16th Century German Beer in Hill Country Texas

April 3/2018  Weather misty rain day, 64/56 temps.  A group from BLR has put together a research trip to Fredericksburg to Altstadt Brewery.  Interesting research?  Might be;  first the tour and then the taste testing and lunch and lots of camaraderie.  Our kind of research:)

front door to the Alstadt Brewery

The investment to recreate classic German style beer in the heart of Hill Country is pretty much the sky..... as the owner of this venture is William Scripps Jr.  Do you recognize the name, you most likely see it everyday.  Watch the credits after HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel.

inside the brewery

   E. W. Scripps' television division currently owns fifty-one television stations in thirty-six markets.  Mr. Scripps had a dream to have a brewery in Hill Country adhering to the German Purity Law of 1516, the brewery puts nothing but hops, barley, yeast, and water into the beer. The new state-of-the-art brewery goes a step further by mimicking the mineral composition of the artesian spring water of Germany.   The Brewmaster has a Masters in Science of Brewing from Munich, Germany.    After a tour of the workings of the brewery we retreated to the Biergarten for sampling and lunch.  Prost!

A flight of beer (4 samples) and Cheese Fondue

A little French German in Hill Country

Mar 1/2019  Weather 60/47  Grey day.  The sun just never made it out......    We moved to Castroville which is 20 miles west of San Antonio.  Technically we are south from Fredericksburg and it might be a good thing as there is an extreme cold front coming on the weekend.  Frost warnings are up for the next 3 nights(we should get maybe 5 degrees warmer down here).  Yikes!   Ok enough about the crazy weather.

Full blooming Redbud tree at Alsatian RV

Our friends Paulette and Jim winter in Alsatian RV Resort & Golf every year and we are giving them a surprise visit for the week!   They love it here since they can play golf as much as they want.  The park is nestled in the countryside so its nice and quiet, very clean and concrete sites.  
Till our friends started coming here we had never heard of an "Alsatian" village.  Alsace is the north eastern region of France on the Rhine River bordering Germany and Switzerland.   A fact that most people forget is that the German Shepard Dog was known as an "Alsatian" till 1977 in Britain.  As in most of Hill Country Texas the European immigrants came over in the 1840's to populate this area, about 2500 persons. (Specifically Alsace is in France).  The towns architecture is very unique for United States.  There is a historic downtown area preserved with the stucco/timber style cottages. 
Our first trip out was for some supplies that are touted as the best in the area.  First to Haby's Alsatian Bakery and then to Dzuiks Butcher Shop.  There is nothing better than finding local old established food shops. 

Haby's Alsatian Bakery

The Bakery was a delight.  Fresh baked breads, pastries, doughnuts, pies, cakes,  cookies - We stopped after asking for about 8 different things!!!  At the butcher shop you could get homemade jerky, wildgame and some different cuts of fresh meat.  One thing I saw as a heap of Parisa.  No idea what it was?  Unfortunately there was no sampling.  Made fresh everyday it is cheese, black pepper, onion, jalapeno and ground raw beef.  It is eaten raw by itself or on crackers..... Huh!  It reminded me of when I was a kid; my mum would pop a raw meatball in our mouths when she was making supper with ground beef.  Never thought anything of it.    I passed on the purchase knowing Billy would definitely "not" eat it. 

parisi

Why We NEVER drive after dark

Feb 18/2019  Weather good for travel, sunny about 60 sunny low 34..... next day was crap.  Misty rain all day, gray and cold.  The high was 46, low of 35.  Furnace on all day.  We travelled from Fort Stockton to Fredericksburg (Hill Country) to a new RV park called 
The Vineyards of Fredericksburg RV Resort 

Fredericksburg is just below the title of this cartoon map

It's a big park with long pull thrus, all new facilities and a nice view of the hilly area.  We are only 2 miles outside of Fredericksburg which is a beautiful historic German town.   

About 9 pm we could hear someone in the site next to us; no one was there before that.  We could see a fellow with a huge flashlight walking around and around his coach.  We could hear him opening and closing the basement doors.  We were snoopy and watching out our window and thinking "what's with this guy".   So next morning coffee in hand Billy went outside and oh yes something was up.   This area is prolific with wildlife, especially deer.  Oh yes, you guessed it.  The guy hit a deer!   Brand new coach, first time out with it.  He was coming from Dallas, hit alot of traffic and got behind schedule and did not get here in Fredericksburg till way after dark.   Apparently about 30 miles from here he hit a deer and it went right under the coach.  He is so lucky - could have been much worse. The deer in Hill Country are small compared to back home..... in the north the deer are big!  Billy compares the Texas deer to the size of a Great Dane dog.  Same accident with a northern deer and he would not be driving this. 

Grill coming off

brand new coach - maiden voyage

Spring Time in Hill Country

March 18/2018  Weather 87 today,,,, Hot.  But we couldn't resist poking around again on some more back roads today.

Live Oaks framing the old highway

The heat is really bring out the flowers now.  Not sure what these red ones are they are as big as bushes sometimes, and the Texas Mountain Laurel are full out; but don't get too close the bees are loving the blooms right now.

so pretty, no idea what it is called

Mountain Laurel

We are surprised how every ranch has a water windmill and most are still working.  This may be a bitter pill for some Texans to swallow, but it was not invented in this State, nor the Colt Revolver.   Nope to barbed wire.   All three are Texas icons credited with taming the wild west.  The windmill and the revolver were both invented in Connecticut and barbed wire in Illinois, allegedly by a farmer trying to keep chickens out of his wife's garden!

this windmill looks new

definitely been here awhile, along with the fence and the old pickup

this is ranch we ride by on White Oak, looks like it hasn't changed in a 100 years

Farm Roads and Ghost Towns

March 18/16  Weather 79 sunny, night low 48

old pickup sitting right where it quit running

There is so much motorcycle riding to do, we are somewhat beside ourselves.  Just love it here.    We have been out almost every day.  Have to tell you we have been lost a couple of times .......not sure why we went by that ranch 2 or 3 times!   Huh, bet we are going around in circles!!!  The back roads are so interesting, with a feeling of the past.  Lots of little Ghost towns in the area.  

buildings left in ghost town of Bankersmith

At one time they were stagecoach stops or train stops.  Decades later the main highways and even the train stops are no where near these little cross roads now but the buildings remain.  Pretty cool.

neat old ranch in the hills

for real, this is the farm fence and windmill and tractor just finished work with the sun tarp on it

this style of barn is very common in the area

Rosey is in Quilting heaven.   Every little town has a quilt shop, and they shops are often in really old buildings with so much personality.   The owner in the shop in Medina collected Tea Pots which she displayed on the walls above the fabric.  She has been collecting for years and has over 200, the teapots were so interesting.

teapots up high, everywhere you look in Little Cottage Quilt Shop

Quilt shop in Medina, displays an old sewing machine with her teapots

 If you were into Antiques this would also be your place.  There are 4 or 5 antique shops in every little town.  The lady in the coach next to us is having a ball.   She loves that stuff.   I asked her if the items are worth buying??  She laughed and said "oh I hope so, I spent $2000 today buying antiques".  Oh my goodness.  Wow.  See makes my little quilt hobby look good to Billy.  Haha. 

Hill Country Texas

Jan 28 to Feb 4/16  Weather is warm to start then a cold front is coming thru later in the week 77, 79, 82, 82, 66, 57, 61.  Nights drop into the 30's and 40's especially with the elevation at the campground being 1,656 feet.   Apparently this is an above normal warm front so we are taking advantage of it to stay a week and ride.  We north of San Antonio in Hill Country and we are staying at Buckhorn Lake RV Resort, which is real Texas style. 

Buckhorn Lake RV Resort - the Barn is the clubhouse

Same view at night from our campsite

The day we pulled in a couple of fellows came over and asked us to ride at 10:30 in the morning.   Everyone is very friendly and happy to have another biker come along.  

Fireplace inside the barn, clubhouse

Saturday morning there was a breakfast inside the barn.... wow,  we were surprised how nice it was inside.   The fireplace was HUGE, and wood burning fire took the chill out of the air.   Breakfast was like visiting a good restaurant.....  We are thinking this is a great park and a super location.

Gun Holster and Rope centerpiece on each table