We already knew of Po-Po Family Restaurant (Nelson Dance Hall). Both of us have passed it multiple times off of I-10, but neither of us has actually stopped by. Since I had only eaten once that day, I was starving so we decided to stop here first. After we ate our sandwich and shrimp, and polishing off a few beers inside the restaurant, we decided to head out back to the dance hall area. (Side note: Inside of the Po-Po Restaurant there are literally hundreds of plates all over the walls. Apparently the owners of the restaurant and hall traveled a lot throughout their lives. They felt as though pictures weren’t enough to keep their memories, so they stared collecting plates. Weird, I know, but that is the story behind it.) The dance hall really isn’t a hall, more just like a stage, and doesn’t seem to operational anymore. There was a small area with a large banquet room which looked as though if you wanted to have a small dinner party if you wanted.
After getting a rental car since my truck wasn’t going to be ready until the next day, we headed up towards Kendalia Halle. Unfortunately there was a large chain link fence guarding the gate, with a sign that said no trespassing (good thing, since Laura likes to try to break into all the places we go). At least we know that the hall is still operational from becoming fans of Texas Dance Hall Preservation Inc on Facebook.
About 30 minutes away in Sisterdale we found Sisterdale Dance Hall. We decided to go into the bar across the street first to grab a beer and see the original wood bar from the hall. Being a romantic, I convinced the bartender to let us take our beers out of the bar and out around the small town. The hall looked as though it hadn’t been used in a while, but had a cool ticket booth and an outhouse that was perched on the side of a hill. Luckily for us it wasn't in use anymore, because basically people would piss and shit, and in drunk cases puke in it and it would run down to a creek.
As we arrived to our last destination, Waring General Store, we realized that it had just closed for the evening. It really is a general store however, with groceries, clothing and small home goods for sale. Around the back there was an outdoor sitting area with a small stage where it appeared that performances were held.
Around the cool lil former gas station.
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