When Ryan asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, I told him I wanted to go to Fredericksburg. Most of you know that we go every 4th of July anyways, but it was what I wanted to do! We loaded up the car on the morning of the 3rd and hit the road. Traffic was pretty bad so at Waco we split off. We made it into Fredericksburg about 2:30. We stopped at Wildseed Farms, Becker Vineyards, and Grape Creek Winery. When we got to the hotel, we checked in then immediately headed out to the shops to browse around. I had a couple of gifts I wanted to get and the shops would be closing pretty soon. I got exactly what I was looking for! We had eaten lunch pretty early that day so even though it was only 5, we were both already hungry. So we trotted on over to Rathskeller’s. I had the tilapia and Ryan had the pecan crusted chicken…and for dessert, of course…Peach Bread Pudding. Wow. There was a Johnny Cash song that had just started when the waiter sat it down…and it was gone before the song was over. SO good. This year they used vanilla cream on top instead of the vanilla ice cream…personally I like the ice cream…something about the cold vs. the hot pudding. Regardless it was fantastic! We ordered another one to take with us then headed back to the hotel. I was exhausted. So while Ryan read and shaved, I took a nap. I woke up an hour later groggy. Then we headed out to the pool. The pool at the Fredericksburg Inn is one of the best places to be in the summertime. Many singers, songwriters and friends all gather there the day before the event out at Luckenbach. It was wonderful. We met people from Houston, saw old friends from Austin and just got to catch up with everyone. We had a wonderful time. Marion, Walt’s mom, had made appetizers (including smoked salmon) and Tina had made “ice bucket” dip. Called that solely because she didn’t have a bowl and had to make it in her room’s ice bucket. I hope they weren't offended Ryan and I didn’t have any…if they could only have seen what all we had consumed at dinner. Yeesh. Our friends Randy and Joanne got back to the hotel with their group after a nice dinner out right as we were getting ready to turn in. So I stuck my feet in the pool with Jo and a couple of her friends and we chatted for quite a while. We headed back into the room at about 12:30 and slept soundly. The 4th of July parade started at 10:00 the next morning. We woke up at 9:30. I convinced Ryan to go to Rather Sweet and pick up breakfast for us while I showered and got ready. By the time he got back and we got dressed…it was too late. Randy, Jo, their family, Walt and Tina were all on the Fredericksburg Inn float in the parade! Oh well…no excuses…just overslept. I’m on vacation, I’m not going to worry about it. We walked around a bit then headed out for Luckenbach, stopping only at Subway for me to get some lunch. We set up our chairs front and center and got nestled in.
Our friends Cherron and John put theirs right next to ours. Perfect. Then Walt started. It was early, but there was a nice crowd. Each year for the past four years Walt and Tina have hosted the 4th of July out in Luckenbach. They invite families, all sorts of awesome singers and songwriters from all over. They play in sets all day. Tina, Walt, Johnny, Bill, Autumn, Jimmy Davis, Davis Raines, Josh Grider, Austin Mayse, Bill Worrell, and the list goes on and on. It was wonderful. Wasn’t even too hot under the shade of the trees. Of course, we were making it a point to drink lots of water too. Not so bad when the breeze is going, but when the afternoon winds stopped…it was warm. It was about 4:00 when I heard from Jennifer. They were almost into town, were going to check into the hotel and be ready to meet up with us for dinner about 6:00. Perfect! We stayed in Luckenbach listening until about 5 then headed back to the room. I had hat hair so I showered and got ready all over again. Just as I was finishing up, Jennifer called. We went by and picked them up then went across the street to Mamacita’s for dinner. Ryan and Bryan were both really hungry. We ate and caught up then headed back out to Luckenbach. We got there just around the time things were starting. It was Jennifer and Bryan’s first trip there so we were trying to show them around a bit before it got too dark.
The Mystiqueros put on quite the show in the dancehall that night. Unfortunately it was so hot, and no air moving, we ended up going in and out quite a bit, then finally just sat down at some picnic tables. We had a wonderful time people watching too. You can tell who is local and who isn’t by their barefeet and their dancing skills. We had a wonderful evening. When the show was over our group loaded back up and went back to the pool. We sat around out by the pool and introduced Jennifer and Bryan to several folks until it was way past all of our bedtimes. We drove them back to their hotel, came back and fell fast asleep.
I woke up first Sunday morning, showered and got dressed. Jennifer and Bryan’s checkout time we thought was at 11 so I waited until then to call and see what they wanted to do that day. They got an extended checkout time so Ryan and I drove around a bit. We are always trying to find different roads we haven’t been down, half hoping we get lost and find something amazing no one else knows about. It didn’t happen. We did get to see some beautiful country though. We called Jennifer and told them we would be waiting at the Auslander for lunch. We had just gotten our drinks when Jennifer and Bryan arrived. We had a fantastic queso/bean dip, sandwiches and a really nice visit. We said our goodbyes and thanked them for coming to celebrate with us. Ryan and I headed back out to Luckenbach. We had a few things of Tina and Melinda Ann’s so we needed to give all that stuff back to them. We again took our chairs, set up and listened for a few hours. By three or four, I was ready to hit the pool. As soon as Ryan gave the go ahead we gave hugs and headed back to the hotel. Everyone else was heading home on Sunday…but Ryan let us stay another night. I was so happy we did. The pool had emptied. We swam around a bit, then laid in the lounge chairs until we were dry. Went back to the room, changed into our nice clothes (and me into my new boots...see June post) and we headed off to dinner at August E’s. Randy and Jo have been telling us to go there for years now, but we just never have made it. It is more expensive and we always tend to find an excuse not to go. Not tonight. We walked right in and sat down. Ryan’s head seemed awfully close to the huge painting on the wall…it had a price tag next to it for $10,000….he moved his chair. I had a glass of Becker Iconoclast Cabernet and Ryan had iced tea. We were given hot poppy seed dinner rolls and the chef made us these little tomato and shaved beef appetizers to thank us for coming (we weren’t special, I saw two other tables get them too). We both had salads…and it was perfect. I could taste the dressing on my salad, but there wasn’t an excess drop of dressing on my plate and none of the greens were weighed down…how did they do that? Then came dinner. Wow! I had the tenderloin filet with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Ryan had the mixed grill. It was the best filet I have ever had. Hands down. Perfectly cooked, melted in your mouth…it was just wonderful. Ryan said his shrimp part of his meal was the he had ever had. We took to go boxes for my leftover beef and Ryan’s leftover quail then walked down to Lincoln Street. Lincoln Street is a very relaxed little old house that has been converted into a wine bar and patio. We each got a glass of wine, then found a comfortable couch and sat. Took us a little over an hour to finish a glass each. We just sat, chatted, twittered and enjoyed one another’s company. It was truly a wonderful evening. Afterward we went back to the hotel and got our bathing suits back on. We swam around watching the sun go down, then the first stars come out. When more and more local kids began to show up, we headed back to the room. Both of us slept soundly.
On Monday morning we woke up about eight, showered, packed then headed to Rather Sweet. Rebecca Rather (yes, Dan Rather's daughter...she's quite the "Pastry Queen"...some of you will get that if you google here) was in there. Her shop sits in a little courtyard back a bit from the street right now, but she was telling two women about how she was moving into the larger space just in front of her building on Main Street. Nice! I had a peach scone, Ryan had a cinnamon roll and we left. We checked out then headed into Austin. We stopped at Maudie’s for lunch. It is so good. I am convinced that if I moved to Austin, I would triple how much I spent on eating out. After lunch we booked it on back to Dallas. Traffic wasn’t bad at all and we got home about 4:00. I had such a fantastic weekend. Blessed by beautiful scenery, beautiful friends and most of all blessed with a wonderful husband :o)
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