Day Trips

Hill Country oasis (Photo By Gerald E. McLeod)

Albert, Texas, sits at the end of one of the prettiest drives in the Hill Country. Heading west of Blanco, FM 1623 is the road you should take out-of-town visitors on to show them the rugged beauty of the Central Texas landscape.

The two-lane blacktop winds through the hills toward Stonewall like a magic carpet. The farm-to-market road is lined with the reds and golds of a dry autumn, deer that failed to avoid the occasional vehicle, a llama ranch, quaint farmhouses, cattle and sheep grazing in the fields, a historic cemetery, and scenic views of the Blanco River Valley. Five miles from the intersection of FM 1623 and U.S. 290, the ghost town of Albert spreads out beside the country road.

Since last June the ghosts have come alive. That's when Robert Cave opened the Albert Icehouse in what was once the wood shop of the old Albert General Store. "The original general store and bar were where the barbecue pavilion is now," Cave says. It was torn down sometime around 1985, so he built a replacement, using the parts from the old workshop, that looks more like an old store than the one it replaced.

A little less than two years ago, Cave became the owner of Albert, Texas – lock, stock, and barrel. He was making one of his frequent journeys between Austin and Luckenbach when he saw a for-sale sign on a small house on picturesque Williams Creek. When he inquired about the price, it turned out that the house came with 13 acres, a dance hall, and a lot of history. What better place to put a playground and snack bar for Sunday drivers?

According to The Handbook of Texas, the origins of Albert date back to 1877 when German settlers began establishing ranches in the area. A stop on the Fredericksburg to Blanco stage route, the town was originally called Martinsburg.

In 1892, Albert Luckenbach sold his store in his father's settlement a few miles up the road and moved to Martinsburg. As postmistress, his wife Sophie, or Minnie, as most people called her, had named the original settlement after her husband's family. When appointed to the new post office on Williams Creek, she changed the name from Martinsburg to her husband's first name. The town's population peaked at 50 in 1925. Today, the sign outside the beer and wine bar claims the population to be four.

After selling life insurance in Austin for 17 years, Cave couldn't resist the adventure of buying his own town in the Texas Hill Country. "We spent a year dreaming about what it could be before we started construction," Cave says. His goal was to provide a relaxing atmosphere where day-trippers could pull off the road, grab a snack and refreshments, and hear some picking and storytelling before heading down the road.

"We talked to a lot of people about what they thought the place should be like," Cave says. He built a large deck and placed picnic tables under the sprawling limbs of an old oak tree. Most important to everyone, especially the ladies, was having nice restrooms. The cinder-block facilities are the proverbial brick outhouse. Heated and cooled, the washrooms are up to most anybody's standards. "I spent more money on the restrooms than I did on the bar," Cave says.

Someday, Texans won't have to go to London to visit the Albert Hall. Next on Cave's list of improvements is to renovate the old dance hall that saw its good times decline about the time that Lyndon Johnson attended the two-room school next door. "I leave the doors unlocked so people can see in there," Cave says of the tin building with a slight lean, "but it's pretty spooky in there."

Albert, Texas, is 62 miles from downtown Austin. To get there take U.S. 281 to Blanco and head west at the stoplight on FM 1623. The Albert Icehouse opens Monday through Thursday, 4 to 10pm; Friday, 2pm to midnight; Saturday, 10am to 1am; and Sunday, 10am-10pm. There is always free music on Saturday afternoons, and who knows, the new owner of the town might be one of the pickers. For information, call 830/644-2042 or visit their Web site at www.alberttexas.com.

755th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of Day Trips 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.