Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WORTH A TRIP
LULING
Luling trumpets that it's the 'crossroads to everywhere.' But the main reason to stop here these days as you whiz
through on the way to Shiner is to see the annual
Luling Watermelon Thump
(
www.watermelonthump.com
),
which has been covered in
People
magazine and the
New York Times
. The famous fruit-growing contest, com-
plete with a crowned queen, takes place the last full weekend of June. (Incidentally, Luling is also the two-time
holder of the world watermelon-seed-spitting championship, as documented in the
Guinness Book of World Re-
cords
.)
Luling was founded as the western end of the Sunset branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1874, and in
1922 oil was discovered beneath it. The downtown
Central Texas Oil Patch Museum
( 830-875-1922;
www.oilmuseum.org
;
421 E Davis St; admission by donation; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri) is dedicated to Luling's
history and heritage. In the same building, the Luling
Chamber of Commerce
( 830-875-3214;
www.lulingcc.org
)
has more information on the area, including its antiques shops.
Luling is on US 183 where it meets Hwys 80 and 90, just north of I-10; it's about an hour's drive from San An-
tonio or Austin, and is served by Greyhound.
