The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, TX

While visiting Hill Country in Texas, my husband and I stayed in Fredericksburg in a Hampton Inn and Suites on Main Street. The hotel was at the end of the busy downtown district and had a balcony that overlooked the hotel pool and the busy street.

A lovely evening photo of our Fredericksburg Hotel.

Just across the street was a great steak house, and next to the restaurant was a cute little white church. We decided to walk across the street for dinner and before going into the restaurant we stopped to look at the church. When we walked into the church there were two gentlemen sitting in the back of the church talking. As we were looking around they introduced themselves, and we had a great conversation with them about the history of the church.

The story of this little white church.

One of the gentlemen was a local surgeon that seemed to be spearheading the renovation of the church, and the other gentleman was actually doing the construction and the renovation. The surgeon told us stories of going to the church when he was young and it really sounded like this project was a labor of love. We just lucked out that they were there in the church and had it open for us to look inside. We were so grateful that they shared with us not only this wonderful little church, but also their knowledge and history about the church.

The look of the outside of the church is what drew us to visit. They have done so much work on getting it into the condition it is in today. The sidewalk on the side of the church was a Boy Scout project, and the boys did a great job. They have a new ramp and walkway in the front, with a really cool railing that is all new, and very well done. They are still restoring the church, so as of yet they have not been open on a regular schedule. The building has so much potential to hold meetings or weddings that it will be interesting to follow up on their progress to see what they end up doing with the building when it is complete.

An inviting entrance with its beautiful wood doors.

I love the design on the railing.

This is the walkway designed and built by the Boy Scouts.

The inside of the church is gorgeous. The floors have been done with re-purposed wood. The gentleman that we talked to that was doing the construction work actually make wood shutters for the windows and renovated the original pews. He was joking with us on how uncomfortable the pews were and insinuated that they made church goers wanting to stand more often during the service. He was correct! The pews were not very comfortable, but they were beautiful.

I love the rich wood tones on the floor and the pews are works of art.

The shutters were hand made by one of the gentlemen we met at the church.

The best part of the church for me was the original organ that was refurbished and placed in the front of the church. This organ is gorgeous and still works like it did back in the day. The gentleman in the church were joking with us that you had to be in great shape to play the organ because you had to constantly pump the pedals to play it.

This was my favorite part of the church.  I was encouraged to open the cover to the keys and I must say I was nervous to touch something so exceptional.

This little white church had its place in Fredericksburg's African American history, and thanks to the two gentlemen we met in that beautiful little church, it now has a place in Fredericksburg future.

We Went Nuts Over Pecans.com

You cannot live in Texas and not be a pecan lover.  There is a sign at the entrance to the city of San Saba, TX which proclaims it to be the “Pecan Capital of the World”.  There is a pecan farm there that was started by E. E. Risien, an English cabinetmaker, who stopped in San Saboa on his way to San Francisco and decided to stay and raise pecans. Risien had a tree that is now over 200 years old that he would cross pollinated this "Mother Tree" with different male pollen to develop a variety of types of pecans. Risien would ship his pecans to England's Queen Victoria, so of course this made San Saba the pecan capital of the world.

This week we went on a trip to Fredericksburg, TX for a short vacation, and to do come convertible driving in Hill Country. On the trip we went through a little city called Goldthwaite. As we were driving through town we saw this Pecan factory that had a store attached, and of course we stopped to shop.

Pecans.com store in Goldthwaite, TX.

Goldthwaite is a very small town with a few thousand people. They have a cool sign in the city center and some fun decorations on the traffic light poles. But the best place in town in my opinion is the Pecan factory. Walking into the store was like walking into pecan heaven.

Downtown Goldthwaite

Cowboy Boot on the traffic light pole in Goldthwaite.

Guitar on the traffic light pole in Goldthwaite.

The Pecans.com store had everything a pecan lover would want, pecan brittle, yogurt covered pecans, dark, milk and white chocolate covered pecans, raw pecans, Pecan Sandies............ you get the idea. You can get gift baskets, or an armadillo shaped container full of goodies. They even make jellies, flavored peanut butter, salad dressings, relishes, dips and much more. This shopping trip was all about the pecans. We bought some of our favorites, yogurt, dark chocolate and white chocolate covered pecans and Pecan Sandies.

The Yogurt covered Pecans were very large and so delicious.

You can see just how large these treats are.

The Dark Chocolate covered pecans were my Husbands favorite.

Pecan Sandies have always been one of my favorite cookies. The Pecan Sandies at the Pecans.com store are the best I have ever eaten.

Whether you call them Pee-cans of Pa-cons, you most definitely will call the pecan treats from Pecans.com DELICIOUS!