Friday, April 23, 2010

Fredricksburg and Flowers

So today was the fist day and we actually got to experience something "Texas" besides trips to Target, the market, or Home Depot. With all of our bags and boxes unpacked, curtains hung, and furniture in place we decided that today (keeping our fingers crossed that the icky weather held off) we would make the 2 hour drive to a small quaint town called Fredricksburg- think the Texas version of Solvang but German not Dutch. Thankfully the sky was clear and the weather was a perfect 80 degrees.

The drive over to Fredricksburg went by really quickly...amazing how time flies when you're not waiting in traffic inhaling carbon monoxide from the gas guzzling Hummer in front of you, and found our self on Main Street. Yes the town is that small that it actually has a main street called "Main Street".


We found out from an older WWII vet that the town was established in the late 1800's and remains a big tourist attraction because of the town's history and "small town feel". We had a great lunch under a fan lined patio followed by some yummy ice cream in waffle cones (ooooo....my mouth is watering just thinking about this delight).

In true Jake form (thank GOD I married a man who isn't afraid to chat it up with anything and anyone!), he asked some of the locals where we could find the infamous wildflowers. One of the women told us to go to a nursery down the road- um hello?! why would we drive 2 hours to see some flowers in pots? while another at the ice cream parlor (I knew I needed that cone for some reason) gave us directions (and a map!) to the beauties below.


Texas Bluebonnets- TX State Flower

She said it was another 30 minutes drive, but we didn't think that was too bad with the beautiful road that took us there.


The pictures seriously do not do what we saw justice (put on your 3D glasses NOW!!). The greens were almost fluorescent while the Texas Bluebonnet blue popped. AND the fragrance...WOW!!! It seemed as though each time we rounded another bend the view and flowers were even more impressive then the last. Thankfully we went on a weekday and we were able to stop (a lot!) while we were driving to take in this marvelous sight. We took over 70 pictures because we couldn't get enough of this place, but have selected a few of our favorites for you all.











We even drove along side these little (or not so little) guys having an afternoon snack...




Many of the people who we talked to today said they haven't seen the flowers this amazing for over the last 20 years...guess we really lucked out! Anyone who is even considering visiting Austin should really consider coming during the springtime. We've never seen anything so...magical. No wonder there is a camping/hiking place near by called "Enchanted Rock"- you can't help but feel the magic when you are in this special place.

With the scattered showers and nightly thunderstorms, it is definitely a departure from California weather (which we also love). We are enjoying the constant change of weather and relish in the fact that a nightly shower doesn't mean we have to break out the coats and long sleeves. We're sure that the wet winter/spring Austin has been experiencing caused the amazing wildflowers we saw today--so bring on the rain!

1 comments:

Amy said...

So pretty! and love your dress!

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