Brace yourself for a LONG post and pictures galore!!
My wonderful husband got me a weekend trip to Fredericksburg for my 27th birthday, and we finally got to take that trip this weekend! We both had to take Friday off since the B&B I chose didn't have any of our flex Friday weekends open. We took off about 9am, dropped Casey off at the kennel, and headed south-bound on 35! We stopped for lunch at Maudie's in Austin, and right at 3pm, we pulled into the B&B. We stayed at the
Hoffman Haus. It was pretty much the only B&B I could find that wasn't a real house and wasn't completely decked out in flowers. We were greeted by Leslie, the owner, who gave us lunch/dinner recommendations, places to go (and not go), and gave us a tour of the property. She said that the buildings are from the 19th century. We stayed in the Indian Paintbrush room, which was just perfect for us.
We had our own bathroom, kitchenette, and covered patio in the back with a sitting area and dining table. After we got settled, we decided to walk down Main Street. Unfortunately, it was about 117 degrees out (okay, maybe it was really only 89 degrees, but HUMID), so within minutes, I was complaining. Lucky for David, just as I was about to call it quits, we stumbled upon the
Fredericksburg Brewing Company - just what I needed, an ice cold beer. After we cooled off with our beer, we decided to head back to the B&B. David's parents were also in Fredericksburg, and they invited us to their 5th wheel for hamburgers. I don't think David's mom likes traveling with/in the 5th wheel, because she said this is the farthest they've gone from the house - a whopping 70 miles!
We had a nice dinner and enjoyed the cool evening. We even got to bring home some goodies - oatmeal cranberry cookies and brownies!
The next morning, the B&B brought breakfast to our door at 9am on the dot in a little picnic basket. The food was delicious!
After breakfast, we walked down Main Street again. Saturday's weather was so much nicer than Friday's. A cold front had blown through the night before, so it was a cool 75 degrees for most of our day. We walked all the way down Main Street, stopped into
Chocolat and bought David's parents some wine-filled truffles. Our next stop was, I think, like finding a needle in a haystack,
Artisans at Rocky Hill. This little gallery features the artwork of all Texan artists, most of which are from around the Fredericksburg area. We found a ton of stuff we liked, but also could not afford. I found a really cool fused glass bowl that I LOVED, but the bowl was too big to fit in our entertainment center. So, we settled on a similarly styled fused glass plate. The artist is Ron & Elaine Griffin, from just outside Austin.
Next stop was the
Fredericksburg Winery - the only winery in downtown. Nothing too exciting to report - the wine tasting was free, which it should have been since the lady doing the tasting just rushed us along (despite the fact that we were the only 2 people in the whole dang place). Nevertheless, we purchased a bottle of the Fredericksburg & Northern. After a quick bite at the Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe, we took ourselves down
Wine Road (aka Highway 290).
First stop on our venture down 290? CIRCLE E!!!!!!!!! I love, love, love
Circle E Candles and I love going to the Circle E Candle factory!!
I could have spent hours at that place, but I restrained myself and bought only one Bird of Paradise candle. Next stop? The wineries!
The first winery we stopped at on our journey down Wine Road was the
Grape Creek Vineyard.
It was a Tuscany-inspired vineyard. For $10, we tasted 6 wines and got to keep our wine glass. The lady doing our tasting was so friendly and informative - we bought a bottle of the 2007 Black Label Mosaic.
Next up, our FAVORITE winery,
Becker Vineyards!
We absolutely love their Cabernet Sauvignon - it's our go-to wine at the store. It's delicious, plus, it's pretty cheap at about $8 a bottle at Costco. Becker has a few bottles that they sell only at the winery, so of course, we had to taste those. I think that tasting was also $10 for six wines, and we got to keep the glass. We ended up buying two bottles of the 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a bottle of the 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Newsom Vineyard, and a bottle of the 2007 Prairie Rotie.
On our way down Wine Road...
Next, we decided to venture to some wineries we'd never been to or even heard of. We stopped in at
Woodrose Winery. They had a different set up - we sat on the deck in the back and they brought us our wine samples while we enjoyed the live music. We voted this one best atmosphere...but worst wine...
Needless to say, we didn't purchase any of their wines. Next up on our trip,
Torre di Pietra. All I can say is that they have a pretty sign at the entry gate and a nice bathroom.
We attempted to taste their wine, but the lady said we'd have to wait 10-15 minutes for a tasting and then just shooed us away. As we stood around waiting, the line got longer and longer, so we just gave up and left.
Since we got denied at this last winery, we decided to try one last one before calling it a day. Off to
Pedernales Cellars! This winery is pretty tucked away and we thought we were going to get lost, but once we arrived, we were greeted by this view.
You don't get views like this in Dallas!
The winery itself was less busy and so quiet and peaceful. The girl doing our tasting was friendly and informative. This was the most expensive tasting, at $12.95 per person, but you get to keep the wine glass (because, you know, we had a shortage of those). Our favorite wine there was the Family Reserve red, but at $49 a bottle, we opted to purchase our second favorite, the regular Cabernet Sauvignon.
Here's all our loot!
For dinner, we had reservations at the
Cabernet Grill. We got there a little early and enjoyed the live music on the patio with some (more) wine and appetizers!
For dinner, I got the jalapeno stuffed quail and David got the surf and turf. YUM!!!
The next morning, breakfast showed up at the door at 9am on the dot again! This time, we got scrambled eggs, bacon and strawberry shortcake. Since we were meeting David's parents from Mother's Day brunch, we ate just the strawberry shortcake!
After packing up and saying goodbye to the Hoffman Haus, we headed over to the
Peach Tree for brunch. Although I kept reminding myself to make sure and get a picture with David and his mom on Mother's Day, I completely forgot!!! Oh well...we had a nice brunch and enjoyed their company, as always!
We took the scenic route home on Highway 16, and saw a ton of beautiful wild flowers:
We picked Casey up from the kennel and we could tell she was worn out from her day of Doggy Daycare. She had very limited space in the backseat of David's truck, and I guess she wasn't satisfied with the space provided, so she climbed right on top of our suitcase and laid there all the way home.
When we got home, we immediately gave Casey a bath (much to her chagrin). After her bath, she curled up on her bed and slept for the majority of the evening...
We had such a great weekend!!! I would highly recommend the Hoffman Haus to anyone interested in visiting Fredericksburg! We hope you guys had a fabulous weekend and Mother's Day!
