Hill Country Road Trip

This was our second annual ‘cousins‘ Hill Country road trip, and our 1st trip, not only since the cases have spiked, but actually since Covid originated. One cousin lives north of San Antonio with the best location, and is gracious enough to host all of us. We are running out of summer and we wanted to get together before school starts, so we grabbed our masks and hit the road.

Our friends, who are really like family, were picking up a new car on Wednesday in Tyler (near where we live), so they came over from Louisiana and spent with the night with us. We all got up early Thursday morning and headed southwest to the land of high fences and short trees. And I think they almost had the new car figured out by the time we returned on Sunday! Nothing like learning on the road. Yikes! Ha ha

Taking the scenic route, we went on a little bit different path than usual, but we still ended up going through Waco. On the suggestion of some other friends of ours, we decided to try a café there, called Revival. I am super glad we did and definitely plan on going back! I ordered a burger with mushrooms and onions which was delicious and a side of sweet potato fries, because that is one of my favorites! The others ordered various salads and were very pleased too. Customers were spread out in the restaurant and we were instructed to scan a QR code to digitally access the menu. Masks were required to enter and while moving around the restaurant, but not while sitting at our table. Very modern and clean restaurant with ample covered outdoor patio seating.

Murals are always a ‘stop the car’ moment. I love all of the creativity plastered on the side of a building. We saw this collection as we were driving away from Revival and my friend was a good sport and stopped. He said he almost got hit 3 times waiting on me, but that it was ok. Hahaha We safely got back on the road and continued our journey.

As we were driving in on HWY 281, several wineries caught our attention, especially two with very nice structures sitting way up on hilltops around the Johnson City area. One building looked a little like a castle or something up there but we didn’t see a sign and the other had a sign advertising ‘winery with views’. So of course we want to check it out! At the time tho, we were headed to New Braunfels for dinner and were searching online for pie to pick up along the way.

We found a place called Mrs. Bush’s Pie Company with good reviews that was located around Canyon Lake. We were headed that way, so it was perfect. We called to see if they were open, considering many businesses have varied their hours during this time. They told us they were open and had plenty of pies, cakes and cookies. We ran by Mrs. Bush’s, picked up a chocolate silk pie, a pecan pie and a huge cowboy cookie. They were all a hit and everyone needed to know the name of the bakery and where it was located (so I’m sharing it with you also!). I can’t lie tho, Fredericksburg Pie Co is still my top choice and I love the chocolate chip pecan pie when I go.

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Since our hotel allowed us to check in up to 3 am, we decided to go ahead and go to our actual destination at our cousin’s house after dinner. It was a perfect nite on their fabulous covered patio catching up and enjoying nature. A comfy rope swing was a wonderful addition this year. We visited until pretty late, not exactly 3 am, but it had been a long day, it was time to go check into our hotel.

Staying in our hotel was certainly not the plan, even though it was a very nice and fairly new Hampton Inn, in a nearby area, Bulverde. The rooms were furnished with a luxury touch and extremely clean with breakfast included. They were providing boxed breakfasts in lieu of a buffet due to COVID. Of course, we skipped that and headed back to the next town to our gathering place for a hearty home cooked breakfast and sunrise mimosas! Ok, we may have made the name up, but our pineapple orange juice mimosas with a juicy cherry addition looked the part.

We were all sitting on the huge covered front porch admiring all of the new landscaping (at least what the deer hadn’t nibbled away) and decided we needed to go check out the hill top winery. This ended up being a very good decision!

It was called Arc De Texas and had a rooftop terrace!! We drove out to Johnson City and up the steep incline to the top where the winery was perched. We purchased some wine, local beer, and some monogrammed glasses and headed up to the roof. The winery was enforcing masks and we were gladly complying. Once we reached the rooftop we could take them off and enjoy the views and drinks.

It was very windy because some thunder storms were blowing in. We stayed for a while, soaking in the incredible 360° sprawling acreage views from our elevated vantage point. We discovered that the castle looking building was actually a lighthouse building and part of the same property. Arc De Texas is basically a resort winery with various accommodations. The multistory building we were on top of had several floors for guest and the lighthouse building slept 15, so obviously we were planning a future gathering with that being homebase. Actually, we just added it to our list because we now have several places on our accommodations list for our annual cousins trips. One of the other places we are looking forward to is a party house on the river with a pool, which sounds like a great place to hang out in the Texas summer heat.

We did some of the usual things on this trip, like watching the deer. They are all over our cousin’s subdivision wandering freely. The property is also located very near the river so we were able to enjoy the beautiful views and watch the sunset. Eating well while we are there is an understatement. I mentioned that they were the best hosts. They are also fabulous cooks so there is plenty of cooking in including lots of grilling, sweets and big breakfasts. All typical things we really enjoy about visiting them!

Our adventures usually vary, and on this trip, we spent a fair share of time in New Braunfels. First stop (after stopping for pie) was actually New Braunfels, as one of the younger cousins was moving into a new house and we were able to christen the house with a kick off dinner there the first night. We discussed what a neat area downtown New Braunfels is, so we ended up going back Saturday for antiquing and checking out it’s very charming downtown area.

We had a late lunch at the Huisache Grill. The food was really wonderful. Love the atmosphere and the outdoor seating area surrounded by more boutiques tucked away off the main blocks. The restaurant was very cautious requiring masks, providing hand sanitizer and a digital menu via a QR scan as before. Everyone was pretty impressed with their food and the portions. Of course I love that they served rolls and butter while you waited.

After lunch we hit one more antique shop, called Traveling Gypsy, before heading back. I was able to snag a very unique 3 tiered tray shelf with a beaded trim for my bath. That will lead to more shopping to fill it up!

Our lunch was late, about mid afternoon, so we decided to go to a friend’s house in the neighborhood, to enjoy the sunset down by the river before playing games and cooking out on our last night.

Sunday morning we got up early and headed back out of town on yet another scenic route. Our friend likes to avoid the interstate so we just sat back and enjoyed the views and the company. There were two Buc-ee’s on our way and other than the masks, you would never know there was a pandemic by the crowd. If you aren’t familiar with Buc-ee’s, they are a mega super gas station and convenience store. They are typically swarming with folks due to the extraordinary amount of gas pumps, restroom stalls and vast selection of food, snacks and merchandise they have, and this time was no exception! The restrooms are basically express, with so many stalls and hand sanitizer pumps in each stall! Don’t ever pass up the chance to stop at a Buc-ee’s. Haha

Maybe more risky was when we stopped in Crockett to have lunch at Rosemary’s Hilltop Cafe. We were the only ones I saw wearing masks at all. I guess it’s more locals and they know each other and aren’t worried. Possibly they all had just come from church together?! It had very good reviews on TripAdvisor, but you know how perspectives can vary-remember our AirBnb experience in Naples?! Yikes!

Home at last and picking up our 16 year old Jack Russell, Trit!! Missed our little guy!!

Hope you’ve enjoyed our Covid-era road trip experience and maybe gained some insight, if you were curious how traveling looks now. Here are some windy outtakes for you!