On the road, again, to Fredericksburg

Hello — and welcome to those of you who are wandering by out of curiosity based on a certain article in a certain magazine that I’m told was publicized in a certain email. I hope you find something on these pages that makes your effort worthwhile.

It’s been a while since I’ve published a trip report. Debbie and I spent last weekend in Fredericksburg (TX, for any out-of-staters who are checking in, and hereafter referred to as “FBG” to save my typing fingers), and it was sort of a geographical, psychological palate cleanser for us. Some of you will recall that we made more than forty trips from Horseshoe Bay to FBG in March and April for some really fun radiation treatments. That made for less-than-pleasant memories of a town that we’ve had previously enjoyed immensely for at least four decades. It was time to overwrite the recent bad memories* with some good ones, and we succeded in doing that.

We planned this quick trip around two activities we enjoy: eating and dancing. [OK, there was a third…one that was on Debbie’s agenda…starts with “shop” and ends with “ing” but I won’t go into detail about that. It’s just too soon.] Highlights follow.

But first, two unrelated observations. First, the lushness of the Hill Country landscape was a sight for sore eyes. It’s hard to believe that parts of Gillespie county are still classified as “abnormally dry” in the U.S. Drought Monitor (as of 7/15/25) given how beautiful the scenery is in and around FBG.

Second, and peripherally related to the first observation, we were surprised at how uncrowded FBG was, especially for a weekend in the middle of summer. Our guess is that the same heavy rains that renewed the beauty of the landscape but also devastated life and property throughout the Hill Country have somehow reduced the inflow of tourists. Don’t get me wrong; there were still throngs of people in the shops and restaurants, but not the overwhelming masses that we expected.

Gustatory Goodness

Before we arrived in FBG, we scored a couple of bags of freestone peaches at the Vogel Orchard stand just outside of Stonewall. I don’t know how the other orchards are doing, but Vogel’s peaches are top notch this year…highly recommended.

We checked into our B&B situated a couple of blocks south of the main drag, and then walked to our Friday evening destination: Hondo’s On Main. We were prepared for a long wait for an outdoor table, and were pleasantly surprised when a table for two in front of the bandstand was immediately available.

We’ve never had a bad meal at Hondo’s. I can’t remember the last time we were able to eat there — pretty much nothing on their menu was on my diet during my treatments — so we enjoyed the stacked enchiladas (I had the Tex-Mex red; she had the green chili chicken) with chips and salsa on the side.

Hondo’s is also well-known for its [very strong ] margaritas. Pro tip: eat first — get something in your stomach — and then settle in with a marg when the live music begins. You’ll dance better (as far as you know) while still being able to walk straight.

We’ll circle back to the live music in a moment.

The next morning, following an hour of pickleball at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park, we strolled a short distance for brunch at Hill & Vine, the relatively new restaurant built on the former site of the gone-but-not-forgotten Peach Tree Tea Room. The food was quite good, but I want to highlight a special item.

Now, I’m not generally one to take photos of my food, but I’ll make an occasional exception when something that would be unbelievable if it weren’t seen. I present to you…the massive H&V cinnamon roll:

I realize that it bears a passing resemblance to a spatchcock chicken covered with cream gravy, but it’s actually a cinnamon roll stuffed with peach pie filling and peaches, and topped with a sweet cream sauce and a sort of streusel (I’d give you the official description but the link to their brunch menu brings up the dinner menu instead). I’m guessing it’s about 2,000 calories and we had no idea what we were getting into because we had also ordered regular breakfast entrees. We managed to wreak significant damage to it, and I suspect it returned the favor.

We waddled back to the B&B, and prepared to burn off some of those calories in the shops along the main drag. I don’t know how many calories were actually burned, but our debit card was certainly heated up.

Dinner that night was at a traditional favorite…Pasta Bella. That’s right; FBG may have deep German roots, but it’s also got a homey Italian presence. It’s small and noisy and unpretentious, and the food is hearty and the service friendly. I’ve lost count of the number of meals we’ve had there over the decades.

After dinner we drove to Luckenbach for a dance. Again, a report appears below.

We were up early on Sunday morning and played some more pickleball before stopping on the way back for brunch at a relatively new [to us] restaurant called the Sunset Grill. If the name of the restaurant evokes a Don Henley song by the same name, don’t succumb to it…there’s nothing melancholy about the FBG eatery. I don’t know how long it’s been open — it’s not in the main part of the town — but it’s a popular destination for locals, and it’s become a go-to for us when we’re there. We did have a couple of lunches there during my treatments; I did a brief report on it last March, in fact. They don’t take reservations, but if you have to wait for a table, you’ll find that it’s time well spent.

So, those are the dining highlights. Let’s move on to the…

Music and, of course, Dancing

We have a sign hanging in our garage that reads Live to Ride; Ride to Eat Pie. It’s a motivational message for justifying long bicycle rides, which is no longer relevant for our purposes, but if you substitute Dance for Ride, then you’re speaking our language.

We managed to visit and dance in three venues during our brief stay in FBG, and the music was provided by three bands with which we were unfamiliar.

The first venue was Friday night at the aforementioned Hondo’s. The music was provided by the Chuck Wimer Band, a quartet (three of which were military veterans). Wimer and his compadres are based in the San Antonio area, and their music is a strong combination of originals and covers. I was particularly pleased to hear them cover a couple of Chris LeDoux (R.I.P.) songs.

In one of those it’s a small world moments, it turns out that the bass player — an Army veteran named Randy Garcia — was the college roommate of john Arthur martinez (his spelling), an award-winning, internationally-known musician based just down the road from us. Once we discovered a common connection, Garcia asked us to pose with him for a selfie…the only time in our lives a musician asked for a photograph rather than vice versa.

The band’s music was nicely varied and kept the small concrete dance floor busy throughout the night. Debbie and I were impressed and amused by an 80-something gentleman who somehow managed to dance with every 20-something single girl in attendance, and there were a bunch of them.

We went away from the evening resolved to not miss any [convenient] future appearances by this band. They’re the real deal.

The next day — Saturday — we resolved to check out two venues, one new and one not-so. Mid-afternoon found us at the Yee Haw Saloon, located on Highway 290 a couple of miles east of downtown FBG. The saloon is connected to the Yee Haw Ranch Outfitters (do you sense a trend here?), a large western wear store.

The saloon trumpets its beautiful wide open dance floor, but those terms are pretty subjective in our experience. Perhaps they configure the seating differently for other occasions, but on this particular afternoon, the floor could accomodate about six couples semi-comfortably, and more than that would edge into mosh pit territory. OTOH, the venue is air-conditioned and one must never underestimate the value of that in Texas in July.

The venue hosts a free dance every Saturday afternoon. No cover charge, and the Topo Chico (for us) was nice and cold.

The music was provided by the Scott Crofts Band (no website, but Crofts does have a Facebook page). They feature a traditional country playlist catered to two-steppers, which is appreciated for its consistency, if not its variety.

Notice anything a bit unusual about the band? How about this:

Their playlist may be traditional country, but the addition of this instrument to the usual guitar/bass/steel pedal/drums lineup is definitely not traditional.

With a little help from my ChatGPT pal, I discovered that this is an EWI — an electronic wind instrument. It’s a synthesizer that can mimic traditional instruments like saxophones, clarinets, etc. This particular model is manufactured by Akai, a fact that is completely irrelevant and potentially uninteresting unless you’re in the market for one. Anyway, I found it somewhat fascinating, but also frustrating in that the unidentified musician’s (what is it with these bands that only provide the names of the leaders, anyway?) talents were wasted on a poor sound system setting. We never could quite differentiate his playing from that of the steel pedal guitar.

The band is what I’d call a typical small town Central Texas country band: skilled, personable, reliable, consistent…nothing flashy, but you always know what you’re getting. We’d be happy to dance to their music again, but in a more accommodating venue.

Our third and final stop of the weekend took place a few miles further down the road from FBG where Caden Gillard‘s band was playing a free dance in Luckenbach.

We didn’t know anything about them other than what’s on his website. He’s a former bull rider and cancer survivor singer-songwriter from Louisiana and now based in Nashville. That last thing was pretty evident from the minute we entered the dance hall.

He had a handful of rabid and rowdy fans in attendance, but what he didn’t have was a crowd of dancers. Frankly, they’re not a dance band. Their music skews toward the rock end of the country music spectrum, and while the players are extremely competent, the selections we heard were rarely danceable (although their version of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Pride and Joy was an exception — an absolute blast for a swing dance tune).

At one point, Gillard asked the crowd what the band should play that folks could dance to. (!)(?) Someone requested a waltz, and the band was stumped…we weren’t sure if they didn’t know what a waltz is, or they just didn’t have one in their repertoire, but in any event, one never emerged. We stayed for about 45 minutes — enough to drink a bottle of water — and then headed back to town.

While the music wasn’t our cup of tea, you may have different standards, and if you couldn’t care less about dancing, it might be just right for your listening pleasure.

So that’s a wrap on our weekend. We ate a lot, sweated even more, shopped just enough, and also danced sufficiently to claim that part of the agenda as a success. FBG has lost some of its small town charm over the decades, but it still has plenty to offer, and we’ll continue to visit regularly…especially since those visits won’t involve a linear accelerator!

*OK, not everything about those trips was bad. After all, the staff was working hard to eradicate my cancer, and I’ll forever be indebted for their work. [Return]