Places Archives | Page 4 of 13 | Funky Texas Traveler

Dec 14 2017

Lower Rio Grande Valley

You know you are almost to the very tip of Texas and South Padre Island when see “Little Graceland” painted on a small stucco house that fronts Highway 100 in Los Fresnos. Only thirty minutes to go to the island and I’m usually stir crazy from hours on the road. For that reason I’ve always passed by this quaint curiosity.

I should have made myself pull over and and explore what lies behind the elaborate wrought iron gates that replicate the music themed ones at the original Graceland.

This king has left Little Graceland

I stopped this time but didn’t go past the gates because Little Graceland’s king had died just a few days before. Simon Hinojosa Vega had passed away at 81 from respiratory failure. In fact, the reason his passing merited an article in the Valley Morning Star was his devotion to the King of Rock and Roll.

You see, Simon served in the US Army with Elvis from 1958 to 1960 in Freiburg, Germany. Presley made a lasting impression on Vega. Simon returned to his hometown and worked as a teacher, bus driver, school janitor, barber and founder of the Los Fresnos Softball League. But his claim to fame was the path he took based on his years in Germany with Elvis.

Little Graceland, one man’s tribute

He not only turned his house into an Elvis Presley museum generations ago, he organized an annual and sometime semi-annual Elvis Fest. Vega filled it with Elvis mementos, clothing, clocks and more. According to his daughter Rosie, Simon had also written a book called “Service with the King”. This book is now with a publisher.

Vega was definitely hands-on with Little Graceland. Rosie told the paper that “somebody would come every day and he would come out and do like a 20-minute speech and walk around and explain everything. He was his own tour guide.”

Will Little Graceland Survive?

No one knows what is to become of Little Graceland, but even if it survives, I deeply regret not going by while Simon was still around to take me through it.

How many other small towns contain a wonderful off-beat monument to someone’s enduring passion? Simon Hinojosa Vegas lets us know there is always time to spend a few minutes checking it out.

Go slow in Los Fresnos

A side note: If you visit, be aware of this. Los Fresnos is in the lower Rio Grande Valley and has some serious policing when it comes to enforcing the speed limit. The town is located less than thirty minutes from the Queen Isabella Causeway and good times on South Padre Island. Just don’t ignore the speed limit signs or you’ll have an unexpected vacation expenditure.

Nov 16 2017

Frontier faith in far West Texas – Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting

Before Sutherland Springs became infamous for the killing of twenty-six people at a Baptist church service, that little town had a lot in common with the 128-year-old Bloys Cowboy Camp meeting we discovered outside Fort Davis. Both towns once helped pioneer religion flourish with their giant outdoor gatherings. Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting is still practicing frontier faith in far West Texas in a compound little changed in all these years.

Camp meetings were a phenomenon of frontier Christianity. The concept was brought west by thousands of settlers of Scot-Irish roots. These settlers were moving into new territories without towns or churches or ordained ministers. Itinerant preachers filled the void, finding an open patch of ground for a pulpit. Word would then spread to isolated settlers who traveled miles and days to get a religious experience and some feeling of community. [Read more…]

Oct 31 2017

Port Aransas post Harvey

POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS- READ DISCLOSURE FOR INFO.

I drove south this past Wednesday with Joe Holley from the Houston Chronicle to see how Port Aransas post Harvey was faring.

Admittedly antsy as I rode the ferry, I worried about my friends and favorite places in this beloved Texas town. My anxiety ratcheted up when I heard from a very good friend who didn’t want me to post on social media that I was headed down there.

“Please delete your facebook post. The last thing the poor island needs right now is people down here who aren’t part of the clean up.” If I could have reversed direction in the ferry line, I might have done so but I am so glad I didn’t.

My friend’s frustrated reaction was completely understandable. I should know. My home in Houston flooded a few days before when Harvey paid us an unwelcome visit. But I was compelled to come down. Port A has always felt special. As Dan Solomon said on a recent Texas Monthly blog, “People from all over Texas have strong, tender feelings toward the town, and have long used the place as a getaway from their day-to-day reality. “

[Read more…]

Oct 19 2017

Dan Pecore, Port Aransas boat builder

Dan Pecore, a Port Aransas boat builder, is bringing the only Texas scow schooner back to life. Pretty life-changing for a city kid from Houston who moved to Port Aransas years ago to raise a family. While Dan was growing up in Houston’s museum area, he’d spend weekends on his family’s farm. In the country, this city kid discovered a serenity from working with wood, specifically old wood.

How did Dan become involved with boats?

Dan especially liked the weathered posts from the stock pens and their imperfections – all worn down and sometimes stained by urine and cow shit. He told us he seemed to be able to feel the years and changes the old wood had watched. Sometime later on Port Aransas, he started to build beautiful things from the scraps of aged lumber – jewelry boxes, furniture, keepsakes.

And then Dan began looking for pieces of old boats, specifically dismantled sailboats from places like the Chesapeake Bay. He refashioned that wood into projects, using the knots and the holes to lead him. And in time, he started to build wooden boats.

Texas Scow Schooner project

In 2015, Dan hired on to lead a team to complete the construction of the only Texas scow schooner that now exist anywhere. He has thrown himself into the project with the passion of affair with a stubby, squat beauty that will eventually be called the Lydia Ann.

The balance he has created in his life by building keepstakes, resurrecting the Lydia Ann and reading Rumi is being tested by Hurricane Harvey. Good luck and traveling mercies, Dan.

Oct 15 2017

Port Aransas and the Texas Scow Schooner Project

POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS- READ DISCLOSURE FOR INFO.

Hurricane Harvey blasted Port Aransas but unbelievably the Farley Boat works and the Texas Scow Schooner project looks untouched. These two historic gems reach deep into the roots of Port Aransas to make you appreciate how difficult it was to build a thriving town on this spot. I’ll give you more background on the Farley Boat Works next week. This week, it is all about the replica Texas Scow Schooner named Lydia Ann, which was to be completed and ready to sail by the end of the year. With Harvey’s visit, who knows when she will hit the water. Here is where to find the latest update on the Lydia Ann.

Boat survived but boat builder’s house not so lucky

Even though the schooner survived, I drove by the home of the man who is leading the project to bring her back to life and my stomach dropped. The beach house where friends and I visited Dan Pecore months earlier to learn his background and the schooner’s history now looked like those long-abandoned adobe dwellings you see in Terlingua. No roof or windows, just exterior, and interior walls. Even more worrisome, I haven’t been able to contact Dan, but I’m hopeful a passion this strong will overcome one little hurricane.

A Beautiful Texas Butthead

Dan finds every inch and curve of the Texas Scow Schooner a thing of beauty – perfectly proportioned and shaped for her function. But when I first saw it, I thought it was kind of small and squatty. Someone had called her a “Texas Butthead” and that description fit. [Read more…]