Happy Holidays Friends! I love this time of the year as it is so bright and cheerful everywhere. This year my in-laws decided to visit us from India, making it an even more cheerful holiday season. I love it when our family visits us from back home. We miss them so much. These visits are even more joyful now because we get to see our son make lovely memories with his grandparents and learn couple of new words and sentences in our native language, Hindi.

Since the schools were closed and we were able to take few days off from work, me and my husband planned to take our family for a mini getaway out of Houston. We skipped hopping into flights and avoided the holiday airport madness for a 3 and half hour road trip to Texas Hill Country. The Upscale Horseshoe Bay Resort resting on the shores of lake LBJ was our home away from home for 2 days.

We had already been to this hill country retreat last year in summer with our friends and so it seemed perfect to also enjoy the hospitality in the winter months with our family. We are obviously big fans of this place and in this post I wanted to share with you all, a glimpse to our fun getaway.

Stay: We stayed in the 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom Palm Villas. It is perfect for families and groups looking for more space. The villas have  contemporary decor and comfortable living, sleeping and dining areas. A full kitchen is always crucial for our trips especially because most of us our vegetarian and prefer to cook few meals and breakfast. Me and my mom in law were very pleased with the huge kitchen .Throughout our stay we also got to enjoy the resort’s amenities and concierge services, as well as the restaurants, lounges, finesses centers , pools and more.

Activities: The most important reason why we chose this stay cation was for the number of things to do within and around the resort. Apart from enjoying the heated pools, tennis courts, golf course and dock fishing, I love that they had so many activities for kids and families. Our favorite this time of the year was the 18 hole Whitewater Putting Course. Vir enjoyed the experience and so did my in laws. The scenery is beautiful and I highly recommend this activity. The resort also has beautiful trails one can’t miss, we loved walking around the resort on a crisp sunny day and spotting some turtles, ducks and birds on our way.

The resort also has large fire pits where they host camping with s’mores events , I saw it was huge hit with kids especially after pool time. Make sure to look at their events calendar before booking. We missed out on sampling some of the amenities like the Spa and water sports due to weather and time. Definitely on my list to do for next time.

RESTAURANTS. The restaurants at the resort are fantastic. There are upscale restaurants like the Yacht Club with gorgeous lake views and outdoor seating. You need to make reservations here and also note there is a dress code. The other Family friendly restaurants like Lantana and Cafe Del Sol have large tables and patio seating. There are gigantic TV’s scaling the walls and outdoor seating to which helped our son relax and enjoy lunch/dinner without a fuss. Also they had heaters everywhere to keep it warm and cozy. You can explore more restaurants and sports bars here.

The Jungle Kids Club

This place was one of the new additions from our last visit and an excellent one ! The Jungle Kids Club is a two-story jungle gym featuring a tunnel slide and is included as one of the room amenities. Vir loved it and spent more than an hour playing here. He also tried the rock climbing wall finally. I saw some older kids enjoying the art, craft and block activities with the staff. BTW you can also reserve a kids night out here !

Special Events

RING IN THE NEW YEAR AT HORSESHOE BAY RESORT. On 31st Dec at 9:30 pm, the ballroom at the resort will open and The Argyles will keep the dance floor packed all night with an incredible live music performance to ring in 2019!! Find more information here . Highly recommend it for families as you can drop off your kids at the Kid’s club for their own party while you enjoy yours! I really hoped we could stay for this one, but my in-laws fly out on 1st Jan and so we had to head back home to finish a few things.

Local Must See :
Sunset Cruises- Definitely recommend the Sunset Cruise on the beautiful Lake LBJ. You can also get your own wine and some snacks.

Explore the Vineyards-Take a tour of wineries, taste world class vintages, and discover the rich wine making traditions of the Texas Hill Country. Best is to drive up to the local vineyards.

Head to Fredricksburg-On our way back home we took a short detour to Fredricksburg. An hour long drive from the resort we visited the Main Street in Fredericksburg. I love the window shopping here and the German vibe. There are some great wine tasting shops where you have to stop. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas and also had 30 ft Christmas tree and ice rink this time of the year

Have a fantastic 2019 everyone!