Weekend re-cap - traveling, grieving, and eating

Hubby and I started off our weekend by traveling to a happy place:  Hamilton, Texas.

We were on our way to Dallas for a funeral on Saturday, and thought we might spend the night in Hamilton so we could relax a little, including eating some pork butt sammies at a favorite little meat market.  They were doing a big business at lunchtime.

 

We also had plans to enjoy one of our favorite wineries; a little getaway time for us.  We enjoyed said sammies, then made our way over to our Deluxe accommodations for the night.  The Hamilton Budget Inn.  Woo. Hoo.  I took zero pics of the inside of it.  It was pretty loud at night being right on the highway, but we were worn out from the week in general so we didn't care.

 Isn't it swank?  

After we checked in, we went over to Red Wing Dove.  The owners are super friendly and the wine is reasonably priced and very good.

We arrived under sunny skies and reminded the owner that last time we were there (St. Pat's Day) we left during a raging storm, complete with lightening and downpours.  He assured us it had not rained since.  So we parked ourselves on the patio, playing cards and listening to jazz, fully intending to enjoy a sunset on a quiet day.  "Honey, what is that in the distance?"

"Looks like rain...but it's pretty far away". We sat and watched it roll closer.

"Are you sure that's only rain?  Oh wait...that looks and sounds like hail hitting the metal roof."  Cue downpour.  We stayed until it let up, then tried to get rainbow pics with the few folks that were also on the patio - no luck.   And of course, Hubby made a friend in the form of an elderly gentleman who wanted to know what we were drinking (ruby cabernet) then proceeded to tell us all about happenings in the area.

 We headed back to town for dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the square that was friendly with pretty good food, then went back to our deluxe room and cranked up the a/c and were asleep by 10 p.m.

The next day was a long one.  We got up early and drove to Dallas, visited with family, went to the funeral, then hit the road to head back.  Getting from one end of Dallas to another is not a walk in the park.   It was a freaking long Saturday. 

 Around 8 p.m. we stopped for dinner at George's, a Waco tradition for us.

 

We rolled up to Highlands at midnight and CRASHED.  Hubby said it was the best sleep he's gotten in days.  I let him stay in bed until 9 a.m., but we had to get up and at 'em for another fun thing to do - the picnic in the meadow at Torr Na Lochs.  It's literally three miles from Highlands.

Everyone met at the winery and caravan'd  down the road a bit to a separate entrance into their property where there was a meadow and lots of space under the trees for tables and chairs.

 It had a creek running through it - so pretty!

The picnic included several new wines that wine club members got to try first, along with tasting notes and stories.  The weather was perfect, we had a great lunch, and we met a couple who we sat and chatted with.

The picnic ended around 2 p.m., and on the way out, we got to see the longhorns again, up close and personal.  We only had a couple more hours of freedom before we headed home, so we sat out at Highlands, just enjoying the weather and a lawnchair snooze...

 And *snap*  - time to go home. 

When we got home I made dinner and Bubbie's girlfriend joined us.  We all enjoyed a good meal, then generally pooped out.  We covered a lot of ground, ate a lot, and grieved with our family.  It was a very full weekend, and I am hoping this coming weekend we can stay closer to home.

Gina