Lake LBJ, Golf, and Willie Nelson
With high expectations and a lot of anticipation we headed out of town on Thursday afternoon for another fun weekend of golf, boating, exploring the Woodlands, and a music concert with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp - how good is that. Well, maybe you youngsters wouldn't appreciate it but us old hippies idolized Bob Dylan and Willie remains a country legend.
Our first stop was a couple nights at our good friends lake house on LBJ. When we arrived Cathie had a gourmet meal and a cold beer waiting for us and better yet, she served us on her beautiful deck overlooking Lake LBJ. After dinner it was many rounds of the dominos game "42"- women 4, men 3 - into the early morning hours. What a great way to start the weekend, except we were down two games to the women - maybe we could make it up with our golf bets.
Following a good breakfast, a couple aspirin, and multiple cups of coffee, it was off to play Slick Rock at Horseshoe Bay. Didn't play worth a darn but I sure enjoyed the course - excellent condition, wide forgiving fairways, and some challenging, scenic, and fun holes. One of the holes, number 14 is labeled the "million dollar waterfall" - instead of taking a couple pictures, smacking the ball directly into the waterfall, and then logging a double bogey, I would have preferred to stop, pull out a lawn chair, have a picnic, and enjoy the scenery. To learn more, read our review of Slick Rock Golf Course.
| Back at the lake house, we were joined for the rest of the weekend with some other good friends from Dallas for another great meal and more fun and games into the wee hours of the morning - the women were now up 7 games to 5, a commanding lead! Saturday was spent swimming in the coves and cruising the lake and wishing we had the money to buy one of those huge beautiful homes that line the shoreline of Lake LBJ. Where does all that money come from? We stopped and took a tour of a $6 million home in Horseshoe Bay - wonder what the monthly payment would be on that baby! After touring that huge home, we headed right to the party beach to swim with all the rest of the weekend partyers. |
|
 |
Lake LBJ is one of the few constant level lakes in Texas and since nearby Lake Travis is down over 40' and only has one ramp open and Lake Buchanan is not much better, Lake LBJ is much more crowed than normal.
After a fun day of boating, we jumped in the SUV and drove 25 minutes to the small town of Johnson City, the home of President LBJ, for dinner and music at Silver K. Silver K is a small cafe that serves very good food at reasonable prices - $12 to $25 for some unusual dishes like my Chicken Fried Ahi Tuna with a habenaro mango sauce or tilapia stuffed with crab and covered with a light cream sauce. And in the main dining room they have live music on the weekends. We were there because we love the food but also because Davin James was playing. Davin is one of our favorites because of his story-telling, good voice, excellent pickin', and great songs. He has a passion for music and puts on a dynamic and very enjoyable show. |
Sunday we said our goodbyes after another great breakfast - eggs Benedict on the deck - and headed to the Woodlands for a music concert at Mitchell Pavilion with some of the music industry legends who helped pave the country, folk and rock landscapes - Willie Nelson, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Bob Dylan.
|
Willie is a prolific songwriter and entertainer, and one of country's most notorious "outlaws." At 76 he hasn't lost a note and still sounds and picks like he always has. And he still seems like he really appreciates his fans and enjoys playing. Good show by the master.
Mellencamp, the 57-year-old kid of the bunch, was one of the biggest names around during the 1980s and he still has energy to spare as he roared through a 65-minute set backed by a stellar six-member band featuring a violinist, accordionist and upright bass player. What a fantastic set and it was great to hear songs like "Pink Houses," "Paper In Fire," "Check It Out," "Troubled Land," "Rain On the Scarecrow," and "Crumblin' Down." How was Dylan going to top that? |
|
 |
I've been a big Bob Dylan fan since the 70's and couldn't wait to see him live for the first time. I didn't know what to expect, but when he came out dressed in black pants with what looked like shiney sequins downs the seams of his pants, a black vest, and black Panama hat and his 5 piece band had white pants, white sports coats, and white Panama hats, I was shocked - what happened to the hippie folk singer I remember! Made me think of his two big hits from the 60's - The Times They Are A-Changin' and Blowing in the Wind. At 68, he was still going strong and could belt it out and his gravelly voice, musical talent, and unique songs were the same. I wasn't the only one who had a hard time understanding some of the words to his songs but I sure enjoyed the beat and admired the excellent musicians. |
 |
A fantastic evening of music. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion is a great music venue with a grassy field in back of the stadium type seating where you can bring blankets or rent lawn chairs to enjoy the music under the stars. One of our friends who is an executive with Donoho's Jewelry in The Woodlands gave us his box seat tickets for this show. What a great way to enjoy the music - we were about 30 rows back from the stage, had roomy cushiony seats, and waitress service! Plus access to the VIP area for food and drinks in an air conditioned room with TVs and a big screen video of the event. What a way to go and we felt like VIPs for a few hours. If you're in The Woodlands and need some good jewelry, make sure you stop by Donoho's. |
The next morning we were off to play golf at Tour 18 in Spring, Texas. Tour 18 has created 18 holes that are replicas of some of the best holes on the PGA tour. It was fun seeing some of the holes we've seen on TV, reading a little of the history of each hole, and playing where the legends of golf have played. I parred a hole that John Daley got an 18, landed in the left ear of Disney's famous Mickey Mouse bunker, found out why the infamous Church Pews are so feared, and added two balls to the lake that collected 64 during one pro tournament! Read our review of Tour 18 to learn more about this fun course.
If you've visited the Houston area in the summer, you know what it's like when its 100 and the humidity is off the chart! We were soaking wet and drained after 18 and immediately changed into our suits and dove into the pool to cool off. We had to drag ourselves out of the cool refreshing clear pool water to head to the Woodlands for a bike ride. The Woodlands has miles of trails but since it was still 100 and humid, we stuck to the flat, paved trail that leads from the mall, along the canal, and to Lake Woodlands - a scenic and pleasant ride. It was tempting to stop at some of the bars along the ride and have a cold drink and appetizer, but we were on a mission to check out the lake. Next time! Then it was off to a pretty good seafood dinner at Crabby Daddy.
We must be gluttons for punishment, because the next morning we were back on the links and chasing that little white ball all over the course at 101 degrees and very high humidity at Augusta Pines in Spring. Augusta Pines is one of those courses where you can have a fun, relaxing, enjoyable round and score well (I said you, not me!). The conditions are excellent, the fairways are wide and forgiving, the clubhouse is spectacular, and the food and service are very good. Bring some extra balls because they have two island greens that you'll want to do the "Tin Cup" thing to prove you can carry the water. Here is a link to our review of Augusta Pines Golf Course. |
|
After our round, we bee-lined it straight back to the pool to cool down, change clothes, and check out Old Town Spring before heading back home. Old Town Spring is really cool and I wish we would have spent a little more time there - lots of quaint shops (arts, crafts, antiques), unique restaurants, and more. You could spend hours there and not see it all.
When we visit the Woodlands, we enjoy staying at Rayford Crossing. They are a top ranked RV park with great sites and lots of amenities and very convenient to everything. On this trip, we stayed in one the three cabins at Rayford Crossing. Fantastic place to stay. To learn more, read our review of Rayford Crossing RV Resort.
"Thank God For Weekends" and this was a fun one!
