By: Adam Waxman | From: Digital Dine

Texas Hill Country is among the fastest growing wine regions in North America and is bookended by the heart of Tex-Mex cuisine in San Antonio at one end, and at the other end, the most vibrant live music since in the US, in Austin. The Alamo, the state's more famous landmark, marks Texan independence in 1836, which it maintained until about 1845 when it joined the U.S. (although some Texans believe it still is.) Today, we follow the Fredericksburg Wine Trail for a road trip of wineries, restaurants and shops along Highway 29 from Fredericksburg to Austin.

Our Tex-Mex journey begins along San Antonio's Venetian-inspired River Walk, a promenade of small arched stone bridges and tree-shaded cobblestone paths along the river, lined by restaurants, hotels, umbrellas in vivid primary colours, public art and even a theatre where patrons sit across the river from the stage. It's absolutely magical during December, when it's illuminated by over 100,000 coloured lights draped over its bridges and trees, and over 2,000 luminarias, the Mexican Christmas tradition of candles inside paper bags. Glowing orange-blue fiberglass fish above the river are just one public artwork on the River Walk, which winds from downtown to the San Antonio Museum of Art, whose Latin American art collection is the biggest in the U.S., ranging from Spanish colonial folk art to pre-Columbian.

Designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, San Antonio is a feast of Latin flavours. Azuca boasts flavours from all over Latin America, Spain, and the Caribbean with dishes from beef churrasco to seafood paella, blackened salmon with pineapple BBQ glaze to slow braised pork shank with fresh sausages, black beans, rice, kale and orange..

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