Isaac and I had such a good time together this past week! It was spring break for both of us, and we spent Thursday through Sunday in the San Antonio area. This was the first vacation we’ve been on alone since our honeymoon and I loved it so much. We always have such a fun time together, and this weekend away was just what we needed. We stayed at my aunt’s house in San Antonio, but ended up driving all around the area doing a lot of sight-seeing! We have both been to San Antonio many times before, so we decided to traveling to the areas we have been wanting to see for a while. We ended up driving over 1,000 miles this whole trip, but it was worth it.
It was such a beautiful weekend. The wildflowers were in full bloom and I couldn’t help but stare out the window at them. I was like a little girl oohing and aahing the whole time! We decided to avoid 35 through Austin on our way down and back, so we took a lot of back roads through the hill country… It was perfect!
Luckenbach
On our way down to San Antonio, we made a slight detour through Luckenbach. It’s only known because of a song Waylon Jennings sang, and there really wasn’t much to see. It was a cute, little town, built to be a tourist stop, and I enjoyed having a chance to get out and stretch my legs. There was an old dance hall, a gift store and a lot of picnic tables and benches to sit at and eat food while listening to a band that played some good ‘ole Willie Nelson. It was relaxing and a good place to stop before finishing our trip to San Antonio!
Gonzales
On Friday morning, we got up an ran around downtown San Antonio before heading out to Gonzales. I think that this was our favorite place we visited the whole trip. There was such rich history, gorgeous old houses and we fell in love with the town. We’ve already decided to move there someday. ;)
Gonzales is the place where the Texas Revolution from Mexico began and it’s where “Come and Take It” originated. While there, I learned that in 1831, the Mexican army gave the people in Gonzales a canon so they could fend themselves from the frequent Comanche attacks they were having. Four years later, in 1835, the Mexican army was quickly deteriorating and they asked for their canon back. The people of Gonzales replied with “come and take it” and then on October 2, 1835 the Battle of Gonzales began when the first shot of the Texas Revolution was fired. It was so neat to visit the museum and see the actual canon they fought over, and before leaving we drove out to see the monuments that were erected where the first shot was fired. I love history and it was cool to see the actual places where these events happened.
While in Gonzales, we also visited the old jail in town that was super creepy. It is a huge cement building that was built in 1887 and was used for 90 years. I couldn’t believe how dark and dreary it was in there… It would have been horrible to be put in jail back then! They said the building is like a refrigerator during the winter and an oven during the summer. It has no air conditioning and thick concrete walls. When the air is moist, the floors can get so slippery you can slide from one side of the jail to the other. The stories the museum attendants told were so interesting!
On our way out of the jail, a sweet old man stopped us and asked if we were interested in going on a driving tour of Gonzales, and we decided “why not?”. So we hopped in his car and he drove us all around the town for 30 minutes, showing us house after house, talking about the history of the town and telling us stories about the people and things that have gone on. He knew so much about Gonzales, and I loved looking at all of the old houses. There were many that were over 100 years old and most were gorgeously restored to their original conditions. They just don’t make houses like they used to!
We had such an amazing time on our trip to Gonzales, and I hope to visit it again soon. Isaac has his eyes set on going back someday on October 2nd for their Come and Take It Celebration. We’ll see!
Pearl and Bakery Lorraine
Last year I visited San Antonio with some of my closest college friends, and while there we stumbled upon a little bakery that we fell in love with! I was excited to go back and show Isaac just how good it was. Bakery Lorraine is located in a neighborhood in San Antonio called Pearl. It’s such a neat area, full of delicious looking restaurants, retail stores and apartments. It’s in an industrial area and is right off of the River Walk (we actually ran right by it on our half marathon!). I think my favorite part about Pearl was that it is full of character, life and history. I plan on going back next time we’re in the area to check out some more of the restaurants and stores there.
There was a Farmers Market going on when we arrived, with stand after stand of locally grown produce and organic products. There were a ton of people and dogs (which made us miss Lillie even more!), and live music playing in a little grassy area by the bakery. After getting some macaroons and eating a yummy breakfast (I had Quiche Lorraine and Isaac had pizza bread pudding), we walked around the neighborhood, checking out the Farmers Market and exploring some more of the area. I loved the industrial feel of Pearl, and the buildings were so impressive. I think it would be a cool place to visit at night, with all the unique restaurants and the lights they had strung along all of the roads.
If you ever visit San Antonio, you need to check out Pearl!
Greune
Greune is a historic district in New Braunfels that has a bunch of family owned stores and boutiques, an artisan market (called Old Greune Market Days), and my favorite, Greune Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas. A few years ago when Isaac and I visited San Antonio over the summer, we went to a concert in Greune and got to do dance in the hall. The floor is old and uneven, and there’s no air conditioning, but it’s one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever been in. 
We got lucky when we visited this time, because the market day was in full swing and there were so many things to look at! We checked out a lot of the stores, which varied from expensive antiques to clothing and souvenirs, and walked around the market. It was a gorgeous day, and we enjoyed the time spent walking around. When we got back to San Antonio we made sure to ice our feet because we wore them out with all the walking we did!
Half Marathon
Sunday morning we woke up before the sun was up to get ready for our half marathon. It started and finished at the Alamo, which was only about a half mile from where we were staying. It was SO cold, and poor Isaac was shivering in his shorts and tank. Thankfully the sun rose and the day started warming up, so it felt perfect the entire time. This race was one of the best runs I’ve ever been on! My left leg was hurting and my knees were stiff after mile 6, but the course was absolutely gorgeous and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.
We had planned on running at an 8:30-8:45 min/mile pace and ended up with an 8:31 pace (the total time was 1:50:31), which was amazing! I was proud of what we did and was glad we accomplished my goal of running the race in under two hours. Once we finished, we loaded up on the complimentary race food. Isaac was like a little kid when he saw them passing out Promise Land chocolate milk!
I plan on doing a more detailed post about the race in a few weeks (once we get our free race pictures back!), so stay tuned for that.
Cooper’s BBQ
After running 13.1 miles, you can treat yo’self, and we decided there was no better way to do that than by loading up on some delicious barbecue! Since we wanted to avoid Austin on our way back home, we took the back-ways again and made a little detour to Llano to eat at the original Cooper’s BBQ. The line was long, but time went by quickly and before I knew it, we were sitting down to some brisket, ribs, jalapeño macaroni and cheese and pecan cobbler. It was some of the best barbecue I had ever eaten! And the pecan cobbler was amazing.
What’s cool about Cooper’s is that you get the meat right off the smoker, bring it inside and they slice it, weigh it and wrap it up for you to take to your table. I thought that was so neat! We were stuffed when we left, and I can’t think of a better meal to have to celebrate finishing our second half marathon.
Wildflowers
As I mentioned earlier, the wildflowers were in full bloom and it was one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever been on! These are just a few pictures I snapped of them while we explored the hill country.
What did you do for spring break? Let me know in the comments below! 
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