Dripping Springs – When it comes to visions of the Texas hill country, rustic places to stay, wineries, and even treehouses are usually the first things that comes to mind. But over in Dripping Springs you’ll find Camp Lucy, which has taken some flavors from around the world and planted them smack dab in the middle of the Lone Star State. “There’s no place that exists like this,” said visitor Stephaniee Lott.
“It’s just an otherworldly experience, I would say,” said Whit Hanks.
Whit’s family founded this place back in 1985 when his parents purchased the property as a weekend getaway. “My mother finally spent her time out here,” said Whit. “This was her favorite place, being out in the country.”
Whit went on to be an antiques dealer and real estate developer, but he wanted to turn his parent’s old place into something that Texans could enjoy. So in 2008 he created Camp Lucy, a property that started off as a wedding venue with several antique buildings from Vietnam that has turned into a tranquil place to find some relaxation.
“We have a total of seven Vietnamese buildings that have been incorporated into the infrastructure,” said Whit. One of the builings is “from about, I’d say 1880. From an area not too far from Da Nang, about the middle of Vietnam, south of Hanoi, about 100 miles.”
These old buildings sounded by green gardens provide the perfect setting for a picturesque wedding, but dealing with brides wasn’t something that Whit was willing to do. “Kim appeared on the scene and said she could run weddings out here,” said Whit. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I sure can’t so if you want to, then fine. You do it and you can pay me rent.’ And after a while, she was doing so well it was cheaper to marry her.”
Kim brings the pizzazz to the party. “I married well,” said Kim. “He’s a really interesting guy. And he had this great property and he had no idea what to do with it, so I did. I had a couple ideas.”
“It’s been a wild ride. Let me tell you,” Said Whit. “She’s got a lot of get up and go.”
As Camp Lucy grew, Whit wanted to put a place to eat on the property. “I wanted it to be a hamburger stand,” said Whit. “You’ll notice I have a pool over there. And I had in mind that it was like going to the country club. And you’d go up to the place where you got french fries and burgers and tater tots and then you’d take it back to the pool. And unfortunately, then I bought this building and the architects got a hold of it and it just got fancier and fancier and fancier.”
“We were going to have hamburgers and nachos,” said Kim. “And then, as we started building this beautiful structure, it just didn’t feel right.”
So the couple created Tillie’s, a top notch eatery with exquisite food pairings for any fancy night out with your plus one. “Okay,” said Whit. “It’s going to take more than hamburgers to pay for this place.”
Romantic dinners in a stunning setting surrounded by antique saints is a surefire way to impress a date. But if you’re looking for a more whimsical experience, Tillie’s also offers teatime. “We knew that we wanted to take some of the traditions from England and we wanted to marry them with some of the traditions from Texas so the flavors are going to be a little bit different,” said Kim.
Fine China from England along with a tiered tray of some of the finest finger foods we’ve ever found make this experience at Tillie’s a tough one to pass up. “You would start with your scones,” said Kim. “You see the crisp, the crisp on the outside? The crispiness of the bread and the consistency of the bread. That’s what I love about scones is they’re so just heavy and delicious.”
“I’ve never experienced teatime before,” said guest Jessie Henderson. “I haven’t made it across the pond as they say, so it was cool to be able to have that experience right here in Dripping.”
Back to the tower of food, up next is the savory tier. “This one right here is a deviled egg, little pâte à choux sandwich,” said Kim. “The pâte à choux is a bread. Like I said, it’s like croquembouche, so deviled egg. What’s fun about these is do you know that these eggs come from Camp Lucy?”
“It’s magical because it is situated in its own kind of ecosystem, little hill country forest,” said Stephaniee. “And it’s way more spectacular than people might imagine.”
“You need a couple hours whenever you’re eating this also because you need to let all the flavors blend and just enjoy yourself,” said Kim. “This is definitely an experience where you’re not trying to get in and out within an hour, including your drive time.”
And you have to close things out with some delicate desert. “Our Texas honey cake,” said Kim. “It’s really good. It reminds me of childhood and I think it’s that, almost that fluff on top.”
This teatime extravaganza will certainly leave you feeling satisfied, and it begs the question, when does one traditionally take part in this fine feast? “It takes place between two and four,” said Kim. “They would do a big breakfast with the beans, the toast. And then this would be their lunch, but it would be later. And then they would do a late dinner.”
Well here’s a toast to Texas with some tea on The Texas Bucket List. “A little bit of English culture brought right here to the hill country,” said Jessie.