Wine & Wildflowers in Fredericksburg, Texas
A post about Texas? That's right, after years of wanting to visit the Lone Star state, we finally made it to Austin. We are super excited to share our full city guide with you guys next week, but in the meantime we have all of Texas Hill Country to cover! When our plane touched down in the Lone Star state, we were honestly shocked at how green everything was! We took a day trip out to Fredericksburg, which is about an hour away from Austin, and drove past rolling green hills, wildflowers, and experienced that famous small town Texas charm.
Fredericksburg, Texas is the town at the heart of Texas Hill Country, and it's surrounded by wineries and vineyards, but more on that in our next post. Main Street is a quaint and gorgeous stretch of local boutiques, bars, and restaurants, like the irresistible Vaudeville. The upstairs is a jaw-dropping general store, and the downstairs is a delicious and healthy eatery. We're talking "vegan food that's built for Texans," as one salad on the menu read. It's a must-see spot to sip on a local brew and cool off in the cellar during those Texan summers! Also, their Reuben sandwich is pretty outrageous.
Fun history fact: Fredericksburg was settled by German immigrants, so there's a lot of cool Bavarian influences around town.
Quintessential Chocolates is probably the most unique shop in Fredericksburg, and it's not just because the chocolate is delicious. They make the only liquid-centre chocolates in America, using a traditional French method. We'd try to explain it but you should probably just visit yourself and try one! Basically, you suck on the entire chocolate and enjoy the flavour until the sugar casing collapses, and then your mouth is full of chocolate-flavoured alcohol! It's pretty amazing.
April and May is peak wildflower season in Texas Hill Country, and we had so much fun wandering through poppy fields and enjoying the drive along a floral-decorated highway. The wonderful wildflowers are a result of Lady Bird Johnson's determination to beautify America's highways and public areas, which used to be full of garbage and billboards. We also took a stop at Wild Seed Farms, where the poppies grow each year on their own - no seeds needed! As Lady Bird said, "Where flowers bloom, so does hope."
This post is a partnership with Texas Tourism, but they let us get as "local' as we wanted.