The Hill Country - San Antonio - #2

Friday morning dawned beautiful! Helen had to work for a couple of hours in the morning so I enjoyed coffee on her patio and just relaxing till she got home! And then we were off to the Hill Country!!

Our first stop was the Gourd Festival in Fredericksburg - have you ever been to a gourd festival before?? I had no idea they even had then and we were both totally amazed at what we found! There was every type of gourd imaginable and they all had been turned into the most beautiful and unique decorations ever! Some of the items sold for up to $1000 - way over our budget!!

We walked around and around the place, checking out all the different designs - it was easy to decide what I wanted to buy as I had seen the item the minute we walked in the door! Of course it was a Christmas ornament - similar to the ones you see hanging below on the tree! Mine looks like the "old-fashioned" type of gourd that you usually see in the fall, and it's painted with blue bonnets, the pretty blue flowers that grow like crazy in the spring!

And next it was on to Luckenbach!! Remember the song "Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas, Willie and Waylon and the boys - this successful life we're livings', got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys." I have to be honest - I always thought Luckenbach was just a regular town - NOT!

It's out in the middle of nowhere and consists of a large general store where you can buy beer and soda, a post office, and a large dance hall where a lot of wedding receptions are held!!

All in all - one fun place!! Lots of picnic tables outside and you grab a beer (or in my case a water) and sit outside and listen to whoever happens to be strumming their guitar and singing that day!! It's open mike session all the time!! Here's a shot of the inside of the general store - they had a strange collection of items inside!!

And we enjoyed listening to these folks play and sing - the guitar player sitting down had a great voice and it was quiet and peaceful, just sitting there relaxing!! I could have sat there for hours!

Next it was off to Helen's favorite winery - Sister Creek!! We took a quick tour of the winery but opted not to do the tasting as Helen already knew what was good!! She joined their club that afternoon and took her first 3 bottles home for us to enjoy!!

Now I have to admit, I'm not crazy about wine - sure, I'll drink wine coolers but find most wine to just not be much to my liking - until I tried the wine Helen drinks - oh my gosh - I LOVED it!! It's described as "summer in a bottle" and I agree!! Sweet enough for my liking with a bit of sparkly to it!! Naturally it's only sold in Texas though so I'm hoping they'll ship to Colorado!!

After a fantastic meal of crock pot roast, potatos and carrots, we sat once again at the kitchen table with Joe and talked the night away - while sharing that bottle of icy cold wine!! Helen discovered that if you put it in the freezer for a while, it's even better!! And I totally agree!!

To be continued..................