Taking a step outside the city

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to drive just outside San Antonio to a place called Gruene which is near New Braunfels. Tyler's great aunt, Lisa & hubby live in New Braunfels & we met them at an amazing place for dinner. When we drove into Gruene, it was quite surprising. It was a drastic scenery change from the city. It had quaint little stores & buildings with an 'old time' feel to them. When we got near the restaurant, there was NO where to park nearby so we ended up parking about a quarter mile away in a dirt parking lot. The place we ate at was called Gristmill & I wish I would have taken a pic before the sun went down because this pic doesn't do it justice at all.

This place is HUGE & I couldn't believe how many people were there and all the tables everywhere. We asked our waiter if this was considered "busy" and he laughed and said "not at all - in the summer we have about a 3-4 hour wait & 80 waiters on duty at one time!" We were shocked when we heard him say this because we had never been to a restaurant so big and popular! Lisa made sure to request our table be down by the river which I was happy about because it was a great view from where we were eating. The food was great & Tyler said it was the best steak he has ever had. We definitely got spoiled by Lisa & Stan because they paid for our meal & we know it was pretty pricey - so thank you again you guys! We loved seeing you & were so glad we got to experience this place!

You might recognize this place pictured below. If you've ever seen the movie Michael with John Travolta - it's in that movie!

The next day, we got to drive outside the city yet again to Atkins, which was more of a cowboy country feel. We found another restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives there called Texas Pride Barbecue. Before we left on our trip I had been watching Groupon for food deals we could use in San Antonio & this was one of them I purchased!

We were way excited to eat here because we had heard such good things about their food & Tyler & I are both big fans of barbecue. We walked in & it's such a laid back place. You told the meat cutter what types of meat you wanted and he would cut it & throw it on butcher paper & into a glass bottle crate & send you on your way. There are no plates so you just eat off the butcher paper! We got brisket, chicken, sausage & ribs (and shared of course). Tyler & I decided the ribs were our favorite - they were so moist & just fell off the bone. Well needless to say, they did not disappoint, the food was AMAZING! And we got peach cobbler for dessert, that was so delicious!

Here are a few pictures of the place.

They had a live band playing

One of the coolest things about this place is the parking attendant... just a guy on his horse!

{Emma being brave & petting the horse}

It was so nice being able to see a different side of Texas than what we had been seeing in the city. It was nice to experience what I had imagined Texas would be like!