Wine Country Safari – One of our best trips ever!

This idea began almost 2 years ago, when Barbara and I were heading back east from a winter in Arizona and New Mexico. Tired of traveling on I-10 through West Texas, we hopped off the interstate, eventually finding ourselves traveling on Texas Route 290 through one of the most quaint and restored small towns in America - Fredericksburg, TX. Our drive-thru was during their Founders Day celebration, and bunting was on every storefront and crossing their main street. It was also remarkable that it differed from virtually every small town we had traveled through in the previous 2 years; as it was vibrant, with nary a storefront boarded up or closed down. Every parking space occupied and people walking everywhere.

As we headed out of town, we began noticing wineries dotting the countryside. The place was LOADED with them. Barbara began some cursory research, and we found out that Texas has a designated “wine country”, and we were driving through the heart of it. While Barbara and I don't drink a lot, we do enjoy the occasional glass of wine. We put a pin of Fredericksburg, vowing to head back some day soon.

A year later, and we're meeting with fellow RVers Byron and Lynn Hill at the Tampa RV show, and we mention our intention to head back to Fredericksburg, TX sometime in the Fall. Both thought it was a great idea, and expressed a desire to meet us there, so we set a tentative date in September which coincided with their plans to visit friends and family in nearby San Antonio. Also during that stay in Florida, we met back up with other fellow RVers Dan Bachrach and Jodi Dominguez, whom we had helped earlier in the winter when their motorcycle experienced difficulties. After mentioning the planned trip to Fredericksburg, it happened to coincide with their planned 5-week trip up and down the great Midwest, so they adjusted their plans to meet us the last week of September in Fredericksburg.

Wine Country Safari was on!

What was interesting is that all six of us prefer sweet wines; the sweeter the better. We're definitely not wine experts, but we all know what we like and that's all that counts. As the time grew nearer, I began reaching out to various wineries in the area, inquiring about tasting opportunities and expressing our preference for a sweeter set of wines. Interestingly enough, one of the first wineries I was able to get in touch with admitted they didn't have what we liked, but recommended another winery for us as a much better experience. Frankly, that doesn't happen very often these days, so kudos for Becker Vineyards for doing so. We actually stopped by before heading out to buy one of their sweeter wines as a thank you for being so helpful and forthright.

Byron and Lynn had found a municipal park about 10 minutes away from downtown Fredericksburg, which actually featured a “buy 6 nights, get the 7^th free” deal. Typical Texas park with grassy separations between crushed gravel sites, and few trees of any significance. Lady Byrd Johnson Municipal Park also featured a golf course (wish my hand had healed from it's earlier break in July, but it wasn't ready to swing a club yet), a couple of playgrounds that Jace and Grover would have drooled at, a pool (sadly closed for the season), and miles of walking trails.

It was also situated right next door to the runway at Gillespie County Municipal Airport. More on that later.

Everyone showed up within a few hours of each other, and we met to plan out our first few days of tasting and sightseeing. A meal was planned at our site for two nights later, and our first tasting opportunity was scheduled for the very next day.

Planning sessions are easy when you have a sunset like this one.

 

Fiesta Winery has three separate locations around Fredericksburg, but their tasting room on Texas 290 is the best place to go for a tasting experience. Charles was there to assist us with various flavored wines, with a handy sheet that you marked off with the six wines that interested you. He then poured sometimes “generous” samples of wines for everyone in our group, starting with the less-sweet wines and moving to the very sweet wines. Didn't matter if we chose different wines for each pour; he had each of us taken care of with every wine we had marked off. He spoke about the wines, the area, and places to visit while we were there. At the end of the tasting, we each enjoyed a glass of our favorite wine outside using the complementary wine glasses that came with our tasting. All-in-all, a wonderful first experience.

This is one happy group of RVing wine tasters!

 

While Barbara and I prepared our group meal for Wednesday, the others headed out to various points of interest that day. The early Fall weather cooperated and cooled down nicely that day, so we ate outside in our Clam shelter to keep any bugs at bay.

Barbara and I love to eat at local diners and Mom and Pop restaurants during our travels. It helps out the local economy and the quality of the food and service is usually off the charts. Dan and Jodi had eaten lunch at a downtown diner only opened for breakfast and lunch called the Texas Sunrise. We both decided to head there in the morning, as Byron and Lynn were seeing friends for lunch that day. Really great breakfast, and a different feature, the kind of something that attracts us to local places in the first place. They tacked donated money to their ceiling, and people can buy a raffle ticket held once a year to win all the money tacked to the ceiling.

Dan and I had expressed a desire to see the National Museum of the Pacific War (not something you'd expect to see in the middle of Texas), and as with everything in Fredericksburg, it was just a short walk away. Dan is a Marine, and I'm Air Force, so our veterans status got us inexpensive tickets to two different museums. Fredericksburg is the birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz, who commanded the Pacific fleet during World War II, so there was a very well-done museum covering his life and service. The main Pacific War museum was one of the better detailed museums we've ever been in, and one where all the audio/visual displays actually worked. Barbara figured that it was because this was not a museum geared for little kids, so the displays were treated better.

Plans were made for a breakfast at the Airport Diner on the other side of the runway for the next morning. As a former flier, I knew that in many cases, airport diners also served some of the best food you can find in a particular area. The Airport Diner didn't disappoint. Afterwards everybody went their own separate ways for the day. Byron and Lynn had more company visiting them, Dan and Jodi took their motorcycle into San Antonio to see the Alamo, and Barbara and I took a nice walking tour of downtown Fredericksburg.

Full bellies from the Airport Diner make for big smiles!

 

Our final day of Wine Country Safari before heading out was Saturday. Byron and Lynn's son and daughter-in-law were visiting, so it became the eight of us to visit the Fat Ass winery and brewery, located just a bit further out Texas 290. For $30 per person, you got either two separate 5-wine tastings (one at the brewery side and one at the winery side), or a sample of 4 beers and a 5-wine tasting at each site. Barbara, Jodi, Dan and I opted for the wines, while the Hill's opted for the beer and wine experience. It's a short walk from the brewery to the winery sides, but Fat Ass provides a winemobile to take you from one side to the other. Even their windshield wrap screams 'Let's have some fun!"

Dan Bachrach and yours truly waiting to board the Fat Ass winemobile. Oh, and it's driven by a 14 year-old! (photo courtesy of Jodi Dominguez)

So here's the thing; when you are at a place called “Fat Ass”, the people who work there are naturally more friendly and outgoing, adding to your overall experience. When you add in five 1-ounce pours on one side (with one wine having a 13% alcohol volume!), another five 1-ounce pours on the other side, PLUS a full glass of their Sangria “slushie”, everybody is having a VERY good time. Fortunately, there was a food truck on site, so Dan and I each got some excellent chicken bites and fries to contribute to some group alcohol absorption while listening to a DJ provided by Fat Ass. I also managed to remember Barbara's and my favorite song to dance to (Kenny Rogers' 'Through the Years'), and got that request in. I then dropped $120 bucks on some wine for us and our friends back in Georgia, earning my “free” Fat Ass t-shirt.

A point to note: Fat Ass features some very interesting flavored wines. Two of our choices on the second side of our tasting (each side featured separate wines so you got a really good sampling of their product) were very different - their PB&J and their Chocolate wines. While I probably might not ever buy a bottle of either, I enjoyed them for the simple reason that they absolutely NAILED the two flavors. You could smell the peanut butter and taste the separate flavors in the PB & J wine, and their Chocolate wine included a hint of cherry cordial in it. Oh, and their Sangria was to DIE for! Bought two bottles of that.

Interesting side to this adventure is that both wineries ship to about 33 states across the nation, so while we will probably come back to Fredericksburg again some day, we don't have to wait to get some really great tasting wines.

Just a (very) small sample of the haul that was taken at Fat Ass winery. And of course the obligatory T-shirt!

 

This trip epitomized what RVing is all about; meeting new people, reconnecting with friends you've met on the road, and realizing just how friendly many people who do what we do truly are. Aside from some Jace time on certain vacations, this was the best trip we've taken in the motor home since starting this adventure 4 years ago.

One I believe our little group will cherish forever.