Good morning! It's back to reality... but I'm still reminiscing on a fun weekend with my fiance! Lately we've gotten in the habit of eating at the same restaurants and staying in because of our dog's 2nd ACL surgery. He's been recovering for almost a month now, so we decided to plan a day of new adventures! We drove out to Driftwood, TX to try the famous Salt Lick BBQ, and to sip some wine at the Duchman Family Winery. We're originally from Chicago and moved to Austin 2 years ago. We don't know much about BBQ, but have heard that this is THE place to go! When we pulled up, we couldn't believe how huge the place was! Our server later told us that it can seat over 1,000 people. It was about 3:30pm, and we walked up to get a table... hour and a half wait! I couldn't believe that it could be so full when it wasn't even lunch or dinner time. They directed us over to the Salt Lick Cellars while we waited. You don't have to tell me twice!! The walk over was beautiful! The grounds are covered in pretty flowers and walkways and big live oak trees. We each ordered a glass of wine and a cheese plate to hold us over. We sat outside of the cellar on bar stools and chatted!
Shop my outfit here! I got a few compliments on my top while we were waiting! It's super comfortable and affordable!
I couldn't resist snapping a pic of my handsome fiance! I could just stare at him all day long!
This was our view while we ate our cheese plate and drank our wine. The cheese plate was really tasty and a Godsend because we were starving! Did I mention we hadn't eaten and it was 3:30pm! They gave us chunks of mozzarella, swiss, and blue cheese with crackers, berries, walnuts and drizzled honey. It was really good and held us over for our wait! While we were sitting and chatting, a wedding party walked in! We held up our glasses for the new bride and groom! Then, it was our turn to try some BBQ!
Pictured above is their HUGE indoor smoke pit! We could actually smell it from the parking lot when we were pulling in! Their website says that they've kept this fire burning since 1967! We grabbed a seat outside at the same time the live band was setting up. The hour & a half wait paid off! We asked for recommendations and ended up ordering sausage, chicken, brisket and turkey. The sides were homemade coleslaw, beans and bread. Everything was delicious! The BBQ sauce was orange, and super yummy! There was a 'regular' version, but I really liked the spicy one best! Afterwards, we headed to the winery, which was less than 4 miles away.
I took this photo from Google (and the one below below) because we were having so much fun, I forgot to take photos of the outside! There are tons of live oaks and beautiful landscaping with picnic tables for tastings. The grounds of the winery were also gorgeous! When you pull in you can see all the grape vineyards (Italian grapes!).
Once inside, I was ready for some wine!!
We each ordered a glass of wine. The bartender said there were no tours without a reservation, but that we could check out the winery through glass windows down the hallway. It was really neat!
We decided to take our wine outside on a picnic table and chat while the sun was setting. We talked about how fun our day was and how we should do things like this more often! Life is too short to go to the same places over and over again. It's fun to try new things and create memories with the people you love that'll last a lifetime. If you're in the Austin area, I encourage you to drive out to Driftwood and check out these places!
Cheers!! This blog post was different than my normal 'outfit' posts, but I hope you enjoyed it just the same!
