RATING: ♦♦♦+
Despite being officially located in Gonzalez, TX, the closest town to our campground in Palmetto State Park is actually Luling TX, about 9 miles away. (Gonzalez is almost 20 miles away.)
We drove past Luling on our way to Austin, and twice more going to shop in Lockhart. It didn’t seem very interesting, but it had a colorful history, first as a wild cow town on the Chisholm Trail in the 1880s, and again as an oil boom town in the 1920s. For a while, Luling was known as the “toughest town in Texas”. And we thought we should learn more about it.
Plus while driving by, we noticed several active oil wells, technically called pump jacks, with fanciful art decorations on them. After a little more investigation, we learned that Luling has 184 pump jacks, and sixteen of them are decorated. There is even a self-guided Pump Jack Tour, with maps provided by the Chamber of Commerce. We picked up a map, but cut our tour short because of the 102° heat. We saw about half a dozen and got a sense of the project. It’s a fun idea.
Luling’s biggest event is the Watermelon Thump, which is held each year during the last full weekend in June. It is a big deal for the locals and draws many people from out of town as well. A favorite activity associated with the festival is the watermelon seed spitting contest. Watermelon themed art is popular in town, and even shows up on the pump jacks and the water tower.
The unexpected surprise in Luling was Zedler Mill. It’s a formerly abandoned grist mill that has been renovated into a beautiful city park. The old grist mill is still there and serves as a museum. But a large pavilion has been added and is the site of concerts and weddings. The mill sits next to the San Marcos River, the same river that flows through our campground. A still-existing dam provided the mill with power for over 80 years. The day we were there, a group of teens was swimming in the river just above the dam. It looked very inviting. Did I mention that it was 102°?
Have to say that one of the best parts of traveling is going somewhere with low expectations, but finding wonderfully quirky towns like Luling TX.
