Buckhorn Saloon and Museum

A San Antonio institution since 1881: part saloon, part wunderkammer, part Texas history museum. The collection includes over 520 pairs of horns and antlers (including a 78-point white-tailed deer), mounted wildlife from six continents, a Texas Ranger Hall of Fame with 19th-century lawman memorabilia, and more Texas curiosities per square foot than almost anywhere in the state.

It is shamelessly touristy and modestly priced, which in San Antonio is practically a recommendation. The adjacent Buckhorn Hall of Fins has a fish collection to match the horns. The ground-floor saloon serves cold beer and bar food; the attached curio store sells everything from armadillo shells to longhorn belt buckles.

things to do museum sight
A story
Albert Friedrich opened the original Buckhorn Saloon in 1881 with a simple offer to customers: bring him horns or antlers and he'd give them a free beer. Over forty years he accumulated one of the world's largest private collections of mounted horns, antlers, and wildlife specimens — eventually including a two-headed calf, a five-legged cow, and a framed arrangement of rattlesnake rattles spelling out "REMEMBER THE ALAMO." The collection moved to its present location in 1956.