Texas Hill Country Escape!

We found ourselves with a few open days, so we called Mike and Becky, 

and took off for fun times in the Texas Hill Country.

First stop, our little bungalow in Fredericksburg, the Butterfly Cottage.

Very nicely appointed...

inside and out! 

Even a comfy gazebo in the backyard

Not sayin this was a high bed, but Becky actually had to adopt
US track star Florence Griffith Joyner's "high bar roll" to get into bed!
And she did it!! (sorry, no photos)

After settling in, we scooted back downtown to visit the Farmer's Market.

Fun just hangin' out.

Just a hop, skip, and a jump from Fredericksberg is the town that
Waylon and Willie made famous, so if you get this close...ya gotta go!

Local folks
and some
travellers
like us,
just enjoying
the music
and an ice
 cold brewski!



It was a 

makeshift band,
and I woulda
joined in, but...
I didn't have
my six string,
so we just played
audience

Welcome to
 Texas!

It just don't
get more
Luckenbach
than this!





Be sure and
ask Becky about
her new BBFs,
some country-music-
lovin chickens!
(She has all
the pictures)


That was a great way to work up an appetite,
so we headed to this one-of-a-kind burger joint that
Mike and Becky had heard about, called
The Alamo Springs Cafe:

 This place is thirteen miles from nowhere, so you
gotta be going there on purpose, you don't just happen upon it!
 And let me tell you, they draw some crowds!

 Here's the reason why people risk everything to find this place:

This food is so good, they don't have to be fast!

And twelve miles is a complete understatement!

So, a great first day and looking forward to tomorrow!

Our bungalow included free breakfast coupons at three different
downtown eateries, so after a restful night, we headed over to
the Rathskeller for breakfast.
It's a longtime German/American restaurant located
in the basement of a limestone house on Main:

After chow, we headed back out the highway, to find a place
Mike had noticed on our drive into town yesterday:

This three story salvage house is called Magnolia Pearl.

We had no idea what that meant, but we started investigating right away.

Unbeknownst to us, Magnolia Pearl 

is a (mostly) online fashion house, 

specializing in 

tres avant garde clothing and ...

oh, I don't know...style?

Once we stepped inside,

we realized we had discovered

something not of this world.

The owner, Robin Brown designs the 

styles, and she employs a bevy of young

ladies who assist her.  They were all 

dressed in Magnolia Pearl fashion which 

was a layered linen look, and bare feet.

There was one dude there, Robin's companion,

Paul Gray. Mike kept calling him David Koresh, 

(see the Branch Davidians of Waco).

He was a nice guy, not to have any male friends.

I think that is largely because he wears 

linen parachute pants.

It seemed rude to take pictures
of the clothing and the bevy,
but here's a sample,
from their website.

One of the bevy informed
us this season's style is
Scandinavian Industrial Chic,
coming soon to an online
shop near you!


And the artist herself with her companion himself!
Robin and Paul:

Folks, I can't make this stuff up!

Then back to Fredericksberg, for more shopping,
and a quick lunch at Tubby's, a backyard style hangout.

More shopping, then a drive through the country where
we spotted this fence line decorated just like you'd expect in Texas!
Yep, boots...as far as you can see.

On our way back into town we passed this new spot that looked like
our kind of place...but since we already have dinner plans...maybe tomorrow.

Dinner Friday night was at the Auslander Biergarten,
a long time German food favorite!

We took a seat outside, because that's were the music was,
and had a great evening, except for a crazy bet I made with Mike,
about  "the next song coming up". I can't remember the song
but I remember it cost me a buck!

Next morning, another tasty breakfast.
After that, we headed south to Comfort Texas, a veritable
beehive of antique shops and yard art places!
Our just-about-favorite shop in Comfort is Miss Giddy's,
where we always find something we can't live without.

 Miss Giddy has all kinds of garden and horticultural stuff,
including a mess of chickens that roam the grounds.
I told you Becky has a thing about chickens.

 One classic antique is Miss Giddy's Husband's truck.
This baby still runs great, and it's his everyday truck!

.  And though we've been in a few times, this was the first time to meet
Miss Giddy herself, Dinah Zikes. She has an incredible story (ask Linda)
and when she learned Linda was a retired teacher AND Master Gardener,
these two bonded like sisters from another mother!

 PS: This is where Linda gets a ton of her Fairy Garden stuff!

So, we shopped Comfort dry, and decide to grab lunch
before we head to Johnson City.
And there's no better spot than Manny's Cafe,
where all great Americans eat! (see the Flag)

We tried to hit all the important shops on our way from Comfort 

back to Fredericksberg, via Johnson City.

Little did we know Johnson City had their Market Days going today

(Saturday) so we checked out the goods!

After buying Linda a little Scandinavian Industrial Chic dress from a shop 

in Fredericksberg, we headed back out to the place we spied last night,

the Pecan Grove Store!

This place was built in 1958 and operated as a Sinclair Gas 

station, ice house, autmotive shop and gathering place for many years.

It's no longer a gas station, but a great spot for cold beer!

They have live music when they want to, and burgers on Fridays and Saturdays!

 They just added this vintage cop car this week, which stays parked out front,
and yeah, that's "the outlaw" Becky Winn at the wheel.

Step inside and start with a cold one, and be sure to go
on the weekend because the burgers here are worth the trip!
You can eat inside or carry the chow out under the trees when the music's rollin!

we've enjoyed great food at every stop, but truly this was
one of the best burgers in my whole entire life!

Or maybe it was just the company.  Either way,
it was another great trip, and we'll catch you on the flip flop!

May Road Trip

Springtime in Texas is a rare kind of beauty

and it always makes us feel great, so here we go again!

 This year we headed to Brenham, which is home to 

Blue Bell Ice Cream, and the little Creamery.

We did not tour the factory this time, because we've done that

 a few times already and as good as that free sample is at the end, 

we found a lot of other stuff to do!

The square is typical small town Texas, with shops and cafes 

aplenty, and you can be sure most of them also serve Blue Bell!

After exploring a while, we stopped in at Smitty's for lunch.

You might think Smitty's a dude, but you'd be mistaken.

Smitty is a nickname for Callie Schmidt!

After lunch we strolled some more and found this little 

downtown park which provides not only great beauty, 

but also a little history of the town all the way back to 

the Reconstruction era after the War of Northern Aggression!

Boo on those Carpetbaggers!

It wasn't mealtime when we spotted this place, 

but we had to include a picture of TRUMP  cafe!

Linda does the best research before we travel, and this trip she learned

 about Kenney, Tx - this little town between Brenham and Bellville

(which are two other little towns).  Kenney used to be three buildings 

facing a railroad track, but now it's just the Kenney Store.

I suppose the store used to be a feed store for the local farmers, 

but nowadays the Store is a restaurant and bar featuring live music 

a few nights a week.  Above: daytime view.  Below: evening view.

I don't know where all the people come from, 

but the Kenney Store becomes a swinging joint! Drinks are cold, 

food is good and everybody has a great time!  But if you go, 

you better like some old country music.  

That band was so old, even I couldn't play with them!

The music and beer was good enough,
so we decided to stay for dinner.

For starters 

we tried a new item, Corn Nuggets,

which were great with hot sauce

or the standard dipping sauce.

Then Linda had fish tacos, 

with cole slaw filling
while I got the Ribeye steak bites.

That means little chunks of steak, 

battered and deep fried and 

served with gravy and fries.

Mmm Mmm good! 

Next morning we moved south, to a tiny town called Round Top.
On our way into town we swerved off the road to check out this
magnificent music hall, in the middle of Nowhere!

And you know us!  We snooped around until we found a nice lady
who explained this was the Round Top Music Festival Institute,
an invitation only music conservatory for young musicians
and then she gave us a tour of the premises. Whatta Place!

I stole this picture of the auditorium during a concert,

just to show how grand the hall is!

A couple of pictures of the chapel which was
actually moved in from somewhere else!

From the Institute, we drove on into Round Top 

Which is cute, but tiny!

Nothing going on now, but for two weeks each year
(spring and fall)....

They host the gigantic Round Top Antiques Fair
when the population hits between 200,000-300,000 people.
I kid you not!  We met Helen and Sean McLaren,
of  McLaren's Antiques - a sweet British couple
who kindly let us shop in their huge barn while they worked to get ready
for next fall!  They moved here from England just to be a part of this fair,
where all their income is made in those two weeks each year!

Otherwise the population of Round Top is 90. seriously.

From there, we headed on down to La Grange for lunch,
did some shopping along the way, and then on to Bastrop for the night.

At one point we passed this tree that had been struck by lightning(?)

and the remaining stump carved into a leaping pony!

That's making the most of a sad situation.

Then, on to Bastrop.  

This little town is about half an hour east of Austin, 

and it's truly Smalltown Texas!

They have a nice historic downtown, where we met

(1) a guy who makes and sells his own jewelry

(2) a fella whom I thought I knew, who thought he knew me and 

(3) a sweet little lady shopkeeper who told us about the wild chickens.

All this great stuff could only happen in a small town!

The lady told us of a corner, just up the street, where people

drop off their chickens that they don't want (?) anymore.  

So we drove up that way and sure enough:

Then the fella that knew me chatted a while and recommended
Baxter's on Main for dinner, because Wednesday night is Steak Night!

"Steak Night" means you get to set on their patio and
enjoy a 10 oz ribeye with a baked potato and salad bar for $ 10.95!
Believe me, they draw a crowd.

Next morning we started for home, with a breakfast stop in Salado.
The only place that serves a cooked breakfast now is a Mexican cafe
behind the old Stagecoach Inn, called the Salado Patio!
Based on the parking lot full of pickups, we pulled in. My hope was
to talk to a local boy about when the Stagecoach was going to reopen
and sure enough, I found plenty:

This wild crowd knew all about everything that's going on.
And for good reason: one guy was a city councilman, one was
a retired city councilman, one was the Superintendent of schools,
and one was the Judge you stand in front of if you break the law.
So I fit right in.
Y'all be careful when you're in Salado!