When we were planning a spring break trip this year, the omicron variant was surging, and no one wanted to deal with the hassle of air travel.  Instead, we spent some relaxing time in Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, about 4 hours from Houston.  Fredericksburg, named after Prince Frederick of Prussia, was founded in 1846.  It was the second German Town in Texas founded by the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants (didn’t know they needed protection, but OK).

 

Main Street buildings

We stayed at Helix Haus, a tidy rental not too far from Main Street, with plenty of room for our group:

No trip to Fredericksburg is complete without a visit to a winery for a tasting, and our visit to Southold Farm & Cellar, which believes in “farming first and non-interventionist cellar methods,” was a highlight of our trip.  It’s off the beaten path, but worth seeking out.

We opted for The Prologue tasting experience, which was 4 wines paired with beautifully composed small plates.  It was fabulous.

We hope to return for one of their Sunset Suppers in the future.

Take a few minutes to step inside St. Mary’s Catholic Church, located on Main Street.  The church, built in 1908, is one of the Texas Hill Country’s 20 painted churches (that brings our total up to four — 16 to go):

I was really looking forward to seeing Texas wildflowers and planned several activities around wildflower viewing, but unfortunately, spring had not yet reached Fredericksburg.  Redbuds and fruit trees were just beginning to flower, but mostly everything was 50 shades of brown:

The only place we saw bluebonnets was at The Pottery Ranch, a colorful place that claims to be “quite possibly, the coolest store ever.”

A sneaky lizard came home with us:

We stopped in at Das Peach Haus, and after loading up on Fischer & Wieser sauces and such (that raspberrry chipotle sauce!) to cart home, we lazed around the lake sipping peach wine:

We spent part of an afternoon doing a driving tour of the LBJ ranch in the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park:

We had an unexpectedly good time at The Speakeasy at Salvation Spirits, “the only speakeasy in Fredericksburg,” which describes itself as a cocktail laboratory.  Salvation Spirits is a distillery that makes its own gin and vodka, which is used in the creative cocktails at The Speakeasy.  Make a reservation, and let Sean and Tyler mix you up something delicious while you relax in the cool space:

We spent several hours strolling Main Street, which provided lots of shopping opportunities.  We got quite a charge out of Rustlin’ Rob’s Gourmet Texas Foods, with its dazzling array of sauces, pickles, nuts, smoked meats, and preserves, among other things.  There were samples of everything, and I swear there were folks in there treating it like their personal buffet, Covid be damned:

We were powerless to resist the siren song of Pritzer Sweet Shop:

Of course, dining was an important part of our trip.  We started with a belt-busting breakfast at Texas Sunrise:

See the money pinned to the ceiling?  It’s for a raffle — at the end of the year the money is split between the raffle winner and the local football team.  Go Billies!

The entrees were humongous:

The Papa Bear and Chicken Fried Steak

The Loaded Scramble and Super Veggie Omelet

Just for grins we tried the Chocolate Covered Bacon, which was interesting to try once (and only once):

We got a kick out of breakfast at the kitschy Airport Diner, “a classic 1940s diner, located next door to the Hangar Hotel and immediately adjacent to the Gillespie County Airport aircraft parking ramp.”

It was fun to watch the little planes come and go while we ate:

The breakfasts were substantial, and provided plenty of fuel for the day’s activities:

Eggs As You Like and the SOS

The Preflight and a Three Egg Omelet

Given the town’s heritage, a German meal was a must.  We chose The Auslander Restaurant and Biergarten for “the finest in authentic German cuisine.”  To our dismay, the restaurant, like most of the restaurants in Fredericksburg, does not take reservations, and we waited an hour and a half to go on this culinary journey.

Be sure to wear your stretchy pants:

Schnitzel Wiener Art and Chicken Schnitzel

Smoked Sausage and German Meatballs

We resisted the urge to create culinary erotica with the sausage and meatballs.  (Or did we?  After waiting an hour and a half we were pretty punchy.)

We tested our patience with another hour and half wait at Hondos on Main, a popular restaurant featuring live music and dancing.

We all had burgers, which you can pretty much picture, but the Three Crunchies (Curly Q Potato Fries, Onion Strings, and Fresh Fried Parmesan Potato Chips), and the “tall and strong” Handmade Margaritas deserve an Honorable Mention:

We shared some respectable barbecue at Eaker Barbecue, recently named to Texas Monthly’s 50 Best BBQ Joints.

We really enjoyed an upscale dinner at the lovely Cabernet Grill (which does take reservations!):

Highlights of the meal included roasted carrot soup:

Still talking about this!

Maple bourbon pork belly burnt ends and Mexican street corn:

And a cleverly presented pork shank, and grilled shrimp:

Our final night in Fredericksburg we gave up trying to find a place with less than an hour and a half wait, and got a takeout pizza from West End Pizza Co., which made everyone happy and allowed us to have a relaxed last evening before heading home the next morning:

Our trip to Fredericksburg was an easy getaway and a nice respite.  I’m sure we’ll return one day, maybe in the fall next time for a Sunset Supper at Southold Farm & Cellar.