ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[belbbmfan]

Eaglesham, Alberta

Located 90 km (56 mi.) north-east of Grand Prairie, Eaglesham finds its origin as an Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway station. It was established in 1916 and it is possibly named after a village in what was Renfrewshire in Scotland. Its post office opened officially in 1929 and its first postmaster was Joe McDaid. Many services including, a golf course, library, dining establishments, and wilderness campground great for hikers and fishers that enjoy a challenge.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Mammoth Hot Springs, Wy

[MaineWriter]

Shiner, TX

Shiner citizens are called Shinerites. This is probably the reason they changed the name from Half Moon. It's hard enough to be a Moonie, but a half Moonie? Billed as "The Cleanest Little City in Texas", it certainly lives up to it's name.

Stop in the Chamber of Commerce, if only for the experience of getting to park in front of the large doors. You can pretend that it is still a fire station. The Chamber will provide you with a brochure that will cover all places of interest in Shiner.

Every October 2, Shiner's neighbor Gonzales commemorates the anniversary of the first shot fired for Texas independence. The original cannon was buried to avoid capture and was thought lost until a flood uncovered it in 1936. Since this coincided with the Texas Centennial, there were doubts to it's authenticity. Tests conducted in 1980 confirmed it to be the real McCoy.

The response to the Mexican request for the cannon was: "Cannon? We ain't got no cannon. We don't need no stinking cannon."

Sorry. Wrong dialogue.

History and the rebel's flag records the true response to be "Come and take it!" So Gonzales has a "Come and Take It" celebration, with a reenactment every year

The Spoetzl Brewery

This is perhaps the main draw for those who visit Shiner. As you may have gathered by their recent ad campaign, Shiner Beer is "Brewed with an attitude". You can tour the brewery (Monday thru Friday 11a.m. & 1:30p.m.) and find out for yourself what kind of attitude.

After a hard day of maintaining an attitude, many of the brewery employees repair to The Tenth Inning for "attitude adjustment". This local tavern is a mere 7/10ths of a mile from the brewery, which makes one wonder if there's an underground pipeline. Judging by the empty cases outside, Shiner outsells the other brands 4-1. "We drink all we can and we sell the rest".

The 1895 Opera House, now called The Gaslight Theater puts on about four performances per year.

An architectural jewel is the 1921 Saints Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church, a red brick Romanesque Revival style structure with painted murals and magnificent stained glass windows imported from Bavaria.

Leslie

[belbbmfan]

Robb, Alberta

Located in the Canadian Rockies

[jpwagoneer1964]

Baggs, Wy

[MaineWriter]

Smiley, TX

John Smiley was a sheepherder who settled on a lake in the vicinity in the early 1870s. The lake became known as Smiley’s Lake – and older Gonzales County residents knew Smiley as Smiley’s Lake. By the turn of the century – only the name Smiley appeared on maps.

Cattle herds driven to market watered at the lake. Businesses soon sprang up to cater to the drovers and by the 1880s – a town was born.

A post office opened in 1884 and within two years Smiley became Gonzales County’s number three city. By 1896 the community had several hundred residents.

In 1905, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway came through the area north of “old” Smiley.

The town incorporated in 1911 but was devastated by a fire that same year. By the 1920s Smiley had an estimated population of 600. In the 1930s and 1940s it became well-known as a poultry-processing center.

In 1964 the population fell just below 500 and remained at that level for the next 35 years.


Leslie

[Meryl]

Yetalzec, Mexico

(I jumped the gun on predicting the end of the "Y"s.  Thanks to Mexico, we have a lot of them still to go! )

[jpwagoneer1964]

Centennial, Wy
 
You can stay at the Snowy Mountain Lodge on your visit to Centennial.

[belbbmfan]

Lake Louise, Alberta

View the majestic Victoria Glacier nestled behind beautiful Lake Louise, known as the "Jewel of the Rockies". As a ski destination, Lake Louise is internationally renowned, but it is also home to some of the best hiking & cross-country ski trails in the Rockies. At an elevation of 1,536m (5,039 ft), Lake Louise is located 57km (35mi.) from the town of Banff, near the start of the Icefields Parkway.

[MaineWriter]

Elevation, TX


Built on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway in 1881, there isn’t too much to say about the community, although it is thought to be named for the altitude.

The population in 1990 was 12.

Leslie