A Gruene Day

Deb hopped in her truck this morning and headed around San Antonio towards my house.  I gave her some shortcut directions to avoid the construction on 1604 and I-35 and she arrived without any problems.  Our first stop was Ft Sam Houston.  Deb was in the Army for a couple of years and spent some time there so it was a nostalgic visit.  Ft Sam is one of the Army's oldest installations and has been around since 1845.  It was designated a National Historical Landmark in 1975.  There are a lot of very old buildings including the Quadrangle; however, there have been a lot of new buildings built in the last three or four years.  It is now part of Joint Base San Antonio along with Randolph AFB and Lackland AFB.  Consolidation of services can be a good thing but the government's renaming fetish is a royal pain for most people so we still refer to the individual installations by their names.  We spent some time driving around and Deb was able to spot the area where she lived and trained.

Next we hopped back on I-35 and headed north to Gruene....right on the outskirts of New Braunfels.  Before we got there, we stopped at Buc-ee's.  The one in New Braunfels already had more gas pumps than you can imagine and they are in the process of adding another whole group of them.  This place is a destination stop for travelers.  Check one out if you go past one.  They have everything you can imagine and more.....food (cooked and fresh fruit and vegetables), souvenirs, awesome restrooms.  Here is Deb checking out some Louisiana type spices.  They have Texas covered too.  Want to have a picnic?  You can pick up food here.  If you want to cook it yourself, you can get a grill or dutch ovenware.

From there, we meandered out to Gruene.  I pointed out the Gristmill, Gruene Hall (the oldest dance hall in Texas), and all of the other sites Gruene has to offer.  I've posted pictures before so check here if you want to see more.  It's always nice to see all the flowers blooming.

We ended up at Adobe Verde in Upper Gruene for lunch where we both had the Enchilada Verdes special.  It was delicious and I had already eaten one of the enchiladas before I remembered to snap a picture.

We went in a few of the shoppes.  If you see Deb, you'll have to ask her about the book she bought.  It will be a definite conversation starter if she eats out alone.  The fluffy red feather book marker alone will incite interest.  It's tucked inside here.

She passed on this sign though.

We headed back to my house and visited a while longer so she would miss the evening rush hour traffic.  I was sorry to see her go but glad we had this time together.  Until we meet again Deb!