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    Get out of town

    West Texas destination steakhouse with ranch cabins beckons for rustic weekend getaway

    Cindy Brzostowski
    Jul 6, 2020 | 2:20 pm

    Though many are eager to travel again after the lockdown, a crowded destination is probably the last place to visit given COVID-19 safety concerns. On top of that, travelers may not be so enthusiastic about having to hop on a plane right now.

    Located in Buffalo Gap, a small town just south of Abilene, Perini Ranch is a relaxed, rural, and secluded getaway just two-and-a-half hours from Fort Worth. The expansive property gives cooped-up Texans the chance to enjoy fresh air and wide-open West Texas skies.

    Perini Ranch is most famous for its steakhouse, a restaurant that earned an America’s Classic award from the James Beard Foundation in 2014 and ranked No. 3 on Texas Monthly’s list of best steakhouses in the state in 2007. What many don’t know is that the ranch also has rustic guest quarters with their Main House and Camp House.

    “What sets Perini Ranch apart from other local resorts and destinations in West Texas is that we’re not a resort at all,” says Lisa Perini of Perini Ranch. “We are a working ranch that has featured a destination restaurant since 1983. We do offer lodging in our Perini Ranch Guest Quarters to extend the experience and hospitality of the steakhouse. Guests have the option to stay in the ‘Main House’ or the ‘Camp House,’ and can relax while enjoying the rustic scenery and natural wildlife that is all around.”

    The Main House is a renovated farmhouse from 1885 that’s original to the ranch. Able to sleep five, it features two bedrooms each with a private bathroom, a large living area, a dining room, a full kitchen, and a deck. The Camp House is a newer addition and sleeps three. It has a bathroom, small kitchenette, and porch.

    A stay at Perini Ranch wouldn’t be complete without a meal from its famous steakhouse. While it was closed briefly for dine-in during the shelter-in-place order, they were able to switch to dinner to-go orders and recently reopened at limited capacity under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s guidelines.

    “Since we are primarily a restaurant, every employee at Perini Ranch has food and health safety certifications and are following the Texas Restaurant Association’s Promise to Our Customers to offer a healthy, clean and safe dining environment. Our customer’s safety is first and foremost,” says Perini. “We have a large, beautiful patio, and guests have really enjoyed this outdoor space where they can relax and enjoy a dining experience at a safe distance from other guests.”

    Reservations are recommended for the steakhouse and available online from the Perini Ranch website. Patrons can either dine-in or take a to-go order back to the cabin.

    “All of our food is very traditional, based on common ingredients and cooked the old-fashioned way — with a lot of seasoning and love” says Perini. “When we started our catering business, we were catering from a chuck wagon, and those foods have now evolved into the steakhouse. We like to say it’s simple food — it looks good, it tastes good, and you can recognize it.”

    As it’s a steakhouse, beef is the star, but diners hungry for something else should try the Southern-fried catfish. And don't miss the signature side dishes: green chile hominy and the Zucchini Perini, which is sliced zucchini baked in a meat sauce and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. To end the meal on a sweet note, Perini says the strawberry shortcake, a family recipe, is a fan favorite.

    Visitors can also grab a bite at the Perini Ranch Gap Cafe, which serves breakfast, lunch, and pastries. Among the homemade items on menu, the cinnamon rolls, chicken-fried steak, quiche, and pomme frites with fried jalapeño chips are Perini's recommendations.

    For another nearby attraction, head across the street from the cafe to the Perini Ranch Country Market, stocked with seasonal produce, gourmet foods, kitchen and gardening supplies, and more. Abilene State Park is also less than 10 minutes down the road from the ranch.

    “For those who are not comfortable traveling right now, by all means, don’t. It’s important for everyone to feel safe and do what they can to stay healthy so our family, friends, and neighbors stay healthy, too,” says Perini. “But when you do feel like you are ready to venture out, rural Texas is ready for you.”

    Perini Ranch is located about 15 miles south of Abilene.

    Perini Ranch
    Photo courtesy of Perini Ranch
    Perini Ranch is located about 15 miles south of Abilene.
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    Preservation efforts

    South Texas mission makes list of America’s most endangered historic places

    Associated Press
    May 21, 2026 | 4:00 pm
    Ruidosa Church
    Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church
    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus in Ruidosa, Texas is considered an endangered place.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A historic South Texas mission joins the Stonewall National Monument, the President's House Site, and the Women's Rights National Historic Park among 11 sites on this year's annual list of the most endangered historic places in the United States compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

    The 2026 list, announced Wednesday, May 20, marks America's 250th anniversary with the foundational principle that everyone is created equal as the theme, said Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the nonprofit organization. The 11 sites offer examples of how, over time, Americans have fought against injustice and for equality, she said.

    “We wanted to think about those ideas, especially this notion that all human beings are created equal and find places, sometimes unsung places ... that not all Americans routinely think about," Quillen told The Associated Press.

    The sites are spread across the United States — from New York and California on the East and West Coasts, to Alabama and Texas in the South, to Michigan in the Midwest and the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah in the Rocky Mountain West.

    At least three of the sites — Stonewall, the El Corazon church in Texas, and President's House in Philadelphia — have been endangered by Trump administration actions.

    “We want to save these places," Quillen said, “not just because the bricks and mortar is important but because the stories these places hold are important."

    For the first time since the list debuted in 1988, each site on the 2026 list will receive a one-time $25,000 grant to help highlight their connections to the principle that all people are created equal and address the threats they face.

    The 11 sites are:

    Ruidosa, Texas: El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus
    The more than century-old adobe church served as a refuge and place of worship for Mexican and Mexican American farming communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande River. Vacant since the 1950s, the structure has benefited from continued restoration provided by the nonprofit Friends of the Ruidosa Church but remains threatened by proposed construction of a U.S. border wall that could come within a few hundred yards of the property. (The nonprofit has posted an official statement and more information about the border wall here.) Ruidosa is in far west Texas, roughly 35 miles northwest of Presidio and 46 miles southwest of Marfa, near the rugged Chinati Mountains.

    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus A historic photograph of El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus.Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church

    Montgomery, Alabama: Ben Moore Hotel
    The hotel was a refuge for Black people living under laws that enforced racial separation in the South. Prolonged vacancy has caused structural deterioration and the historic Centennial Hill neighborhood surrounding it faces pressure from development. The hotel housed key players from the Civil Rights Movement, including the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The Conservation Fund announced in November that it would help preserve the hotel.

    Modoc County, California: Tule Lake Segregation Center
    Initially known as the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, it was set up as a camp but later became a segregation center where Japanese Americans who were thought to be disloyal to the United States were imprisoned. The site is now a national monument managed by the National Park Service. Only 37 acres of the 1,100-acre site is protected. Most of it is at risk of permanent alteration from a proposed nearby construction project.

    California: Angel Island Immigration Station
    It was the largest immigration port on the West Coast between 1910 and 1940, particularly for immigrants from Asia and the Pacific. Hundreds of thousands were processed, detained and/or interrogated there because of their race. The station currently is threatened by physical, environmental, political and economic factors. Additional funding is needed for structural repairs and programming to increase awareness.

    Somerset, Massachusetts: Swansea Friends Meeting House
    Recognized as the oldest surviving Quaker meeting house in the state, it was built in 1701 to serve as a refuge by a congregation fleeing religious persecution and looking for a safe place to worship. The building has been closed for years and needs significant rehabilitation.

    Michigan: Detroit Association of Women's Clubs
    Founded in 1921, the association was one of the first Black organizations in Detroit to own their headquarters building, which was purchased in 1941. But the building has been closed since 2024, when water pipes burst and damaged the interior. Money is needed to help the association reopen the building.

    New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah: Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape
    The landscape is an ancestral homeland sustained for over a millennium by the Pueblo and Hopi people, but is threatened by changes to federal land policy that could open up significant portions to oil and gas development. Permanent protections and tribal consultation are needed to protect its cultural integrity.

    Seneca Falls, New York: Women's Rights National Historical Park
    The park tells the story of the first Women's Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, in July 1848. It faces a deferred maintenance backlog of over $10 million. Additional funding and support are needed to help preserve the park as a place to teach visitors about the history of women's rights.

    New York: Stonewall National Monument
    The first and only U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history was the subject of administration actions that saw the rainbow Pride flag removed from its flagpole earlier this year before it was restored. The National Park Service had removed the flag in February, citing federal guidance that limited the agency to displaying only the American, Interior Department and POW/MIA flags. But the administration reversed course in April as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by advocacy and historic preservation groups that sought to block the flag's removal at the Manhattan site.

    After Trump returned to office, he ended diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and many references to transgender people were excised from the Stonewall monument’s website and materials. The Republican administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that it says are “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

    Philadelphia: The President's House Site
    The administration abruptly removed exhibits on the lives of nine people enslaved at the site in the 1790s under George Washington, the first U.S. president, who lived there when Philadelphia served as the nation's capital. The exhibits were taken down as part of a broad effort by the administration to remove from federal properties information it deems “disparaging” to Americans. The issue is currently the subject of litigation between the city and federal government.

    Heath Springs, South Carolina: Hanging Rock Revolutionary War Battlefield
    The Battle of Hanging Rock was a key battle in the Southern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War and is considered a Patriot victory that helped boost morale and ultimately weaken British control in South Carolina. Only portions of the core battlefield are protected and open to the public, with the area anticipating population growth and increasing development pressures.

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