San Angelo, TX

We started the day headed for Big Spring, TX, but before we even got there everyone decided we really wanted to head on to San Angelo, bypassing Big Spring. So 276 miles and 6 hours later, we arrived at the Elks Lodge, only to find it is only open Th-Sat. Oh well, we all piled in the car and headed to town for a bite to eat, after visiting the Visitor Center first.

We were told to go to the old downtown area. There we would find several unique and unusual restaurants and shops. Here is Max, Joyce and Patty in front of Miss Hatti's Cafe and Saloon.

We went inside and found it was a lot fancier than just a bar and grill. Decided it wasn't what we wanted for dinner but we did get the story on how the place got its name. This building was originally a bank.

This is just 3 doors down from Miss Hattie's Saloon.

 It was after 5pm so we couldn't go to Miss Hattie's Bordello Museum. But, as the story goes, there was once an underground tunnel between the bank (now Miss Hattie's Saloon) and this location, 3 doors away. Men would come to town with their wives and tell the missus they had business to conduct at the bank and would then send the wives shopping. Once in the bank they would then go through the underground tunnel to Miss Hattie's Bordello, take care of business there, return to the bank and back out to find their wives, who by then were done shopping. Then they would take the wives out to dinner before going home.

 

Across the street was Eggemeyers General Store.

Although it truly was at one time the old general store, it is now a gift shop full of upscale soaps, lotions, specialty foods and cookware and many other gift items. But the decor is cute and much of the store is still original, such as the floors, some of the cabinets, and such. Notice the old airplane hanging from the ceiling. There were dozens of these hanging from the ceiling.

The old train depot.

The old freight depot.

Fort Concho was established about 1867 to protect the frontier. It was established at the junction of the Butterfield Trail, Goodnight Trail and Road to San Antonio.

The fort was abandoned in 1889 and it passed into private ownership. Like many of the frontier forts in this area, it has no walls around the buildings.

Just outside the fort was an area which developed, now called the Old Town Historic District. This was originally a bank building.