In Texas Hill Country
Of Texas-style cuisine – beef, bbq, soul food, TexMex; Texas-style accommodation – historic houses, hip, music-scene hotels, ranches; quintessential Texan experiences – Austin music , Civil Rights sights, back road, hill country drives
Day 1 – Arrive Dallas / John F. Kennedy Museum
Arrive at DFW Airport and pick up your rental car. Drive to your hotel and check in. This afternoon your private guide will meet you to tour the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, the historic site from which President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. This evening reservations have been made for you at one of Dallas’ West End prime steak houses.
Day 2 – Drive to Austin / Afternoon South Austin Crawl
Drive approximately three hours from Dallas to Austin. Check into your South of the River Austin hotel and have lunch. After lunch, your private guide will meet you for a “South Austin Crawl”, walking and stopping at interesting galleries, eclectic shops and wonderful watering holes, topped off by a typical Texas soul food dinner and great live country music. End prime steak houses.
Day 3 – UT / LBJ Museum / Natural Austin / Evening Austin Music Scene
Your morning is free. Your private guide will meet you after lunch for a visit to the University of Texas (UT) Campus, including a stop at the President Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum (LBJ Museum). The LBJ Museum documents the turbulent 1960s from Civil Rights protests and victories to the heartbreak of the Vietnam War. You’ll continue to the Austin Botanical Gardens and the Umlauf Sculpture Gardens for lovely walks in natural settings. Dinner tonight will be at one of the classic barbecue “joints” in the countryside near Austin. After dinner, your private guide will lead you to the best of the clubs on Sixth Street, center of the Austin Music Scene.
Day 4 – Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center / LBJ Ranch National Historical Park / Arrive Hill Country Guest Ranch
After breakfast at your hotel, check out and journey further into the Texas Hill Country. You’ll start with a visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, lived in this area for decades following her time in the White House and worked to save the wildflowers of Texas. Continue to Stonewall, Texas where you will visit the LBJ Ranch National Historical Park located on the Pedernales River. Here, you will see the “Texas White House” and hear tales of one of Texas’ favorite sons, Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States. This is a working ranch & President Johnson is buried here.
In the early afternoon drive the scenic Hill Country back roads to the Inn at Dos Brisas near Washington, Texas, a 300-acre guest ranch where you will be staying for the next two days. There will be time for activities this afternoon at the ranch. (See the activities listed on Day 5 below.)
Day 5 – Full Day at the Inn at Dos Brisas Guest Ranch
Your hosts will help you to schedule activities and relaxation to fit your interests and mood. Activity choices include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, skeet shooting, fishing, swimming, hot tub, cooking classes and stargazing. And you are always welcome to relax in your room, by the pool, or under an oak tree with a good book. And you’ll enjoy exquisite meals during your stay.
Day 6 – Morning at the Inn at Dos Brisas / San Antonio / The Alamo / Riverwalk
After breakfast at the Inn, there will be time for morning activities at the ranch. Then take the scenic drive through the Hill Country to San Antonio. Check in to the beautiful riverside Hotel Valencia. After lunch, take the short walk to “The Alamo”, where a private guide will meet you to tour the old mission where a small band of Texans held out for thirteen days against the army of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Although the Alamo fell in the early morning hours of March 6, 1836, the death of the Alamo Defenders has come to symbolize courage and sacrifice for the cause of Liberty.
Later in the afternoon, enjoy walking and cruising along Riverwalk. This evening, we have made reservations for you at one of the gourmet TexMex cuisine restaurants for which San Antonio is so famous.
Day 7 – Departure
Following breakfast, drive the short distance to the San Antonio International Airport for departure.