Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Keller: steel, summer)

[tcs]

THANKS TO JAY P FOR THE KEXL SITE.

remembering KEXL San Antonio 104.5 1970's

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by linskie

Anyone remember the burgers at Tiffany Billiards (the first go-around on San Pedro)? It was around '83 or so. Absolutely the BEST at that time. It was the sauce that was the secret.

Another noteworthy hamburgesa was a place called PrimeTime BurgerWorks
on Wurbach just west of I-10.

I forgot about PrimeTime, that was a great place! I used to be a boy scout for a short time and I remember they somehow got our troop or whatever its called to go hand out coupons door to door in that neighborhood across the street next the old Luby's (now a Chinese Buffet). I also think I had my very first margarita there.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by tcs

OK I just want to keep this thread on the front page. Now what to remember...OH on Wurzbach Road between I 10 and I think Vance Jackson, there was an old stone country club,hotel. I remember walking around the property in the early 70s, looked like the old Hot Wells looks today. THere were three stone arches that you could see from the Wurzbach. I rememeber my folks saying the name Algo Differenchie or some ***like that.

I grew up just off Wurzbach between I-10 and Vance Jackson. Where exactly was this place? What is in that location now? Facing the corner of Wurzbach and Van Jackson, on the north side, there are these big stone gates. There is a Baptist church there now, but the gates definitely date from a different time period then the church.

[irnag]

Originally Posted by OzzyRules

I remember it being a burger type of place, but not one of the familiar chains. I went there in the mid-80's and I think it was called "Royal Burger."

I agree, but I think I agree with linske's spelling.

[940]

Originally Posted by tcs

OK I just want to keep this thread on the front page. Now what to remember...OH on Wurzbach Road between I 10 and I think Vance Jackson, there was an old stone country club,hotel. I remember walking around the property in the early 70s, looked like the old Hot Wells looks today. THere were three stone arches that you could see from the Wurzbach. I rememeber my folks saying the name Algo Differenchie or some ***like that.

Isn't that the area that is now home to Elm Creek? I remember there was an old house there with a swimming pool on a lot of acreage and it was in disrepair. I'm not sure if that's the area you're talking about though. My sister tells me stories of she and her HS friends from Marshall hanging out there on occasion in the mid to late 70s before it was finally torn down and cleared away.

[spurs22]

Does anyone remember a Dairy Queen on Blanco Road, where Los Barrios Restaurant is now? How long ago was that? Also, who remembers the HEB on the corner Basse and Blanco? Anyone grow up in that area? How about the Handy Andy on the corner of West Ave. and Basse? All gone now.

[GWhopper]

A few people here have mentioned the Karem's restaurant off of Callaghan and I-10, were the KCI building is now. It was the restaurant with the big talking Olmec head outside with Henry Guera's voice.

I know a couple of the Karem's and found out yesterday that the original Karem's downtown will be closing at the end of the year. The children have all become doctors, lawyers, and accountants and don't want to be in the food business anymore. They have already sold the building and the land to a developer. It looks like another piece of SA's history will soon be gone but not forgotten.

I am definitely going to visit that place before they close down.

[huffjs2000]

How about Walton's Buggy Works on Wurzbach? Good burgers, pool and live music. Or even the Warehouse on Turbo. Used to see some great bands there.

[majormadmax]

Well, sparked by the discussion on here, and some of the locations talked about in the GBNF thread, I loaded a bunch of the places mentioned into my GPS and we went a huntin' for them this afternoon. Here's our report...

The Chinese Cemetery was first on our list, the weeds are quite tall as to be expected after all the rain we've had this summer. There is a bug 'No Trespassing' sign on the gate, but the fence to the sides are missing so if anyone wanted to walk in they easily could. However, since I had my family with me and it was the middle of the day, I just took some pictures from the gate and we pressed on.

Our second stop was the Donkey Lady Bridge. As mentioned, there is a new four-lane bridge over the Medina River just past Toyota. Just pass the bridge is the old Applewhite Road on the right, we drove down there and it made a sharp left at the river. We turned around and went back up to the other side of the new bridge, which my oldest son and I walk hoping we might be able to see the old Donkey Lady Bridge below. We couldn't, but we did see where the old road went on the north side of the bridge, so we walked down that. Of course the road was somewhat overgrown, but I knew we were on the right track when I saw the 'One Lane Bridge' sign. Soon after we found the Donkey Lady Bridge, and there was a guy fishing on it. We talked with him and he said he's been coming there to fish for over 20 years, sometimes late at night, and he has never seen the Donkey Lady. But I am happy to report that it is easy to get to on foot. The best thing to do is take the old Applewhite Road on the right just over the bridge (which was West Jett Road), then part at the sharp right mentioned earlier. A large tree blocks your view of the Donkey Bridge, but it is just past it.

From there we went to the old Insane Asylum on Farm Road. There are several signs stating 'Bexar County Property - No Trespassing' so I just took some pics from the road. Twice people who live across Farm Road from the asylum drove by and gave us dirty looks, but as I was on a public road I blew it off. You can see a lot of people walk to the old buildings, there are clearly paths from the road leading to them; but I am sure the dirty look folks across the street are more than happy to call the cops on anyone they see doing so.

A short drive later we were at the Hot Wells Hotel, but someone lives in a trailer at the entrance and there were several dogs barking their heads off when we pulled up. Of course there are numerous 'No Trespassing' signs all over the place, and there are no indications that any efforts to restore the place to its former glory have taken place, at least from what we could see.

So our next stop was the location of the Cool Crest Miniature Golf course on south Fredericksburg Road near IH-10. I am sorry to report that it appears the place is closed, or has shut-down for the season at least. The “greens” are covered in leaves and other debris, leading me to believe no one has used it for several weeks. And I would expect if anything the place would be open on a Saturday afternoon, but it was shut down tight. It looked to be a cool place, but unless anyone has been there lately and knows something I don’t; I suspect it may be a while before it is open up again.

We then went north to the location of the old Midget Mansion. I believe it was located on the sharp corner on Tupelo Lane, we found what we thought may have been the end of the driveway but as mentioned, there are now houses and apartments at that spot.

Lastly, after dinner at the Red Robin, we went up 281 to Edge Falls to see what was there. We got to the one-lane bridge and saw the falls there (which are really cool); but not surprisingly there were boatloads of ‘No Trespassing’ and ‘No Parking’ signs along the road. I guess the larger falls are about .16 miles to the east of the bridge; but it was too late and I wasn’t about to risk being arrested for trespassing to see them. There is a nice picture of them on GoogleEarth, and I agree that someone could make a lot of money by opening the place up to the public; but until then this is the closest we are going to get. Driving back up Edge Falls Road, we saw a lot of frogs hopping across the road and then something big with a lot of legs. Yep, a tarantula! So I swung the van around and my son and I got out to take a closer look. The dang things give me the willies but I had to take some pics. I then blew at it and it scampered away. The ugly little things are faster than snot!

So, lots of fun and although we didn’t get to investigate any of the locations up close (except for the Donkey Lady Bridge), we had a good time. I appreciate everybody’s info, it really helped out. And the Garmin GPS made finding these places and getting from one to the other a breeze. I am curious as to if anyone has ever been able to access any of these locations with the permission of the owners? I would love to have a closer look, but I am not going to risk trespassing to do so.

Cheers! M2

[pacific_trader]

Does anyone remember the name of that old toy store that was on Walzem? It predated the Toys r Us that was next to Windsor Park Mall. It was kind of behind where the Chuck E Cheese is/was, way back in the early 80's. It was a pretty big place! I remember buying some "The Empire Strikes Back" toys there in the very early 80's and was trying to remember it's name. I think their logo was a lion or bear or something.