Texas Travels Archives – Tastebud Travels

Things to do in Fredericksburg – Girls Weekend

Tiffani — Wed, 08 May 2019 02:17:31 +0000

Fredericksburg, Texas… A once sleepy little hill country town, not far from Austin is putting Texas wine country on the map. Okay, clearly it’s been on the map for a good while, but whatever. In January, at the start of our year of constant travel, I headed down to Fredericksburg for a girls weekend/ bachelorette party and we had the best time finding all the fun things to do in Fredericksburg.

Where to eat in Fredericksburg

Twisted Sisters Bake Shop

Rachel (the bride) loves a good iced coffee and I’d say this place has a pretty darn good one. Twisted Sisters Bake Shop was just a short walk over the river from our hotel (like two minutes). The decor in the little shop was absolutely adorable – definitely a great place to start your day.

Hye Market

We skipped out on a big breakfast on Saturday so we could do a bit of exploring before we hit the first winery, but after that, we were pretty darn hungry. The super sweet girl we did our tasting with at Calais recommended we stop here for some food. It was oddly reminiscent of our trip to V. Sattui when we were in Napa a few years ago, but the Texas version. Definitely worth a stop if you head out that way.

Auslander Restaurant

Once we caught on to the fact a lot of places were still closed for the “winter,” we had to change some of our dining plans. One of those changes led us to the Auslander Restaurant. It was the perfect spot, right on Main Street, with a delicious Ruben sandwich. And I have to mention, you can get your frozen sangria to go…. Which is exactly what we did! Even though it was a little chilly that night, we enjoyed sipping our frozen sangrias while we sat in the hot tub!

78624 The Bar

We all agreed, this place very much had a “Friends” feel. Technically, it’s a bar, not a restaurant. The drinks were amazing, but their cheese board was equally as amazing, if not more. They had live music and the cutest set up we could have asked for. This is the perfect spot to stop in before dinner, enjoy a cheeseboard and just relax.

Spots to visit

Main Street

We didn’t spend near enough time on Main Street, but it was such a cute area, with everything you could possibly want. As many main streets do, it had a very quintessential vibe that just can’t be missed.

Magnolia Pearl

This not-so-little shop is just a quick drive east from Main Street. We stopped here on our way out to Calais and loved snapping tons of pics and checking the farmhouse decor and goodies. Magnolia Pearl in Fredericksburg is a must stuff for any farm house decor lover.

Wineries to visit

We tried not to visit many of the big name wineries in Fredericksburg during this trip. We went for more of the boutique wineries that offered somewhat of a boutique experience.

Calais

Calais was our first stop on our day in Fredericksburg. This little winery is easy to miss, after all, it is literally in the side of a hill. This cellar and tasting room doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once you step inside the tasting room, you’ll quickly see why it’s a crowd favorite.

Ab Astris

We stopped in at Ab Astris on a recommendation from the somalier at Calais. She told us how cute the set up was for this spot and she wasn’t kidding. With large Adirondack chairs and backyard feel to their oversized yard, this place was the perfect spot for us to get off our feet and just relax for a bit.

Southold Farm & Cellar

This was our last stop before we headed back to our hotel to drop our car off. We had no idea this place even existed when the day started. Southold Farm & Cellar was recommended to us while we were at Calais and we were sooo glad it was. Getting there might be a little… confusing. You’ll feel a little like you’re winding down roads forever (especially if you’ve had a few glasses at this point) and when we visited, we had to drive up a steep, gravel road. But when you get to the top of the hill you’ll see this adorable little building.

If you’re lucky, Rusty, the wine maker’s dad, will be there and he’ll give you a rundown of how this little spot came to be and if you’re really lucky, he might even pour you a glass of wine! Now don’t get me wrong, the wine was fantastic, but the real show stopper here was these views. I definitely recommend letting this be your last winery of the day – the atmosphere is perfect to watch the sun setting over the hill country. Out of all the things to do in Fredericksburg, this is a definite must.

Pontotoc Vineyard Weingarten

Once we had retired back to our hotel room after a long day of winery hopping, we knew we weren’t ready to call it quits. We dropped our car off and headed down Main Street for more wine (duh). At the other end of Main Street from our hotel was Pontotoc Vineyard Weingarten. Because we were there in early January, some places weren’t re-opened yet or weren’t open late. Thankfully, this spot was. We met one of the owners of the vineyard, managed to score a seat in the basement/dungeon/underground tasting room, which was so fascinating to three girls who had been sipping wine all day. This place was awesome. Definitely grab a picnic basket, which includes homemade pimento, bread, olives, a brownie and more. And you have to try the tasting – just make sure it includes their frozen sangria, it is delicious!

Where to stay

Fredericksburg Inn & Suites

You guys. I can not even begin to tell you how great this place is. The Fredericksburg Inn & Suites is the perfect place to stay on a weekend getaway to Fredericksburg. We checked in Friday afternoon and spent two nights at the hotel.

We were greeted by the modern entry way to the lobby, but within minutes we were transported to a charming and cozy atmosphere inside the lobby and in our room – this was exactly what we wanted!

Our room had a farmhouse chic vibe to it and it couldn’t have been more perfect. The beds were super comfy and we had plenty of room for the three of us. The hotel offered free breakfast and coffee, which we totally took advantage of. They even had breakfast tacos that we just couldn’t turn down.

Fredericksburg Inn and Suites is located right on Barons Creek, which made for gorgeous views and a super serene atmosphere. The courtyard area had two pools, a hot tub (which we took full advantage of) and some gorgeous areas to just hang out in.

Overall, Fredericksburg was the perfect place for a girls weekend and even more of a perfect place to celebrate our soon-to-be bride!

Thank you to Fredericksburg Inn & Suites for hosting us for the duration of the our trip. All opinions are my own.

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A Day in Canton!

Tiffani — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:00:00 +0000

As many Texans know, First Monday Trade Days in Canton is possibly one of the greatest aspects in Texas. The first weekend of each month, the massive flea market/marketplace opens up and fills with thousands of people. I’ve been one of those thousands of people since before I could walk! I’m sure, somewhere, my mom has tons of pictures of me, sitting in my little red wagon along with all of the stuff we’d find that weekend. I have some really awesome memories from my childhood in Canton. And this Saturday, for the first time in probably 12 years, my mom and I went back together.

Thomas couldn’t join us on Saturday, so he left me this sweet note the night before, along with some extra spending money! I am definitely a lucky girl!

Isn’t my mom cute? She was on the hunt for a sweater for my sister’s pup- a Teacup Pomeranian, who only weight 4lbs! She definitely needs that sweater for the chilly mornings ahead!

If there is one thing in the world my mom can’t pass up, its Kettle Corn! We grabbed the extra large bag!

As anyone who goes to Canton does, we stopped to take a peak at the puppies! My oh my, this one did a number on my heart. My mom ALMOST got her, mainly because Thomas told me no, and he and I both know we don’t have the room or time for another dog, much less a puppy! I gave her one last hug, and put her back in her pen *sigh*

Soooo, my main goal of this entire trip, was to 1-get some Christmas shopping done, and 2-to find a reclaimed window. And both goals were accomplished. I kept striking out when it came to the windows, one pane would be broken, one would be really overpriced, and so on and so forth, but FINALLY, just as I was about to give up, I found it! A reclaimed window shadow box! JACKPOT!

Now, Canton isn’t exactly the easiest place to navigate, and parking is… well, just awful. The booth that I purchased the shadow box was about two miles from where we were parked, and considering the traffic, I was NOT going to drive my car to pick it up. So I carried it, and carried it some more, and continued carrying it… All 30lbs of it!

Overall, our day in Canton was a total success! I got some awesome leggings, tons of bows for the girls, cheap deco mesh, and some awesome decor items for my apartment! All of it for UNDER $100- that’s what I’m talking about!

After a long day away, My Saturday night was filled with lots of cuddles with my pup!

Have a great first week of November Y’all!

XoXo-Tiffani

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5 Things I’m Loving Right Now {Fall Edition}

Tiffani — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 01:01:00 +0000

1. Amber Blush Body lotion from Bath & Body works! Its such a great scent. Other than their aromatherapy line, I’m never that impressed with the scents that B&B put out, but this one has really been a game changer! It’s not an overpowering smell, but just enough that it leaves a nice scent on my skin while moisturizing as well.

2. Harvest Gathering- White Barn Candle! I know I said I’m not a huge believer in Bath & Body works, and I really hate paying their prices for candles, but this one takes the cake for all fall scents. It has a perfect blend of leaves and cinnamon and heavenliness I really don’t think anything will ever beat this. The only downside is that it burn very quickly.

3. Bigelow Brand Orange & Spice tea! Yum Yum Yum! I love all things spice, and from the minute I tasted this tea, I knew it was my new favorite fall time tea!
4. Homecoming mums! I have a love hate relationship with these little things, but every year I just can’t say no to making them!

5. Mary Kay Timewise Moisturizer. I absolutely love this. It goes on so light, I never feel greasy or oily, especially when it starts getting cooler outside and my face needs the extra moisture!

What are some of your fall faves?
XoXo- Tiffani

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Austin Getaway

Tiffani — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 02:19:00 +0000

As we all know, Labor day is normally the last long weekend of the summer where everyone who is anyone is looking for something fun to do… Long before we realized that this weekend was Labor Day weekend, Thomas and I planed a mini trip to Austin to catch the UT/UNT game with a little bit of extras thrown in.

Like every trip, this one started out by taking our sweet fur baby to my moms! Sophie has clearly passed up the weight limit on riding in the front seat, She now turns on the “fasten passenger seat belt” indicator on my nav screen… every single time!

We dropped her off at my moms house, where Soph is far too comfortable, and knew we had nothing to worry about!

Thomas and I made our way down to our favorite city in no time at all! We checked in to our AirBnB home and rested for a bit before heading off to our first adventure of the weekend. If you’ve never stayed at an AirBnB, or never heard about them, they are private homes or sometimes rooms in peoples’ houses that are rented out, often at extremely low prices, and always cheaper than hotel! They are located around the world, so no matter where you’re traveling, there’s almost always going to be an AirBnB around. This was our second AirBnB experience, and I really can’t say enough about how awesome it was. Click HERE to get a $25 credit for your first stay through AirBnB.

First on our agenda was a Kyle Park concert at River Road Ice House. We paid extra for VIP area and were quite disappointed in just about everything. It was a super laid back venue, and I guess Kyle Park thought he could be laid back too. Long story short, the concert sucked, we drove an hour for nothing, and didn’t enjoy ourselves at all. You win some you lose some, right?

Saturday we decided to float the river. The Comal River to be exact. Last summer we floated the Guadalupe River, which was quite rocky and had low water, so we were thankful for higher water levels at the Comal and just a more relaxed float over all. There was also a man taking pictures as people floated by on the river! Once he had taken your picture, he’d toss you a strand of beads, Mardi Gras style, minus showing your boobs, that had a bobber and a waterproof tag that had his website on there. Which is how we ended up with this awesome picture!

After the river, as always, we grabbed some Gristmill, which is only the greatest restaurant in Gruene, Texas. The onion rings are to die for, and everything else is nothing short of perfection,

Also, a must stop- Simply Detailed! I always find so many amazing apparel items here, its so hard to limit myself.

Saturday night was the real deal… Charlie Strong’s Longhorn debut! It was a rocking’ night at DKR!

~~Stronghorns~~ Longhorns Pulled off the win with ease, which left me with a happy boyfriend. Unfortunately, by this point in our trip we were slowly entering exhaustion territory. We needed up skipping the 6th street partying after the game and turned in early. Which ended up being the best thing because the next morning we got up bright and early to head to Schlitterbahn for the first 1/2 of the day! I came here so much when I was younger, but haven’t been in the last 6 years, and boy have things changed! Nonetheless, Thomas and I had an awesome time!

Sunday night, we went out for Mexican. Although we have Gloria’s in Dallas, we tried out the one in Austin… The Austin location is just as crappy as the Dallas ones have become. So sad because this chain used to be one of our favorites.

After dinner, we again, headed down to New Braunfels, this time for a Travis Tritt/ Randy Rogers concert at White Water Amphitheater . We were in full on exhaustion mode by this point, and being at a venue where there were close to 5 thousand people was probably not the best thing. I think it was all of the middle aged women who were scantily clothed, or maybe it was the pregnant girl who was standing next to us drinking a beer, that did it for me, but all of that paired with two tired people, was not a good mix. We lasted through Travis Tritt and a couple of RRB songs until we had enough and retreated home. I was asleep before we even hit the highway. Knowing I was able to sleep in the next morning was enough to send me in to a deep, deep, sleep!

Monday morning, after sleeping in much later than any day prior, Thomas and I slowly packed our bags and prepped for our drive home.

I really can’t call it a successful trip down south unless we make a stop at The Czech Stop in the small Texas town Of West.

We were sad to see our trip come to an end, but with this trip ending, it meant we were just a few days away from our trip to Boston! And little did we know, we’d be leaving even sooner than we thought. We head off to Boston tomorrow, which means I should really be packing, but of course, blogging>packing.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day and of course the start to September!

www.airbnb.com/c/tgrosser2

XoXo-Tiffani

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{Tour Of The Ballparks} Vacation Day 4 (FINALLY)

Tiffani — Sat, 05 Jul 2014 22:17:00 +0000

I’ve had 3 consecutive days off, and I have done just about everything except relax. From cleaning the house, to finally getting some long awaited decorating done, I have done it all. All while neglecting my last blog post about our trip. So here it goes!

We relaxed a little on our last morning. Took leisurely showers and prepped for our long drive home! There was one thing Thomas and I both agreed on getting before we left KC, and that was Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ! Rated the best in Kansas City, it happens to be in a gas station, weird, but it was definitely not lacking in any areas. I dined on a Z man sandwich- brisket on a Kiser roll, with cheese and finally topped with a helping of onion rings and their amazing BBQ sauce. Although I was a little sad that they did not have mashed potatoes to enjoy with my bbq, I survived.

Many places in Texas could take note from the signs they had displayed at each of their tables!

After lunch, Thomas and I decided it was time to bid Kansas City a due, and head home to the greatest state there is!

After a torrential downpour in Northern Oklahoma that caused me to hydroplane (my first time in my 5 years of driving), and a couple restroom stops along the way, we passed over the Red River! HOME! Honestly, how gorgeous is this?

Any fellow Texan knows that this photo is a must when entering our great state after time away!

I’ve stopped at this rest-stop many many times. It’s just over the TX/OK border, and it is massive. I stopped at it after many soccer tournaments in Oklahoma growing up, I stopped at it with Thomas mom after we dropped him off at school in Kansas a few years ago, and finally, after all of that time, I finally stopped and took a picture. A marvelous picture at that. We now have this picture blown up and hanging in our living room. Perfect addition to our rustic-Texas themed living room.

Just inside of Gainsville, after passing more rain I ~~forced~~ asked Thomas to pull over to take this amazing shot. A full rainbow with a second rainbow behind it! It’s not often you see something like this. Clearly, Texas wanted to welcome us home the proper way!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and is enjoying the long weekend. I know I am!

XoXo-Tiffani

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{Tour Of The Ballparks} Vacation Day 1

Tiffani — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 02:15:00 +0000

As said in a previous post, for Thomas’ birthday, I gifted him with a trip to St. Louis & Kansas City as a part of our “Tour of The Ballparks,” as well as a perfect mid-summers getaway. Our trip date could not have come at a better time, I had been working triple the hours I normally do, and Thomas is always putting in tons of hours, so this trip was perfect!

We headed out about 5am, with just a little over 9 hours from Dallas to St. Louis, heading out early was almost a must if we wanted to have time to see the City on Saturday! We (I) drove and drove and drove some more (while Thomas slept) and finally made it to St. Louis by early afternoon.

FIRST STOP? After the hotel of course- UNION STATION!

What was once a central hub for many train stops, is now an awesome hotel-mall-plaza area.

I’ve loved penny press machines since I was little and got my first one while in Animal Kingdom in Disney World, so getting on to commemorate this trip was a no-brainer.

Union Station was a giant-semi-abandoned mall. I figured out after we departed that there was an entire other section of Union Station that we missed out on, but after seeing some of the interesting people who were meddling about in there, we were ready to head out!

NEXT STOP? THE ARCH!

We were truly amazed by all of the amazing architecture we were able to experience in St. Louis! It was simply breathtaking!

I had never been to the Arch, much less STL before, so I was quite excited as you can see!

This picture does it NO justice on size, I can’t even begin to explain the size in all of it’s entirety! I had no idea you could go up to the top of it, or that there was shops underneath! Thankfully, Thomas had been before, and knowing a little more than I did, enlightened me about all that I was uneducated on.

One of the awesome shops they have under the arch is the “Levee Mercantile,” where Thomas and I loaded up on candies of all sorts, peanut brittle, and a wee smudge of fudge.

Although we opted out of traveling to the top due to a very long wait, we thoroughly enjoyed walking around below the Arch!

NEXT STOP? DINNER!

The Fountain on Locust is a small, but very popular, little joint nestled in Midtown of downtown St. Louis. It has a great old time soda bar with amazing decor

We had some of the best food, and Thomas had some awesome drinks here! His grilled cheese had apples and turkey on it- can you say AH-MAZING? They were famous of their ice cream martinis, which Thomas gladly indulged in!

Their ice cream was no joke! As you read above, it is a totally different form of ice cream, which clearly made all of the difference! The topping, being all natural with no preservatives, were the perfect addition! This restaurant was a 10/10!

Unfortunately, while finishing up dinner, a torrential downpour came about, bringing with it high winds, and lots of thunder and lightening. Thomas and I opted for drinks at a small bar just doors down from The Fountain to wait out the storm

Our last stop for the night was Small Batch | Whiskey & Fare. Although we did not eat anything here, the drinks were on point, and the bartender was awesome! The great decor and wide, floor to ceiling windows made this the perfect spot to indulge in a few drinks and watch the storm pass.

After a long day of traveling, tons of sightseeing and indulgent-worthy foods, we retired to our hotel room to catch the end of the Texas Baseball game, which was sadly the last game Texas baseball saw of the College World Series-better luck next year boys!

Check back tomorrow for day {2} of our {4} day adventure!

XoXo-Tiffani

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It’s Texas Forever, Y’all!

Tiffani — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Ever looked around, and been like “damn, I live in the best state ever?” No? Then you must not live in Texas! Honestly, it’s the 2nd biggest state, but forever the best. If you don’t live in Texas, you ~~definitely~~ probably wont have the same views on this as any Texan, but who really cares! Only kidding.. Kinda!

Here’s 20 reasons why I could NEVER EVER live in any state other than Texas!

1. Constant Tex Mex…. Endless chips, salsa, queso, fajita, and the list goes on and on!

Lake Lewisville

2. You can take a road trip through Texas, see hills, plains, mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, and much much more!

Shape of Texas, in Grand Prarie

3. Ever taken a look at our perfect state flag? What other state has such a perfect flag? And um… Who else can fly their flag just as high as the American Flag? Oh right, NO ONE!

My senior pictures. Boots, jeans & some chunky jewelry. Perfect.

4. We can wear boots anywhere, anytime, and not be judged, ever.

5. Bluebonnets. Bluebonnets everywhere in spring. I don’t think I’d be too happy having to drive anywhere and not being able to see the fields of blue covering as far as the eye can see!

6.WE HAVE BLUEBELL ICE CREAM Y’ALL! Recently, I went to NM for my birthday… All Thomas and I wanted was some Bluebell ice cream after a long day on the slopes… We could not find any. At all. Devastating.

2013 UT/OU

We were excited, can ya tell?

7. Red river rivalry! You can’t, not pick a side. HOOK ‘EM!

Overlooking DKR in Austin @ a G

8. Austin! It is by far, the weirdest, dirtiest, craziest, funnest place I have ever been. What state has a town as magnificent as that? Don’t argue. It’s just the best. (Mainly because it is home to the best college ever!)

9. We have SO MANY RIVERS… Grab a tube, and a cooler, and you have the perfect plans for the day!

10. Texas country music…. Do any other states have their own brand of country music? Enough said.

From one, very short, run to the San Marcos Outlet malls!

11. We have the greatest malls… EVER. So many malls, outlet malls, strip malls, etc. The list could go on and on forever. It’s just perfect

12. Czech Stop. OH MY GOD. Can we talk about heaven? No, really, it’s like heaven in a pastry!

13. The stars at night… are big and bright….BUM BUM BUM– DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS! We all know you sang along!

14. Is there another state that has as magnificent as a fair as the GREAT State Fair of Texas? NOPE! And we have the biggest Ferris wheel! Duh!

15. Which reminds me… Do other states fry anything and everything in sight? No? Just us? Okay, that’s what I thought!

16. We have homecoming mums. Big ass homecoming mums! Which I have made for the past 6 years of my life!

17. Texas is perfect, because we have perfect toast. AKA- Texas Toast. Yes, it’s perfect, just like the state. Duh again.

18. How many other states outlines look as cool as ours do… as a tattoo?

19. We have Buc-ee’s. No other “gas station” will ever rival this one!

20. George Strait is from here. Take that in Y’all. The king was born here. And still lives here. Because Texas is made for royalty!

If you have any doubts as to why Texas is the greatest after reading this, well Bless Your Heart.

Have a great weekend y’all!

XoXo-Tiffani

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Fall! & All that comes with it!

Tiffani — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 19:31:00 +0000

Since school started I feel as though I’ve been running around like a chicken with his head cut off! The only way I know what day it because my alarms are set accordingly by day; Monday/Friday- 6:15am, Tuesday/Thursday-5:00am, and Wednesday, I sleep in; 7:00am (LOL). But, this is my favorite way to live. I love being busy, and I really don’t know why.

Our trip to Austin on 9/14 was such an adventure! UT lost to Ole Miss, but we still managed to have a good time!

For the past few years, which seem more like forever, I’ve been making high school homecoming mums… With each year that passes I say it’s my last, and when each September rolls around, I always have just a few people ask me to make theirs, and that turns into a ripple effect. But this year is FOR SURE my last year! Here’s a couple of the cute ones I’ve made this year-

And sadly, my Rangers season was cut a little short. Thomas got us tickets to the wild card tiebreaker game, which was absolutely awesome, but the Rangers just couldn’t pull off a win.. No October baseball for me this year!

With fall comes the State Fair of Texas. With Thomas not going to school in Kansas anymore, I knew we’d be going at least once this year! We went the Sunday of opening weekend, and were extremely excited to realize that there was hardly anyone there! We had short lines and no overcrowding, and perfect weather!

Fried oreos!

For our second trip to the fair, we were there for the Texas/OU game… Thomas is such a die hard UT fan, and I grew up a UT fan (although not as much of a fan as Thomas is) He’s rubbed off on me, and I’ve really gotten into the spirit! And it didn’t hurt that Texas won!

Burnt orange Belgian waffle!

The last couple of days I’ve made various trips to Bath & Body Works to help get out house into the fall spirit. We not have an array of scents filling the air- Autumn, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, Leaves, and Harvest Gathering! I even did a little decorating!

Newest wall plug in that I think is so cute! AND I got it for free! I love Bath & Body Works!

I plan to fill those two vases with pinecones and candles, unless of course I’m able to think of something that would look better!

Needless to say, the start of my fall season has been busy but filled with lots of fun stuff! I’m constantly searching for cute DIY fall decor ideas, if anyone has any that they’ve made or would just like to share, I’d love to hear about them/ see them!

Happy Tuesday! Only 16 days until Halloween, 43 days until Thanksgiving, 70 days until Christmas, and 86 until my birthday!

XoXo- Tiffani

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Last leg of our vacation!

Tiffani — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 03:08:00 +0000

Saturday was such a relaxing day… We didn’t set an alarm, we didn’t have a place scheduled for breakfast or lunch, or really anything that day before 4pm… Now THAT is what I call a vacation. Saturday was our transition day, we went from New Braunfels to Houston to continue on to our last leg of the vacation.

We made it to H-town with no problems at all, we were even able to check in to our hotel a little early! Which came in so handy because both Thomas and I were so tired, probably from the day before, but we knew that bed was calling our name for a nice nap before dinner!

Saturday night, we had dinner at Flemings Steakhouse in Houston, YUM! Thomas’ dad is a manager there, and Thomas has been dying to take me there for as long as I remember, so of course, that’s where we went! Thomas and I are such foodies, we loved being there and having lots of new stuff to try! Thomas had been there before and knew a lot about the menu already, but I had not. It was such a fun experience and we loved everything we got!

After our wonderful baked Brie appetizer, both of our steaks, and some very yummy bread and assorted butters, here is our delectable dessert! Chocolate lava cake… SO YUMMMY! I can’t even put into words how wonderful it was! Definitely give Flemings an overall 10, we had wonderful service, amazing food, and it had a great atmosphere! We’ll definitely be returning!

After our marvelous dinner, the two of us had to take a little walk to get that “so stuffed I can’t move” feeling out of our system. We found a cute shopping center just down from our hotel and Flemings, and decided it was perfect. We even found a cute little faux telephone booth!

Doesn’t he look cute?

A little later that night we met up with Thomas’ dad to catch up a little more at a local spot called BB’s!

It was Cajun food, and everything looked delicious! Both Thomas and I were completely stuffed and didn’t eat, but we all had a bite of this mouthwatering bread pudding. I’m not much for bread pudding, but this one came topped with lemon meringue as well as having no raisins, which was a plus for me.

This night was filled with wonderful food, and lots of catching up! Thomas’ dad lives in Houston, so we don’t get to see him too often, but he is always so sweet anytime he’s around. Thomas’ is definitely blessed to have him!

As our last day of vacation came, we scrambled to pack everything up, and check out in time for the 12pm deadline, but we weren’t ready to head home yet!

Next stop? Minute Maid Ballpark to see the Astros take on the Rangers! Yes, that’s right.. We managed to squeeze in a baseball game while we were on vacation! Although we were very pleased with the ballpark being enclosed, and not having to worry about the rain or the horrible Houston humidity, we were quite unimpressed with it overall. Not sure if we’re just so accustomed to how lively The Ballpark in Arlington is, or if we are just too cool for all those Houston Astros fans, but it seemed dead! The workers were a little rude, the stands were sorta empty and on their big screen, they had far too much going on. But that being said, it’s another ballpark to cross off our list of the 32 (all the ones in the US) that we plan to visit! Only 30 more to go!

Once the game was finally over, Thomas and I made a quick stop at Buc-ee’s on 45, which was a huge disappointment compared to the one we visited previously in New Braunfels, but we still managed to buy a few things we ~~needed~~ wanted, and were on our way home!

Our 4 day getaway was just what we needed! Each day on our vacation, like everyday in our relationship, was such an adventure. Definitely sad that it’s over, but happy that I got to see all of the precious kiddos I nanny today.

I’m so blessed to have been able to take this vacation, and so thankful that both of the families I work for allowed me to take a few days off as well as being so grateful that Thomas was able to take off too! My life has changed so much in the last year, to think, a year ago today, I had just boughten my car (all on my own), Thomas and I had hardly been dating 3 months, and I was in between nannying positions. Life is so crazy, and it only seems to get crazier!

I hope this week treats everyone well, I have a busy busy work week, but am so looking forward to it!

XoXo- Tiffani

The post Last leg of our vacation! appeared first on Tastebud Travels.

Day two on our Texas sized vacation!

Tiffani — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 15:05:00 +0000

Day two started out the same way many days at home start out… With Shipley’s Donuts! Another Texas only stop, and not to mention, one of mine and Thomas’ favorite donut shops!

After entering somewhat of a sugary-kolache filled coma, We decided that we should probably head back and get things ready for our next adventure… The River!

Thankfully, we picked a hotel that was close to everything, and I mean, everything! We were less than 10 minutes away from every main attraction around New Braunfels, Gruene, and San Marcos! So, we had a very short drive to and from the river! We rented our tubes from Tube Haus and were very impressed! I had read mixed reviews about this place all over the Internet, not sure why though… The staff was all very friendly, and helpful! The shuttle even stopped on the side of the road to pick Thomas and I up, even though it usually only stops in a designated spot farther down the street.

The water in the river was quite cold, I wish I could say we “got used to it,” but we didn’t, not one bit! The water was probably 70 degrees, while the air was a good 95 degrees, BRRRR! Our float was almost perfect, the water levels weren’t too terribly low, and we hardly ran into any rocks. But when we did, we decided we should take a break, and hang out on them for a bit! We had brought a cooler with lots of yummy snacks, and felt like this was the perfect time to dig in! After a short snack, we we’re back to our float where we met so many nice people! Maybe it was because we were floating on a Friday rather than on a typical weekend day, but we didn’t see really any wild or crazy people! We decided early on that the short float would be better for us, mainly because we wanted to walk around Gruene, and do some sightseeing!

Once we got off the river, we ventured to Downtown Gruene, and spent some time here in a few different spots, mainly enjoying the small town feel as well as not being on any sort of schedule, like we would be at home!

By 4pm, we were both feeling pretty tired, so we decided it was time to head back to the hotel, to shower, change, and take a little nap. We had both already decided we were going out to dinner for our last night in New Braunfels, and we knew just the place to go… Gristmill!

This restaurant is such a cute place. It has a couple different levels, as well as indoor and outdoor seating, and it is massive!

Like always, we read our reviews about everything at this restaurant to make sure we knew what to go for and what to not go for! But these onion rings had NO bad reviews, actually no bad anything. So of course, we sprung for a small order to start our meal off. Easily the best onion rings I have ever had in my life. I don’t know what is was about them, they were just spectacular!

Above is my dinner choice, Tomatillio chicken, and boy was it delicious! I mean over the top incredible. I love spicy tomatillio sauce, and this was the perfect dish! As my side choice I opted for their salad with house dressing-which, by the way was an amazing creamy vinaigrette. Omg, yum! While Thomas, of course, got the chicken fried steak with homemade mashed potatoes. We were both very happy with our dinner choices! Overall, we give Gristmill a 9.5, it was absolutely wonderful food, we had an amazing server, but we thought some of the items were just a little overpriced, but like we said, it was wonderful overall!

Gruene Hall… Do I have to say anything more? It’s one of the oldest dance halls in Texas, and on this night, Granger Smith was playing! We got done with dinner around 7, and unfortunately had no patience to wait until he came on around 10… So we decided not to go in, but still, this is such an awesome place, you can just feel all of the talent that has gone through this place.

This was our last stop in Gruene for the night, a small boutique called Simply Detailed, you can check out their Facebook page here. We almost didn’t go in here because we had had horrible luck with the boutiques in Gruene earlier that day, but for some reason, we decided to head on in. I’m so picky when it comes to clothes, but this place had everything I love! I ended up scoring a super cute, sheer black top, and a gorgeous light brown dress with turquoise and orange print on it, both for a great price! The two girls in the store were both so helpful, and very sweet! I’ll definitely be coming back here as well as watching their FB page for cute new finds!

After leaving Gruene, Thomas and I searched for someplace to have dessert, we were unsuccessful because most places were closed… But you know what wasn’t closed? BUC-EE’S! So we hoped on 35 and headed a mile north to grab something sweet. It was the perfect stop, because I have quickly become addicted to their ice, which I put a very minimal amount of vanilla syrup on to give it a little flavor, and BAM! That was my sweet!

After Buc-ee’s it was definitely time to hop in bed because we were both exhausted! I fell right to sleep and slept like a baby! Overall, our Friday adventures were a huge success, and I can’t wait to return to Gruene again!

Today (Saturday), we head to Houston! So excited for all of our adventure there the next two days!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

XoXo- Tiffani

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