April-June 2016 Issue

Each summer, the glistening Guadalupe River becomes a magnet, attracting youngsters from far and near to the Hill Country for fun and, in the case of a very special camp near Center Point, inspiration and healing. The scenic, 55-acre campground overlooking the river offers canoeing, archery, swimming, campfire cooking, horseback riding and many other pastimes popular with kids, but what really sets it apart  is its name – Camp CAMP (Children’s Association for ...

Have you ever imagined yourself walking through lavish oceans of blue lavender in Provence, drinking inthe fragrance? Well, I have! Unfortunately, I haven’t made it to France yet, but my dear husband agreed to come along with me and make a date of the Blanco Lavender Festival.  We spent a pleasant, early June morning roaming through fields of lavender right here in our own beloved Texas Hill Country. The festival brochure offered self guided tours at two farms.

Though they number more than 800, Bharat Patel can call them each by name. Strolling around the grounds of his Blanco hotel, Patel points to ‘Vincent Godsif’ and ‘Belinda.’ This one, he says, is ‘Peggy Martin,’ and there’s ‘New Dawn.’ The names refer to the 20-plus cultivars of roses that grow and bloom in mass profusion around the Best Western Plus/Blanco Luxury Inn and Suites.

In what’s promising to be a “reel” fun four-day run this spring (April 28 through May 1), the spotlight again will be beaming brightly on historic Fredericksburg as the community’s focus shifts (slightly) away from its treasured Old World heritage and reorients, amazingly enough, more towards something most would associate with the West Coast and Tinsel Town – namely, the art of filmmaking.

Wimberley is Bootiful. That isn’t a misspelled word. Oh, sure, Wimberley is beautiful and everyone who lives here or who visits will attest to that fact, but two years ago the village became “bootiful” thanks to all those big artistic boots you see all around. These are fiberglass boots, six feet tall and planted at various businesses, art galleries, the library, the visitors center, the high school, the Wimberley Institute of Cultures, the United Me ...

Green Guy Recycling in San Marcos is a jumble of waste—most of which will not go to waste. This is a friendly local center for household recyclables and a bustling marketplace for buying and selling scrap metal. “I’ve made my living for more than 20 years with other people’s trash and I’ve employed 30 people based on that trash,” says Green Guy’s Kyle Hahn.

Here’s a bed and breakfast inn that couldn’t be any more perfect: The Inn at Chachalaca Bend in Los Fresnos. The first thing you notice is that it’s out of way, way off the beaten path. Next, after you drive through the gate, you travel through a tunnel created by palms and cactus and mesquite and ebony.

Kimble County is located in the western corner of the Hill Country, approximately 100 miles west of San Antonio.  IH-10 cuts through the northern part of the City of Junction, its county seat, and US Hwys 83, 290 and 377 intersect here, along with numerous Ranch Roads, Farm-to-Market and county roads.

What was this fish? The vintage fiberglass rod throbbed, then dipped and bowed like a wispy willow in a heavy wind. Sometimes the fish felt like a freight train, powerful, unyielding, unstoppable.  Then in a second, it would change directions, shift gears, and morph into a race car speeding off into the distance.