A Tale of Two Honeymooners, Part Two-Exploring Deep in the Heart of Texas

5.30.2011

 So we arrived in Fredericksburg, Texas [for that adventure, see Part One: Getting There], but we still needed to find our little cottage. From the outside it pretty much looked like a garage, and I wasn't feeling optimistic. 


"This is going to be so lame," I said. "What are we going to do? It's going to be the lamest thing ever."
That's when Jordan "sshed" me and told me to stop being dramatic.
Jordan had chosen this particular cottage off the Fredericksburg B&B website. Apparently Fredericksburg is a popular destination, because there are over one hundred choices for anything from one-room cottages to a house that can sleep twelve people. We went with a one-room cottage option called the Chardonnay Hideaway. 


There was a wooden fence that surrounded the front side of the cottage, and we had a cute little area to sit outside and play cards, which we did on Tuesday night. The weather, I might add, was gorgeous in the evening. 


On Monday night, however, the night we arrived in Fredericksburg, we simply took our stuff to the cottage and relaxed from our long drive. We had gotten a map of the town, so we looked it over while deciding where we wanted to eat. Really, though, I was the one who looked it over, circling places I wanted to make sure we visited; Jordan was watching Sports Center. 

At about 7:15 I ordered a pepperoni pizza from the West End Pizza Co. Immediately after hanging up the phone, I realized that we always ordered pepperoni, and then I bemoaned the fact that we were already becoming a boring married couple. 

That's when Jordan told me to stop being dramatic.

The pizza was pretty good, and we enjoyed hanging out, in our cottage, eating dinner and watching Man vs. Food on the travel channel. 


The next day, Tuesday, was our first full day in Fredericksburg. As part of our B&B package, they'd given us two coupons for a free breakfast at the coffee house called the Greater Grace Christian Coffee House, which we were delighted to find out was within walking distance of our cottage. So we ate there while playing half a game of chess.


Then we walked back across the street to the main thoroughfare, where we found something awesome--the National Museum of the Pacific War.


I was shocked to discover that a major museum had it's home in the middle of South Texas--the reason being that Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Pacific War, lived in Fredericksburg. Seriously, I've been to my share of museums, and this is one of the best. Jordan is a huge WWII history buff and was loving every minute.

The first thing we saw when we walked inside was a huge courtyard with plaques lining the stone walls with pictures and stories in memorial of those who died and in honor of those who had served. 


Then we bought our tickets to actually go inside the museum. It's inside this building, which used to be a hotel owned and operated by Nimitz's grandfather.


That's where we spent the next four and a half hours. To some (even me), the prospect of over four hours inside a museum sounds horrible. But I'll just say that Jordan was having a great time, and that made me have a good time too. Plus, it was actually super interesting reading all the facts leading up to the war, and they had some awesome displays. It's become clear to me over the years that I didn't listen at all in history class, because I had to keep asking Jordan questions and preface each one with, "I know I should know this, but..."

I kept making him take pictures, and when he would sigh I'd say, "When are you ever going to go on a honeymoon again?" That shut him up.


Here's me in front of an atomic bomb replica.


We spent a good deal of time in the gift shop, and Jordan said it was the best museum gift shop he'd ever been in. I guess that explains why I came away with a magnet, and he came away with nothing. 
Wait. That doesn't make sense at all. 

He later said that there was so much awesome stuff, he couldn't decide and thus chose nothing. 
Weirdo. 


The museum closed at 5:30, and lucky for us, that's just about the time we entered the very last exhibit room. We understood then why the tickets were good for 48 hours. It takes so long to go through, I can see how someone would need two days.

So it was 5:35ish, and we wanted to walk down Main Street and go inside some of the shops that lined both sides of the road. We soon found, however, that every. single. store closed at 5:30. So that was mildly depressing. I had decided earlier that I could not leave Fredericksburg without making a trip to the Fredericksburg pie co. Since it was so close to dinner, we figured we could wait until tomorrow (Wednesday) to get some pie before we headed out of town to San Antonio. 

But upon discovery of the strange early closings of all the shops, I wanted to be certain the pie co. would be open. I had my trusty map, which included addresses and phone numbers to all the shops listed on the map. It was 5:45 by the time I called the pie shop. 

I was soon informed that the shop closed at 6:00 on Tuesday and wasn't open on Wednesdays. 
"That settles it," I said, grabbing Jordan by the arm. "We're getting pie now. I'm so glad I called!"
The pie shop was only a block away, so we made it before they closed, and we each picked out a piece and had the lady put them in a to-go container so we could eat it for dessert later. One thing I love about Fredericksburg is how a lot of the shops are houses. It makes for a homey, country feel.


After depositing our pie in the fridge, we got dressed up and went out to eat at a German restaurant. The first people to build the town way back in the day were Germans, so there are a lot of German restaurants and shops. We got an appetizer of potato skins with cabbage, swiss cheese, and sauerkraut, which was interesting. And then, of course, some sausage. 


After that we went home, played Phase 10 outside, and watched the end of the Thunder game on TV. The only thing we hadn't gotten to do was shop, so that was the plan for Wednesday morning. We needed to check out by 11:00 a.m., and then we hoped shops would be open by then so we could walk around for an hour or two before heading for our next adventure...San Antonio.

We certainly couldn't have predicted what happened on Wednesday as we walked around Fredericksburg. Here's a hint: free lunch and the best store ever. I mean ever.


But I'll save that for Part 3. 

[For Part 1, go here.]
Jess said...

There are so many cute things in this post. I can't even stand it. :)

Anonymous said...

1. This is a very long post. I'm very proud of you for that!

2. A geographical correction. You were NOT in South Texas. Maybe South Central. But not South. I promise. I've been to South Texas. It's a good four to five hours lower than San Antonio.

3. Love these pics and love the pie story. What kinds did you get, and were they good?

4. I also love the businesses-in-houses thing. So cute.

5. I think I'm done here. I think my other comments go in part 3. See you there.

-A

Amanda said...

Thanks, Jess!

And Audra, correction noted. You know I don't know anything about navigation. For all I knew, were almost in Mexico ;) As for pie... I got peach/blueberry (delicious!) and Jordan got German Chocolate. It (GC) was good but had coconut in there too, which was surprising and annoyed Jordan a little. As always, thanks for commenting!

Anonymous said...

No problem. The thing is, everyone (except native Texans) calls San Antonio South Texas. It's a common mistake.

Also, the pie - did Jordan (and you?) not know what German chocolate is? It MEANS coconut frosting. It's disgusting. :) But I agree, if you've never heard of it, that would be a nasty surprise. German chocolate is my dad's favorite kind of cake, so I learned early on to avoid it.

-audra-

Rebecca A. Maynard said...

. They both have pockets too and that is always something that I find useful on a dress. Renee will be featuring the floral dress on her blog soon.
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