June 10, 2016
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You know, it really is fun to travel as husband and wife.
It’s something that Jordan and I love to do together. Whether it was driving the long stretch from Las Cruces to Dallas when we were in school or even just thoroughly taking advantage of that small stretch between Cruces and Artesia in Cloudcroft.
We love seeing new things. And that’s the one way that you can always have “firsts”.
Because think about it, after you’ve been married or dated for…a while—the number of “firsts” can begin to lessen or stop.
The first long road trip Jordan and I planned last summer was so much fun, because I realized all of the firsts we were doing together: seeing Tennessee for the first time, hiking the Smokey Mountains, seeing Dave Ramsey’s talk show, among many others.
We learned that, together as travelers, we love the smaller, more quaint towns versus big city. Don’t get me wrong, we like to get that itch scratched too, but I think we’d prefer exploring smaller cities, like Franklin, TN versus downtown Nashville.
Similarly, we loved our few days spent in San Antonio and Fredericksburg—in our own state! It’s a fun little jaunt south that’s worth the travel. We loved getting to stay downtown in San Antonio at the Hotel Contessa, which was right on the river walk, just minutes away from Rio Casa where we enjoyed some much-missed authentic Mexican food. We walked the river walk, enjoyed a rooftop Jacuzzi and got some of that city-exploring in.
Then we headed about an hour north to Fredericksburg. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard of Fredericksburg. I’m not sure of many who haven’t or who haven’t been there.
It’s known for it’s beautiful Texas hill country, wineries, and downtown shops. We just adored the small-town feel. I couldn’t get enough of the wide open space and country.
If you’re considering making a trip down there, we want to share what we enjoyed:
13 Things We Enjoyed In Fredericksburg
1. We stayed at our first bed and breakfast, Rosehilll Manor, which was top notch. It might be hard staying at another one now, because the bar is set high. It was about 10 miles outside of Fredericksburg in Stonewall. We passed many wineries and peach stands on the way there.
2. We went to Pedernales Cellars, because we had free wine tasting there from our B&B. Thanks Rosehill! We loved it. There are plenty to choose from though! We only made it to this one, but we were referred to Fiesta winery, because of their sweeter wines and Beckner winery.
3. Stop at the peach stands. They’re so good!!
4. Being out in the hill country at our B&B, we grabbed two of their vintage bicycles and took off. I always love being a little active on vacations, whether it’s on bike or by foot, because….food. And it’s a pretty way to explore the sites, as well! We loved the first half of our bike ride, because the breeze was perfect, the views were incredible, and the hills were…downhill. Ha! On our way back, we popped some chains off the old bikes and definitely felt the burn of the uphill journey. We walked the walk of shame back up to our B&B while other guests passed us in their cars. No regrets. 🙂
5. We also took advantage of slow mornings and coffee on the patio at our B&B. It’s just so slow and quiet—something I always crave and rarely get in such long doses.
6. Lastly, at our B&B, we set off in car this time during sunset. We drove the back roads and scouted and counted all the deer. I think we made it to nearly 50 deer, and we loved it. Being in the country and exploring it was probably our most favorite part of our trip here. I’m glad we opted for the lodging outside of the city.
7. We hit the shops when we first got into town, and we loved it! We walked all of one side, crossed the road, and hit up the next.
8. We specifically loved getting coffee at a kitchen store that was the original hospital in Frederickburg in the early 1900s. They served us lattes from a window which served as the hospital’s laboratory but was now a coffee shop. We would definitely go back! Strolled the shops with coffee in hand, and it made it that much more fun. Of course, Jordan liked the history of the building, and I loved all the kitchen doo-dads they had!
9. We ate dinner at Silvercreek our first night there, because they were the only restaurant that we’d heard of that had a live band on a Monday night. We were pleasantly surprised by our food. We started with jalapeno poppers and finished with a filet mignon and ribeye. The mashed potatoes, y’all. We thought we were going to die. This is a definite splurge place. They advertise as “black tie food for jeans-wearing people”—or something like that! We enjoyed the atmosphere and food—a LOT.
10. Our second day there we hiked Enchanted Rock. It is the most unique hike you may ever go on, because it’s like you’re walking up a moon. Flat, white rock that you walk up. It’s basically a huge rock that’s the biggest in North America, and you can hike to the top! Definitely fun, a good workout and they had yummy snocones to enjoy at the bottom!
11. Burger-Burger. GO. Just….go. You must eat here. We kind of just stumbled in here, because we were kind of hungry after our hike. Turned out, eating the whole burger was worth it. The Big Dirty B, with its queso, chile and onion rings, will forever go down in history for us. Jordan said it was the best burger he’d had. So needless to say, this was our last meal of the day haha. They do have live music at night, starting on Tuesdays.
12. We spent a nice chunk of our afternoon walking off our burgers at the Nimitz Museum. For someone not being very entertained by museums, I really appreciated the detail and history in it.
13. Vaudeville. I think that’s all you really have to say. It’s a high-end furniture store that has a bistro downstairs. And when I say high-end, I mean, you walk in and kind of feel famous. You might want to get someone’s autograph while you’re in there because….they could be famous. It’s just very fancy, and the food is the same. You can stop in for lunch or just a latte and a pastry. Their chocolate croissants? The best.
If You Have More Time
1. Flower farms between Fredericksburg and Stonewall.
2. A beer or live music in Luckenbach.
3. A meal and live music at a restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg called Hondo’s. We never made it here when it was open! A lot of restaurants either don’t have live music or aren’t open earlier in the week.
So if you have plans to go, here are some suggestions that we sure enjoyed! And if you’re headed from Dallas, enjoy highway 281 on your way there and back, because we are currently loving it!
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