fREDRICKSBURG, TX: WINE-dy ROADTRIP

Our friends, Chad & Felicia, decided to visit Fredericksburg to celebrate 11 years of marriage/Valentine's day and they invited us to tag along.  Fredericksburg, or "little Germany," is an adorable quaint town filled with shops, restaurants, and WINE!  They have what is know as the 290 Wine Trail which is home to 15 award winning wineries (hence the "logo")

TRAVEL FUN:

On a road trip, it's important to remember that the journey is just as important as the destination, so have fun and make unplanned stops!  One of ours was at a place called Antiques Salvage- There were treasures everywhere we looked and apparently this is where Santa goes on his off season ​

It's also important to wear fun graphic T-shirts that capture the theme of your trip.  I think Felicia & I nailed ours :)

*Road Trip Travel Tip: To help time pass, we like to play the "anal RV" game.  This is where you put the word anal in front of the type of RV.  For example, we had Anal Frontier, Anal Cougar, Anal Discovery, Ana... You get the point   

WHERE WE STAYED:

We rented an adorable house that was a "flip flop walk away" from Main Street off of Airbnb {click here to view it}.  The outside had an adorable porch that served as a pretty backdrop for photos

WHERE WE STOPPED, SHOPPED, ATE, & DRANK:

Since the theme of this trip was wine, instead of listing the attractions separately from where we ate & drank, they'll be cataloged together in the order in which we did them:

• Pecan Street Brewery: Our first official stop on our road trip.  This place brews their own beer and offers a sampler {​photo #1}.  We chose Screw Loose Blonde {mine & Felicia's favorite}, Ten Penny Nail, County Jail Pale Ale, Judge & Jury Stout, & Hoist the Black Flag IPA.  Cody & I ordered the Old Fashion burgers for lunch and they were delicious

• Garrison Brothers Distillery: After a few brews & lunch we headed off to this magical place.  We would have spent the entire day here if they'd let us.  They have a beer fridge which works on the honor system {yep, just throw some cash in a bucket}, rocking chairs set around fire pits, and hammocks sporadically hung throughout the gorgeous grounds.  While we waited for our tour to start we tried to hook a ring on a nail in the tree {it's more addicting than it sounds} and reverted back to childhood by playing on a rope swing. 

The tour was not only interesting but they give you samples of alcohol throughout it, making it feel like a party.  The bourbon is delicious {according to Cody, I can't hang}, the ​grounds littered with photo opportunities, & the employees were fun & full of knowledge {Granted, I'd be a lot more fun at work if I could drink on the clock too}.  If you're in the area, we highly suggest you add this to your bucket list

• Hondo's on Main: After settling into our temporary abode, we took a short $6 cab ride to this happen'n place {we were lucky to find a table}!  Even though the outside was a beautiful courtyard we sat inside to hear the band.  Cody ordered a chicken fried steak, I the chips & salsa, and the Clowsons the chili con queso.   The food was good, but heads up on the bathroom situation.  The doors were those double slatted ​ones & they were missing a few so you can see out {and in}, but it's nothing toilet paper couldn't fix & a friend to block the view

• Pontotoc Vineyard (PVW): Due to the night still being young, we were on a mission to find some fun and when we spotted bright red "saloon" doors with a sign stating behind them housed one of the oldest cellars in Frederickburg.  We had to check it out.  This place would be our local hangout if we lived there; the owner was welcoming & enjoyable but Stephanie made this evening everything for us.  {I'm still craving their sangria}

• Main Street Shenanigans: Now kids, below is an example of what happens when you drink great wine & walk home.  What should have been a 15-20 min walk turned into over an hour.  Yes, a lot of that was me stopping to pet every bubbahs {what I call dogs}, but that's besides the point

Our sock game was strong

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290 Wine Shuttle: We opted to take a shuttle instead of calling cabs, but I honestly think you could go either way if there are more than 2 of you:

TAXI

$8 - $24 per stop
Make your own stops
​ETA based on availability
​No end time
Travel w/friends​

VS

SHUTTLE 

$24.99 per person
Set route
​Shuttle every 20 min
5:30 pm
​​Sit w/strangers​

We were hoping to make it to 4 but we were only able to make it to the below 3 wineries
​(speaking of 3, that's how many rings I lost- see if you can spot when I lost them)

STOP 1:

• Grape Creek & ​Trattoria: We skipped the first shuttle stop, Becker Vineyard, and headed straight to Grape Creek, we could've spent the entire day here!  We found a shady spot on the patio to listen to Jimmy Wood sing & play his guitar while sipping on a glass of wine while we waited for the tour to start.

The tour began with us getting into a "stretch" golf cart and driven to the back of the property where we explored two building.  The 1st was all about their barrels & how they made their wine amazing and the 2nd was where we actually got to sample some wine.  The same grape was being aged in 3 different types of barrels & we were supposed to see if we could taste the difference {we could}.  

*RING CHECK!

Now for the good stuff, the actual tasting.  We circle {or heart} the 6 wines we wish to try and Gordon, our bartender, would then pour & discuss each one.  I chose the most expensive ones, of course, but my favorite was, RENDEZVOUS.

After the tasting we visited Trattoria, the little restaurant located in Grape Creek.  We ordered two types of pizzas, Rendezvous {olive oil, garlic, Parmesan, prosciutto, arugula, balsamic glaze, Grape Creek’s roasted garlic grape seed oil} & Wine Country {tomato sauce, Roma tomatoes, garlic, mozzarella, Texas Pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, jalapenos, and a light drizzle of ranch dressing}; we then guzzled a bottle of wine while we waited for our shuttle- We spent the better half of our day at this location.

*RING CHECK

STOP 2:

• Fat Ass Ranch: I can 100% see the appeal in this winery, but you go here for the atmosphere {and the wine glass}.  We weren't impressed by their wines or how the tasting was structured.  It was done at the bar so it was impersonal & caotic.  We spent the least amount of time here

*RING CHECK

STOP 3:

• 4.0 Cellar: The tasting here was done in the main bar area but they had mini bars off to the side dedicated solely for it.  Instead of choosing 6 random wines, we were given categories: Reds, Sweets, & Red/White mix.  I opted for the Sweet while the rest of the group selected reds.  On the drunk scale, I'm now at "I'm a psychic" and I was enamored by our bartender. Me: Are you a Cancer?  Her: Yes {she keeps pouring}, this only fuels my false sense of psychic ability.  I then find out she's adopted and recently met her birth mother- She made the tasting, not the wine.  We then made our way outside where we situated ourselves with a lovely couple {Rudy & Jenna}, shared a cheese & charcuterie tray, and probed the locals around us for more places we should go & visit.  I wish we had more time here but the last shuttle arrived and we had to be on it.
• RING CHECK! Due to the grain of this photo, I can't tell if my rings are on or not 

Jeannie's Drunk scale

• ​The Auslander Restaurant and Biergarten: By now, we are in DIRE need of food and we were told to eat here, so like good tourist, after a quick detour to the house, we did.  Okay, I don't know if it's my Jewish heritage but my taste buds did not comply with my waiter's recommendation of the Jagerschnitzel- I couldn't eat it.  I loved the potato salad, Cody's Kasewurst, & the friend pickles, but that's it.  Oh, this is also where I noticed my knuckle rings were missing, so to try and turn the night around we went back to our favorite watering hole, PVW, where we drank sangria & sang "Red, Red, Wine" very loudly & poorly.

• HEB: The town shutting down doesn't stop this quartet {*Side note: I'm now picturing us with striped vest and straw hats, singing in a town square} We hitched a ride to the nearest grocery store, purchased some champagne, beer, meat, drunken goat cheese, crackers, & smooch cookies {sugar cookies shaped like lips} & headed back to the house where we proceeded to play "Heads Up" in our pajamas until we passed out

*Heads up: 1 cuss word is said

• Burger Burger: This place was the perfect post drinking restaurant.  They had "the hair of the dog," greasy food, & much needed WATER.  Felicia ordered the Chop House burger while the rest of us BYOB'd- and since the list of ingredients would cause this section of the post to be insanely long, I'm only going to disclose how I dressed my burger:  1/4 lbs. patty on Brioche bread, with mayo, pepper jack Cheese, onions, pickles, roasted corn {it was free so I though, "why not?"}, bacon, roasted garlic, jalapenos, poblano peppers, & a side of onion rings.  It. Was. Awesome.

• Shops on Main Street: I'm pretty confident we walked into every single store located on Main Street, so I'm only going to list the places where one of us purchased something:
  • Something for Men - Chad bought a nifty new leather wallet
  • Dogologie - Where I found Mastiff & Puggle socks for Cody & Felicia found Saint Bernard socks for Chad.  I also bought some homemade dog cookies to bring home to the "kids."  
  • Popcorn Emporium - Chad & Felicia bought fun snacks to bring home to their 3 kids
  • Earthbound - This store spoke to our soul.  It had an Urban Outfitters vibe w/out the price tag.  I bought 2 skirts & an adorable dress

TRAVEL TOOLS:

Attractions & Itinerary.xls
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Bird's Eye View - Main St.
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"We'd like to give a BIG THANKS to Chad & Felicia for including us on their anniversary / Valentine's day weekend.  We had a blast!"