WHY we RV - Surprises on the Road

When you are on the Road in your Motorhome or Camper you are often looking for local places to explore, such as; restaurants, nature sites, photographic opportunities and local history.

Often, we will hear about a place of interest from our fellow campers, but what we really like to do is just turn on the Garmin, and drive around with our camera, and "discovery' places and sites.

This can be boring at times, but sometimes we find a real jewel that turns into a favorite memory for us.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and after yet another trip to Camping World for parts (but that's another story), we were heading in the general direction of our campground.

The traffic around San Antonio was bumper to bumper, so by the time we got into the countryside, our nerves were a little frazzled.

Also, we were hungry by this time and in search of that mystical place along the road, where the food is great, the wine good and the beer cold.

After about thirty minutes the decision was made to settle for any two of the requisites I mentioned above and just look for anything that might be promising when we saw a sign that advised us that we were entering the town of Helotes(hell-o-tees).

We figured; Oh hell (sic!),why not,it's worth a try.

So we took the first right off of the road and continued our search, but we were now driving at a much slower pace. The traffic had decreased drastically and, as I mentioned, so had our expectations.

Hope springs eternal, however, and before long we saw a building with a rock facade and a small sign which read "Wine 101".

And, our being strong proponents of higher education, we decide to give this place a try.

We were seated in an outside courtyard complete with decorative lights in the trees and some really good Latin flavored music wafting through the leaves, by the owner.

And, we were delighted to discover that we not only had found a small restaurant but also a nice wine store with an abundant selection of great wines to be purchased after our sampling had been completed.

Since we were really hungry, we eagerly scanned the menu which included some nice choices of cheese trays and other combinations of meats, vegetables and cheeses.

Of course, it goes without saying that our first hard decision was which wine we would be enjoying from their extensive and interesting list.. We finally decided on a California Chardonnay by Daniel Gehrs and eagerly awaited its arrival at our table.

Relaxing in the shade of the tall Live Oaks, we had relaxed from our drive and we were delighted when the wine arrived, accompanied by frosted wine glasses.

This was a welcome treat considering the Indian summer heat of Texas.

Our choice for lunch was a European cheese tray described as being for two.

When it arrived, it was obvious that four people would have been thoroughly satisfied with both the quality and quantity of our selection.

Imagine having to choose between the following treats (all of which were on the tray): Brie, bleu cheese,Swiss cheese,cream cheese with hot pepper topping, fresh sweet grapes, cold tasty cherry tomatoes,Black and Pimento Olives, artichoke hearts, all accompanied by warm Italian bread,Wheat crackers and Pita points.

Yeah, it was that much food and it was all delicious.

What a wonderful discovery and a great afternoon.

We lounged around for over two hours, savoring this grand surprise on our RV trip. The music, food, wine and outdoor ambiance were priceless to us.

As we left to return to our RV and campground, the extra bottle of wine that we had purchased will remind us and encourage us to take more of those right turns on our trip and enjoy the chance occurence that you find a great the local places, like Wine 101, that we find along the way.

I think that the most important lesson we had re-learned in Wine 101 that afternoon, was that you will never find the hidden jewels if you are not willing to look in those out of the way places.

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