Summer nights in Texas are going to be hot. It’s a natural fact. So why not cool down with a late afternoon cruise, some live music, and a small town Texas party, joined by your car club companions?
That’s exactly what 17 of our members did on July 31 in Brenham as they participated in the Brenham summer concert series Hot Nights, Cool Tunes. The Saturday evening events also feature a car cruise and show sponsored by the Stray Katz Car Club. Dwight Dawson got the Stray Katz to reserve spaces for the Houston MG Car Club so that we could show off our English eccentrics among the street rods, pick-up trucks, and customs from the area.
The weekend affair began with a caravan starting at CyFair high school, where six of our cars got together to make the run to Brenham. Club members Alex Laverock and Linda, Jon Coon and Vicki Johnson (new members), Bob and Kim Chalker, Gordon and Angie Bard, and Shannon Hodell (also new), with his very original 1967 Sunbeam Alpine, followed Dwight west to Brenham.
Our gang followed a pleasant route through Bellville, past the small town of Kenney and into Brenham, where lunch was held at LJ’s BBQ. Fortunately, Dwight found out just before the drive that the planned lunch stop at the singular Kenney Store was not possible due to the restaurant only opening at noon. Both Scott and Trish Hardy and Brenham locals Tim and Pat Weeks joined the caravan at LJ’s, where BBQ was enjoyed by all and AC by all those who did not bring dogs. Sorry, Gord and Angie!
After lunch, the drive continued through Historic Downtown Brenham en route to Blue Bell Creameries, where we left the cars parked in the shade to partake of the famously cheap $1 Blue Bell sundaes. After a sweet treat, we left to sample the excellent craft beers at the Brazos Valley Brewing Company. We can report that these folks know what they are doing with malted barley, hops, yeast and water. After our libations, we pressed on to our hotels, where we crossed paths with the last members to arrive, Joe and Peggy Schrodi.
We had little time to rest because the downtown cruise started at 5:00, and after a brief wrong turn through the industrial underbelly of Brenham, we got back on route, enjoyed a relaxing cruise, and were guided into our parking spaces. Our group then had plenty of time to set up chairs in the shade and find some food at the food trucks parked around the courthouse.
At 7:00 pm, as the heat of the day finally started to melt away, the music started. The organizers had to scramble to bring in a back-up band after the Journey tribute band Escape cancelled at the last minute. However, the five piece band did a great job of rocking the crowd with a series of hits from the eighties. We all enjoyed the music and dancing as evening faded into night.
We checked out of the hotel on Sunday morning and headed back home. That trip was made more interesting for those heading to Houston by a jack-knifed tractor trailer that blocked all lanes on 290 East just past Chapell Hill. The Dawsons were a dozen cars back and chose the short return to Chapell Hill rather than wait for the wreckers. They found beautiful country roads back to Bellville and onto home. Everybody eventually made it safely home, showing once again that our cars are perfectly capable of giving us safe and memorable weekends, even in the height of the summer.
- Photos contributed by Dwight Dawson
