Aloha and Holo Holo: Sweet Sixteen

On Friday, Jeff and I had our sixteenth wedding anniversary. We celebrated with a weekend get-away to Grandbury. Neither of us had ever been there before, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We stayed at the Inn on Lake Grandbury, which was a lovely little bed and breakfast, with beautiful grounds and a fantastic breakfast both mornings. The package we bought also included a gift card for dinner at Eighteen Ninety Grille, where we enjoyed everything we put in our mouths; a show at the Grandbury Opera House, which turned out to be a very funny show called Is He Dead? by Mark Twain; and dessert delivered to our room on one of the nights, which included an amazing homemade cheesecake with raspberries, coffee, and assorted chocolates and a rose left on our pillows.

On Saturday, we spent the day exploring the area. We started off with a peaceful hike at the Acton Nature Center. Then, we went in search of something we saw in a welcome brochure in our room: a large sculpture of a dung beetle. We just couldn't believe someone had actually created a statue of a dung beetle, but we found it at a pick-your-own farm, and can verify its existence. Additionally, this farm also housed sculptures of a praying mantis wrapped in Christmas lights, a large grasshopper and a humongous armadillo. There were also live llamas wandering around. All in all, an excellent find, even though they weren't open and we didn't get to pick any fruit. From there, we moved on to Revolver Brewing, where I managed to choke down my first full beer, which I considered a real victory. The atmosphere was very fun, with food vendors and live music rounding out the beer tasting. After that, we made our way over to the Barking Rocks Vineyard and Winery, for a taste of some alcoholic beverages a little more to my liking. The owner recommended a visit to his neighbor's newly opened Pemberton Cellars, so we took that one in as well. We enjoyed one last tasting and a nice cheese platter at Farina's Winery and Cafe on the old Grandbury square. The lady who helped us really knew her wines and worked hard to discover what we really like in a wine, because she didn't want us to "waste" the tasting. After that, we decided to head back to the inn for a nap. When we woke up, we soaked in the beautiful evening with appetizers by the lake. Finally, we were ready for an authentic German dinner at Ketzler's Schnitzel Haus and Biergarten, which we enjoyed very much.

This morning, we slowly made our way to my parents' to pick up the kids, who had a wonderful weekend of their own. I'm so thankful that Jeff and I found each other all those years ago and that we have had the opportunity to spend the last sixteen years doing life together in our own special way!