“You say you like the wind blowin’ through your hair
Well, come on roll with me ’til the sun goes down”–Texas Sun, Khruangbin & Leon Bridges
House of Coco and writer Anna Willatt earned an honorable mention from US Travel Association’s 2024 Media Awards for the Headline Sponsors Award – Travel Texas, making this unforgettable road trip a must-read for anyone yearning for the adventures of the Lone Star State. Join Anna as she captures the essence of Texas’ southern Hill Country region from the vibrant streets of Austin to the cowboy charm of Bandera.
Crunchy ranch cats wind around our legs, the hayride kicks up golden dust while the sun fades, and memories of the ride-out are washed down with gently sun-warmed cans of Lone Star around the crackling campfire. This is the grand Texan landscape the fine artist we met on a ranch in the middle of nowhere came here for a perfect glimpse into the magic of a road trip in Texas and what Anna Willatt’s Wild West dreams are made of.
Austin
In preparation for this road trip in Texas, I’d compiled a series of Texan songs that I thought were so cliché that they couldn’t possibly be spun regularly in the state. Yet, when checking in at Bunkhouse Hotel’s Carpenter Hotel in Austin, local heroes Khruangbin softly played through the speakers, setting the scene for this delicious earthy-hued ‘neighbourhood spot that just happens to be a hotel’.
We spent our first evening dining at Carpenter’s Hall with its incredible farm-to-table fare that all hotels should aspire to. Paired with excellent drinks – the first Texan tequila-based cocktail of many for me and a local pale ale for my husband – and finished with their signature salted chocolate chip cookies, we felt the jet lag ebb away.
Waking to unseasonal rainy mornings, we strategized with coffee on the balcony. While we favour walking around cities, while on this road trip in Texas Ubers were needed – first off to party street East 6th and into the warm embrace of Zilker Brewing Co for some crispy pale ales.
This street is the perfect spot for an afternoon bar crawl. Rain or shine, it is easy to spend a day on and around famed shopping street South Congress Avenue, which is bejewelled with shops, restaurants, and live music venues.
Our day started with brunch at the bright and airy Summer House on Music Lane, took in too many coffee shops and vintage emporiums to mention and ended with nightcaps in dark and cosy audiophile bar The Equipment Room.
On Saturdays in Austin, one thought is on everyone’s minds – barbecue. With some spots running lines up to six hours long, we instead opted for a mere 90-minute wait (and you can order online and skip the line!), at food truck turned famed and now Michelin-nodded restaurant La Barbecue. It was a VIP greeting when we were finally ushered to the counter to be met by perfectly charred, fatty cubes of brisket.
For other meaty delights Ember, a live fire cooking restaurant with a Latin American focus, provided a delicious meal. Using Josper ovens, the 28-day dry-aged Texas ribeye was a triumph, and the lemony Caviar Bites were an unexpected standout starter.
We wrapped our time in Austin in Zilker Park’s Botanical Garden near Barton Springs Pool. Dodging rain showers, we explored the neon artwork and food trucks of Surreal Garden, an annual show run by Ion Art. We felt like we were peeking below the shiny veneer of the city to start to appreciate why its slogan is ‘Keep Austin Weird’ – perhaps those wonderful weirdos melt in the rain?
New Braunfels
New Braunfels is a charmingly proudly German city, founded by a prince, 50 minutes drive out of Austin, next stop on our road trip in Texas. After a wander down to the river to see families tubing and a coffee stop on the leafy patio Le Citron with its Italo-French vibes, it was time for an Easter Sunday brunch of fried chicken and beignets at Downtown Social before a self-guided tour of the murals.
Checking into Sophie’s Gasthaus was like being welcomed by family members into their immaculately appointed, modern art-filled home. This stunning hotel makes it worth the trip out of Austin, alone. After a leisurely coffee in the stunning kitchen and a stroll around the common space in the luxury lounge and pool area, it was time to get dressed for dinner.
Our attire was not as you’d expect, because shortly after a delicious locavore salad at local favourite Huisache Grill we were taken to the river with Stacy of Paddle Tx for a light-up crystal kayak tour of the Comal River. As the light faded on the river and our kayaks lit up the riverbed, we could hear families laughing and groups of local teens bombing into the river. New Braunfels has that wholesome, laid-back energy that makes you want to up sticks and move.
The next morning, we grabbed child-sized breakfasts (still generous!) at Krause’s before heading over to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch for an unexpected treat – hand-feeding giraffes before an ‘African Safari. Texas Style’.
After fuelling up back in downtown New Braunfels at McAdoo’s with some Dutch (or should that be German?) courage, we hopped in a cab to the Gruene National Historic District. This 15-acre walkable area boasts antique stores, bars, restaurants like the Gristmill and, of course, Gruene Hall – the oldest continually running dancehall in Texas. It was here we met Cindy, a proud Texan and very patient two-step dance teacher.
By the time that George Strait’s All My Exes Live In Texas played out from her Bluetooth speaker, we’d just about got the hang of the ‘slow-slow-quick-quick-slow’ rhythm. However, while Cindy’s husband Bret took to the stage – and Cindy whooped – the patrons took to the floor in hats and boots, gliding around so gracefully we felt we were in a movie.
San Antonio
If Austin is the state’s self-proclaimed weird city, then San Antonio must be its margarita capital and a must visit on a road trip in Texas. You can’t walk down the famous riverwalk without getting tempted by a frozen delight – Boudro’s Prickly Pear Margarita is one of the most celebrated, as well as a great spot for dinner and people-watching. We checked right into the action at Hotel Valencia before walking over to Box Street Social in Hemisfair for a brunch of Chilaquiles and their special frozen apple margarita.
It was there we met husband-and-wife team Kevin and Elizabeth of Sidecars San Antonio for a spin around the city. We rode through the city’s neighbourhoods, making note of places to check out (see our guide online to quirky Southtown), zooming past colourful murals spilling out from buildings and undersides of bridges. The tour ended in the regenerated Pearl District for a wander around the open-air plaza and the lobby of the stunning Hotel Emma.
It wouldn’t be San Antonio without a visit to Phil Collin’s favourite American sight (yes, really) – the Alamo, fuelled by conchas as big as our faces from La Panaderia. Then it was time for a spot of shopping, starting at family-owned-since-1917 Paris Hatters to marvel at all matter of exquisitely hand-shaped headwear.
As you’d expect from a city with a strong Hispanic influence, it’s easy to pick up Mexican-made products like silver jewellery in La Villita and beautifully crafted ceramics at Historic Market Square, with over 100 independently-owned stores under gently fluttering colourful bunting, soundtracked by roaming mariachi performers.
San Angelo
When we found out that one of Texas’ most celebrated rodeos was on, it wasn’t even a question to drive three hours into West Texas to continue our road trip in Texas. We arrived at the delightfully quirky Chicken Farm Art Centre, a working collective of artists with a unique inn attached.
Established in 1971 by acclaimed artist Roger Allen, the centre was bought recently by husband-and-wife Chasity and Juston Oakes. Chasity explained that they had been there for date night at the on-site restaurant and just fell in love.
At the showground, from the moment the show began with a light show, pyrotechnics, and an impassioned prayer to a standing audience, we knew we had underestimated the spectacle. Local performers were cheered like there was no tomorrow, the DJ’s hype mixes took in heavy metal and house classics while horses and bulls bucked off the riders and Ram Trucks salesman were decorated with awards. I can honestly say that it was one of the most surreal evenings of my life, and I’d like to be a cowgirl and learn how to barrel race.
Downtown San Angelo is a vintage shopper’s dream with the few stores containing offbeat treasures at far better prices than we’d found in the more touristy cities. The quiet centre comes alive for the Paintbrush Alley Market Days where over 70 vendors of everything from hand-made crafts to vintage western wear, fresh lemonades and brisket sliders, descend on the mural-filled Paintbrush Alley and adjoining outdoor art gallery. We snacked, shopped, and snapped then leapt back in the car to continue our western adventure.
Bandera
After heading back in the direction of San Antonio for 2.5 hours on our road trip in Texas, we arrived in the ‘Cowboy Capital of the World’ and where there are cowboys there are Dude Ranches. Dude Ranches originate in the late 19th century, providing an opportunity for stressed-out urbanites to enjoy the simple pleasures of ranch living. Most ranches are working, like Dixie Dude Ranch.
Established in 1937, the ranch is run by seventh-generation Texan Clay Conoly, who welcomes groups from across the world to enjoy family-style homecooked meals, ride-outs, hayrides, and to switch off in this beautiful part of the world.
Peeling ourselves away from our cosy 1940s cabin, we headed into town to poke around the General Store, bought a straw hat so we’d fit in and nursed a ‘dressed’ Modelo with salt and lime in the infamous 11th Street Cowboy Bar where literal horses are hitched up outside and bras dangle from the ceiling. Dinner back at the ranch was a homemade barbecue before a truck-drawn sunset hayride to feed the ranch’s longhorns. It was in this amber, dusty light that we happened to chat to the riders next to us – one a fine artist from just down the road from us in Kent. Proof that the world is small and magical.
Round the campfire, fellow guests got their guitars out for a sing-along while the stars blinked away. It was as if time stood still, and we felt like we could stay there forever. In fact, one of the ranch team had done just that. While we were buying souvenirs in the gift shop, she revealed how she’d fallen in love with the ranch – and the chief cowboy Bubba – and fled Europe for the Western dream.
Over a hearty breakfast, one of our fellow ‘dudes’ recommended that when we were riding out on the trail, we close our eyes and pay close attention to the same sounds that our ancestors would have heard. Save the modern gossip from the cowboys and girls, the landscape and soundscape were exactly as they would have been in 1937. An intoxicating experience which we dissected over Sunday fried chicken lunch, wondering if we too could run away to this land of simple living and adventure. This part of our Texas road trip took me back to my last cowboy horse riding adventure in Wyoming.
Fredericksburg
Leaving Bandera for the chichi bistros and wineries of Fredericksburg (a 50-minute drive) felt like time travel to our final stay on our road trip in Texas. We dusted off our ranch clothing and headed into Vaudeville for a delicious Reuben sandwich before exploring the shops on indie Main Street, spending a long while in western-wear mecca Headquarters.
Before we got settled in our luxe accommodation Ololo just outside of town, we had a stop we’d promised to make to the ghost town Luckenbach – population three. Cindy from Gruene had implored us to visit this hallowed land of live music to seek out the newspaper clipping of her in her wild youth. We found Cindy, front page, dancing like a whirling dervish on the walls of the saloon.
Driving into the secluded enclave of Ololo to four deliciously refined properties huddled around a magnificent cedar tree, we were in another world. Jill Elliott, owner of Blackchalk Home & Laundry boutique in town is the mastermind behind these beautiful properties, each with their own outdoor space with a hammock and private hot tub.
The local tribes assign magical and spiritual powers to Enchanted Rock, a short drive out of town, and Jill, owner of Ololo told us of a time she hiked up to the summit to witness a ceremony taking place. It was certainly a beautiful climb with views across the rolling landscape of Texas Hill Country.
After all that exercise, we rewarded ourselves with The Black Sheep wine tour to experience a few of the area’s 100 wineries and wine-tasting rooms. We started at the more traditional Becker Vineyards, then moved on to Texas Wine Collective for chocolate and wine pairing, including a glass by my old pals McPherson Wines, who I met on my last trip to Texas.
To wrap up our Fredericksburg experience, we visited the local celebrated Das Peach Haus. Gillespie County, of which Fredericksburg is the seat, has over 600 acres of peach orchards and Das Peach Haus was born of an orchard planted in 1928 and a roadside produce stand opened in 1969.
We joined a Cuban cookery class with mixed success – never trust me to make caramel – and shared our travel stories from two weeks well spent in Texas with our fellow chefs. Later that night, sat in the softly bubbling hot tub at Ololo, watching the stars come out, we felt the urge to book another trip underneath the Texas Sun.
