I am a born traveler. My very first photo, snapped at the hospital shortly after my birth, became my first passport photo. I boarded my first international flight shortly thereafter, and I have been traveling ever since. To date, I have visited 4 continents, 24 countries outside of the USA, and 31 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. My very patient husband jokes that I always start planning the next trip on the flight home (sometimes I actually start before that!). I think the planning is half the fun. Some of my favorite travel memories include family trips with my daughter and husband to Aspen, our honeymoon in Rome, Christmas with my parents in London, our little family's favorite beach trip to Puerto Rico, and my first solo adventure to Big Sky, Montana. I am also an avid reader, reading more than 100 books every year and currently working my way through the Boxall 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. I come by my love of books naturally. I was raised by a librar...
Last summer we dropped our daughter off at camp for a week right in the heart of the Texas hill country. Deciding that we could best capitalize on this time together by not spending it with more time in the car, we rented a house in Fredericksburg, Texas and spent the week there. I confess, we were tired, and this was our first kid-free trip since before COVID, so we spent a lot of time napping, reading (me), playing the guitar (my husband), and napping some more. I went out to breakfast one morning, polished off four cups of coffee then went back to our rental, crawled back in bed and went right back to sleep. That said, we were there for a week and got out every day to explore, stretching out what would otherwise be a fun and relatively busy weekend trip into a slow-paced week. If you are planning a visit, I have you covered on what to do, where to eat, and of course, what to read.
What to Do…
Fredericksburg also has a very well-done WWII museum, the National
Museum of the Pacific War. Skeptical? So was I. The museum is located here
because Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, Pacific Ocean Area, Chester W.
Nimitz was born in Fredericksburg. So much of our collective focus is on what
was happening in Europe during WWII, and this was a fascinating focus on the Pacific,
exploring the battles, the politics, and the dynamics in that region. I am an avowed
history nerd, but I prefer to focus more on the people and the social and
political climate than on dates and battles, and I was pleasantly surprised to
find that this museum had a place for my interests as well as for those History
Channel junkies who love hearing about specific battles. I would suggest 2-3
hours for a visit.
Luckenbach, Texas is about 13 miles outside of
Fredericksburg and is probably one of the most iconic spots to see live country
music. Grab a seat at a picnic table, order a cold beer, and spend the
afternoon listening to the music and playing backyard games. Listen to Waylon
Jennings’ and Willie Nelson’s classic 1977 song, “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to
the Basics of Love)” on your drive out there to get yourself in the mood.
Main street is also full of lots of cute and often kitschy
shops for an afternoon of exploring and shopping. I got some great
special-occasion placemats at the shop at Vaudeville, and my husband found some
great shirts at one of the little stores. There were also lots of fun gift
shops and places to poke around.
If you prefer more of a nature experience, hike to the top
of Enchanted Rock. We were unable to do that on our more recent trip due
to the high temperatures, but the views are really nice.
Where to Eat...
We had two favorite dinner spots, Martini’s Seafood House
and Vaudeville. Martini’s had live music at dinner and has a delicious
selection of seafood dishes. The steak was also terrific. We liked it so much
we went there for dinner twice. Vaudeville was another favorite spot with a
tucked in and cozy dining room and a bit of an eclectic menu. The service was
fantastic, and the food was delicious at both lunch and dinner.
I also recommend Sage Restaurant & Lounge for
drinks. The dinner was good too, but if you are going for a weekend, I
recommend Martini’s and Vaudeville as my first choices. The drinks menu (which periodically
changes) was so fun, and the little lounge area was pretty. Specialty drinks included
the Boo Radley, Daisy Buchanan, Isabel Grames, Auerliano Buendia, Dona Flor,
Celie, or Lolita. I chose a nod to One Years of Solitude and, of course,
took pictures of the menu.
We made the trek out of town to Alamo Springs Cafe for
what some have called the best burger in Texas. That’s a pretty big accolade, and
I’m not sure that it was the best, but it was definitely delicious and was a
fun little outing.
What to Read While You’re There…
News of the World by Paulette Jiles is
historical fiction set in the unsettled plains of Texas between Wichita Falls
and San Antonio. After the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd
travels throughout Texas giving live readings of news from around the world to
live audiences. While traveling, he is offered a fee to deliver a young orphan girl
to her relatives in San Antonio. The 10-year-old girl who was recently “rescued”
from the Kiowas by the U.S. army has lived with the tribe for the past four
years and no longer remembers the English language. She attempts escape at
every turn, and the pair travel 400 miles through unsettled and often
treacherous lands, forming a bond and an understanding.
Any Texas trip is a good opportunity to pair your travel with some Larry McMurtry. Check out my blog post on Big Bend (The Stars at Night Are Big and Bright … Deep in the Heart of Texas (welltraveledwellread.blogspot.com) for some of my small town McMurtry fiction suggestions. For something less well known, I am suggesting Larry McMurtry non-fiction, Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen. This is McMurtry’s reflection on the evolution of the story and on his own reading life, and it’s also a reflection on cowboys and the frontier and Texas in general. I really enjoyed this.
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