So the kids and I will be spending the summer in Tin Cup, CO. An absolutely beautiful, breathtaking place to spend time. Since I will be out of state soon the blog will focus on our summer travels and adventures in Colorado. And if anyone wants to head that way this summer, let me know!
But first, this weekend will be a girls’ trip to Corpus Christi/Port Aransas/Mustang Island.
Here are a couple of pictures I took last year just to give you a little tease. Be ready to be transported to Colorado for the summer.
So this weekend we were not able to travel. We had a super important event that took place; our daughter, Grace, graduated from high school.
Grace has attended The Christian School at Castle Hills for her high school years. She graduated with an honors diploma and summa cum laude. So we had to take a break from travel this weekend, but we will be back at it next weekend.
Also, a big shout out to Country Sweets Bakery in Bandera for making an amazing cake. It was a hit among our guests at the grad party. A while back I shared a post about this awesome bakery. They did not disappoint with the cake. BTW: we enjoyed some delicious pastries while we waited for the cake to be finished. I highly recommend the apple fritter!
Last weekend we visited Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg http://www.wildseedfarms.com and while it was not exactly what I had pictured in my mind when it came to fields of wildflowers, it was still worth the visit.
Fields of Red Corn Poppies can be seen from the road.
Wildseed Farms grows fields of wildflowers for the production of seed. They have over 200 acres in Fredericksburg. There is no charge for admission and they are open year round, 7 days a week, 9:30-6:00pm. The walking trails are open from 9:30-5:30
Walking trails at Wildseed Farms
Walking trails at Wildseed Farms
Getting up close to the flowers for pictures can only be done in limited areas. The fenced areas keep guests from walking through the flowers, but can still get great pictures with the fields in the background. We did find a couple of open fields that we could actually be in the flowers and get some great shots.
Wildseed Farms is a perfect place for photo shoots for all sorts of events. Depending on the time of year you visit the farm you could see poppies, sunflowers, bluebonnets, Rocket Larkspur, cosmos, and more. I am looking forward to going back at different seasons, especially when the sunflowers bloom!
Of course the name does indicate the sale of seeds. There is a section in the large gift shop that is full of packets of seeds to purchase. You will find everything from bluebonnets to sunflowers to Indian Paintbrush, poppies, daisies, primrose, and more. Packets of seeds start at $2.89. If I had a green thumb, I would have loved to plant these seeds so that I had lots of color in my yard. Unfortunately, I can’t even keep a bamboo plant alive.
Besides seeds, you can also purchase various types of plants that you can plant at home. There is an awesome selection of yard decorations as well. Prices were pretty reasonable.
What’s cool about this place is that you can make the trip to the farm an all day event. There are plenty of shaded areas to rest and enjoy the views and are also photo opportunities. They have a seasonal butterfly garden as well.
The Brewbonnet Biergarten offers a place to sit and relax in the cool a/c. They have cold beer, snacks, and ice cream. There are also samples of jams, jellies, and salsas. Plus lots of jams and such to purchase.
The outside patio of the Biergarten offers shaded seating and live music. Since there is a vineyard and tasting room on the grounds, you can relax with a glass of wine and listen to the band.
Wildseed Farms was an enjoyable place to visit and gave me the opportunity to find additional flowers to take pictures of. If you get the chance, take the drive out to Fredericksburg and visit the farm. You will enjoy this day trip.
This past weekend, Chuck and I visited Boerne, TX. We had heard about what a great, small town Boerne is and how we would find some cool shops and such. We thought we could kill two birds with one stone: spend time together moseying through the town and get some pictures of Chuck for his music page (www.chuckwimermusic.com). So we ventured out. Of course the trip out we had traffic, lots of traffic, due to the never-ending construction on I-10. However, we were not in any hurry so we just jumped on the frontage road and enjoyed the ride (btw: MUCH faster than actually staying on the interstate).
Anyways, back to Boerne. We arrive in Boerne and find this cute Episcopalian church, St. Helena’s Episcopal Church. Chuck’s attention was caught by the part that looked like a tower of a castle. It was a cool little area to take some pictures. Definitely recommend the little courtyard across the street from the church office to take pictures. Great setting and neat little fountain.
From there we parked on Main Street and began our walk. One thing we noticed right away was that there are LOTS (and I mean LOTS) of antique stores. If you love to hunt down antiques then this is the place for you. Us, not so much. We enjoyed the shops that were not quite to so cluttered or had a more specific motif. The Christmas Shoppe ( https://thechristmasshoppetx.com) was one of my favorites. No matter what time of year it is, Christmas stores are always fun to look through. Flashback Funtiques (https://www.facebook.com/flashbackfuntiquesboerne/) is a cool antique shop with jukeboxes, gas pumps, pinball machines, and more. Definitely out of our price range, but there were some neat old time things in that store. For the music lovers (which of course Chuck is) we found the Hillje Music Center (https://hilljemusic.com/). A small selection of acoustic guitars, stringed instruments, and amplifiers can be found at a reasonable price. My favorite store that we found (and actually spent money at) was Casa Décor (https://www.facebook.com/casadecortx). This was a huge store of handmade furniture that comes from Mexico. Great selections and awesome quality. We purchased a new wooden entertainment cabinet. They had a sale of 50% off furniture (hence the purchase). The customer service was amazing. We had to drive home to get the van since the piece didn’t fit in the car. When we got back to the store, they had the piece shrink wrapped and loaded it into the van. I will definitely go back to purchase additional items later.
We found what we thought was a park, but was actually this cool little “Veterans Plaza”. We spent some time reading the names on the bricks and reading the pillars.
Now the not so good. Like I said earlier, there were LOTS of antique stores. Too much in one shop at most of the stores. I wasn’t even sure where to look. I was expecting the same small town feel we had when we went to Bandera the week before (that entry will come later, when we revisit the town). That was not the case with Boerne. Don’t get me wrong, the Main St. shopping is definitely small town, just not the same.
We stopped at Bear Moon Bakery and Café for lunch and coffee. This was at the suggestion of some random guy on the street. We were disappointed with the bakery selection. The word “bakery” was misleading. There were some cookies, croissants, and donuts. A few cakes to choose from. But overall, not the selection of bakery items one would expect from a place that has the word “bakery” in it. So we decided to order lunch instead. Ummmm, their menu selection was about as limited as their bakery selection. Prices were decent, and portion sizes were pretty good based on what we saw going out to other customers. But the lunch choices were not our cup of tea. I enjoyed a cup of coffee while Chuck had a coke and then we went on our way.
I am glad we ventured to Boerne because I got my new furniture piece, but it is definitely not a place we would visit again, unless Chuck has a show at one of the places. Again, I am not saying it’s not a place to check out. You will probably find something you enjoy. You will check out something new. Take the adventure and enjoy the ride!
