I don’t get sick very often…which I’ve decided is a good thing because I don’t tolerate being sick well. I don’t have time, nor do I want to deal with ‘sickness’. I feel like a big ol’ whiner and need to suck it up…but it’s not easy! Ugh. All I have is a darn cold….but geesh, I feel yucky. Weak, stuffy, congested, yucky eyes, coughy…BE GONE!
We went into town on Tuesday to grab a burger at the Horseshoe Grill where we met friends a few weeks ago. It was just as good as the first time and we had a nice visit with the owners when crowd thinned out some. We also stopped and had the truck inspected…another step closer to getting our vehicles (and ourselves) licensed in Texas.
Whoopsie!
As we were waiting for the truck to be ready after being inspected, we heard a loud ‘bang’ and looked to the street to see vehicles pulling to the side of the road. After the cars had cleared and the drivers were able to safely get out of their vehicles we saw that the driver of the vehicle that had been hit by another vehicle trying to get onto the road was the female owner of the Horseshoe Grill!
It was a pretty minor accident but it was easy to tell that she was shaken so I went over to check on her…she was fine…just shaken up and the truck she was driving had a dent/scrape down the length of the passenger side. The other driver had a messed up passenger side front fender and was ok too.
Our new friends
While we were out we also picked up a bag of deer corn! We did this the last time we were in the area and we really enjoyed feeding the deer…we even got them to the point that they would eat out of our hand. We broke out the corn as soon as we got home and got 9 or 10 in our side ‘yard’.
Thursday we took a drive to Fredericksburg for some touristy stuff. We left home about 9:00 am arriving in Fredericksburg about an hour and a half later.
Very friendly and helpful butcher
Our first stop was at Opa’s Smoked Meats. The first (and last time) we were here was in February of 2013, when we visited with four other couples. Michael and I fell in love with Opa’s then and have been enjoying them ever since. They’re sold at HEB and the commissary in the area but going to the ‘birthplace’ again…was a must do. We sampled a few items and picked up sausages, brats and summer sausage to take home.
2 Ps at Friedhelm’s
Our friends, Hans & Helen, recommended the Freidhelm’s Bavarian Inn as a good place for authentic German food. Fredericksburg has a rich German heritage so there are several German restaurants to choose from. We decided to walk to the restaurant…a mile and a half one way. By the time we arrived we were hungry, which was a good thing.
Savory Jagerschnitzel light on the mushrooms
We made our decisions pretty quickly – Chicken Schnitzel for Michael and Jagerschnitzel for me. Michael went with pan-fried potatoes as his side and ordered the spaetzel. We both ordered a house salad and went a cup of the cabbage soup. Everything was very good – seasoned well, tender and tasty. The soup, however, is one of those things I’ll be craving for years to come….absolutely delicious!
A small sampling of the hot sauces offered at Rustlin’ Rob’s
After our nice lunch we walked the mile and a half back to the downtown area where we wandered around Main Street – popping in and out of the various shops. Sampling jams, sauces and spreads at Rustlin’ Rob’s, picking up some Jalapeno & Cheese Sausage Rolls (made with Opa’s!) from the Old German Bakery & Restaurant and reminiscing over all the trinkets from our childhoods at Dooley’s 5 – 10 & 25 Cent Store.
Prior to starting the walking tour
We had purchased tickets for the 4:00 pm Fredericksburg Historical Walking Tour, which was $15.00 per person and was scheduled to last two hours. The tour started at a historical tiny home and made its way in and around the streets of Fredericksburg, making stops at many historical homes and businesses, most of which date back to the early – mid 1800s. Our guide, a retired history teacher/librarian, was filled with stories about the early inhabitants (current inhabitants too!) of the homes and businesses as well as Fredericksburg itself.
One of several buildings we learned the history of during the tour
While we really enjoyed all of the information our guide shared with us, at least four of the seven of us in the tour wished the guide would either slow down and make the tour longer, make the tour into two separate tours or just shorten the tour altogether. The guide walked at a ‘race walk’ pace and talked non-stop…so if you weren’t right next to her as she ‘raced’ along you missed a good portion of the information. We ended up walking about 3 miles and the tour ended up lasting about 2 hours and 20 minutes. Thankfully, we made three ‘rest stops’ during that time and each one was very much welcomed.
By the time we got back to our truck we were both exhausted, various body parts were sore and I even had blisters on the backs of my heals! LOL
Michael feeding the deer before we left for the day
Thursday was ‘errand day’ starting off with Michael needing to be at the VA clinic in San Antonio about 8:00 am to have a fasting blood draw done. By the time he was done we were ready for some breakfast so we stopped at Jim’s Restaurant, which has become one of our favorite breakfast spots…good food & reasonable prices!
After breakfast we picked up our mail from Andrew at Mylocalmailbox.com. It’s so refreshing to go into a business and have the owner know who you are and automatically grab your mail without even having to tell them your name.
Movie of the week came next – Murder on the Orient Express, which we both enjoyed. Not having ever seen the 1974 version or having read the book we didn’t have anything to compare it too though so if you’ve seen or read it before perhaps your thoughts won’t be the same as ours.
Blessed to have been able to spend time with these two newlyweds
That evening we were blessed to be invited to the home of our friend Lee and his new wife Linda. Lee and Linda both lost their spouses of many years recently and then were blessed to find each other soon afterward. This was the first time we met Linda and it was like we’d known her all along. She’s very friendly and made us feel right at home.
We were given a tour of their home and property, fed a delicious home cooked meal with dessert and spent time enjoying each others company. Already looking forward to the next time we’re able to spend time with Lee and Linda.
Michael and I have both been busy working our new business venture. Michael’s phone has become an extension of his arm as he is taking a lot of calls from customers helping them decide if disc brakes are right for them (they’re right for most everyone – and so much safe!). I don’t have to worry about phone calls so much but my responsibilities are more administrative so I do a lot of emailing, creating purchase orders, invoices, tracking inventory and work closely with our warehouse employee. Life has changed a lot (for the better) as we’re always busy…not much time for doing ‘nothing’ anymore.