New Braunfels / Greune

Susan, Sara and I left early this morning for New Braunfels, a German settled community about an hour from here. We left early so we could have breakfast at the Oldest Bakery in Texas. It was worth the wait, without question. I had a pretzel – with brown sugar and pecans – but, it wasn’t made with bread dough, it was made with pastry, flaky, tender pastry.

Many of the buildings in New Braunfels have murals painted on the sides. We walked around for awhile, wandering through an Antique mall, playing “Oh, I remember these, do you?”

Then we visited an historic hardware store, where I saw the flamingo birdhouse. Holly, if I were buying things, I would have bought this for you. Aren't you glad I'm not buying?

We then stopped in a German restaurant/bakery for a sniff and moved on down the road to Greune (pronounced green) Texas.

Greune is an old town which they say gently avoids change. The dance hall was the among the starting gigs of many western musicians, including George Strait and Willy Nelson. It was also used for the dance scene in John Travolta’s “Michael”.

We wandered up and down the streets, visiting such shops as the Tipsy Gypsy, Gruene with Envy, Dancing Bear, Cotton Eyed Joe’s, and Fickle Pickles, among other things.

As for the photo of the U-No bar - I now know I am finally out west, as it is a western product that I have only found once in the east - in a shop specializing in unusual candy bars.

We returned to New Braunfels, and in this German town, had an Italian lunch - I had Caprise salad – delicious, as well as my first taste of gelato. M-m-m-m-m

We then poked our heads into a quilt shop, and returned to the bakery for some take home goodies.

While in San Antonio, I found some necessities, and not so necessary stuff. I finally found a stick on clock for the car, and I bought a new toy – a tape recorder. I find that when I am driving down the road, I often have fleeting thoughts and observations, but I don’t get a chance to write them down while driving. So, I thought a tape recorder would answer the need. I also, finally found a collapsible cup for my go bag.

Susan, Sara and Mitch are off to bowl, and I’m packing up the car. I leave tomorrow morning for Johnson City. I plan to camp for 2 nites, keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates.

Then I will leave for Phoenix – I changed my mind once again about going north through New Mexico, cause the weather still is not stable.

It has been a great visit here, and I look forward to returning at some point to see more of the area.

Til next time,
Bear Hugs
Boots