February 24, 2018
Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Rd, New Braunfels, TX (Comal County) is one of the oldest, continually operating dance halls in Texas. It was built in 1878 and has a 6,000 square foot hall, high pitched tin roof and side flaps for air conditioning. It’s located in New Braunfels. They have lots of big name and small, up and coming bands. Peruse the walls for photos of past musicians. It’s a good place to hear music, but in my opinion, a terrible place to dance. When we visited, I was suffering from a bad case of sciatic pain which hindered a lot of our exploring and slowed the dancing somewhat.
When we were there the dance floor was covered three quarters of the way with tables. People were sitting and listening to the music. The remaining exposed floor did not seem to have been well maintained. It was a hazard to me when we tried to spin, with boards not flush to each other. Prior to and after visiting, we heard from many dancers who reported injuries while dancing here. Concert tickets must be purchased on line. We were there in the afternoon, when free music was playing from The Flat Top Jones Band. If you want to hear them, I found a YouTube video.
Because the floor was so uneven, we left and danced outside on the street pavement. We happened to be there when Shirley Kirk was setting up to play on the green. We danced in the grass as she and her son played. We watched her grandchildren dance to the music a few feet from us. We enjoyed the music.
We wandered the historic district, people watching and looking in windows. We passed the Gruene Mansion Inn and wandered in, thinking we might stay there if we attended a concert at Gruene Hall in the future. The staff was friendly, but very busy so we took information and wandered the grounds.
While it was nice looking at all photos of the past musicians who visited Gruene, the dance floor was a disappointment to me. But they have great music!
After Gruene we had a break, but visited Granger Cotton Country Club in March
Dancing Across Texas 