re·ju·ve·nate – verb

to make (someone or something) look or feel younger, fresher, or more lively

Ahhh. To be rejuvenated. With the girlfriends. As in, longer than a lunch hour. Long enough to hash it out and dish it up.

If you’re needing a little down time with your besties, or maybe planning that all-important bachelorette weekend before your biggest day, where could you go in the whole big state of Texas that would be better than right here in the Texas hill country?

Especially now – while the bluebonnets are blooming – girlfriend heaven is right here in the beautiful Texas hill country, where in the space of 90 minutes’ time from pretty much anywhere in Austin, you and your friends can be well on your way to some serious rejuvenation.

If you need some ideas to get started on your planning, you might find one or two here.

10 Things to Do on Your Hill Country Girls Weekend

Stay where you can relax.  Does your group want separate hotel rooms? Maybe they would rather go on the cheap, bunk together and spend their weekend wad on a spa treatment?

Finding where you want to stay is the only hard part! There are endless possibilities, from a traditional B&B to camping at a state park.

My girlfriends and I recently enjoyed a hill country weekend at Birdsong Cottage on a quiet cove of Lake LBJ.  

Experience some spontaneity.  Have a few things planned, but also leave space for spontaneity when it comes to your hill country girls weekend. You may want to spend more time over coffee under the big oak trees, or you may want to jump and run, weaving in and out of all the wineries you possibly can. Weaving on the map, that is. Not in the car. 

There are so many hidden gems and unexpected finds in the hill country, so know before you go that you if you plan too much, you might miss out on a spontaneous adventure. You may spot a banner hanging over the highway that announces a small town’s home tour that afternoon. Be willing to veer off the beaten path when one of your group says, “Hey, let’s go see what that is!”

Bring a selfie stick. When you find an especially gorgeous patch of Texas bluebonnets, you’ll want a way to capture the memory, but without a selfie stick, you’ll be limited to photos without the whole group. However, if someone in your group is the birthday girl, it’s ok to take her picture all by her beautiful self. Happy birthday, Jennifer!

Visit a winery.  There are wineries out the wazoo in the Texas hill country, and I haven’t found one yet that I didn’t enjoy. Either the wine is great, or the setting is stunning…or both. You just can’t spend a weekend in the hill country without a visit to a Texas winery. Or shouldn’t, anyway, because, even if one of the girlfriends doesn’t really enjoy wine, there’s always a cheese board, beautiful scenery, live music and delicious hill country water. (Here’s a drone video of the winery we visited on our recent girls weekend.)

Check out a small hill country town. Little towns along the highway from Austin to anywhere have so much going on. Do a little research ahead of time to find out what they’re offering for the weekend, or just be explorers and see what you can “happen onto.” Either way, the highlights of your weekend await in the hidden gems you will enjoy together in Texas’ small towns, like Comfort, Llano, Luckenbach and Gruene.

Find some music. A trip to the hill country should always include some live music. It’s what Austin is known for, it’s everywhere, and it’s so fun. My husband and I are still figuring it all out, but I think half the enjoyment of the music is in the pursuit of finding it! My girlfriends and I paid $15 for a ticket to the Saturday night show at Llano’s yearly Fiddle Fest and couldn’t believe our stroke of genius! Or maybe just dumb luck. Either way, Elana James and Hot Club of Cowtown knocked our bluegrass socks off with their incredible fiddle, bass and guitar. We’ll be talking about this one for years to come. Amazing.

Shop. What girls’ weekend anywhere would be complete without at least a little shopping? You can either go home and tell your hubby you were a good girl – “hardly bought a thing” – or, if you stuffed your bags with a few too many things “you’d never find anywhere else” – make it up to him later. But, you gotta shop a little on a hill country weekend.

Celebrate something. Even if you’re enjoying a weekend with friends you see often, this weekend in the hill country can be made even more memorable by including a celebration for something specific. Even if it’s not someone’s birthday in your group, just celebrate the number of years you’ve been friends. Over the years with my girlfriends, we’ve spent weekends celebrating birthdays and blessings of many kinds. This year, three of our kids got married (two of them to each other!), another sweet grandbaby was born, and a few more of the kids found jobs they like. We were ready to celebrate! One of our friends always thinks ahead and brings something festive, like a banner and these Happy Birthday napkins. How sweet is that!

Eat some dessert. That’s a given, isn’t it? Girlfriends on a weekend? There’s gotta be some dessert. Girlfriends on a weekend in the hill country? Might want to check out the key lime pie at High’s in Comfort. So.dang.good. Visible flecks of lime in a piece of key lime pie are always a pretty good sight to behold.

Take lots of pictures. When the trip is over and you’re all back to your own real world of laundry and life, the pictures will remind you of what a great time you had. They will also keep you thinking about the next rejuvenating weekend!

Where do you want to go next time? Hiking in the Himalayas? An Alaskan cruise? Or maybe back to the Texas hill country. You can never see it all.

Encouraging intentional adventure and a girls weekend in the bluebonnets!

Have you shown your girlfriends around the hill country? What fun places did you find?