Fredericksburg, Texas

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Our three day stay, really 2 1/2 days, in Fredericksburg (11,300 souls) is proving to be too short. Texas Hill Country is beautiful and Fredericksburg is smack in the middle of it. Oak trees abound, grassy ranches with cows and goats grazing on the gently rolling land. There are a lot of things to see in the area besides downtown. We managed to visit several places of interest though. Our next door neighbors pulled in this morning after a five day drive from Wisconsin. They said when they left the wind chill was -25 degrees! Brrrr. They are volunteers with Habitats for Humanity. The first project involves the local animal shelter.

Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 by German emmigrants who developed their own language, Texas German, when they refused to learn English. Fredericksburg shares many cultural characteristics with nearby New Braunsfels. These Germans had fled unfavorable conditions in their homeland. Upon arriving in Texas they found the area in what is now Fredericksburg a wonderful place to live but had to deal with the native Americans. A treaty was brokered between the Germans and the Comanche Tribe so that all could live in peace and share the land. Its one of the few treaties with native Americans that was never broken.

Saturday at mid day proves to be a busy time for downtown Fredericksburg so we decide to visit the Wildseed Farms just outside of town. It is off season and we don’t expect to see flowering plants but the farm is supposed to be a nice place to visit. And it is. One can purchase wildflower seeds that are packaged to represent different parts of the U.S.

They also sell clothing and souvenirs, have a wine tasting room for Texas wineries, and of course, the obligatory beer bar. Jil buys some seeds and a couple of other trinkets.

On the way back from the Wildseed Farm we come across a memorial for the Texas Rangers and the old Fort Martin Scott. A docent who had not been a Ranger but had been a Texas Highway Patrolman gave us a very interesting spiel concerning the memorial and the fort.

As a side he also told us where the granite came from to build the state capitol in Austin. Seems that the prevalent limestone is not suitable to build a capitol building in Texas. Granite is the favored stone for such a purpose. A rancher in the Texas panhandle had all the granite one could want, but not enough land. So the powers to be traded 3,000,000 acres of state owned land in exchange for all the granite needed. No, I don’t know who got the best of that deal……….

That’s about it for Saturday except for doing some power shopping at the local huge HEB market.

The rest of the day we enjoyed the park until evening. It rained a little off and on, then after the sun set all heck broke loose. I think we were ground zero for every thunder clap and lightening bolt that the heavens through at us. And talk about downpours! Doyle wasn’t bothered but Megan was a nervous wreck! Ah, yes, we are definitely in the South.