(We wrapped up the evening of Mini-vacay Day One with a game of Thunderstone, where E decidedly kicked my ass. We were asleep before 11pm…ready to rest up for our day on the water.)

…but the water outing was not meant to be. Watercraft rentals were $70-100/hour and none of those were for sailboats. So, we did some scenic driving: saw a model home and new neighborhood, took in the sights on Scenic Drive, and headed toward Gruene along the River Road.

At Gruene, we browsed a couple of shops and then stopped at the Gristmill. E’s food was fine. Mine was not. As you can see on Yelp.com.

On the way back to our cabin (the short/direct way, this time) we passed a sign for the Natural Bridge Caverns. E has been before, but asked if I wanted to go. Um, sure, but only if it’s reasonable. The sign pointing “that way” was more-than-just-misleading; it was over 10 miles from the thing. And, it’s $20 admission. Now, on a day when I had the proper shoes for such an outing or if I wasn’t still grumpy from the fubar at the Gristmill, maybe….but not today. So, we left.

On the way back to our cabin (again), we passed the Castle Avalon. With it’s double gate and four towers, E had to see what this place was all about. So, we drove up the road and found this:

The nice lady working there invited us in to see it, showed us the bride/groom ready rooms, the ceremony garden, the formal dining room, and the ballroom. They can handle events for up to 150 people. wow!

We finally made it back to the cabin, where E crashed into his vacation nap and I worked on a couple of little projects.

That evening, we headed back to the Marina, where we knew I could eat without hassle. We stayed through ’til sunset. One our way back to the cabin, we found the Dam Red Barn (a local dive with a big dancefloor) and stayed there for a little bit.

Once again, we were in bed ~early and got some of the much needed R from our R&R mini-vacay.