Memorial Day in the Hill Country

This year on Memorial Day we decided to venture a little deeper into the Hill Country than we usually do on any given weekend. After weighing a few options, we decided to visit one of the most popular Hill Country destinations--Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg is out in the middle of the Hill Country, in the Pedernales River Valley. As you might guess from the name, it is one of the cities settled by the waves of German immigrants who made their way to south Texas in the mid-1800's and, along with New Braunfels, is one of the places where the German influence is most obvious.

One of our reasons for visiting was to attend the Memorial Day ceremony at the National Museum of the Pacific War. You might be puzzled as to why such a museum exists in a small Hill Country town in South Texas. You'd be puzzled, that is, until you realize that the building which houses it was once a hotel owned by the grandfather of Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was born in Fredericksburg and became the Allied Pacific Commander in World War II. The boys enjoyed the museum very much, especially the outside displays of artillery and anti-aircraft guns, and even met some servicemen, both old and new.

After the ceremony, we had lunch at the Auslander, which is probably the most popular traditional German biergarten/restaurant in town. We had all kinds of wurst and schnitzel and mustard and sauerkraut and the kids liked all of it--even the sauerkraut (it must be due to their rich German heritage from the Schneider and Shurtz lines in our family). We topped it off with a visit to the German Bakery down the street for some authentic German pastries and struck out to explore the surrounding countryside.

After lunch, we headed east to Wildseed Farms, which we both quickly decided was where Grandpa Kewish would spend all his time if he lived anywhere nearby. The butterfly enclosure was the best we had ever seen, and we were largely alone and undisturbed by anyone else. There are acres and acres of fields of flowers, and a seemingly unending variety of seeds—even some varieties that they have created themselves. Except for Tori doing a faceplant on the rocky trail and bleeding profusely from her lip for a few minutes, it was a great time.

After the farm, we explored up and down the valley, stopping at the fruit stands, throwing rocks in the Pedernales River, and even picking a few pounds of blackberries and delicious Stonewall peaches on a whim.

As the sun got low in the western sky we turned south and worked our way home through the celebrated town of Luckenbach, the German town of Boerne, and of course, the obligatory stop at Bass Pro Shops.

It was a long but fulfilling day and we were glad to have been able to spend it together as family, see so many interesting things, get in touch with our German roots, and remember the sacrifice made by those who fought for our freedom.


Here are a bunch of pictures:

The boys in front of an artillery piece at the museum in Fredericksburg
Charles on an anti-aircraft gun (and Joey and Tori in the background)
Charles looking through the sight on the right side of the 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun
And Joey looking through the sight on the left side
The boys with a few current Navy Seamen (Apprentice) who were there for the ceremony
The boys on a much larger battleship gun
On the same gun, with the Bush Gallery behind them
Looking down the barrel, with both boys on the gun
Taking a picture with a WWII Veteran who was there for the ceremony. Prior to that he was telling the boys a pretty moving version of the "boys who planted that flag at Iwo Jima" in the statue next to them.
A picture of the Marienkirche in Fredericksburg built by the Germans in 1860
The family outside the restaurant
The boys amongst a few rows of bachelors buttons
And the family in front of a large field of purple verbena (pre-faceplant by only a few minutes)

A few minutes later, post-faceplant, but back to her happy self
Joey hanging out with a few rock tortoises
The kids on the bank of the Pedernales river--notice the boys' intense concentration on keeping their sister in the picture. They are used to this by now