Wimberley

When you first told me it, I was like...

The cool thing about the name is it has a real meaning and that's that John Michael's daughter, he used to live in Wimberley by the river and They would walk down by the river, and when the fireflies would be going off, she'd go, look down, my glitter.

So I love that about it, that the name is actually that cool.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'd been so wound up, I would have grasped at any sign the world was righting itself.

He suggested a weekend in Wimberley, last minute, but urgent, as if escape was the only way to fix what was wrong.

We drove out early Saturday, a playlist between us, ranches rolling by under infinite blue sky.

Alex was attentive, arm across my shoulders, asking about my next commission, laughing at my attempts to sketch us in the rearview mirror.

After a day driving the back roads around Fredericksburg or Comfort, this is the kind of place where you can just park the car and simply enjoy Texas.

How about a railroad caboose that isn't sitting beside a ranch or a B&B, but how about right in the middle of Wimberley, Texas? The Caboose on the Square is a restored Rock Island caboose with a queen bed.

It's got a kitchenette and even a clawfoot tub.

Step outside, and you're immediately in the middle of Wimberley Square.

That's where you're gonna find all the restaurants and shops that are nearby.

It's an unusual combination, railroad history, Hill Country scenery, and a weekend walkable destination, all without having to get back in the car.

You know, I was a huge fan of Nickel Creek that they were a big part of why I even started playing mandolin and wanting to play music in the first place.

And, uh, so I met them, they were playing, I'm from a little town outside of Austin, Texas called Wimberley.

They were playing at a festival near there and I had just gotten a mandolin for Christmas and, you know, their video for reasons why I was on CMT and I lost my mind and thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

And so we found out they were playing at a festival nearby, went to see them, got to meet them.

And then at NEC, where I went to college, Dominique Eade, I took lessons with her.

But in those early years, it was just singing around the house, you know, no lessons.

And then, yeah, when I started playing mandolin at nine through hearing Nickel Creek and Tim O'Brien and Gillian Welch and all that good stuff, I simultaneously, we found out about a bluegrass jam every Friday night in my hometown of Wimberley.

started going to that and it was kind of no looking back I mean it just fell in love with the music with the vibe with you know the the people I mean and that again like I not to sound cheesy but I was just lucky that it was nice nice people who are welcoming to a little kid do

Yep.

Here's Ted in Wimberley, Texas.

I'm also excited about the matchup for Notre Dame in 2020, 2032 and 2033 Thursday.

You both quipped that it was possible, even probable that Matt rule and Troy Dan and might not even be employed by Nebraska when those games are played.

I know that I was pretty excited today, or excuse me, a couple weeks ago, to send mine back.

I pulled into the, the, uh, pickup pull or drop-off line at about 80 miles an hour and kicked my kids out, ready to go back to Wimberley, uh, ISD.

Super excited about the times that are going on right now in the fall.

Absolutely love fall.

Fun thing to have the shit go sideways.

That area gets hit a lot, right? Is that, like, Wimberley? Is that that area?

Yeah.

Yeah, well, you know, the, it, you really, it, it, it was that unique storm system-

That's nuts.

Well, if you have a crazy ranch or if you're on a front line, it's probably a good vehicle to have.

That Wimberley area does get hit hard, right? They get those flash floods.

Well, they got two of them, you know, and they're, and almost exactly a year apart, both of them right at 4th of July weekend.

Mm.

And, uh, we, yeah, we had our wedding day down the street from our house in Wimberley, and it was a very, very much a family affair.

And, uh, afterwards we just sent the photos, and they were really into it and just-

Looked gorgeous.

To get to the bottom of our question, I had to make one final stop.

So a few weeks later, I met up with Dale Whistler at his home in Wimberley.

I know that everybody loves these sculptures and that they've [laughs] done just what I want it to, to, to create a air of levity, at least in the Austin area.

Dale is our creator, the artistic mastermind we've been searching for.