Stanzel Model Aircraft Museum 12/13/2011

We've been looking for out-of-the-way unique stops and places to visit and we found one that qualified in the Stanzel Model Aircraft Museum in Schulenburg, Texas. There are three buildings: One is the tour and exhibit building which houses the history and models, the second is the actual factory where they produced the model airplanes and the third is the original house that they grew up in.

http://www.stanzelmuseum.org/

A quote from their website describes the Stanzel brothers:

This is the fascinating story of two Texas farm boys, Victor and Joseph Stanzel, natives of Schulenburg, Texas. These brothers pioneered and manufactured one of the most respected and diverse lines of model aircraft products, from the True Scale Ornamental Models to the Stanzel Flying Toys. As pioneers of control line systems, they developed, patented and manufactured the historic 1939 Tiger Shark and the "G" Line Flying system that transformed the model airplane world. Victor Stanzel was known as "Mr. Monoline", and affectionate and coveted title. Recognizing their lifetime achievements, the Academy of Model Aeronautics inducted Joseph and Victor Stanzel into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame, the Highest possible honor in their field. Neither brother ever married. Both were devoted to their craft and their business. Here's a link to their history: http://www.stanzelmuseum.org/history.html Victor used to make his aircraft from balsa word piece by piece. The original house where they lived. This is right next to the factory and museum. Besides model aircraft, they begun to get into engine-powered aircraft to fly. The exacting precision of the parts can be seen in this model that someone would purchase and put together. These are some of the original plans for mass production of their planes. We put Kim in the background to show scale. Another kit ready for purchase and assembly. In the factory building, they had this life-size room showing the two brothers collaborating on airplane design. A stack of balsa wood from South America known for its light weight and strength. Some model airplane balsa wood wings coming off the factory line ready for boxing. ...trying to get the right angle and no glass reflection made for some interesting contortions. We spent about an hour looking around, reading, and taking photos. We were the only people in any of the buildings. Too bad. It's a nice place to visit. These brothers were entrepreneurs and pioneers in their field and brought much joy to adults and children over the years. It's about 2 miles off Interstate 10, 50 miles or so east of San Antonio. Next stop: The Big Thicket !

Luling, Texas

Luling (pronounced "loooooling") looked promising as a spot to stop instead of going the full distance past Houston and is the start of the Texas BBQ Trail so we went to City Market in town to try some BBQ out after we "landed" and got all hooked up in the local RV park.

You walk into this "store/restaurant" and, at the back is another windowed-room that has three guys chopping away on a butcher table and a couple others taking orders and cash...kinda different.

No waiters, waitresses or menus...just the meat items and prices on the wall. "A couple of links, half-pound of brisket and four ribs, please" we order. They chop, chop, chop and put it all down on some butcher paper. We pay in cash and out we go to grab a table.....

Notice the rib bones are already picked clean !

These links look kinda gross (due to the flash on the camera) but they sure eat good. The ribs were terrific. We came back the next day for lunch and had them only....amazing.

We had to go back to New Bruenfels (above San Antonio) to get our tires re-done (our tires cost $4,400 for six tires !) and the place messed up the valve stems so we spent the night in the parking lot....spooky...all by ourselves.

While they were doing the tires we visited an old, old hardware store in town.

...and a fabulous Christmas store chock full of holiday stuff.

One last thing we did in Luling was to visit the Tiny Texas Houses manufacturing place right on the interstate.

You can just make out one of the tiny houses off the interstate to the far right.

These people make houses from salvageable materials....and I quote "I have spent the last 5 years pioneering and developing ways of building houses that are 99% Pure Salvage, 100% American grown and mined materials, refined and manufactured into building materials inside the USA, and our houses are built entirely in the USA.  Best of all they are healthy houses. " 
http://tinytexashouses.com/

They are no more than 10x30 or 20x30 feet at most....and extremely imaginative in their designs. I encourage you to look at their website.

You can see the size with Kim in the foreground.

This one was designed to put on the bayou for hunting and fishing for a dad and his boy.

notice how they combined a staircase with a bookshelf.

A nice lady named Brill gave us the tour and filled us in the details. Kim was particularly enthralled as she likes to draw house plans as a hobby.

Lastly, here are some photos of the town itself (pop: 5,500).

They have a festival called The Watermelon Thump and one of the main events is the watermelon seed spitting contest.

The town's merchants each have one of these Christmas displays made. All very unique and charming.

...amazing what we can find to see and do as we travel through the country. It's very heart warming to see these down-to-earth places, events and people.

Next Stop: Stanzel Model Aircraft Museum in Schulenburg, Texas
http://www.stanzelmuseum.org/

Forgot the Garden !

While laying in bed last night, I realized I did not post any photos from the Japanese Gardens in San Antonio even though I put "garden" in the blog title.....soooooo.... Here are some for all you garden lovers!

very unusual lilly pads

a couple of little girls were feeding the fish, hence the frenzy

at this time of year not much was in bloom

entrance

Okay, that's all for now !