Lake Charles to Fredericksburg

Lake Charles to Fredericksburg

Tina was first up this morning, pushing one of the kids off the bed at 6:15am and getting me up in the process. So, once again, we are able to blame the dogs for getting us up, heh, heh! Since we got up early we decided to pack up and have breakfast so we could be on the road early.

We left the La Quinta parking lot an hour after getting up and hopped on I-210 headed for I-10 and East Sulpher. As we pass the west end of Lake Charles, across the Calcasieu River, are a half dozen petro-chemical plants and the sky is thick with steam plumes in the cool morning air. Passing under I-10 we curve to the west and merge onto the freeway.

We made our first stop in Vinton, just before leaving Louisiana, to get gas. After filling the tank, I stopped inside and talked to a couple of truckers about possible routes off of I-10. With our early start we thought we might get off in Beaumont and head for Austin. Essentially following TX-105 all the way to Conroe then cutting down to Benham and US-290 into Austin and on to Fredericksburg. But one of the drivers suggested avoiding that route because of all the construction and suggested going through Houston before getting off I-10. So that became our plan.

Unless you are a frequent visitor to the Houston area or have passed through the area several times in the past seven years you would have a hard time recognizing all the changes and growth. With the increased growth in the energy industry, Houston has become a leader in health care and is drawing in thousands of highly skilled employees and changing the face of the city. From the freeway it is noticeable in all the new overpasses and commercial construction. Fortunately we went through after 9am and traffic was merely heavy and frantic instead of heavy and chaotic.

Seventy-five miles west we exited I-10 and got on TX-71 which took us through the Hill Country. We stopped for lunch in a small town called Ellinger where we bought water and Pepsi for the cooler and a couple of Pasties for lunch. Basically a stuffed sausage roll, Tina had a Cheese and Sausage Roll while I had a Jalapino, Cheese and Sausage Roll. I thought mine was pretty good, but Tina had different thoughts about hers. Filling the tank with gas we headed back on the road eventually getting to South Austin, lots of road construction and continuing through the hills to Dripping Springs, Johnson City and pulling into Fredericksburg around 2:15pm.

Downtown Fredericksburg

I checked in while Tina took the dogs for a walk. Key in hand she headed for the room while I moved the car around to a parking spot. After we unloaded the car we headed into town to do a walkabout. One of the first places we stopped at was a small gourmet chocolate shop called the Lone Star Candy Bar. Tina went inside while I held the dogs and when she came out suggested I needed to get a "Chocolate covered Jalapeno".

Chocolate Covered Jalapena

For Gourmet's Only

Yes, I really Ate The Whole Thing (almost) 

So I gave her the leashes and went in. The sights and smells of chocolates sent me into a delirium and I couldn't resist purchasing a Chocolate Covered Jalapena, oh my!! O  M  G !! Absolute Ambrosia!! WOW! Wait a minute, who am I kidding? After my eyes stopped watering and my throat stopped convulsing I managed to squeek out, "oh, that was good" as I discarded the remaining third of the Jalapeno but finished off all the chocolate, heheheh!! I'm always up for a new experience!!

This is real "Street Furniture"

As we continued up the street past Art Galleries, restaurants, clothing stores and Decorator shops people would stop us to ask about the dogs, what kind, how old, names and boys or girls. So it was more of a meander. Crossing over to the other side we made our way back to the car. There were few parking spaces on the street and lots of people in the shops indicating a thriving town. We took time to drive around some of the side streets, lots of B&B's, residential homes in good repair, a new War & Peace Museum and more small shops and more restaurants. Finally we headed home to take a break before dinner. 

Bat at the ranch I spent some time looking for a place for dinner finally settling on K-Bob's Steakhouse on Main Street. We got there around 6pm and ordered the special, BBQ'd Pork Ribs and stuffed baked potato with salad. Mmmmm mmmm!! The meat was just falling off the bone and there was lots of it. The BBQ sauce was just a little sweet and just a little spicy with just the right amount of heat! and the baker was done to perfection with butter, sour cream, chives and bacon! Yummmm!! And it was all washed down with Texas Iced Tea! Excellent!!

After dinner we drove back to the Inn and watched a little TV, did the blog and planned our route for tomorrow.