It’s hard to enjoy nature when it’s so miserably hot, but we managed to have some air-conditioned fun at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. Although my daughter’s favorite moments were watching the zebra eat a snack near our car and feeding the baby goats, I particularly liked this gal:
Believe it or not, this marks the second time I’ve talked about ostriches on this blog. Go figure!
To see photos from other travellers, stop by the family travel blog Delicious Baby for Photo Friday.
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
To read more about Gruene, check out these posts here on Wandering Off:
For excellent Gruene photos, take a look at Fatherhoody’s blog post Fun in Gruene.
And if you’re still needing more Gruene in your day, follow @GrueneTX on Twitter!
Shortly before Christmas, we decided not to take E. to see Santa at the mall. Why deal with the crowds? And for that matter, why have our daughter’s picture taken among a bunch of over-priced clothing stores when we could visit Santa somewhere much more pleasant: Gruene, Texas.
So, we set out for the small town of Gruene, where Cowboy Kringle was waiting between the general store and the wine shop. Of course, E. was terrified of the older gentleman with the white beard, but we did get a good picture and will always have pleasant memories of our afternoon in Gruene.
After our visit with Santa, we walked around town and I took lots of pictures of historical markers and old buildings. At one point, E. looked at me as I was taking pictures of a marker and said, “Come on, Mama! It’s just a sign.”
We ate dinner at the Gristmill, which we enjoyed. The setting definitely feels like Texas. We sat next to a large fireplace that had a steer’s head mounted above it.
I love places like this that haven’t been infiltrated by standardized stores and restaurants. It’s such a happy place, especially during the holiday season.
On Sunday evenings, most people are relaxing and getting ready for the week ahead. What were we doing at 7:00 on Sunday evening? We were loading the family into the car, so that we could drive 45 minutes to get ice cream.
No, we didn’t need to drive that far in order to eat ice cream. There’s a Cold Stone just down the street. But that’s not nearly as fun as driving to Gruene, Texas to eat ice cream in an old-fashioned general store. Why did we go on Sunday night? Well, that’s my doing. Once I decide I want to go, we go.
The small town of Gruene, located north of San Antonio near the town of New Braunfels, is charming even at night. I can’t wait to go back and explore this town during the day. We drove past several B&B’s on our way into town, and spotted the famous Gruene Hall.
Our first stop was the Gruene General Store for ice cream and hot chocolate. I was a little disappointed that this wasn’t a real soda fountain. My request for a vanilla coke was met with a confused, although not unpleasant, look. I ended up with the hot chocolate, while my husband and E. enjoyed some ice cream.
The general store definitely had character, and I loved that the old wooden floor vibrated everytime someone walked by. The floor boards included old license plates that looked like they had seen their share of wear.
We were about to head back to the car and call it a night, when we spotted The Grapevine. Here we bought a bottle of wine to enjoy once we got home. (Sunday night is usually Netflix night, so we sipped our Merlot while watching 3:10 to Yuma.)
I’m looking forward to exploring Gruene during the day when I can take some pictures and visit a few of the shops. We also spotted a few restaurants that look interesting, so we’ll definitely be back soon. For now, I’ll cross another Texas town off my list…
