TEXAS HILL COUNTRY…NEW BRAUNFELS AND GURENE

Wednesday, November 3 – A windy day with a little rain today. We just hung out at the MH today. Don and Kathy Zaleski arrived in the park around 4:30 pm, just in time for happy hour. We met them when we were at Red Bay and kept in touch via email. We visited for several hours, then decided to head downtown for a German dinner. We found a real neat little German Restaurant with authentic German cuisine and even a German waitress....der LindenBaum, "The Linden Tree". We had a really nice meal and wonderful company. Don even spoke a little German with the waitress and recommended a couple good German beers for Paul.

Cathy, our sweet waitress, Don

Don, Cathy, Marsha and Paul

Marsha had Gulaschusuppe…spicy stewed beef with herb noodles. Everyone voted this the best of all our choices. YUMMMMMM!

Paul had Buergermeister…sausage sampler with German potato salad and sauerkraut. We use to make our own sauerkraut but it didn’t taste nearly as good as this.

Thanks for stopping by Cathy and Don. We had a great time.

Thursday, November 4 – We moved the MH from Fredericksburg to New Braunfels. The history of the City of New Braunfels is based on the migration of German merchants, tradesman, and farmers moving to the area under the direction and leadership of Prince Solms.  They came searching for economic opportunities, the opportunity to own land, and more personal freedom.

We are now located near I-35, almost midway between San Antonio and Austin. We are at Hill Country RV Resort in New Braunfels. We are in Site 287…no I mean 290…no wait 291. Yea 291. The first site had some one in it...back to the office. We moved to the next site…guess what…some one was in it…back to the office. FINALLY, Site 291…no one was in it. The sites are tight.

There are lots of nice amenities to this park…2 indoor, heated swimming pools and hot tubs. sauna, snack store, individual shower rooms, pool table, fitness room, etc.

They take PPA which is wonderful! We would really like this park if the sites weren’t so close.

We are here to see some sights in Austin and to attend the German Wurstfest 50^th year celebration in New Braunfels.

We went to historic Gruene (pronounced Green) this afternoon. German farmers became the first settlers of what is now known as Gruene, Texas. Ernst Gruene, a German immigrant, and his bride Antoinette, had reached the newly established city of New Braunfels in 1845, but acreage was scarce. Thus, Ernst and his two sons purchased land just down river, and Ernst built the first home in Gruene in early fachwerk style. His second son, Henry D. Gruene, built his home (now Gruene Mansion Inn) and planted his surrounding land with cotton. Having become the number one cash crop, the cotton business soon brought 20 to 30 families to Henry D.'s lands.

This is another quaint little town of shops, restaurants and honky tonks.

Gruene Mansion Inn

Gruene General Store ranks as one of the top 40 places to visit in Texas.

 

TONS of stuff!

The Gruene Antique Co. The building was built in 1903 by Henry D. Gruene as a place where tenant farmers could buy their wares and do business on the weekends. We enjoyed this store. Much more than antiques…which we don’t buy.

That is Paul looking at some cowboy boots. Should he or shouldn’t he?

Speaking of honky tonks....Merle Haggard is playing tonight at Gruene Hall. It's sold out...tickets were $69.50. Tomorrow is also sold out with Lyle Lovett appearing. Tickets of his performance were $95.

It is HUGE!

One of Merle Haggard’s equipment buses. They arrived while we were there.

Man has it been WINDY in Texas Hill Country the last three days. What's with the wind??? Luckily, it didn't blow while we were on the road this morning. Still nice weather....70's-80's during the day and 50's at night, but we don't like the gusty wind.

Another wonderful day to be alive.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya’ll real soon. Have a great day.