A Weekend Away – Wine Tasting in Fredericksburg

This past weekend was my sister’s bachelorette party.  It was the first time I’ve ever been away from James overnight (and I’ve only been away once for bedtime when he was less than three months old).

I thought about this weekend on and off for months.  When I was having a hard day, I’d look forward to it.  When James was being clingy, I’d worry about it.

As it approached though, I was pretty confident he’d be just fine.  He loves his Dad so much and I knew they’d have a blast together.  I was really hoping I would be able to relax and enjoy the time with family and friends without worrying too much, and that was a success!

The weekend went by so fast and I didnt’ take nearly enough pictures.  Still, I want to remember this time, so decided to share a short recap anyway.

We went to Fredericksburg, TX for the weekend to go wine tasting.  If you’re not familiar with the area, it’s about an hour and a half from Austin in the heart of the Texas hill country.  There are many vineyards there and also lots of cute little shops and restaurants.

We rented a house through Airbnb and it was SO cute.  There were so many adorable details and we seriously could not get over the house.  It was so nice to be able to sit around and hang out together instead of going back to separate hotel rooms.

We were getting in kind of late Friday night, so I just made taco stuff ahead of time and brought that and we had margaritas.  I somehow managed to stay up until 2 AM, which I certainly haven’t done in a LONG time.

Despite the late night, I woke up pretty early Saturday and enjoyed some time sitting in the amazing outside space at the house.  I was so sad to realize I had forgotten my book at home, but it was still nice to sit out there with a cup of coffee.

People got up gradually and we drank mimosas and ate bagels with some great homemade spreads my mom made.  Eventually, we headed out to do some wine tasting.

If you’re ever in Fredericksburg, I highly recommend the 290 wine shuttle.  It’s a great compromise between hiring a driver and driving yourself.  Many of the vineyards are along the same road and the shuttle runs between them every 15 minutes.  The daily pass is only $25, so it’s much more cost effective than a private driver, and also more flexible.

We went at a very leisurely pace and only went to two vineyards.  Both were beautiful and the weather was really great.  It was so nice to sit outside with live music sipping wine with family and friends.

Eventually we headed back to the house to hang out for a while before dinner.  At this point, I tried to do a video chat with my husband and James.  James had been doing great the whole day, but when he saw me on the phone, he definitely started looking a little concerned.  He was making little whimpering noises and it was so sad, so I hung up pretty quickly.

My husband reassured me that he was doing great and sent me lots of pictures from their adventures.  I think seeing me on the phone just reminded him that I wasn’t there.

We went to dinner at the Treaty House and it was so, so good.  It was small plates and they were all delicious, but my favorite part was probably the craft cocktails, which were some of the best I’ve ever had.  There was also a really cute little jazz band and some couples dancing.  The atmosphere was great.

We hung out at the house some more and went to bed.  The next morning, we opted for more bagels and hanging out over our original brunch plans and it was a super relaxing morning.

As we made the drive back to Austin, I got more and more excited to see the little guy!  I had a really wonderful weekend away, but I could not wait to see him.  My husband had the window on the front door open and James ran over and started waving and giving me the best smiles.  It was a pretty great feeling.

Even though I didn’t get much sleep this weekend, I feel really refreshed after a little time away and so excited to just hang out at home with James today.

Have you had any fun weekend trips lately?

If you’ve had a bachelor / bachelorette party, was it pretty low-key or totally crazy?