If you've been following my blog over the past year, then you know I love a good day trip. This time around I took a day trip to New Braunfels, Texas for a nice Saturday to relax and try some new things. My family has made New Braunfels a go-to vacation spot over the years and I never really go (it's about 45 minutes from Austin) unless my family is visiting. My last trip to New Braunfels was five years ago and I decided to make a day trip for this visit since I was going solo. I meant to take this trip back in March. However, I had to postpone it due to weather and I (fortunately) picked the perfect day to go this time around.
Driving to New Braunfels
The key to making the most out of trip to New Braunfels is getting there early. I left Austin around 9:00 AM and arrived to New Braunfels a little before 10:00 AM. Street parking and parking lots fill up quickly and even faster in late spring - early fall while when the weather is ideal for tubing. The earlier you arrive, the better. I was also driving from Austin and the best way to beat the treacherous I-35 traffic is to hit the road before everyone else is out and about. Once you take an exit towards New Braunfels, it's pretty easy to navigate your way around town.
Exploring New Braunfels
For this day trip to New Braunfels, I wanted to focus on a combination of checking out locations that would be new to me and revisiting some of my favorite locations in town. I experienced this through both food and activities during my trip.
Breakfast at Naegelin's Bakery
Naegelin's Bakery is not just a New Braunfels staple, but a Texas staple. It's considered the oldest bakery in Texas and is a popular spot for fresh baked breads and pastries. They have free parking for customers and a drive-thru for anyone who wants to quickly get a baked sweet treat. Naegelin's Bakery also has some bistro tables outside and I chose to eat the glazed donut and cream cheese kolache that I purchased for a quick and tasty breakfast. I typically don't eat outside, but the weather was nice enough to do so that day. I also bought a glazed, fried apple pie which I saved for later. When I finished eating, it was time to take in my first activity of the day.
Sophienburg Museum and Archives
Are you a history fan or just a general museum fan like I am? A visit to the Sophienburg Museum and Archives would be the perfect activity for you! Although the museum isn't free, the admission prices are very low with a standard adult ticket only being $8.00 and $4.00 for teenagers. This museum tells the history of the origins of New Braunfels. There is an introduction space where you will learn about the founder of New Braunfels (he was German royalty), a bit about the sister city in Germany, the journey of German immigrants to Texas, and how they established the city of New Braunfels. Descendants of these families still live in the area and over the years many of them have donated some incredible artifacts to the Sophienburg Museum. The displays are also very unique and are designed to give you a better sense of what the town would've looked like in the 1800s. These pictures give a bit of insight and I'll have more to share on Instagram. However, it is really something that is best experienced in person.
Gruene Historic District
Pronounced "green", the Gruene Historic District is kind of like a town within a town. Gruene is not actually a town, but once you get to Gruene Historic District it feels like you're in a place that's separate from New Braunfels. This little area of less than 100 acres is packed with local businesses -- many of which feature stages for live music performances. In fact, there's live music every single day in Gruene with some being free to watch and others requiring paid tickets. Gruene Historic District is home to the iconic Gruene Dance Hall and is the primary music venue there. In my senior year of high school, we went on a choir trip to New Braunfels and our "senior surprise" during the trip was dinner at The Gristmill followed by a night next door at Gruene Dance Hall for a performance by Asleep at the Wheel! I didn't experience anything like that during this day trip, but that goes to show that Gruene is a fun place to be no matter what time of day it is.
Lunch at the Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar
After the museum, it was time to get lunch and I decided to go to the Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar. What was once a cotton production site is now one of the most popular restaurants in New Braunfels. Located in the Gruene Historic District, they have reasonably priced food with good flavor and plates of giant onion rings piled high. The last time I ate at the Gristmill was nearly nine years ago and each time I've been there it's always super busy. I made sure to arrive about 30 minutes after they opened so I could easily be seated and continue about my day as even more people arrived to the area. The Gristmill not only has good food, but they also have great service! I was able to enjoy my time at my table outside (the weather was still nice) as I sipped on lemonade while eating chips and spicy queso, fried catfish, and squash. I received regular check-ins from server covering the tables in the part of the restaurant I was seated in and the live music was getting started on the stage outside to help add more to the already pleasant ambiance. I always look forward to eating here!
Gruene Antique Company
When I finished eating lunch, I decided to walk around and check out some of the shops. I started with the Gruene Antique Company. I love stories about real people and antiques always make me think about the people that have been in possession of the different items previously. I especially love vintage kitchenware. If I could, I would've bought everything from the kitchen section! There were so many great bowls, cups, mugs, casserole dishes, and other items that I would love to have at home. Unfortunately, I could only window shop because I already don't have enough space in my cabinets for my kitchenware. Once I reminded myself of this, I made my way down the road to another local business.
The Gruene Olive Tasting Room
Have you ever been to an olive oil tasting room before? If not, I highly recommend going to one! My original plan was to go to the wine tasting room across the street, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to take in a completely new experience. Plus, I was running low on a garlic infused olive oil that I bought at the grocery store and figured this would be a good opportunity to discover more olive oil flavors. I enjoyed every single olive oil I tasted. There's a plethora of options and there's even recommendations for how to mix different flavors. I got a small bottle of their garlic olive oil to replace my soon-to-be-empty bottle at home and I also purchased a small bottle of their Tuscan herb olive oil which will be excellent with some lemon herb chicken or sourdough bread. My experience here was great from the moment I walked in and was warmly greeted and helped throughout the time I was in the tasting room. These are people who are clearly passionate about olive oil and sharing that with people who are also interested in the versatility of this important ingredient that is ideal to always have in your kitchen.
Gruene General Store
From the olive oil tasting room, I made my way across the street to stop by the Gruene General Store. There's all sorts of Texas-themed and local items available for purchase there. They have local candies, honey, hot sauce, jellies, and peanut butter. You can also find plenty of souvenirs and toys. Like a classic general store is expected the have, the Gruene General Store has a snack counter. You can get ice cream cones, sodas, coffee, fudge, and other treats! The storefront is tiny though, so be prepared to squeeze through the aisles on a busy day. After browsing the general store, I walked back to my car in the parking lot (it's an expansive lot nicely situated behind businesses on this block that make it easy to access all of Gruene) and began to make my way back home.
Wrap-Up
My day trip to New Braunfels got started early which means it also ended early. I needed to be done early though because I knew it would take even longer to get back to Austin than I would've preferred. I also wanted to make quick stop by the Tanger Outlets in San Marcos because I wanted to see the Wayfair Outlet store (yes, that's apparently a thing). I ended up leaving New Braunfels around 2:45 PM and I probably would've stayed longer had I not been by myself. I wanted to check out some of the performances, walk around a bit more, and visit more shops. However, a full day in New Braunfels is best experienced with other people. I think the things I did for my day trip to New Braunfels were ideal for someone making spending the day there solo. There's just so much more that around an even more enjoyable with family or friends by your side.
Additionally, you may have noticed I didn't even spend time doing two of the most popular activities in New Braunfels. I did not go to Schlitterbahn Waterpark which is a day-long activity by itself and I went there on that same choir trip I mentioned earlier. It's fun, but I'm too old to feel like I could go back and I would never go by self. What is easily the most popular tourist attraction in a city with multiple rivers is tubing. People love to float the rivers on inner tubes on a warm day. However, Texas is still largely in a drought in this region which means the rivers aren't as full and I don't actually like to be outside that much. Of course it's also not a good idea to go tubing alone either.
With that being said, New Braunfels is a great place to go for a solo day trip. If you're going with friends or family, I recommend making it at least a weekend trip. There's so much to experience and it's such a relaxed environment and more affordable than you would expect. I look forward to returning to New Braunfels to see more of the places I didn't get to see during this day trip!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet/post (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share what you enjoy about visiting New Braunfels!