December 6-7
Friedricksburg, Texas
This was a last minute stop. We were driving from San Angelo to San Antonio, passing through miles and miles and miles of boring farmland and uninteresting tiny-to-small towns, and then we came upon this charming town built of granite in the 19th century by German immigrants. For a small town, it's got a lot of culture: a wine festival, Oktoberfest, fun runs, something going on nearly every weekend. Lots of antique stores, and oddly enough, everyone in this town seemed to make and sell their own fudge (should be a requirement in more towns, I say).

There was a great store there, with the motto "you can sample everything we sell" and we made sure that was true. We ate so many samples of jellies, salsas, BBQ sauces, cobblers and spreads that the free wheat thin crackers filled us up and we had to buy sodas (probably where they make their money) and of course fudge. But we also bought a few of their wares to send home to folks. I wish every town had that store.