She said they were aware and were working on some much better signage.
We headed over to the
Court Street Coffee Shop.
It is an interesting place. You order at the counter and they bring the order to the table. We checked out the brochures and decided what we wanted to see.
After a shot at the Courthouse which you already saw, we headed to Central Park on the Square. They had a great statue of Juan Seguin with a lot of historical information on his life. He was a very important man in Texas history.
There is also a unique 1930's Art Deco fountain which unfortunately did not have water in it.
A tribute to the Cattle Drives and drivers of 1866 to 1887.
There was also a marker commemorating Sequins first centennial in 1938.
Our second stop was the
Park Plaza Hotel. The Visitor's Center told us that the hotel was happy to give tours of their unique building. We hooked up with Martin and he was happy to give us a good tour.
Looking down from a balcony on the mezzanine into the restaurant's food prep area. The plates on the wall were collected by the owner on trips around the world.
The restaurant is called the Chop House and is very nice looking.
The mezzanine provides a good look into many areas of the small boutique hotel. The railings are lower than they would be these days but the hotel just takes extra caution as they are beautiful and original to the hotel as are the pieces of furniture on the far wall.
The hotel has two suites. This one overlooks the Central Park Square which is lit up at night with colored lights.
There are only 30 rooms and they are not large but they are in character with the 1900's architecture. This is part of one of the two suites. The furniture is original horsehair.
This is an original version of a recliner where the back reclines notch by notch.
The hotel is light and airy with white walls and white bedding.
The hotel has won a number of awards. This is a unique place to stay so don't expect it to be just like any fancy hotel. It is different and you should be prepared to enjoy the uniqueness.
The downtown area has still got a ways to go before it rivals Fredericksburg or some of the other small towns in the hill country but the town is working on it. There are new small businesses moving into the original buildings and it is definitely a place to visit now and watch in the future.
There are antique shops and some shops like this craft shop.
This realty office had a unique way of showing history to clients.
This mural called the Old Stagecoach Route by Brent McCarthy depicts the early pioneers and landmarks along the 1800's route. It wasn't easy to get a good photo of the whole mural due to a couple parking spots in front. It would be nice to have those removed as there is plenty of other parking around the square.
The architecture of the buildings is interesting.
Before we left town, we headed to the Heritage Village. We were able to wander around freely getting a good look although we couldn't go inside. First on the list was the Campbell-Hoermann Log Cabin. An Irish immigrant named John Campbell built this cabin for his 23 family members when they came to Texas in 1850.
It is a typical dogtrot style home.
Another interesting find in Seguin is a book tour based on the book "True Women" written by Janice Woods Windle. You can get a map to follow around the town showing current and former sites of places mentioned in the book. The book was originally going to be a cookbook for a family member but ended up being a great story of women pioneers in one family.
This is the first church in Seguin. Note the comment about the fleas and pigs under the church.
This bell tower is in front of the church rather than on top of the church.
The rolling calaboose was used to transport jail prisoners to their work sites.
Los Nogales was built in 1849 by slaves for a German pioneer. The adobe bricks are like those used in West Africa and Mexico.
The Dietz Doll House is a charming 1910 Victorian doll house built by German-born master cabinetmaker Louis Dietz.
We had a great time checking out Seguin. A return trip will be necessary to check out some of the places we missed like The Moore House, The Power Plant, The Stephen and Mary Birch Texas Theatre, and The Sebastopol House Historic Site. There are also several museums like the Pape Pecan House and Nutcracker Museum, The Seguin Heritage Museum, the Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center as well as the Wilson Pottery Museum.
