By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZThe Paz Files
WIMBERLEY, Texas - Something neat happens to this part of the state when the weather turns cool, especially in the early-morning hours, when the coffee being brewed in Smalltown, USA draws you right in, when it's okay to wish for a thin sweater and when finding yourself in a town such as this one tells you it's okay to get off the beaten path.
Wimberley is maybe 30 miles southwest of Austin and about 15 if you take the San Marcos route off I-35. Weekends are times especially attractive to out-of-towners, as locals roll out the red carpet for the wandering hordes looking to get away from the hustle and flow of the city.
Yesterday was First Saturday in town, a monthly shopper's festival that draws thousands to the little town home to some 15,000 residents there on the lip of the Texas Hill Country. A winding country road leads you in, verdant rolling hills banking on both sides, some dotted by new, all-electric mountain home construction, side-of-the-road attractions and just plain old fencing that dates back to the middle of last century.
We were here most of the morning, moving among the city crowds, waltzing into tourist stores and catching a bite at Ino'z (pronouned "eye nose"). And although we normally dine at my favorite Wimberley Cafe on the square, we again asked for suggestions of several business folk and were told Ino'z was the place to munch.
It's on the square, but you have to take a walk down toward Cypress Creek, wind a bit to the main entrance and then angle in toward a table, or make toward the bar. The view of the creek, with its craggy 100-year-old trees and its walkabout geese, is the attraction, although the catfish & sweet potato fries I had weren't that bad. Margaret had herself a chicken teriyaki salad that drew her approval. The menu is varied, with offerings including fajita wraps, grilled tilapia, fish po'boys, chili, fried pickles, and even the not-so-local Oriental chicken salad. Prices ranged, from $8.49 for the fajita wrap to $7.89 for the catfish plate to $7.99 for the chicken teriyaki. The bar offers beer, some wine, margaritas and Ino'z's famous Mex-Tini: a special blend of Cuervo, Gran Marnier and juices, for $8 (limit two per customer).
Wimberley on weekends is a crowded little burb.
Parking on the square is limited, with bikers taking up some of the few spaces, although most merchants, friendly as all get-out, allow you to park and wander.
Saturday was a sort of early-Fall day here. Temperatures eventually reached the upper 80s, but it was pleasant by the time we left in the early-afternoon. There's something about that first breeze of cool air, especially in the Austin area, where we've endured 100-plus degree days some 90 days this year. We're told those days are over, so our jaunts into the lovely Hill Country will come more-often and enjoyed that much more.
Harder news plays elsewhere across the land.
Here, a morning walk along a quiet, little town's sidewalks reminds you that it, too, is part of life to pull-off the interstate highway and listen for and catch the sounds of uneventful tranquility...
- 30 -
10 comments:
Good post, I have been around the area, but lately, haven't gone up the state. I will after the 15th. of this month.
Mchale is getting personal with the local politicos. His latest editorial at his blog, are killers. Good McHale, keep exposing the crooks.
T.Chapaneco is being critical of Robert Leftwich, Guz Ruiz and Jerry Prep.
He is critical of Mr. Lee, he is not saying anything about a former banker who was part of a lawsuit.
He is afraid he might end up fighting a libelous lawsuit.
WE KNOW CHAPA IS A COWARD, HE WON'T FIGHT, HE WILL RUN, ES GALLINA EL VIEJO MIEDOSO. NO LE SAQUES POS NO QUE MUY HOMBRECITO, HERE LITTLE CHICKEN, COME GET SOME CORN.
The Hill Country is actually real close, but many ofus don't look that way that much. thankz
Reading Chapetes blog is a waste of time. Made up stories, the obituaries should be for his blog.
Tony Romo will be benched. Two interceptions for touchdowns. He lost the game. Goodbye, dude!
I hope Jr. Bonner's termination papers are in desk, or have been sent on e-mail.
I noticed at Las Casuelas he does not leave a tip after he finishes breakfast. And also some short fat woman, who wears jeans 3 sizes smaller than her size was paying.
What a Sleaze, and he thinks he is better than Primera cops. Viejo Rufiano.
Mr. Editor: If Jr. Bonner doesn't pay for eating at the local rest. have you ever considered he was cheating the prostitute in Amsterdam when the pimp shot in the rear. Maybe he was running so he wouldn't have to pay her for her services. A real BUMMER.
How about this: move our factories and jobs back home and out of Mexico. We let coroporations move their factories and our jobs to countries where there is heavy unemployment only to become unemployed ourselves. Then we have to spend billions to get a foreign government to police their own corrupt nation! How much sense does that make?
We are no longer a producing economy, we are a consuming economy which is why when the only real production left in the country, housing, fell apart so did the economy.
I believe this is the elephant in the room that NO politician wants to talk about. I believe that if you are a US corporation and your primary dollar is made in the US then a certain percentage of your workforce and production must be US based. If not then your goods and services are taxed at a higher rate than your fellow corporations who choose to operate and support the US worker.
One thing about those Texas Republicans -- they're racists. It's their main thing.
Oh, they won't admit it, and they try very hard to conceal it in polite company, but racial bigotry runs very deep in them and permeates every policy they favor, every argument they make, and every attitude they exhibit in their day to day lives.
They speak of it in codes, with winks, with little rolls of their eyes. But they equate racism with freedom and liberty.
Post a Comment