Edie Jarolim - Frommers Easyguide to Texas Hill Country

A modern cowboy keeps the spirit of the West alive in the Hill Country.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Edie Jarolim has worn many hats, including a sombrero on one-margarita-too-many nights. She got a Ph.D. in American literature from NYU and was an editor at Frommers in New York before she indulged her warm weatherand large living spacefantasies and moved to Tucson, Arizona. She has written about the Southwest and Mexico for a variety of major publications, including National Geographic Traveler , Sunset , The Wall Street Journal , and USAToday.com. Shes the author of three travel guides, one dog guide, and one memoir. See www.ediejarolim.com for more details.

ABOUT THE FROMMER TRAVEL GUIDES

For most of the past 50 years, Frommers has been the leading series of travel guides in North America, accounting for as many as 24% of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.

Though we hope our books are entertaining, we nevertheless deal with travel in a serious fashion. Our guidebooks have never looked on such journeys as a mere recreation, but as a far more important human function, a time of learning and introspection, an essential part of a civilized life. We stress the culture, lifestyle, history, and beliefs of the destinations we cover, and urge our readers to seek out people and new ideas as the chief rewards of travel.

We have never shied from controversy. We have, from the beginning, encouraged our authors to be intensely judgmental, criticalboth pro and conin their comments, and wholly independent. Our only clients are our readers, and we have triggered the ire of countless prominent sorts, from a tourist newspaper we called practically worthless (it unsuccessfully sued us) to the many rip-offs weve condemned.

And because we believe that travel should be available to everyone regardless of their incomes, we have always been cost-conscious at every level of expenditure. Though we have broadened our recommendations beyond the budget category, we insist that every lodging we include be sensibly priced. We use every form of media to assist our readers, and are particularly proud of our feisty daily website, the award-winning Frommers.com.

I have high hopes for the future of Frommers. May these guidebooks, in all the years ahead, continue to reflect the joy of travel and the freedom that travel represents. May they always pursue a cost-conscious path, so that people of all incomes can enjoy the rewards of travel. And may they create, for both the traveler and the persons among whom we travel, a community of friends, where all human beings live in harmony and peace.

Arthur Frommer

Trips from San Antonio

S an Antonio sits at the southern edge of one of Texass prettiest regions, the rising and falling dreamscape of lakes, rivers, and limestone caverns called the Hill Country. In the 19th century, Germans and Czechs, fleeing social upheavals in Europe and lured by the promise of free land, established several small towns here; other settlements go back to the regions cattle-ranching past. Eventually, the Hill Countrys mild climate and abundant springs gave rise to health spas, summer camps, and guest ranches. Modern tourism, in turn, brought restaurants, shops, lodgings, and a resurgent wine industry.

Any of these towns makes an easy day trip from San Antonio; you might even be able to do two in one trip (stopping in Boerne, for example, on the way to Bandera ). Fredericksburg has the most accommodations and things to see and do; it also makes a good base for touring the other towns and attractions, including LBJ country. For a full listing of Hill Country events, see the Travel Texas website: www.traveltexas.com/cities-regions/hill-country/events .

Most of the towns covered here lie northwest of San Antonio, but if you head northeast via I-35, you can also visit New Braunfels, Gruene, San Marcos, Wimberley, and other destinations detailed as day trips from Austin in Chapter 17.

Boerne

32 miles NW of San Antonio

From downtown San Antonio, its a straight shot north on I-10 to Boerne (rhymes with journey), located on the banks of Cibolo Creek. The little (2 miles long) town was founded in 1849 by freedom-seeking German intellectuals, including Jewish-German political writer and satirist Ludwig Brne (17861837), for whom the town was named. In the 1880s, Boerne became a popular health resort. Its now the seat of Kendall County, with more than 16,000 residents. The Boerne Visitors Center, 108 Oak Park Dr., off Main Street (www.visitboerne.org; 888/842-8080 or 830/249-7277) is open 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday, 10am to 2pm on Saturday (its closed Sun).

Day Trips from San Antonio