The Gristmill Restaurant in Gruene, Texas! (Pronounced Green)
I recently spent 4 days with my family
relaxing near the Hill country. Its a different world and a welcome
change from our fast-paced lives. Is Canyon Lake considered the Hill
Country? There are hills there. After nearly 50 years of living on
the flat, a hill of 20 feet is a challenge to my old legs.
We arrived in Luling on a Sunday and
grabbed some authentic Texas grub at Luling BBQ and it was excellent.
When we realized City Market was closed, we were going to detour up
to Lockhart to Blacks, but stopped in town and we were not
disappointed. I like BBQ, but I do not have a discretionary palate,
so good tender BBQ tastes like great BBQ to me. This was explained to
me years ago by a foodie friend named BBQBob. Only a select few can
truly rate top tier food and I am not one of them. Luling BBQ to me
was a top tier food stop.
As an example of tastes, I eat my fried chicken from Hartz over
Popeye's because it tastes better to me. If it is actually better is
a personal choice, but I question if Hartz would be on a foodies list
of the best tasting chicken in Baytown. Speaking of amazing tasting
food, we ate twice at a Mexican restaurant in Canyon Lake named Las
Barcus Tex-Mex Grill and yes, it was delicious. I think my dearly
departed foodie friend BBQBob would agree.
Deer were everywhere and we spent hours
watching them feed. This activity kept the attention of my 4 year old
grandson to the point that he and I sat of the back porch of our
rented house for over an hour and neither of us spoke a word. It was
dead quiet as they ate the corn we provided and when the central A/C
unit kicked on below us, it caused us both to jump. We laughed for 5
minutes over our unexpected scare and we continued our silent vigil.
It was a magic moment of bonding. A 65 year old man and a tiny child
of 4 laughing over a shared malady is truly a magical memory.
Incidentally, my 49 inch tall 4 year old turned 5 while we were
there. I'll be 66 in about a week or so.
I've never drove a jet ski until this
trip and at first, I had to unlearn how to drive a motorcycle in
order to be successful. A jet ski steers by turning the handlebars –
a real no-no on a motorcycle. I kept trying to lean the machine like
you do on a motor bike. Nope, it doesn't work. By the time I figured
it out, I was going airborne at 40 miles per hour in the middle of
the lake. What a hoot!
The Guadalupe River was at a very low
flow rate, but we still floated the Horseshoe Loop and it took 2
hours, for those who have done it in less than an hour. It was
wonderfully peaceful and the temperature of the water wasn't as
brutal. The giant bald cypress trees above us were magical. Just
incredible feathery foliage towering above us for our viewing
pleasure.
My grandson and I even found time to locate a few geocaches in Gruene! He turned 5 while we were there and we kept it a secret so we can give him a big party back in Baytown!
Back at our rental house, we continued
to deer watch and believe it or not, in 3 days, we fed them over 100
pounds of corn. Some may think this is not a good idea, but it is a
common practice here. All we knew was they gave us endless hours of
entertainment. It is a good thing to kick back and relax in a
different environment. Hopefully it is just one of many adventures in
store for us this weekend and all of them will be in Texas.
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