Saturday morning my mom had a surprise trip planned for my dad's birthday weekend. She made him get in the car and just start driving down hwy 35. They made their first stop at Willie Nelson's place where my dad got a new cowboy hat for his birthday!
While my parents were on 35, Nate and I met Stacey and Jason at their house in Frisco and started our little road trip down 35 as well!
While Jason was pumping gas, Nate, Stace and I were bored...
Nate is poking the air ballon
I was pretending to hold it
Then Stace was pretending it was an ice cream cone..all of a sudden someone laid on their horn for about 30 seconds we were looking around everywhere trying to figure out who it was...then Stacey realized she was leaning up against the steering wheel! hahaha
Not sure why Stacey was complaining about space, I was very comfortable!
AUSTIN, TX
After about 5 hours we finally arrived in Gruene and we went straight to the restaurant.
This is an old building on the way to the restaurant.
We ate at Gristmill Restaurant and Bar
Gruene cotton gin processed crops raised by area farmers until the wooden structure burned to the ground in 1922. The Gristmill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 as a part of the Gruene Historic District. These days, the Gristmill is a destination restaurant serving thousands of people per year in its unique, rustic, river bluff setting overlooking the Guadalupe River. The multi-level restaurant features outdoor and indoor dining with sweeping views of the river, special dining rooms with native stone fireplaces, an indoor bar with waiting area and wood burning stove, a relaxing beer garden and a merchandise store. The River Grove, added in 1998, is a refreshing open air, bricked patio nestled in a grove of trees overlooking the river.
My mom had some trouble keeping all this a secret and getting my dad to go the restaurant. We were at the restaurant waiting and when they got to Gruene my dad wanted to walk around to see what the town had to offer but my mom had to keep convincing him to go to the restaurant.
Finally when they arrived we were all standing around and we yelled surprise! He was so excited to see all of us and later told us he had no idea about any of this!
Jason (brother-in-law), Chris (cousin), Mike (uncle), Dad, Nate (brother), Marvin (aunt's dad)
These are the men and women's restrooms, I thought they looked kind of cool!
During dinner we had a view of the place where everyone rents tubes, there was no one there this day because the water has been running kind of low
My mom and sister
My sister and brother
Me and the birthday boy!
This is the little kitty that joined us for dinner
Cheers to dad's birthday!
My aunt Carolyn (dad's brothers wife) and her dad Marvin
Strawberry Shortcake with Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream, yumm
After dinner we took all the cars to Marvin's house.
Stacey, Chris and Nate in Marvin's backyard
Marvin lives so close we were able to walk back towards the Gristmill Restaurant to Gruene Hall which was right next door.
The Gourds were performing that night. This is the reason we all came down here!
No Show Ponies opened for The Gourds
Stacey teaching Nate how to country dance!
The Gourds!
Chris, Stacey, me and Nate standing on the benches to get a better view of the stage because there were so many people there
My Uncle Mike and Aunt Carolyn dancing
Me teaching my cousin Chris how to two step
Family Pic
Carolyn, Stacey and Me being silly
My AMAZING mom and dad
Stacey and Jason taking a breather from all the craziness inside
Family picture on Gruene Street
My mom and I back at Marvin's
On Sunday morning we woke up, got ready and went to breakfast.
While we were driving through downtown New Braunfel's we got to see their city hall.
We decided on this cute restaurant that serves breakfast all day long and is connected to an antique store.
The Red Rooster Cafe is located in Downtown New Braunfel's
I think my mom was a little excited about the antique section
This is a look at the inside and our chefs
After breakfast Stacey and I played dress up. These are hats that I believe are from the 1920's.
This is an antique veil
When we got outside I took a few more pictures of my mom, sister and brother.
Connected to the cafe was also an Inn
Across the street from the cafe was a very old house with a really neat tin roof
After breakfast we met Marvin, my aunt Carolyn, uncle Mike and cousin Chris at Marvin's house. Then we all walked down to the Gruene area we were in last night.
This is actually a picture from the night before, but I wanted to show a day and night comparison of the water tower.
This was a cute little store that had all kinds of things in it. It had jams, dips, salsa, ice cream, candy, fudge and even a huge country Christmas tree in the middle with all kinds of ornaments for sale.
We all needed some ice cream
My mom and I in front of Gruene Hall and the water tower
While we were in Gruene there was a Metal Festival!
These metal pieces were HUGE and cost around $700
This stone art cost around $10,000
There were two guys playing music the whole time!
This tree was very old and its limbs almost touched the ground!
My mom and dad by the old tree
Nate and I resting on the old tree
This was a plaque outside of an office building that gives some insight as to what it used to be.
It states:
H.D. Gruene, Jr's Office:
In 1923 H.D. decided he wanted a small office so he built this structure. The old cotton gin burned in 1922 (now the Gristmill Restaurant) and this office was sometimes used for cotton business. The waterfall siding is distinctive of early 1920's architecture.
This is a land marker, it reads:
German immigrant farmers were the first settlers of this area, which was originally called Goodwin. Henry D. Gruene established a large cotton farming operation here in the 1870's. He built a mercantile, cotton gin, and dance hall, and conveyed land for a school. The town became known as Gruene in 1903. A boll weevil infestation destroyed all cotton crops in 1925 and ignaled he decline of the town. Restoration efforts begun in the 1970's and revitalized the area. The town was listed in the National Register of Historical Places in 1975.
There are old houses just like this up and down the streets, I liked this one because it had the cute front porch with the rocking chairs and because it's teal of course!
This was a wine tasting place you could also visit
One more stop by Gruene Hall to get original Gruene Hall T-Shirts. This was our last family picture of the weekend taken outside Gruene Hall.
