The Ultimate Girl's Weekend

We’ll need reservations for the whole gang at one of Abilene’s fabulous guest houses.

The Eleven09 guest house can sleep as many as 10, while Sayles Ranch Guest Houses has several options, including a few with swimming pools. All of these are stunningly decorated and centrally located.

Provided by Erica Pangburn: Longtime Abilinean

First things first: Check abilenevisitors.com for upcoming events, dining and lodging ideas – as well as some great itineraries. Make dinner reservations: Call The Mill to reserve a silo for Thursday night. Dinner Friday night will be at Perini’s. Check.

Thursday

When all the gals are together, everyone must download the MyAbi app to our phones so we peruse our options together. We might decide to rate all of our stops on social media.

Our next stop would be to head downtown. The ideal scenario for me, an art lover, would be to show off The Center for Contemporary Arts to my friends. I want them to experience ArtWalk, so our fun weekend is going to start with lunch at Vagabond on an ArtWalk Thursday.

After we’ve lingered over our pizza and wine, we’ll tour The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, The Grace Museum, hit Jody Klotz Fine Art and admire work at the new Calypso Gallery and Cockerell Building Upstairs galleries. We will definitely sip Habanero Lemonade at Monk’s Coffee Shop and splurge on a few handmade chocolates at Vleta’s. We’ll pose for photos with Storybook Sculptures and at The Paramount Theatre.

Then, we’ll head just south of the railroad tracks to The Mill Wine & Event Center for Thursday night steak night with live music. We’ll likely run into at least 25 people we know before calling it a night.

Friday

Today is all about relaxation and pampering! Oh, you KNOW we slept in. After coffee and croissants (from AMDonuts) at our guesthouse, it’s off to VIP Nails for manicures and pedicures. We’ll pick up sandwiches from Bogie’s and then head back for an afternoon by the pool at our guest house. Lots of catching up, sunning, and pedicure admiring to do before dressing for dinner.

Dinner at Perini Ranch is my must-do for every out-of-town visitor. Jalapeno bites, green-chili hominy, a ribeye and Mesquite-A-Ritas. I’ve already picked up some Perini steak rub at Texas Star Trading to surprise my friends with an Abilene keepsake they’ll use at home. The ACVB has other Abilene memorabilia, so it’s easy to set up the girls with fun keepsakes. Shot glasses shaped like a cowboy boot? Done.

Saturday

We’ll start with breakfast at the The Dixie Pig. It opens at 6 a.m. and is one of Abilene's oldest restaurants.

After breakfast, we’ll get in some steps and shop. I like to peruse Vintage Marketplace and Living Chic along South First and Urban Relics on South 14th.

For lunch, we’ll pop back over to South 7th’s El Pulgarcito de America. A hidden treasure with authentic Mexican & El Salvadoran fare. Then we’ll head down Treadaway to Sockdolager Brewery or Pappy Slokum to pick up some cool hats & tee-shirts – who am I kidding?! I meant early happy hour. Next, it’s back to the guest house to drop off our vintage finds and freshen up for dinner.

Saturday Night Dinner

We’ll hit Abilene Beehive for a late dinner and try whatever sumptuous menu item is the weekend special. We’ll want comfort food. And their famous Long Island Iced Tea. We don’t do this enough. Planning to do it again. Maybe we should walk off some of this food before we go to bed?

Sunday

We will hit my favorite guilty pleasure for brunch: Taylor County Taphouse. It opens at 11, which is perfect because we’ll be sleeping late. The Bloody Marys are bloody-good, and we’ll share the biscuits with chicken friend bacon, please.

Was that only 3 days? Thanks Abilene- we’re gonna need a lot more weekends though, because we’re just getting started!