Maybe someday we'll cover the correct use of "y'all" and "fixin' to", but for now our Texas language lessons are focused on pronouncing the names of cities and streets. So far, we've covered Bexar County and Gruene. Today, let's talk about Boerne.
While you might be tempted to pronounce Boerne as "born," you'd be wrong. It's correctly pronounced like the name Bernie - "Burr-knee."
Across the street there, you might be able to make out the sign for Tusculum Brewing Company. In 1849, this area was settled by German colonists who named their new community after Cicero's Tusculum home in ancient Rome. The town's name was changed to Boerne in honor of Ludwig Börne when the city was platted in 1852.
In order to get my wife to go to Boerne yesterday so that I could take these photos, I had to promise that she could spend some time shopping in some of the stores you see here.
It wasn't all shopping though. We had a nice lunch at the Dodging Duck Brewhaus. Pretty much any business in the Texas Hill Country that has the word "house" in it's name will spell it "haus," and any beer garden will be a biergarten.
The "Dodging Duck" name is apt, since Cibolo Creek is across the street, so it's not unusual to see some ducks dodging traffic.
Here's a picture of Cibolo Creek, a bit further down the road.
Cibolo is another city in the San Antonio area. The word Cibolo is pronounced "SIB-o-low," and comes from a Native American word for buffalo. Not pictured above is Cibolo Creek Brewing, a great place to go in Boerne for a meal and a beer. Let's see - Dodging Duck Brewhaus, Tusculum Brewing Company, Cibolo Creek Brewing...there's got to be room for one more. And, there will be. Free Roam Brewing Company should open soon. They did pour beer back around Thanksgiving when Boerne hosted the Dickens on Main Street event. They use the Cibolo-Buffalo image, made into a brewing hop, for their logo.
Original photographs by 