For our anniversary, Arthur planned a weekend get-away that was a complete surprise to me. It was great!
We headed down to New Braunfels, through Wimberley. (Also the first time we've been to Wimberley. Take Note: We've decided we want to live there in the future.) For those who aren't aware, here's where New Braunfels is in relation to Austin:
Like Fredericksburg, where we went on our honeymoon, New Braunfels is a product of early German immigrants to the great state of Texas. It's nifty. We stayed at the Kuebler-Waldrip Haus Bed & Breakfast.
I don't know if you can see in the photo above, but the part of the house to the far left with the darker grout-- that part was built in 1847, and it was a one room home about the size of my kitchen and dining room. When the current owners bought the property and decided to make it into a bed and breakfast in 1987, there were 6 layers of wall that had just been built on top of the original limestone and plaster. We didn't stay in the main house, we stayed in the farmhouse.
It was nice. The bed was ok (it was two very comfortable twins pushed together, which I thought wasn't so classy) but the breakfast was out of this world! Plus there were critters to greet us everywhere:
This place had the biggest stick bugs I've ever seen. Kid you not, there was one twice this size walking around as well!
For dinner, we went out to Gruene, (pronounced Green) Texas and had a fabulous time. The old part of the town has been preserved very well, and is a hub for the nightlife in the New Braunfels area. We went to the gristmill, a restaurant complete with a beirgarten, in a salvaged mill on the edge of the river. The atmosphere was awesome. The food, decent. Overall, a fantastic dinner.
Doesn't look like much...
But it's one cool old mill and a great place to have dinner.
Waiting for our meal!
Our view from the tiny 3rd floor. Very nice sunset.
One of the really cool things that we got to see in Gruene, was an authentic Texas Dance Hall, like you see in the movies. Truthfully, there really aren't that many left in Texas, but because they were/are a mainstay of small town life, you kind of have to travel to the sticks to see one. It was awesome.
The beer signs lit up and people two-steppin'. So Texas.
You may not see most of me, but I like this one because you can see the front of the hall very well.
This is the rest of the Gruene Old Town (it's so dang charming):
The next day, after our fabulous breakfast, we drove out to float the Guadalupe. Typically, most people float the Comal (which is a tributary of the Guadalupe, that is in New Braunfels) but due to flooding of the week previous there was still a lot of debris to be cleaned up, so we floated the Guadalupe instead which Arthur had never done. (I've never floated anything but the Provo River before, so this was a new experience for me as well.)
It was one of the most relaxing things ever. Its like 100+ degrees out, and you're bobbing along like an ice cube that won't melt, because you're in the coldest water ever. It feels great even if it makes your toes and fingers numb.
However, it's not so great when you fail to use sunscreen properly. The spray on stuff is deceiving--you think you're covered and you aren't! This is quite possibly the worst burn I've had in years-- Especially because I was burned all along the tops of my legs-- which have never been burned before. So the rest of our weekend was spent wallowing in bed, applying Aloe and Solarcaine and taking copious amounts of ibuprofen. Good thing I called in subs for Nursery! We still had lots of fun though, and I'd go float the river again, just next time I'd bring sunscreen you can rub in!
