{"id":7393,"date":"2016-03-07T07:00:55","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T13:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?p=7393"},"modified":"2016-03-02T12:34:50","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T18:34:50","slug":"grass-is-much-greener-is-gruene-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2016\/03\/07\/grass-is-much-greener-is-gruene-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Grass is Much Greener is Gruene, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gruene-hall-texas-l\"<\/a>If you do not know what Gruene\u00a0Hall<\/a>\u00a0is, you probably didn’t grow up in Texas. So for those of you who don’t know, Gruene Hall is a historic staple of country music in Texas and is known as a small utopia full of southern vibes, southern cooking, and classic southern music. Gruene Hall is located in Gruene, Texas, a tiny town outside of New Braunfels right off of I35. Built in 1878, Gruene Hall is known\u00a0for being Texas’ most famous dance hall. Today, Gruene is the center of the Texas entertainment scene, and the epitome of unspoiled country music talent. Live music performances happen\u00a0every night, with artists that range from the Dixie Chicks, to Willie Nelson, to George Strait. The list is never ending, but no matter who the performer is that night, there is a universally accepted fact\u00a0that\u00a0the music will never dissapoint. Gruene is a staple of my childhood as this was the place that truly taught me to love country music.<\/p>\n

My relationship with Gruene has been so strong throughout the years because the family of one of my best friend’s actually are the current owners of the entire city of Gruene and have devoted so much time and effort in creating such a magical place. Without their efforts to help conserve\u00a0the historic town, I don’t think it would be as recognized as it is today. The town started out with only the dance hall, and has now evolved to be recognized as a very functional city that consists of several good restaurants, a general store, an antique shop, and of course, the signature water tower.<\/p>\n

\"Gruene-Historic-District\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The two main restaurants are the Gristmill and Mozie’s, which was named after my friend. The Gristmill is the more popular of the two, as it can accommodate up to a couple hundred of guests at a time, with a fun Texas-style atmosphere, staple homestyle cooking, and classic southern hospitality. Going to the Gristmill for lunch is more of a day-long activity than going to any other boring restaurant, because it is such a fun reminder of my southern roots. Whenever I have friends in from out of town, this is my go-to place for an afternoon of tourism. Even if\u00a0I’m from San Antonio, I would choose to take someone\u00a0to Gruene, Texas over visiting the Alamo any day.<\/p>\n

\"Gruene-031-Large1\"<\/a>The first concert I ever saw at Gruene Hall was the Dixie Chicks when I was about eight years old. I went with my family early and of course ate at the Gristmill, then took a classic tourist picture in front of the water tower, and then headed down the cobble stone path to Gruene Hall. The night was magical. The atmosphere of the dancehall is so full of life that it encourages even the old people\u00a0to have a great time and dance all night. Because of the set up of the Hall, the audience is more encouraged to dance rather than to line up in rows to hear the performer. Unfortunately I wasn’t much of a dancer, so I chose my spot right in front of the stage and stared directly up at my idols for three hours straight. I am reminded of this night every time I return to Gruene, because the city and the Hall have been left untouched and innocent, and that is why it is so special.<\/p>\n

\"12597-20130304_GrueneHall_131-608956cc\"<\/a>At Gruene Hall, it’s not only about who the performer is that night, it’s the traditional country atmosphere and pure Texas experience that the place has to offer. When people want to stereotype Texas and say that we ride our horses to school, I laugh because that would probably actually\u00a0happen in Gruene. It’s all part of the experience, and if you haven’t visited the town yet, it should be the absolute next adventure you take.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you do not know what Gruene\u00a0Hall\u00a0is, you probably didn’t grow up in Texas. So for those of you who don’t know, Gruene Hall is a historic staple of country music in Texas and is known as a small utopia … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post-4","category-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7393"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7439,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7393\/revisions\/7439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}