We met friends at the Blair House Inn, 100 W. Spoke Hill Drive in Wimberley 78676 (www.blairhouseinn.com). The inn is an interesting Bed and Breakfast. But it is more than most. It has an on premise spa, art gallery and a culinary school. While breakfast is available every day from 8:30 to 9:30, dinner is only on Saturday at 7:00 and is generally a five course event paired with Texas wine.
The inn was created in March of 1991 by Jonnie Stansbury who had studied with master chefs such as Julia Child, Ken Wolfe and Ken Hom. The inn gained a reputation as a gourmet destination and a place where one could have fun while reviving the spirit. Ten years later Mike and Vicki Schneider purchased the inn. Over the next thirteen years they expanded the property and made improvements. Then in 2014 Chris and Lois Mahoney purchased the inn, putting their own spin on Texas Hill Country hospitality, while preserving the traditions, food and comforts the inn had become nationally known for.
Our visit was a long weekend. On the first day we stayed at the inn, arriving late afternoon. We had a small area outside our cottage where we could enjoy a light snack we brought with us and watch for deer that feed not far from that spot. On the first day no deer approached the feedlot, but we had a pleasant time catching up with our friends who had driven over from Tucson. We went off to dinner at Jobell Café and Bistro,16920 Ranch Road 12, Wimberley, TX 78676 which serves comfort food with healthy options and is not far from the Blair House.
Jobell’s is a small building, pleasantly decorated and with enough atmosphere to satisfy most sensibilities. The problem with the small space is on the Friday night we visited a guitar player was set up only a few feet from our table. While he played well and had a pleasant voice, it proved to be more distraction than entertainment as it was very hard to have a conversation. The dinners were mixed. Two of us had the skirt steak with Chimichurri sauce. The seasoning and preparation were tasty, but the meat was not very tender and hard to chew. Neither of us finished the meat. The accompanying yucca fries and pickled onions were very good. Our spouses went a different way. Mine had the mushroom risotto with peas and ham which was very smooth, creamy and flavorful. Our friend’s spouse had mushroom ravioli in a brown butter sauce which was also excellent. However, the brown butter sauce proved very rich and she was unable to finish even the modest portion. So a split decision on the first night. Excellent pasta and rice, but the skirt steak was not a winner. We accompanied the meal with a pleasant Australian Shiraz.
On Saturday we visited the first Saturday Lion’s club market. On Ranch to Market route 2325 in Wimberley a large area with hundreds of stalls has grown over the years. Individuals may buy a stall (we saw signs with quoted prices between $3-6,000). The Lion’s club that sponsors the market permits a smaller number of guest merchants. Even though we were probably only five miles from the Blair House, it took almost an hour to get to the market and park ($5 for the day with proceeds going to the Lion’s club). The Wimberley Lions club market is the big event on this once a month Saturday as people come from all over to explore and carry away one trophy or another. We saw a wide range of goods, some homemade and some collected from all over. If you want a license plate from Minnesota, no problem. You may not get the year you want, but you may get close. You want a handmade teepee for your daughter’s bedroom? Got that too.
After the market we returned to the Blair House for a light lunch of cheeses and crackers we brought with us. The Blair House does not serve lunch. We then went exploring for the Wimberley Glassworks, 6469 Ranch Road 12, San Marcos, TX 78666 (tel: 512-393-3316). Here we found beautiful hand blown glass objects. Mostly lights, plates and vases. One of the most spectacular is a table lamp that looks like a tree. Down the street is another glass factory, the Silo. Only this one uses a different technique, melting glass sheets over objects to mold bowls, trays and small objects of colorful glass. The pleasant and well informed owner gave us a tour and explained the use of all the tools used in this method of glass work.
Dinner on Saturday was at the Blair House. We met folks from the area and others who had driven up from Houston and others down from Dallas. One couple was from Connecticut. The five course meal consisted of a tasty shrimp appetizer with polenta, wild mushroom soup, fresh bibb lettuce salad with corn croutons, a moist red snapper with wilted greens and potatoes, and finishing with an Expresso Chocolate Crème Brulee. A Texas white wine from Delancey Vineyards accompanied the meal. To begin the evening, Chris Mahoney announced that we had a distinguished guest list that evening. One couple was celebrating their 31st anniversary, another their 20th and most especially a young couple that was celebrating 24 hours of wedded bliss. One couple was from the area, coming in just for dinner. They had an interesting background, enjoy the dinners at Blair House, even though this was not a special evening for them. They said it was fun to meet people from all over the world who come to stay at Blair House, enjoy a great meal and spend some time with the owners.
On Sunday after breakfast we journeyed over to Fredericksburg, which is just beyond the LBJ Ranch now a state and national park. The main house is partially restored as Lady Bird Johnson maintained a residence here until her death in 2007. The tour of the house is free as of this writing, however, if you wish to do a tour of the property in your car it will cost $15 for a permit.
Fredericksburg is in the middle of Texas wine country. We easily saw two dozen wineries identified along the short route over. Even on the main street a growing number of wine shops doing tastings have opened. Fredericksburg is a curious collection of things to see and do. The National Museum of the Pacific War is a delight with fascinating exhibits about Admiral Nimitz, born across the street in 1885, who was in charge of the vast Pacific armada during the Second World War. This is worth a half day visit easily. Fort Martin Scott greets visitors as you approach the city on Texas route 290 from Johnson City. This Army fort was active from December 5, 1848 until April of 1853, which marks the period of initial settlement of the area. An interpretive center on this site recreates what it was like to live in a distant outpost during this period of settlement early in American history. A third attraction besides the shops and restaurants along the main street is Pioneer Museum, which when combined with a visit to Fort Martin Scott fills in the early life in Texas Hill Country.
The impression one gets is of an early Napa. An area that had long been a tourist attraction for a geography that is significantly different from the surrounding areas has discovered that grapes can thrive in this geographically diverse region. Are these early wines on a par with those from California? Most would say they have made great strides but are still seeking both the notoriety and the consistent high quality one expects from most California wines. Time will tell, but this trip was clearly a glimpse of what Napa was probably like in the 1960s and early 70s.
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