OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

It was kind of sad seeing this precious little rock building sitting all sad and empty yesterday. The old Lowery House has been home to The Leaning Pear -- the cafe that raised the bar on dining out here in Wimberley, giving all the other restaurants a run for their money -- ever since they opened their doors in 2006, but last week they turned off the lights and locked the doors. Hopefully, they won't stay that way for too long. In the meantime, welcome to the NEW Leaning Pear!

It won't be open for business until Wednesday, but yesterday they invited the whole town to a sneak preview open house, and I think just about all of them showed up. We arrived right as the doors were supposed to open, and already the parking lot was packed!

First stop, the outdoor bar, where we were offered a selection of complimentary beverages.

The Back Terrace

Love this screened in porch!

Muse Julie and her painting "New Beginnings"

All of the artists from Wimberley Fine Arts Center, including our own muse Julie Underriner, had created pear-themed art which was displayed throughout the property. We met Phil and Julie about twenty years ago when we were living in Indonesia, so imagine our surprise when they ended up living just down the road from us here in little ol' Wimberley! We're still working on coming up with a proper Muse name for Julie. She doesn't use any brushes to make her paintings, instead draping the loose canvas over chairs and such, then pouring the paint onto it. However, for some reason, "Pouring Paint Woman" just doesn't sound quite right.

Outdoor Woman and friends pose in front of the new wood-burning pizza oven.

Cozy Seating By The Fireplace

We got to enjoy little shot glasses of corn chowder, meat loaf sliders, and samples of their new pizza offerings. Then, as a parting gift, there were actual pears from the original "leaning pear."

Kudos to Matt and Rachel. The leaning pair does it again!