First Road Trip of the Year!

It's 2026 and time to hit the road. January is a tough time to travel in terms of weather in Texas. Sometimes it's so cold the pipes freeze and other times it's 80 degrees. So, we like to "wait and see" what the weather will be like when we're ready to go. This month, the weather was fine.

So where to? All of the Chaneys and Windsors in DFW metroplex have been to Fredericksburg, a cute little town in Gillespie County. We wanted to know what all the fuss was about so that's where we went.

We took the scenic route and went through several cool little towns. John wouldn't stop in all of them but if it had been up to me...We went through Glen Rose, which I have marked as a place to go back to.

This was downtown Hico.

The courthouse in Lampasas. We ate lunch here. We bought sandwiches at a nearby H-E-B and ate them under a tree. Since the car was stopped, I got out and walked around.

A very nice lady insisted on taking our photo by their Lampasas sign. It was a cute little town!

We got to Fredericksburg about 4-ish and checked into our hotel. We are not bed and breakfast people but if you are, holy cow! This is the place to be . There are tons of them here. We stayed at a chain hotel. This was our mile long balcony where I'd start getting steps every morning.

Fredericksburg has lots of history and historical markers. This is the Ressman-Boos House built in 1845. I saw several buildings like this with the stairs outside leading up to a door - I think this is where they would sleep. Boy did I want to go in and check it out.

I love when places have these murals! Basically, this town was settled by Germans that were promised passage from German along with land if they came to Texas. The company that ran this program was a disaster and didn't realize how many people they would get and they were not ready. More on that later.

One of the big draws is the National Museum of the Pacific War. It's run by the Texas Historical Commission and they do an amazing job. There are three parts to this museum. This is the old Nimitz Hotel. Admiral Chester Nimitz was from Fredericksburg. His grandpa owned this hotel and now it's part of the museum that is dedicated to him.

The main part of the museum is named for George H W Bush who fought in the Pacific during WWII.

Inside, they have the whole story and it is amazing. If you plan to go, block the whole day for this if you want to see everything. With your ticket, you can come and go for the day, which we did. We had to take a break for lunch. This is a B25-Mitchell plane that was used during the "Doolittle Raid" when the US attacked Japan.

The third part of the museum is called the Pacific Combat Zone.

They have a cool theater where they can host events related to the war, show how things worked. We didn't see a show but it reminded me of when Brendan graduated from Ranger School. They also have a PT boat, which was used heavily during the war in the Pacific. It's a cool museum.

There are buildings like this all over town. This is the Keidel Memorial Hospital. It was built in 1909 but the hospital was opened by Dr. Keidel in 1938 and served the community until 1971. Now it's a restaurant. In the basement, they have a second restaurant and that's where we had dinner our first night. 

This was the second Gillespie County Courthouse. It was built in 1882 and used as a courthouse until 1939. Now it's the Pioneer Memorial Library. I'm so happy they didn't tear it down (like they would have if it had been in Dallas).

This is the current Gillespie County Courthouse. Not nearly the same amount of charm as the previous one. It was built in 1939 by the WPA, part of the program designed by FDR to put people to work and pull the US out of the depression.

The next day we went out to Enchanted Rock. The whole family has climbed to the top and we thought we could too.

This is before we started climbing. Someone is full of energy and ready to go.

This is only part of the way to the top. I'm still okay.

This is at the top. A nice lady offered to take our photo. Note that we are much more subdued. It's a long way to the top but it was cool and well worth the climb.

The views from the top of Enchanted Rock are very cool.

I'm guessing these are all ranches of some sort.

Next stop was the Pioneer Museum. I couldn't pass this up! This museum was about the history of the town. There's a cool little intro video that describes what happened and then lots of buildings that  were saved or replicated from original pioneers.

Remember when I said that the company that was recruiting the Germans to come settle Texas wasn't prepared? Well, they got passage to New Braunfels, which was another German settlement but not the one they were promised. The company finally put a new guy in charge, John O Meusebach. He went and checked out the land that was promised and found it belonged to the Comanche Indians. As he was riding back trying to figure out what to do, he saw this land and boom! Fredericksburg was founded. It was named for Prince Frederick of Prussia.

This is called a Sunday House. The settlers were farmers and they all had lots of acreage out of town. They would come in on Sundays for church, community, etc. The family would stay in these one room little houses for the weekend and then go back home.

Back in the day, they had one room schoolhouses like this one. What's cool about the museum is that you can go inside most of the buildings and check things out. This particular building is the White Oak School.

This is the Walton-Smith log cabin. It started out as a one room cabin but once the family got situated, they were able to add on to the back. 

I don't mind cozy but this is a little too cozy. The add-on in the back is the kitchen. The other thing that's cool is that when you go in, a recording starts. Scared the crap out of me the first time. But, the narrator tells you about the place that you're in and what you're looking at.

This is the inside of the Arhelger Bath House. It's a barbershop and the last place for you to get a bath before you head out of town.

So, I guess you strip down and climb in the tub while other fellas get their shave and a haircut? Yikes!

This is the Fassel-Roeder House. This house was built in sections. According to the grandson of the owner, who happened to be born in this house and was narrating, the first section was the bedroom. The structure was originally a one room butcher shop owned by Mr. Kammlah. The Fassel family bought it in 1876! Then they added on.

The next add-on was the kitchen. It's pretty nice. 

This was the original room - the bedroom.

The last room added on was this living room area. The family used this house as a Sunday House until 1967. 

This last building on the grounds was the Kammlah Homestead, which was actually several buildings. This is the front house that was used as a general store. There's the back house with a cellar and an attic where the family lived. They had a smoke house and a barn/blacksmith shop.

We had two full days in Fredericksburg and enjoyed ourselves quite a bit. We had some German schnitzel and some of the best Mexican food I've had out in a long time.

We took the scenic route home and John was kind enough to stop in a couple of places.

Our first stop was in Llano Texas. I've heard of this place...and the wine they produce, which is quite tasty. It's the county seat of Llano County. Their courthouse is quite lovely.

I liked their little mural. You have to pay attention to see it.

Their historic bridge over the Llano River. I like the cool walking trail. If I'd had time and it hadn't been so windy, I might have talked John into a little walk.

The second place we stopped was Goldthwaite, Texas. Where? I know! I'd never heard of it but as we passed through, John pulled over and I got a picture of their beautiful county courthouse. 

Goldthwaite is the county seat of Mills County.  I liked this mural too.

And finally, Hamilton Texas. You'd be surprised to hear that it's the county seat of Hamilton County. We passed through here on the way to Fredericksburg and I saw the courthouse. It's gorgeous! So, John said we could stop on the way back and get pictures.

Not far from the courthouse was the Hamilton County Jail. I think it's part of the Hamilton County Historical Museum. Lucky for John, it was closed or I'd have tried to talk him into going in.

What a cool trip! I love driving through Texas and we had the perfect weather for it. I never knew some of the towns we drove through even existed. 

Where to next?