Bookalicious Travel Addict: Guest Blog Post - Having A Large Time in Small-Town Texas by Linda Akins

Well, I am continuing my series of Travel Guest Blogs, which I am delighted to say are being well received. Today's blog is from my good friend in Texas, Linda Akins, who is sharing her love of her home State with us and introducing you all to the beautiful area of Texas, known as Texas Hill Country. Make sure you click on the link for Texas Peach Pie!

Welcome Linda and thank you for sharing this beautiful region with us.

Having A Large Time in Small-Town Texas

Texans have a saying. They claim to be having a large time when they are experiencing a grand adventure. If you want to live large in one of the loveliest towns in Texas, just make your way to Fredericksburg, the jewel of the Texas Hill Country.

Local Artist

This central Texas town has that special combination of scenic beauty, rich history and friendly locals. Backed by a sound track of country music classics, Fredericksburg offers the traveller a varied and unique travel adventure.

Lovely Local Peaches

Fredericksburg offers the optimal experience in the spring especially in the month of May when the bluebonnets, primroses, lavender fields, and wisteria are at their peak.

May and June are also prime peach season and the roadways are dotted with charming market stands loaded with the juicy fruit. Pick one that has the added treat of freshly churned peach ice cream or warm-from-the-oven peach pie.

Local Bed and Breakfast

The town is tourist-friendly with a variety of accommodations but the best option is one of the hundreds of bed and breakfast inns.

These homes offer comfort, flexibility, and privacy. Many are located within blocks of Main Street making it an easy walk to the most popular attractions.

Admiral Nimitz

If you are a history buff, you'll want your first stop to be the National Museum of the Pacific War. The museum preserves the memory of the Pacific Theater of WWII and commemorates the heroism of military personnel like Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz who commanded more than two million men and women, 5,000 ships, and 20,000 planes at the height of the war. Nimitz was raised by his widowed mother in the small community of Fredericksburg and the museum is partially housed in the restored steamboat-shaped hotel of Nimitz's grandfather.

But if music is your passion, you'll want to go, as Texans put it, down the road a piece.

Classic cars

There you will run upon the town of Luckenbach where "Everybody's Somebody." Read up on Luckenbach's only-in-Texas beginnings and rebirth in 1970 when it was purchased by Honda Crouch and his cohorts. They formed a make-believe town of the post office, general store and beer joint/dance hall and hosted signature events like the Mud Dauber Festival. The whimsy went global when country-rocker Jerry Jeff Walker chose Luckenbach as the backdrop for his gold album Viva Terlingua and spread even wider when Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson immortalised the locale in their hit Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Life).

Luckenbach open air dance hall.

Every night in laid-back Luckenbach, you can join a lively dance crowd on the open air dance floor and try the Cotton Eyed Joe, the Texas Two Step, and the Electric Slide. Expect to bump into an international crowd--I met a group of 14 from cosmopolitan Paris who were in the middle of a cowboy themed trek through Fort Worth, San Antonio, Luckenbach and concluding in Bandera, the self-proclaimed Cowboy Capitol of the World.

Traditional Texas fare like barbecue and steaks. Your Texas adventure can be fuelled by some of the best culinary experiences anwhere via the varied offerings of Hill Country restaurants. The town has exceptional gourmet choices at chef-owned restaurants, bakeries, wineries and micro-breweries, farm-to-table- markets, and seasonal produce stands. German favorites are popular as are Traditional Texas fare like barbecue and steaks. You can even enjoy a delicious Bomber Burger and watch aircraft take off and land at the Airport Diner. Order it with chocolate malt made from ice cream prepared just up the street in Fredericksburg.

You can combine experience and eating by picking your own fruits and vegetables, tasting the local honey, stomping grapes, harvesting lavender, or sampling local cheese and wine at a scenic vineyard. The 600+ acres of the Hill Country Wine Region make up the second most visited wine region in the United States, second only to California's Napa Valley.

Outdoor markets double for western movie sets with their wide assortment of antiques, weathered wood, and architectural cast-offs

Fredericksburg is the perfect jumping off point for any of your Texas fantasies. Texans will tell you, "Y'all come." You will be glad you did!

Thank you Linda for sharing your wonderful views of Texas Hill Country. Next time I'm in Texas it's on my "To Do" list.