Ramblin’ Rose: Visited Oct 8, 2022

Rambling Rose is right next door to Inman’s Bar-B-Q in Llano, 809 W. Young Street, also known as Hwy 290. This dance hall has been around for awhile, as it was on Stephen Dean’s list of old dance halls.

They used to have dances once a month prior to COVID. Cover was anywhere from $10-20 depending on the band. They aren’t as frequent now. We happened to find the hall during a free concert – sponsored by Almighty Air, Phoenix Nest Guest House, Sterling Creek Builders and Stillwater Land Co.

Inman’s closes at 4 on Saturday’s so we weren’t able to eat there before the dance. However, Llano has Coopers and Miillers within a stones throw of the Ramblin’ Rose if you have a craving for BBQ before dancing. There are a few tourist sites to visit in Llano. The park had several interesting permanent art exhibits.

Deer Carved from a dead tree

Hand holding a tree for Earth Day 2019

Stacking rocks

Historic red top jail

Back to the dance hall! The hall has a 3,000 square foot parquet dance floor, an awesome chandelier, and enough tables set up for our event to hold about 300 people. I counted 5 tables for 20 people, 1 table which held 16, then approximately 15-18 reserved tables that had 8 people each. There was a stand up rail where multiple people congregated, and the line at the bar looked like it was always 10-15 deep.

The dance started at 7 and the doors opened at 6:30, with the wait line snaking past Inman’s front door. We snapped photos before it became too crowded. We saw the band use the garage door to bring more equipment in.

There is a room between Inman’s and Ramblin’ Rose that is used by the Lions Club., just to the right of the raised stage.

Many families were there and it was great to see parents out dancing with their children and kids teaching each other the steps. Lots of cowboy hats and great dancers on the floor. The acoustics were set up for the band, but made it a bit difficult to talk to anyone unless they were sitting right next to you. It was hard to make new friends when we couldn’t hear each other, so we had to be content dancing – which we did for over two hours. The band still had another hour to go when we left.

We drove home under a full moon, tired and happy from our dance outing.