Fredericksburg report (San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels: appointed, sales, live)

[NOTAM]

took a short drive to Fredericksburg with out of state family, and it was the first time i have been there....
was VERY disappointed. i dont know what the big fuss is. just a main street full of shops.
i didn't find anything very charming about it. nothing like Salado.
did go stop at Coopers Pit BBQ in Llano and it was very good.
Enchanted Rock State Park was awesome.

[Canine*Castle]

I agree about Fredericksburg. I haven't been there in years to visit, but I have driven through it many times and don't have any desire to visit again. I wasn't impressed at all. We took my mom there on her 80th birthday which was in 1991, a taste of our German heritage needed. She had fun, but really, it's just a tourist trap with very unfriendly sales people ..... not charming at all. If I remember correctly, there were very few people who could even speak the language. Oh well.

[roverchris]

If you are there, try Friedhelm's Bavarian Grill, all the way down Main St. on the left. Besides that, just overpriced tourist stuff.Enchanted Rock is great though, as is the Hill Country in general.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

I agree about Fredericksburg. I haven't been there in years to visit, but I have driven through it many times and don't have any desire to visit again. I wasn't impressed at all. We took my mom there on her 80th birthday which was in 1991, a taste of our German heritage needed. She had fun, but really, it's just a tourist trap with very unfriendly sales people ..... not charming at all. If I remember correctly, there were very few people who could even speak the language. Oh well.

I haven't been in a couple/three years, but we avoid the main drag (except for a couple of restaurants we've found reliably good over the years and the Nimitz Museum - I love the Japanese garden there). Of course, we try to do that with any place that has a lot of tourists (including Salado, just five minutes up the road from us, come to that - it has its own "tourist trap" areas, as well).

It's entirely possible to avoid the tourist traps if you make the effort.

As for "very few people who could even speak the language", are you speaking of guests or proprietors? And, for that matter, what language are you referring to, (must not be English, because I never noticed that as being a problem at all)? Or, for that matter, unfriendly sales people - our experience has been quite the opposite.

[Lake Conroe resident]

Went there last year when hurricane Ike rolled through and took our power out. Like most others have said, not much there to "wow" you; I was actaully expecting it to be a lot nicer around this area as well as the lakes (wide rivers) around Austin. Maybe I expected too much as I have heard others talk about how nice the area is; I would have no reason to return to these areas again as I have seen it now. I guess if the only place you had ever lived or visited was in the middle of some H-hole this would seem spectacular, but other than that I would say not so much.

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by NOTAM

took a short drive to Fredericksburg with out of state family, and it was the first time i have been there....
was VERY disappointed. i dont know what the big fuss is. just a main street full of shops.

I told you so! I expected a LOT more when I went to Fredericksburg because it is always mentioned here on CD.com about being great. I found it boring and not ONE single restaurant was open on a week-day at 2 PM. I found that odd.

As for the sales staff being unfriendly--I didn't really notice that.

[hound 109]

Yep, I'm also not a fan....my comments from a similar thread a few months back:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dopo

Original Post:

I traveled about 70 miles from San Antonio to Fredericksburg to see what all the hype about "The german town" is about.

I drove about 5 blocks through Main St. and saw a lot of small businesses, a few with german names and a couple with german flags.
(Is that about it?)

I grew up in Southamerica about 1/2 hour away from a german town
and I think my expectations were a little too high.
...

My response:

I agree with this original post. Way too cute & touristy for me.

I'll drive AROUND Fburg a couple of times a year to get to Enchanted Rock when i visit it.

IMO there's as much "German Influence" in New Braunfels, Kerrville & even San Antonio (& probably a dozen other Texas towns) as there is in Fburg.... & w/o the lame tourist shops & $4 ice cream cone shops that one finds up & down Main Street Fburg.

(The Nimitz Museum IS something to see though.)

If one must do the cutesy shops etc., I prefer an afternoon in Gruene. You can walk down to the river.....hang out for while in Gruene Hall.....or get a chicken fried something or good burger or steak at the Gristmill....while the woman do their cutesy shop shopping.

[TexasNick]

For me it's the surrounding area that I like.

[TT Dave]

I agree that Fredricksburg is a little over-rated. I personally prefer New Braunfels. It has the same German heritage as Fredricksburg but there's more to do there (Schlitterbahn, etc.), and the yearly Wurstfest festival in New Braunfels is really fun too.

[rgb123]

Enchanted Rock is worth the drive to me. And they have way more shops than NB or Gruene....I did go in the winter though on a Sunday and most shops were closed...that made it less fun for sure!