Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Piece of Cake, Wimberley, TX - Sun., Feb. 16.

At 8:30 a.m., we headed out to meet Keith and Brenda in Wimberley, Texas, for a day of Wimberley sightseeing. First stop: Kate's Place for brunch. This brunch is ordered off the menu. Keith and I had crab cakes Eggs Benedict, Brenda had regular Eggs Benedict and Bob ordered Eggs Benedict Florentine. I've got to be honest here, the Eggs Benedict left a lot to be desired. The crab cakes were burned, the Canadian bacon was cooked to toughness, the English muffins were so overcooked we couldn't cut them with a regular table knife. A steak knife would have been better. I asked Bob to cut my English muffin for me. At least the eggs were cooked well and the fruit was good.

Second stop: Jacobs Well Natural Area. Jacob's Well is an artesian spring and one of the longest underwater caves in Texas. According to their website, "Jacob's Well surges up thousands of gallons of water per minute and is headwaters to beautiful Cypress Creek that flows through Wimberley, sustaining a Blue Hole and the Blanco River, recharging the Edwards Aquifer, and finally replenishing estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico...The location has been a beloved swimming hole for generations, gathering place for Native Americans and early settlers, and a rich habitat for exotic species."

Jacob's Well Artesian Spring
The swimmin' hole at Jacob's Well.
Brenda and Keith at Jacob's Well.
Jacob's Well Natural Area walk was a warm up for what they had planned next: Prayer Mountain. Say a prayer before you head up this hill. According to Keith's Fit-o-Meter, climbing these stairs was akin to walking up 15 floors. Can you say "Stairmaster"?

Entrance to Prayer Mountain trail.
Bob partway up the stairs.
Keith making his way to the top.
Veteran's Memorial - we couldn't find the entrance!
Just keep climbing the stairs.

Here's a view from the top.
Bob and Keith chatting on Prayer Mountain.

Views galore - still a little foggy
Brenda stayed with the car as her shoulder surgery has not completely healed. You can see her in the photo below.

Brenda at the car
Almost down!
As I came out of the trees, I said to Brenda, "That was a piece of cake. Let me rephrase that...that was worth a piece of cake." We had been discussing where to go for dessert: Wimberley Pie Company, The Wooden Spoon Frozen Yogurt, or Italian Cream Cake at Cypress Creek Cafe. A stop at Cypress Creek Cafe and a look at the exquisite cakes made up our minds rather quickly.

But I am ahead of our itinerary. After Jacob's Well and a failed attempt to find the Veteran's Memorial, Keith took us for a drive along River Road. Even in the middle of winter, it's beautiful.

Blanco River, looking upriver
White Chinese geese with a brown Chinese goose.

Blanco River, looking downriver.
Beautiful Shelby Mustang
Cypress Creek Cafe
Cypress Creek Cafe decor


Cypress Creek Cafe
Lamp for sale
At Cypress Creek Cafe, we ordered three slices of Italian Cream Cake and one slice of double chocolate cake to go. Keith and Brenda invited us to their motorhome for coffee/tea to have with our cake. The cake was awesome...moist, tasty, and huge. After eating most of my slice and a couple of bites of Bob's double chocolate cake, I had to stop eating it due to sugar overload.

We sat and talked and I found myself starting to doze (sugar crash?). Well that was embarrassing. It was time to head out.

Keith and Brenda are very thoughtful. They planned a nicely paced day of seeing Wimberley and scoped out where to find the places in advance. Thank you both so much!

Movie Review: The Monuments Men

Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, and Hugh Bonneville.

George Clooney as George Clooney, oops, I mean Lt. Frank Stokes is tasked with finding and returning art masterpieces which have been pillaged from all over Europe and hidden by the Nazis. The movie was okay and brought to life a period of history I hadn't known about until now. Because of its all-star cast, I thought the acting would be much better. Overall, I would give this three out of five stars.

Travel Bug out.







14 comments:

  1. I love Wimberly. Too bad about your brunch. I hope you let them know.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Brenda talked to the manager who gave us 1/2 off the bill.

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  2. Susan, you guys should check out Magnolia Pancake Haus on 606 Embassy Oaks on North end. They have pretty tasty crab cakes benes as well as several other styles of benes.If you go on the weekend, expect a crowd.
    www.magnoliapancakehaus.com

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    Replies
    1. We keep hearing about Magnolia Pancake Haus. My co-worker recommended it too.

      How are things going at Hidden Valley?

      Delete
  3. WOW...my legs hurt just reading about the climb.
    Cypress Creek Cafe looks like a very entertaining place to have a delicious dessert!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know what, I thought my legs would be killing me today, but they're not. Not even a little hurt. I'm surprised. All our walking must help.

      The food people were eating at Cypress Creek Cafe looked very good and if the cake was any indication of quality, we'll be going back.

      Delete
  4. Too bad the day started out with a lousy breakfast, but it got better and better after that! Your hike looked nice and I really really like the Mustang!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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    1. Even though the breakfast wasn't the best, we ate most of it. And the rest of the day was awesome.

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  5. Wow you had a great tour and lots of exercise but how you decided among those dessert spots is beyond me. I hope you plan to go back and try them all so you can review them. :-( Really appreciate your heads up on the restaurant and your movie review. Jim and Peri send their Hi's to you. We loved spending the week with them.

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    Replies
    1. So happy you got to spend the week with Jim and Peri. They're such great people.

      And we definitely will be heading back to Wimberley!

      Delete
  6. Wimberley was on my list of places to see. I'm hoping to spend 3 months next winter in Texas.....loved our 6 weeks (would've love it even more if that polar vortex had eluded us).
    We're heading to Lake Pleasant tomorrow and plan to stay for at least a month. Let me know if you'll be passing through on your way back to San Antonio.

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    Replies
    1. Ingrid, We'll be staying two nights at Lake Pleasant on our way to and from Las Vegas. Let's coordinate calendars!

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