Ah, Fredericksburg

My mom had Spring Break this past week, and she asked me if I would like "to go on vacation" with her.  After laughing because, at present, I am on one heckuva extended vacation, I agreed and asked her to where she would like to go.  She requested Fredericksburg, TX.  I instantly agreed, visions of biergartens dancing in my head.

I was not disappointed.

We arrived in Fredericksburg on Wednesday and drove around a bit.  It took us longer to get to F-burg than we'd originally thought because we opted to take "the scenic route."  No, not "the scenic route" as in "we got lost and had to find our way to where we were supposed to be" but "the scenic route" as in "maybe there will be wildflowers and lots of baby cows!"  There were, indeed, lots of baby cows (calves, I know, but I like "baby cows" more) but nary a bluebonnet in sight.

Wednesday evening, I had a hankering for some German food, so we went to Silver Creek Beer Garden, where I chowed down on the German Wurst plate with 3 kinds of wurst, pickled cabbage, some delicious mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut.  Not a huge fan of sauerkraut, but the cabbage was awesome.

And the beer.    Spaten Premium for starters, and then on to Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout.  All 22 oz. in the bottle of GD's Yeti Stout.  It was good, but had a bit of a rough edge to it, perhaps because it was 9.5% ABV.  Yep, that'll do it.  And since we're rating things, how was the service at the beer garden?  Terrible, for the most part.  Our waiter was far too important to bring me my Yeti Stout (we waited about 15 minutes before he even acknowledged our existence when we first seated ourselves).  Fortunately, a much more attractive and competent young man came to my rescue by taking my order, delivering my stout, and engaging in some light banter.  He got a bigger tip than our "real waiter," suffice it to say.

NOTE TO WAITERS: knowing how to flirt with a girl without going overboard and bringing her order in a timely manner will garner BIG tips.  Having a cuter waiter save a girl from beerlessness will ensure your tip shrinks exponentially, even if her mom's the one dishing out the dough.

If your taste runs more towards haute cuisine, I suggest the Navajo Grill, if you can get over the fact that there were no Navajo Indians in that part of Texas, which I just barely managed to do.  I'm glad I did, as my steak was excellent, the dessert was fantastic - for once!  A creme brulee that isn't too egg-y! - and the salad served pre-entree was superb.  Bacon and sunflower seeds on top of my salad?  Heaven!  Utter heaven!  Granted, the Navajo Grill isn't exactly cheap, but it's well worth the price.  And they have a fairly broad selection of wines, for you oenophiles.

AND you must stop by Rather Sweet, if you're in the mood for something, er, sweet.  Excellent muffins, danish, cookies, and cakes!  We ate there three times!  Eek!  Also, excellent sandwiches served on some of the best bread I've ever eaten.

Incidentally, you'd be surprised how many "beer and cake" photos you'll find on Google...  In the end, I decided to go with the classier "bluebonnets and brahmas."