Dog-Friendly Fredericksburg, TX

With the long weekend for July 4th, we knew we wanted to head out an explore Texas. Since there were so many places that allowed dogs in the German town of Fredericksberg, we had no problem filling our weekend with dog-friendly activities.

We got in around lunch and headed straight to Altdorf Biergarten. The food was good and the price was right! I had their sangria and it was quite delicious. Afterwards, we checked into our hotel (Best Western - also dog-approved!) and went to Fredericksburg Pie Company. Sad face - they were already sold out!

Being in the heart of wine country, we had to go drink some wine. We were a little afraid of Texas wine, but we found a glass that we enjoyed at Torre di Pietra. Jason said it tasted a little like apple juice, but I thought it was fine (and not too sweet!). We loved hanging out on their patio and exploring the vineyards. The employees were sweet and even brought a bowl of ice water out for Indy.

After the glass, we drove through the weirdest little town ever - Luckenbach! It is basically a dance hall, parking lot and a place to buy beer. We didn't stay much to explore (although they are dog-friendly), but it seemed like a fun place! Afterwards, we headed back to downtown Fredericksberg and put our names on the list for Otto's German Bistro. 

We had some time to kill, so we wandered around Main Street. Dinner was excellent and the patio was dog-friendly! The duck schnitzel was definitely our favorite, but the flammkuchen and sparkling rose were also excellent!

The next morning, we got up early to beat the crowds and hiked up Enchanted Rock. We actually got there right at 8 and no rangers were there yet nor were there was envelopes to pay with. Unintended free visit? We started with the summit trail, but also hit up some other trails afterwards. My fitbit said we walked 5 miles and 87 FLOORS!

After we freshened up, we grabbed some picnic stuff at HEB and drove out to Pedernales Cellars. We got a bottle of pretty decent rose and enjoyed the breeze, view and live music. This was a pretty perfect way to spend the afternoon! 

We made a brief stop at Hill Country Lavender (dog-friendly, but also terrible - don't bother!) and had to grab some peaches at a roadside stand. I made a delicious peach crisp with these and STILL had leftovers! We ate dinner at Alamo Springs Cafe, which is a funky little place that I loved and Jason didn't...I would be a little wary of bringing a dog to this place because there is a sign saying "service dogs only", however when we walked up with Indy, we were asked, "So he's a service dog, right? *wink wink* Not sure if we just got a friendly waiter, or what.

We had a really wonderful weekend in Fredericksberg and Indy loved bring included in our travels. 

Next up for us, we're heading to Houston for a quick weekend trip before we head to Italy in a month! I am bursting with excitement for this as I haven't been back in almost 10 years and I can't wait to bring Jason to my favorite place in the world.

Austin, TX

Austin is a pretty quick drive from Dallas and Houston, so we were able to meet up with my parents for a long 4th of July weekend with the pup!

On our way there, we had to pick up kolaches at the Czech Stop in West, Texas.

Our first stop in Austin was lunch on the patio at Javelina's. Next, we ventured up to Mount Bonnell for some awesome views of Austin. That night, we had a birthday/mother's day/father's day dinner of PF Changs...always yummy!

Fredericksburg is a bit outside of Austin, so we made a day of touring the wine country. It was a cute area with some country charm. My favorite part is that so many of the wineries allow dogs, so we made a strategic plan to hit as many of those as possible.

Our first stop was Becker Vineyards. It was SUPER pet-friendly. They even had a tasting area set up outside. Wonderful! The wine here was also really good! It was a beautiful day to relax on the patio with the pup.

Next, we drove to Chisholm Trails Winery. Again, super dog friendly with a fenced in patio. We got lunch at their pizza kitchen, the Open Oven. Yum! Horseshoes, wine and pizza, who could ask for more? Indy even got to meet a donkey (although he wanted nothing to do with it)!

Our last stop was at William Chris Vineyards. It started off as a pretty horrible experience, which was a shame, because the server and wine were both great! It's an Aggie-run business, so we TRIED to like it, but I wouldn't ever go back. Being dog-friendly was a positive, but man, we just couldn't get over the terrible service at the beginning of our visit.

That night, we went to Maudie's for some delicious Tex-Mex! Overall, it was a great weekend with the family and Indy was SO happy to be included. He was a perfect pup, so hopefully more trips are in his future!

Next up: I'll be trying to head to Albuquerque to see my grandpa this month and we have another trip to either LA or Sedona in our near future as well.