Girls Weekend: Fredericksburg

Months and months ago, the girls and I sat down with a calendar and chose a date for a Mother/Daughter Get Away.  Since it was April at the time, we booked the weekend of October 16-19 to head over to Fredericksburg for some wine tasting and retail therapy.

It really does take a solid six months to arrange open schedules for three daughters, three sons-in-love and seven grandchildren.  Between holidays, our own birthdays and events on the other side of the families...our calendars remain FULL.

The weekend finally arrived for us to load up my car and head west toward the Texas Hill Country.

I had been praying about our trip for weeks prior to our departure date.  I was asking the Lord to bless our time together...and though our girls are already very close, I prayed that the Lord would knit their hearts even closer together during our concentrated time away.  Well, we had a great time of fellowship and lots of laughs as we drove the three and a half hours from Waller to our destination.

Brianne and Kelli on the trip over

Upon our arrival in town, we stopped for a (really) late lunch at The Fredericksburg Brewery.  With our stomachs sated, we headed over to the house to unload our luggage and for the girls to choose their rooms.  Since this was the same house that Stacy, Robin and I visited back in February, I already knew that I was taking the downstairs bedroom so that the three of the them could be upstairs together.

After unloading all of the bags and wandering through the house, we headed back to Main Street to hit a few of the shops.  Unfortunately, they were all closing up for the night.  So, we decided to run through Wal-Mart to pick up some things for late night snacks and easy breakfasts...and a Chick Flick to settle in with for the night.

Bri fixed us up this beautiful spread while Meagan opened a couple of bottles of wine and I tried (to no avail) to get the movie started.  Well, the DVD player did not want to cooperate...so we decided on a Project Runway marathon instead.

The perfect 'Wine Dinner' prepared by Bri
Salami, cheese, strawberries and chocolates.

It really did seem like old times with the girls spread out around the living room while we discussed what we thought about each designer's choices and the judge's decisions.  It's been a long, long time since I have experienced television viewing and 'girl talk'.  We soon turned in for the night and the sweetest sound graced my ears as I listened to the three girls upstairs talking and laughing hysterically...as only sisters can.

The next morning I rose early and started the coffee.  The girls trickled downstairs and after each one made their way to the coffee pot, my favorite and least expected time of the day occurred.  Each one grabbed a cup of coffee and crawled up in the bed with me.  Sometimes up under the covers, other times sprawled at the foot of the bed...and the moment was so sweet that I half regretted that the limo would be arriving in a few short hours for our wine tasting tour.

Randy of Fredericksburg Limo and Wine Tours picked us up at 11 o'clock sharp.  Now, since the two oldest girls were experiencing their first full night away from children under the age of 1...they weren't moving as quickly as Brianne and I were.  (We had strict instructions not to wake them before 9 AM if they happened to be able to sleep that late!)  But we did pull away from the house before 11:30.

Brianne and Meagan in the limo
Time to go wine tasting!

We didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked...but the reason we didn't is that we were just enjoying the time together.  Phones put away.  Conversation flowing.  Laughter trailing behind us.

My girls and I at 4.0 Cellars

Deborah was able to join us on Friday at our first wine tasting stop.  She ended up spending the whole weekend with us...even joining us in our early morning coffee ritual.

Grape Creek with the girls plus Deborah

We stopped at 4.0 Cellars, Grape Creek Winery (my favorite winery), lunch at Inwood Estates Bistro (not a fan), Alexander Vineyards (they actually make their wine in France and their current location is a trailer...but they have good bubbly, making it Kelli's favorite), and finally Becker Vineyard (Meagan's favorite).

It was now time to head back to the Dalton House and unload all of that wine.  We ended up eating at little open air restaurant beside Grape Creeks Main Street Tasting Room.  I can't remember the name of it, but I knew that live music would begin after dark.  Robin, Stacy and I tried unsuccessfully to get a table there back in February, so we made our way to the restaurant just before dark...and had great seats with great food and some pretty good music.

Friday night found most of us in bed much earlier than the night before...but not until a few episodes of Dance Moms!

Saturday we really took it easy.  I don't think we even got out of the house until around noon.  We made our way to Bejas Grill, and since we had a 45 minute wait, we passed the time strolling through some of the shops nearby.  (AND I ran into a good friend who happened to be in town with her mother, daughter and sister.)  After a delicious lunch, we wandered through a few more of the shops...making our way back to a place that had been on our agenda all along.  Fiesta Winery's Tasting Room!!! (Brianne's favorite)

Between the five of us we had purchased 90 bottles of wine!  

After a full day of shopping, we decided to head over to Crossroads Saloon and Steakhouse for a nice evening out.  We had an hour plus wait for a table, but since the band tuned up in the saloon soon after we arrived, it didn't seem like a long wait at all.  (And we ran into my friend, Phyllis again!  Great minds!!)  We had a wonderful meal and thought we might go back to the saloon afterwards but that place was then PACKED!  Instead, we decided to go back to the Dalton House and unwind in the hot tub with some of our newly scored loot.

Sunday morning, after our coffee ritual, we began packing up the car for the trip home.  We met up with Brian for lunch on Main Street at Wheeler's and a bit more shopping on the north side of the street.  It was then time to say goodbye to Brian and Deborah and head home.

It was an amazing weekend.  And thankfully the girls are already planning our next trip for a weekend away.  They say it will take about five years for them to arrange the husbands and children again...but that's okay by me.  We still get to take time for Girls Night Out between now and then.

Oh, and here's a picture of my haul for the weekend!

50 bottles of wine later...I think I'm good for the rest of the year!

(Don't judge!  Most of these wines can only be purchased at the winery itself and I will not be back for awhile!)

But it's the memories of the time we spent together that are my true treasures!