Yesterday, I took a drive to the Texas Hill Country with my friend and fellow photographer Betty Gaw. We wanted to make one more trip this spring to catch the bluebonnets before they disappear until next year. If you missed our last trip to Big Bend National Park, check out the post here.
We left early in the morning not knowing if the weather was going to cooperate with us. To our fortune, the line of storms passing through Texas passed over us as we drove. It stopped raining only minutes before we arrived at our first location to shoot.
We started out by driving to Marble Falls and shooting the “Bluebonnet House.” While this house is cool and the pictures are great, it was overshadowed by the beauty of Falkenstein Castle in Burnet, TX.
The story behind Falkenstein Castle starts with a Texas couple named Terry and Kim Young. The Young’s were both fans of the castles built by King Ludwig of Bavaria. During a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, they discovered that Ludwig II has plans to build a castle named Falkenstein, but didn’t live long enough to see it through.
The Youngs decided to carry out the vision of Ludwig II by building the castle for themselves. I have not been inside, but I hear that the Castle is just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.
After shooting Falkenstein Castle, Betty and I headed to Llano, stopping along the way for wildflower shots. After a quick lunch in Llano, we headed to Kingsland to shoot the 1903 railroad bridge that is famous for the bluebonnets that grow on the tracks.
After a long day of shooting, Betty and I decided that it would just be wrong to drive back to Houston without a slice of pie from the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls, Texas. We had seen the Bluebonnet Cafe on the way up that morning and agreed that if we had a good day shooting, we should stop there on the way home.
Betty and I debated the merits of Coconut Creme versus Coconut Meringue while I slugged down some coffee before our drive home. While Betty seems to think that Coconut Creme is more popular; we all know that Coconut Meringue always wins.
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