Sweet Vacation

Tim and I love traveling together. So when I, surprisingly, found out I had several vacation days left before my year anniversary at work rolled around, we knew we had to use them (or lose them). Our first set of plans would have taken us to San Diego, but for some reason neither one of us felt 100% dedicated to the trip. Both of us were uneasy about it for some reason or another. So, we followed our hearts' desire to spend time in the Hill Country of Texas. We spent two nights in Austin and one night in Gruene. Although we spent 4 days in 40 degrees and rain (while I am sure it would have been 80's in San Diego), we would not have traded our time.

We started our trip Wednesday morning driving down 35 towards Austin. We set out to find one of the best "Small Town Diner" experiences, according to Texas Monthly. We drove through Waco and took a westerly turn to McGregor where we found Donald Citrano's Coffee Shop Cafe. An apparent favorite of W's(it is only minutes from Crawford) several of the Washington press corps would dine there when staking out the ranch. But that has not changed the atmosphere of this country diner. It is still an obvious favorite to the locals.

Tim had the chicken fried steak and I had the catfish. The cornbread was some of the best I have had! Sweet and delicious!

We arrived in Austin a few hours later and walked down several streets of shops, including South Congress where we found a beautiful bluebonnet painting at a hip antique store (much like Dallas' Dolly Python). When we were ready to dry off and grab a drink, we checked into our hotel, the beautiful Driskill Hotel. It was built in the late 1800's by a cattle baron and has been through a lot in its lifetime. Much of the old grandeur of the hotel can still be seen in the lobby, bar and even some of the rooms (including ours).

It still had a lot of the modern necessities like a fabulous bed and a TV. We do wish the sink was not the size of a soup bowl and that the shower sprayed a constant temperature, but those are all minor inconveniences. Although Tim would probably tell you otherwise.

We took the advice of the bartender and went to Manuel's on Congress. We can't give it a raving review since our food was cold and the service was poor, but we've heard that it can be a great place to dine. Perhaps they had an off-night since it was restaurant week, something we've experienced at home.


We walked to B.D. Riley's Irish Pub on 6th Street and played along with their Pub Quiz and had a pint or two!

We have to give this place a shout out; not only is the atmosphere great, but as we were walking back to our hotel, a waiter ran towards us to see if we had accidentally left our iPod! Our Nano had slipped out of my purse while we were there and he ran after us to give it back! Good people at B.D. Riley's!

The next morning, we woke up and had to have some breakfast at Katz's Deli on 6th.
The famous proprietor was there that morning!
Our delicious breakfast fueled us up for a day of taking in Austin. In fact, we didn't have to eat lunch. It was almost as if we had stayed with Amelia. We spent the day going through the LBJ Library and Museum on the UT Campus. That evening, we had made plans to have diner with my very good friend, Ashley and her family. We met at Stubbs BBQ for some wonderful visiting and catching up! Stubbs in famous for good food and good live acts. So since it is used to loud music, it was a great place for Hudson! That boy loves to get everyone's attention and make it known that he is there! He is so sweet and was happy almost the entire time we were there! He just loves being out and about. They also got to share some pretty amazing news with us! Yes, if we ever had to move to Austin, we know we could survive with friends like the Brewers!

Nik Nak and Flyby!

We definitely stay true to our nature, even on vacation. Instead of checking out a brand new spot to perch for the rest of the night (Hudson's bedtime is quite early), we went back to Riley's Irish Pub! Hey - if it ain't broke, don't fix it! We spent one more restful night at The Driskill and then headed south to that night's destination: Greune.

Our road trip took us through Lockhart, one of Tim's "places to go" for several years now. Since it was his birthday, he got to do whatever he wanted!

Thanks again to Texas Monthly, we were aware that Lockhart was apparently very famous for its BBQ. It was a hard decision with 4 different restaurants in this small town, but we chose Kreuz.

Tim is ready for some BBQ!

We ordered some brisket and shoulder meat. They are so serious about their BBQ, they don't even have sauce to go on it. They also don't provide forks or plates. Just some paper and a few sides, if you feel the need to fill yourself more.
Tim was very satisfied with our lunch, but he was sure it still wasn't as good as his Uncle John's.

A few miles south of Lockhart in the town of Luling, you can find a memorial to my ancestors! Fritz Zedler built a gristmill in Luling in the late 1800's on the San Marcos River. The Zedler Mill has become somewhat of a treasure to this small town, and several years ago, the town received a grant to refurbish the mill to make it a place for the people of Luling to hold festivals and events. It is also a part of the Texas Paddling Trail. And we thought PaPa was crazy for wanting to turn it into a restaurant!

You can see with these next photos from the hints of new wood that the town is working on the interior. In fact, when we drove around it, you could hear the workmen welding and hammering.




Our next destination was New Braunfels and finally, Greune, where we would spend the night. New Braunfels holds a special place in my heart, not only due to the fact that hundreds of German immigrants, including the Zedlers and probably the Wagners, traveled there to make a German colony in the early history of Texas, but also because I spent many a summer there as a child floating down the Comal. We drove through downtown and through several neighborhoods. Tim and I have decided that our goal as a family will be to open a Bed & Breakfast, and personally, I would love to have one in this town. We drove up to Historic Greuene to check into the lovely B&B Lamb's Rest Inn. If your travels take you to New Braunfels or the areas surrounding, I highly recommend you stay there. That is until we open our B&B.

Since the town has a great German heritage, we thought for sure it would be easy to find great German Food. Our Innkeeper recommended Friesenhaus in downtown New Braunfels. Well, it isn't that our food was bad, it is just that we have been spoiled by The Blue Danube. When we both ordered the schnitzel, we were disappointed to see that it wasn't breaded. The restaurant also broke the cardinal rule of regional cuisine (at least in my book), they made their 60 year old waitresses dress up in authentic German attire (not attractive) and had an accordion player up on stage demanding your attention. No lie, he also brought out one of those Alpine horns, you know, like the ones from the Ricola commercials. Our biggest entertainment of the night was Mae, a regular, who loved to dance to the German music. She somehow got her hands on the authentic German dress and visits the Friesenhaus to dance and dine. I wish I had as much energy as Mae did that night, and I don't even use a walker. Literally, after each song ended, Mae would take steps towards her table as though she were going to sit down, but right when that next song would play, she was right back up on that dance floor. So this was our view for the entire meal.
Please excuse the terrible picture; I was shameless enough to actually snap the picture, but not enough to focus on her. As the accordion player announced that he was about to play one of Mae's favorite songs, she yells out, "Wahoo! Get me another cup of coffee!"
I also could not resist showing you the mail box inside the ladies' bathroom stall. I hope they do not expect to find mail in there.

For desert, cherry pastry with Bavarian Cream for Lydia, beer for Tim.

Still cold!


We ended our night at Greuene Hall so we could both experience one of Texas Music's treasures! Seth James was performing and although we had no idea who he was, we enjoyed his electric blues. And for all of my Tri Delta's, from our seats in the back of the room, you could not see the stage. So imagine my surprise when as he introduced his band, he said, "And Jessica Murray singing backup!" That is right! Our ex-president is still gracing the Texas Country Music scene with her voice!



It is not hard to tell that we center our vacations around food, but we also visited countless antique stores and shops. Even though the weather did not cooperate, we had a wonderful time exploring our state. We can't wait to go back to New Braunfels when it is warmer, and Tim assured me that we have not seen the last of Lockhart!