Another Texas Ranch You Can Visit: Part Two

Like the Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, the The Benini Foundation Galleries and Sculpture Ranch is another reason to head to Texas. Both ranches [along with Reimer’s Ranch Park ] were written about in the issue of National Geographic Traveler I browsed through when I was visiting my husband’s parents.

Both the Banberger Ranch and the Benini Ranch caught my attention because they capture the passions of the people who own them. I’m always interested to go to places where people use the land they love to promote a cause they hold dear. Or maybe it’s just to be surrounded by people who have a passion that makes some places worth the drive to get to them.

The way I see it, the Benini Ranch is to the preservation of art like the Bamberger Ranch is to the preservation of the Scimitar-horned Oryx . If you browse the ranch’s Web site, you’ll notice the array of striking sculptures across the top. They are by various artists whose work has been accepted to be on exhibit. According to the Web site details, an artist agrees to let his or her work be displayed for two years. This means that you can visit the ranch over and over and see different pieces as some come and go. Instead of a museum gallery enclosed by walls–or a sculpture garden outside a building–the scultures are showcased in the great outdoors. Texas has plenty of great outdoors. If you’ve even driven across it, you’ll know what I mean. The area where this ranch is located is lovely. I remember being so surprised by the lushness of the landscape when I drove between Austin and San Antonio.

If you do want to go here, click here for directions and information. And, by the way, thanks to National Geographic Traveler for pointing me in the direction of Texas again. I have friends in both San Antonio and Austin. These ranches give me even more incentive to head that way–and to make sure that my friends have an idea of where to head when they are looking for a place to take visitors.