I have something to share with you.

Towards the end of the summer, we always have one week between the end of camp and the beginning of school.  And there are two options:  I take time off work and stay home with my daughter and plan some fun activities OR we leave town and have a short family vacation.  My vote:  family trip so we headed to the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort for 5 days.

Czech Stop
No drive from Dallas to Austin/San Antonio would be complete without a stop in West for kolaches. I have my one cup of coffee before we leave the house and wait patiently to arrive in West. And I splurge, just a little bit.  I order two sausage kolaches and one sausage and cheese kolache.  When I moved to Texas, I could not even pronounce the word and the only place I ever have them is when I drive from Dallas south on 35.

JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa
We arrived early afternoon and did a mobile check in while en route.  The resort is north of the city and an easy drive from Dallas as long as you miss traffic.  There is always the option of stopping at the San Marcos outlets if you need to kill time heading to or from San Antonio but my husband said no – we are headed right to the pool.  It was packed when we arrived but keep in mind, it was the last week before school started.  Over the next few days, it cleared out and we had a great time relaxing in the lazy river, riding the slides, and spending time as a family.  They also have special kid activities(some free, others paid) that are super fun.  We did the painting activity(paid) and each took home a piece of art!

Cibolo Moon
Open for all three meals and offering buffets, we came here for three meals.  Two breakfasts and one dinner.  Dinner started with wonderful biscuits and homemade jelly, then we tried the chili and of course, shrimp and grits!  Super delicious.  Breakfast was also good but I recommend you use OpenTable to reserve a time.  It can get pretty busy!

Crooked Branch
We were with a group of people so everyone had dinner at the sports bar but me.  I wanted to see what the options were at the lobby bar and all the moms were going to get together for a drink that night.  Flatbreads, grilled cheese, tacos…standard small plates.  

18 Oaks
Our server was amazing for dinner so we came back for breakfast the next day.  At dinner we ordered a couple appetizers and shared a steak.  With the steak came a knife presentation.  They start the meal with homemade jerky, then my husband had the french onion soup and I had the Heirloom Tomato & Fresh Ricotta salad.  Dinner was a bone-in ribeye, creamed spinach and duck fat fries. My daughter ordered the caesar salad and loved it.

For breakfast we had Cinnamon Sugar French Toast and Blueberry Pancakes.  Delicious.

High Velocity
The kids loved this spot.  Not because of the food but because of the tv’s.  Typical bar food, tried some nachos.  My husband had a sandwich.  It’s an easy spot to hit on the way back from the pool if the kids are hungry and you don’t want a full “dinner experience”.  And no reservations, so keep an eye on when they start getting full during busier times.

Megg’s Cafe
Last time we drove from Austin to Dallas, we stopped in Temple and ate at Wes’s Burger Shack.  This time I wanted to try something new and found Megg’s.  The menu was great – appetizers options that made it hard to choose, a variety of sandwiches and per my daughter, the best caesar salad EVER.  We started with the deviled eggs and wished we had ordered more.  We also had the brussel sprouts and they were fantastic.  The pork torta was ordered by both me and my husband and even though I cannot say it was fabulous, it was good!!  The breakfast menu looked great and they have a bakery by the front which is where we stopped to bring home some goodies for breakfast in the morning!