The streets are Texas-typical wide, the climate hot and sunny, and people sport Southwest-style cowboy hats. But the buildings are lined with Fachwerk, the shops sport names like Schnitzelhaus, and bakeries serve flaky strudel (“Es schmeckt gut!”). There’s a wurstfest in November and a kindermasken parade in April.

Since the first German settlers were welcomed to Texas in 1845, New Braunfels — a side trip during my recent visit to San Antonio — has clung to its European heritage amid very Texan surroundings. Sited at the junction of the Comal and Guadalupe rivers, the town was the brainchild of Prince Carl of Solms Braunfels, who acquired 1,265 acres of prime riverfront land for the first settlement of the German Emigration Company. The town was founded on March 21, 1845, Good Friday, as wagons of immigrants crossed the Guadeloupe River and erected an encampment on a bluff overlooking the Comal.

The town thrived, proving one of the most economically stable in the area, and expanded into the tourist business in the 1960s. During that time, residents also began value their heritage. An impressive series of renovation and preservation projects was begun. Nowadays, the town cultivates a folksy feel, with a raft of European-style restaurants, festivals, wineries, art events and galleries.

The list of attractions is too long for less than an extended stay, but a morning’s visit also proved surprisingly rewarding. We spent a delightful few hours at the New Braunfels Art League , a non-profit downtown organization founded in 1965 to promote the visual arts. Staffed by volunteers on a co-op-like model, it offers revolving gallery shows (complete with wine-and-cheese receptions) for which anyone can apply, as well as classes and workshops.

Aside from its artistic and European heritage, New Braunfels has two must-sees. One is the Schlitterbahn, a waterpark resort , which has been named by the Travel Channel as America’s No. 1 waterpark. Among its attractions are seven children’s water playgrounds, 17 water slides and three uphill water coasters. While this type of entertainment is not my cup of tea, it seemed a delightful way for families to spend a day, although prices are nothing to sneeze at: in the summer of 2005, one-day admission cost $31.99 for an adult and $28.69 for a child.

More appealing to nature-lovers like me was another water attraction, a delightful  trip in a tube down the Comal River. Entrance was free, but you paid a modest fee to rent the tube and to be carted back to your starting point. Veteran teenagers cannily toted in their own tubes, for the pleasure of cooling off on a hot day and running the man-made chutes and mild rapids the river afforded (for a list of river outfitters, see www.nbcham.org).

Longer, more exciting trips are available from a variety of vendors, including whitewater rides and waterfront picnics. You can also canoe and camp. It was an unexpected pleasure to find such ready access to water sports in what I had assumed was land-locked inland Texas! (See, for example, www.rockinr.com.)

We enjoyed the tube experience a second time from our lunch at the must-visit Grist Mill in the nearby town of Greune (pronounced “Green”), an extension of the German settlement. The town’s slogan is “Gently resisting change since 1872,” and this former cotton gin on the banks of  the Guadeloupe River was as mellow as this statement suggests. The restaurant’s tumble of decks and patios overlooking the Guadeloupe River was the perfect way to top off our                                                                      morning.

Another surprise of my visit was the amount of open-air dining offered in the Texas heat (I had come prepared for a continuous freeze in air-conditioning ). But we dined in river breezes, enjoying glimpses of tubers wafting their way down the green-flecked water amid cottonwoods  (www.gristmillrestaurant.com).

For me, the highlight of the afternoon was our visit after lunch to the next-door Greune Hall , the oldest dance hall in Texas, where the likes of Giles Strait, Lyle Lovett and Hal Ketchum got their starts. In March, the venue focuses on local musicians (after all, Texas is a big state!); in May, it presents “American Music Jam”; and “Gospel Brunch with a Texas Twist” is offered most Sundays throughout the year. On a Sunday afternoon in July, we were pleased to hear Austin musician Shawn Pittman ), a young blues player with an old-time voice and a hot guitar.

Curiously, it was hot — the long hall, with its windows open to the outside, again featured no air conditioning and very little to eat, although the bar area was crowded even on Sunday afternoon. In the hall itself, listeners shared long tables and benches that stretched back into the cavernous room, or danced in a space at the back.

This place has been about music since the 1800s, and my visit was no different. It has hosted Bo Diddley, The Dixie Chicks, Jerry Lee Lewis, Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson, and has been featured in numerous music videos and movies. The venue, like the area itself, blends the historic and contemporary into a satisfying travel experience.

Happy traveling!

Photos: New Braunfels town square; tubing in New Braunfels; The Grist Mill; blues singer/ guitarist Shawn Pittman (left) at Greune Hall with drummer Damian Llanes and bassist Johnny Bradley.