Saturday, April 30, 2011

DELIGHTFUL MIXTURE OF ARTS AND CULTURE

Friday, April 29 – Drove into San Angelo today....much bigger city than I thought. Over 100,000 in population....WOW! First stop was the Visitor’s Center. A very nice visitors center, to say the least. A very nice lady volunteer steered us in the right direction, reinforcing many of our planned visits. The visitors center is part of the beautiful Concho River Walk Area.

Front
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Back
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For many, many years, San Angelo was known as the 'wool capital of the world' because of their huge sheep market. The nationally televised 'Miss Wool of America' pageant was broadcast live from San Angelo. Celebrities such as Johnny Carson and Art Linkletter hosted the show. The Miss Wool of America is no longer held.

In October, San Angelo celebrates…Sheeptacular. Local businesses and individuals buy bigger-than-life fiberglass sheep. Then local artists paint the bare sheep statues with original designs. The community votes for their favorite sheep. The winner is crowned 'Miss Wool.'

There are 38 sheep all around the town with at least five more to be added this October. They are really a colorful addition to the town. We only took a picture of a few of them.

Lucky Ewe
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Welcoming Ewe
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Wool Gathering
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“Merino” Antoinette
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We first drove around town viewing many of the Historical Murals of San Angelo. Marsha took many pictures of these well done murals. Here are a few.

This one is for our friend Duane. It is called…what else but The Blacksmith. 13

Elmer Kelton is a six-time winner of the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. He worked for the San Angelo paper for many years. This mural is dedicated to him.
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We visited the historic Cactus Hotel. The Cactus Hotel is an historic 14-story building constructed in 1929 and was one of Conrad Hilton's first hotels. The building, which includes an impressive lobby and second floor ballroom is now home to several civic organizations, small businesses and living spaces. It stands as the tallest building in San Angelo.

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The Ballroom is on the second floor.
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The light fixtures were beautiful.
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Miss Hatties Cafe & Saloon is a gorgeous historical building. We chose not to have lunch in the beautiful restaurant.

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We even skipped having a beverage in the quaint old style bar.

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They have the many of the original furnishings. Most of the table covers are original.
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Marsha loved this lamp. Of course the beer bottles in the background are not part of the original furnishings…LOL
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You could just imagine the gentlemen stopping in for a drink on their way to Miss Hatties Bordello several doors down the street.

Can you see why the men might want to talk with Miss Hattie? OOOO La La.
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Eggemeyer's General Store is an unbelievable old time five and dime style store selling just about everything.
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It has vintage wall art to electric toy trains. They offer tasty treats of homemade fudge, jams and jellies, dip mixes, snacks and even glazed hams prepared right there in the store. We enjoyed strolling around the store.

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We continued walking around downtown in the area called “Block One.” Its an eclectic group of shops including restaurants, antiques and unique gift items.

Another wonderful day of exploring. Be sure to stop for a few days in San Angelo. It’s a delightful mixture of arts and culture.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya’ll back real soon. Have a great day!