Texas Hill Country tour (fb)

A week before Spring Break we had no plans other than to help with the Church 2010 event at the Refuge OKC (which was amazing!)  We only have a few Spring Breaks left with the kids- precious time- so we wanted to use the few days after the OKC event to hit the road and do something fun.  It worked out so well I thought I'd give you the itinerary.  It would be a cool road trip for families with older kids or even for couples (it weirds the kids out when we describe places as "romantic"-  but lots of places were).

Wednesday:
Drove 3 hours to Fort Worth.  Hung out at the Stockyards for about three hours.
Leddy's - learned all about hand made boots, saddles, and hats
The Love Shack- had milkshakes on patio overlooking the main drag
Cattle Drive - kinda lame- only about 20 sleepy cows sauntering down the block
Joe T Garcia's - great tex-mex in an incredible outdoor atmosphere- one of the kids favorite things of the whole trip.  There is a line for seating indoor and one for outdoor.  The outdoor line will be longer but well worth the extra wait.
Billy Bob's- pool and two-stepping, big fun
Hotwire.com hooked us up with a 3.5 star Hyatt Center near downtown for $54 bones

Thursday:
Drove 2 hours to Austin.
Magnolia Cafe- perfect lunch on South Congress ("SoCo")- worth the wait
Walking South Congress and Downtown- South by Southwest was in full swing- there was live music everywhere- every parking lot, bar, lawn, building- everywhere. It was heaven.  We strolled for four hours down SoCo listening to music, eating great food and hanging out in cool boutiques.  Here are a couple of highlights.
Mellow Johnnies- Lance's bike shop.  Over-the-top awesome.  They were setting up for a band that was playing in the shop for SXSW.  Several of Lance's bikes downstairs.
Cupcake Airstream- listening to live music hanging out in front of the cupcake trailer was surreal.
Zilker Park- we took naps on the lawn at Zilker Park- threw the baseball.
Zilker Botanical Gardens- a hidden treasure in Zilker Park- we all loved it- beautiful
Pool at Barton Springs- we didn't swim but it is a must see
Alamo Draft House- good bar food while watching Alice in Wonderland 3-D.  Go early- the stuff they show before the movie is as good as the movie- classic.
Progress Coffee- OK- truth- we were too tired, but it really is the best coffee shop in Austin and I fantasized about all of us laughing into the late hours of the night over coffee but instead we ended up at a smokey Super 8 motel bushed.

Friday:
Drove 2 hours to Fredericksburg- wonderful scenic drive
Downtown Fredericksburg:  classic main street lined with mostly legit boutiques, bookstores, cafe's- nice strolling and browsing.
Rather Sweet Bakery:  where the locals eat- fresh local veg and baked goods.  Best chicken salad sandwich I've ever had- really cool place with a cool courtyard, balconies.
Becker Winery:  Fredericksburg is the hub of the Texas wine country.  Becker is the bell of their ball- expensive tasting room ($10 for 6) but fun.  Good wines.  Wish we had been there in May for the lavender festival.
Peach blossoms everywhere !
Enchanted Rock State Park:  This amazing granite rock in the middle of nowhere. You can climb up in 30 minutes- a must do- probably the consensus favorite thing of the whole trip (many thanks to Teri Brasheres for the rec)  Walked around on top for awhile- saw a helicopter mountain rescue- some lady fell down the rock- be careful!
Der Lindenbaum:  Small German place on Main- great food (this was a German town so we wanted to find the heritage fare).  We waited outside for a table and listened to a guitar player/ singer at the Silver Creek that was amazing.  I could have sat in that courtyard for hours- under the trees and the strung lights and the heaters and the music...

Hangar Hotel:  Our splurge- a converted airline hangar on a working airstrip.  We loved it- beautiful room, great people, boutique hotel.

Saturday:
98.1 KVET:  Listened to this station for three days.  Great new and classic country with a bent towards Texas hill country....country- Robert Earl Keen, Randy Rogers, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle
Drove an hour, through Luchenbach, to San Marcos- beautiful
San Marcos outlet shopping:  we had a good time- they have all the stores- what can I say- it's outlet shopping- sometimes it's incredible and most of the time no big deal.  This time was on the no big deal end of the spectrum.
Drove 3 hours to Fort Worth
Riscky's BBQ: Good BBQ in Sundance Square- downtown Ft. Worth.  Sundance Square is kinda like if you put OKC's bricktown in the middle of the financial district- right in the middle of downtown- pretty cool.  Best spare-ribs I've ever had- with the possible exception of Shafer's home-smoked ones, but I digress.
Hilton:  Hotwire scored for us again- $54 for the downtown Hilton.  Walking to dinner, swanky hotel, so fun.

Sunday:
Breakfast at the Corner Bakery then we hit the road back to OKC.

Do this trip or something like it.  The Texas hill country is beautiful- great people, food, scenery, music, rural, urban, outdoorsey- everything a road trip should be.