Weekend Plug: Wimberley

I have now been to Wimberley, Texas exactly twice. It's a cute little town that is a b**** to get to from my part of Austin. I'm a highway/freeway kinda girl, and the GPS loves taking me down unknown ranch roads despite stabbing the "maximize freeways" button a couple hundred times.

Visit:

1. Wimberley Market Days. They occur on the first Saturday of each month, March - December. Admission is free, parking is between $3-$5 depending on how far away you want to walk. Tip: bring a rolling cart if you plan to shop a lot otherwise if you have many items, it's a minimum $7 donation for the Lions Club to haul it all to your vehicle.
2. Mount Baldy (Prayer Mountain) Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood, it's a little tricky to find. There are no signs pointing the way, you either know how to get there or you don't. Overlooking the city, it's a great place to take photos. Tip: It's a long, steep climb up the 200+ steps so comfortable shoes are a must. Nerves of steel also needed because the only "handrail" is a piece of wire.

Eat:

1. The Old Mill Store. Their website doesn't mention it, but they have a sandwich counter at the back of the store where they make homemade deli sandwiches and offer Blue Bell ice cream alongside Fredericksburg fudge. Tip: check the bulletin board next to the tables (there's only 3), for posters and announcements of more "to do" in Wimberley.
2. Sugar Shack Bakery. Needing a chocolate fix, I found them through Urbanspoon, and what a great find that turned out to be. We ordered one chocolate truffle cupcake and one chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing for just $5. Tip: they offered to warm up our cupcakes. Delish! (ps. their website does not appear to be updated with these flavors so you may want to call ahead to ask about their flavor offerings.)
3. Wimberley Pie Co. With 19 pie flavors to choose from, it was hard to decide what pies I wanted to try. I picked up an apple and a chocolate pecan to take to a potluck, and they were both a huge hit. Tip: it's a very narrow store, so visit their website for the flavor list ahead of time to expedite your walk along the case as you make your way to the register to order.

Skip:

Wimberley Cafe. Maybe they were having an off day, and if they were it was a really off day. Slow to no service, a host that was cursing at the staff (with plenty of children around), and food that arrived 45 minutes after ordering was cold were just a few of the issues we had. One visit there was one too many for me. Only perk: Free wi-fi, which helped kill the time while we waited for our lunch.