Daytrippin’

Bart has had the whole week off of work and since I’m back to working part-time, we had quite a lot of free time this week. We recognize that we won’t have zero kids forever and that this time is fleeting, so we do make an effort to use our free time wisely.

After hearing from some friends that now was a good time to go to Fredericksburg (a little bed and breakfast town west of Austin known for its peaches), we determined that we’d take a little road trip down there and spend an afternoon (alas, there could be no bed and breakfasting for I do have to go to campus on T/Th and I work the other days).

We planned to spend the day wandering around the town, visiting the little shops that dot Main Street, and buying peaches. I had big plans for those peaches – homemade peach ice cream, freezer jam, cobbler, etc.

And then last night we discovered that our library had season six of 24 and we picked it up and watched the first two episodes. Suddenly it was tempting to stay home and just watch 24 until we were blue in the face. When we went to bed last night, we still hadn’t settled on whether or not we were going to go.

But when I woke up this morning and the sun was shining and the whole day stretched ahead, I conjured up the feelings I would have at five p.m. if we’d spent the whole day in front of the TV. It wasn’t pretty. I shook Bart and said “Let’s skip the gym and be out the door in 90 minutes.”

And indeed we were. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful drive down to Fredericksburg. We had left late enough to miss all of the morning rush hour, and we were in Fredericksburg by lunch time.

We started in a little cheese shop (mmm, cheese) and, clearly able to see that we were drooling with hunger, the owner recommended a little restaurant called “Hannah’s” down the street. We took a look at the menu and the serious cuteness of the restaurant and had a seat. There was a Thai Green Curry dish on the menu which tempted us both, but in this little German town, Bart worried that the curry would be lackluster at best. The waitress, however, assured him that it was delicious and that the chef had, in fact, won several big awards for his curry.

We were sold. Bart got the curry and I got a Reuben sandwich. And, wow, was it the best meal we’ve had in a while. We loved both dishes. In fact, I can’t say anything more convincing about the curry than the fact that both Bart and I – avid cooked pepper haters – not only tolerated but enjoyed the peppers. It was a phenomenal lunch.

Afterwards, we walked up and down Main Street, popping in and out of little shops (especially the fudge and ice cream shops; I insisted that we visit nearly every one).

Near the end of the street, just before we arrived back at our car, was the town library. Needless to say, we went in.

Oh, it was just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen – it was pretty tiny, but filled with gorgeous book shelves and tons of tables and big armchairs and two complete audio collections of the Hank the Cowdog books. There were two giant staircases that went up to the adult section and a little spiral staircase (closed off, of course) that came back down.

And then, on our way home, we bought 15 pounds of fresh peaches for $12.

Ice cream and jam will be forthcoming.

(Our pictures are all blurry because we took them on the wrong setting. Must get Ralphie to come everywhere with us).

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14 Comments

  1. no way…i am the first to comment??? crazy 🙂 i love fredricksburg. i think that it is such a cute town. sounds like you had a great time. i need a break like that. want to babysit? 😉 xoxo

  2. fun! this post makes me want to go wander and find cute shops and hole-in-the-wall places to eat 🙂 and so i will!

  3. Janssen, believe it or not, when Andrew was just a wee lad, he was completely addicted to Hank the Cowdog books.

    Remember in London when he said something like, “Why do you have to make fun of me all the time?” and you said, so compulsively, “BECAUSE I MUST”? I think of that all the time and wish I had some friend who would get it when I say, somewhat robotically, somewhat defeatedly, and somewhat wryly, “BECAUSE I MUST.”

  4. Drat. This was my foggy idea for our anniversary several weeks ago. To go to Fredricksburg and stay at a bed and breakfast. (You know I lived in one for a year, right? Even now I can still hear the radiator hissing.) The idea was beautiful. But wasn’t nurtured so here we are kicking ourselves. Ah well. If we make it another year we’ll go for sure.

    Let’s see… when can I invite you and your mint heaven over for a visit…

  5. That sounds like a nice day. It’s good to do those kind of peaceful things before you have kids.

  6. So where did you buy the peaches? Did you pick your own or visit a farm or farmstand? I want to can some peaches 🙂

  7. Oh the things to do when there are no kids!

    We had a whole spring like that. It was in 2001. The world seemed so much simpler then: bluebonnets, wild animal park, Azalea trail in Louisiana, backpacking in the Ozarks. Hm . . . it was nice then, and it is nice now. Just different. You seem like the kind of person who will be smart enough to relish whatever moment you are in.

  8. Mike and I need to start doing more of this–like you said, it won’t be just the two of us forever! I’m such a huge library nerd too–I always have to visit the library wherever I go. I love stumbling upon one of the old creepy Gothic ones…

  9. So glad you guys took the trip! I think Fredricksburg is darling. Our planned trip to go down there last weekend got scratched, so we’re going to go in the next week or two. Did you stop at a pick your own orchard or a fruit stand?

  10. 15 pounds of peaches… DIVINE! Again, send extras my way… even if they’re just the pits with a few scrappies hangin off ’em.

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