Every year eight of us from college try to do a girls trip. I couldn't go to Scottsdale last year since I just had Miles and several others missed last year too. All eight of us have never made a trip. Now that Lindsay Gall Stout lives in London it makes it even harder. When starting to plan, Lindsay said she would be in Fredericksburg for a wedding the first weekend of June. We thought that was perfect. Six out of the remaining seven could make it that weekend (Kelly was going to be on a family vacation) and F-burg was a perfect place. The day before we were leaving Erin Powers Threadgill's Father-in-law passed away - so sad! Obviously she wasn't able to make it. Kelly and Erin, we missed you both!
Me, Cherie Rafferty Behrens, Maggie Pfeifle Mitchell and Sarah Bryant Conlin at lunch at Bejas on Main Street. We met there when we got into town for great food and even better pitchers of margaritas. Sorry, the shadows were really bad in the picture.
One of my longest friends, Carrie Williams, is currently living in F-burg. She also went to TCU and was a Chi-O with all of us. She got us reservations at Hill Top for dinner on Friday night. She said she would be happy to drive us so we could all enjoy ourselves - so sweet. She met us at the house/B & B we rented and surprised us with a limo and champagne. Can you believe it? What a sweetheart! Here is an awesome picture of Carrie in the limo. This pretty much sums her up. By the way, she is getting married this weekend so a big congratulations to her and Jamie!
Carrie and I at dinner!
Maggie and I at dinner. So good and so much fun!
Saturday morning, the five of us went on a wine tour. We were picked up in a mini-bus and went to five different wineries in the area and stopped for lunch along the way.
This is my favorite picture of the trip - framer. Too bad Lindsay hadn't joined us yet.
At one of the wineries they had live music. Taylor and Maggie were brave and danced with some old men. Taylor said he was the worst two-stepper.
It was super hot that day and we had to taste outside at a few places, but we had a lot of fun and overall the wine was good. We all enjoyed Grape Creek Vineyards wine the most. I would suggest only doing a half day tour where you go to three wineries. Five was just too much.
On Sunday, we had reservations for a spa day that included a massage, facial, hand/foot paraffin treatment, grotto swim, lounging by the pool, lunch and wine tasting. It was about 15 minutes outside of town. We found the spa online and it looked great (eurospafredericksburg.com). I'm not sure I will really be able to explain our experience, even with pictures, but I'll try.
First, it was out in the middle of nowhere by Enchanted Rock. Maggie put it best - "it feels like your in Mexico". Apparently there is a hotel/B & B there too and lots of other strange buildings for events. In fact, there was a wedding there the night before and the guests were leaving when we got there.
After walking around ourselves and not having a clue where to go, we finally run into the chef named Elvis (Yep, Elvis). He takes us to the grotto for our relaxing swim before our treatments. We were split into two groups and me, Lindsay and Cherie had our treatments second. They took us into a small building, through a chapel to the grotto and left us here. Are you kidding, we were not swimming in this.
We decided we would go try to find the outside pool since we weren't sure what was at the bottom of the grotto (snakes maybe). Well, we found the pool and we knew what was in the bottom of it. Not water, that's for sure. So, we sat in some falling apart lounge chairs for a while and roasted.
Then we went to the restaurant and found Elvis who introduced us to his girlfriend that runs the spa. She then said she would take us on a tour. The first place we went to was the Cap Gun Museum. Yep, that's right. The owner collects Cap Guns. I stole this picture from their website so it makes it look much nicer than it really is. This doesn't show all the scary manikins and dolls dressed up in war costumes.
The we went to the lodge that had 15 or so rooms in it. It was full of stuffed animals. Yep, real stuffed animals. I know we are in Texas and stuff like this doesn't normally bother me, but things like full lions, camels, bears, ostriches, etc. was a little much. Oh, and the owner isn't a hunter, just a collector.
Then their was the banquet room. Words really can't describe it. I'm not sure how many, but hundreds of animals including an elephant and rhino head, full alligator and another lion. The top picture I took and the one below is from their website.
So, as crazy as the day/place was, it wasn't a total bust. Elvis was actually a good cook and our massages and facials were relaxing. Just remember, don't always trust a website shows the truth.
Here are the girls relaxing at our house after the "spa" and before dinner at August E's. Another great restaurant suggestion by Carrie, who was able to join us again Sunday night.
After dinner, we went to a bar and had a drink. We had a mini impromptu bachelorette party for Carrie! We basically just made her take a shot.
We had a great trip and it was so much fun to catch up with everyone! I wish we all lived closer and could see each other more often. Next year, let's try for all eight!
At one of the wineries they had live music. Taylor and Maggie were brave and danced with some old men. Taylor said he was the worst two-stepper.
The we went to the lodge that had 15 or so rooms in it. It was full of stuffed animals. Yep, real stuffed animals. I know we are in Texas and stuff like this doesn't normally bother me, but things like full lions, camels, bears, ostriches, etc. was a little much. Oh, and the owner isn't a hunter, just a collector.
We had a great trip and it was so much fun to catch up with everyone! I wish we all lived closer and could see each other more often. Next year, let's try for all eight!
That afternoon, we decided ride our bikes over to a friends house to meet their new baby (Congratulations Blake and Angela - Andrew is precious!). This was Miles' first bike ride. He was super excited, but when we got halfway there, he started crying. His helmet was a little too big and kept falling down over his eyes. We decided that it probably wasn't doing much good anyway so we took it off and he enjoyed the rest of the ride. This will probably be the last ride for a while...at least until Miles grows into his helmet and the weather gets a little cooler.
