This sucks, but I can't say that it's unexpected. Alamo Village has closed.I drove past the signs on US 90 for years, and this past March I finally visited the place. Even during a beautiful spring break Saturday there very few visitors, and I knew the place would be closing soon.
The Shahan family made a good effort, but Alamo Village is way too remote and let's face it, westerns aren't exactly popular nowadays.
More at the Chron.
13 comments:
Lou, news like that just makes me want to cry. I've got a kid who is just about getting to the age of appreciating things like that, as well as the old-timey amusement parks you've highlighted previously. Alamo Village would have been a great stop on a Texas tour.
So instead, we have the bread and circuses of modern life: Six Flags, Disney, ESPN Zone. Crap, just crap. Plastic, overpriced, vapid, milk-yer-wallet crap.
But one thing I can say to you, Lou: Keep these tidbits coming. Even if the news is bad, it reminds us all to enjoy those classic venues that still exist, and enjoy them THIS summer instead of next.
Thanks, NoVa. Sometimes I post stuff that no one comments about but I don't care. I think it needs to be archived somewhere. Alamo Village is one such place.
You know that a few years ago I did a post about Kiddie Park (kiddiepark.com) in San Antonio, and the owner sent me a personal note? I took the kids there every summer when we made our annual pilgrimage to San Antonio tourist dives. When I was a kid, just about any town over 50,000 people had a Kiddie Park, but now they are all gone, except for the one in SA, and they are just barely hanging on.
It's sad that so many of us have forgotten these places.
Remember, there is no state tax in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington or Wyoming, at least until millions of jobless Democrats, having destroyed California's economy, Joad in to take advantage of better-run economies.
I suspect that at least some of your audience is like me, usually silent but absorbing it all. I probably didn't comment on all of the earlier parks, but I sure did read the postings and appreciate them.
On a hopeful note, I'll give you an example from up here:
There's a beer garden named Blob's Park. Uh, was a beer garden, past tense. Founded by a Max Blob (hence the name), it really was a cool, if old and worn, beer garden in the real German style.
But as the generations of owners passed away, and as property prices soared, Blob's Park closed down to be developed into another strip mall. :-(
This has a good ending, though. Maybe it was the property price crash, but the land sale fell through, and Blob's Park renovated (a bit) and re-opened and is back for what we hope are another several decades. Fingers crossed for it because local flavor sure beats having another California Pizza Kitchen.
I second what NoVa said:
"I suspect that at least some of your audience is like me, usually silent but absorbing it all. I probably didn't comment on all of the earlier parks, but I sure did read the postings and appreciate them."
You should be thankful I don't post more often. : )
This is a sad time for them & for all who loved the old westerns. I had the pleasure of being in a couple of gun fights out there and know a gentleman who has filmed out there many times. Maybe an investor will make a recreational area out of the area. On another note, closer to San Antonio, in Beorne is the Enchanted Springs Ranch where there is an old west town set up. We have filmed movies there and it made Ophra's best place to visit in the USA. Steve Schmidt and his wife have done a fabulous job to recreate the athmospher of the old west. See their web site for all the tour info etc. Sure will miss Alamo Village though!
Horrors, I was planning a trip to San Antone this fall and Bracketville was something I want to show my daughter so she could get a feel for the place and the drama that was experienced at the Alamo.
"You da thought I was foreclosing on the Alamo"
Jimmy Stewart to Henry Fonda-Cheyenne Social Club
I've visited Alamo Village many many times over the years, taking everyone with me that will go, and a few who didn't want to but was glad they did.
The Village may be closed at the moment due to Virginia's death, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't rise up from the ashes bigger and better than ever before.
I took a motorcycle trip (March 13-15, 2010) from Dallas to San Antonio & the Hill country. We saw the signs for Alamo Village on US-90 and I fugured it would be kind of a joke. On March 14, 2010 and it was open for the first time in months - oure luck for us to be riding through that day. There was no amusement park atmosphere - no music or gun fights, but I was I'm pressed with the Alamo and western town replicas. I'm glad we paied the $10 each to get in. I hope the Shahan family will work out a deal to keep it open, at least for people to see a piece of Film and Texas history.
I usually go with my family to a some village specially because we like to know the people and the places. I believe the people are more helpful and kind than people of the city.
I love to go with my couple, he usually buy viagra and we enjoy too much our privacy.
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