Can you hear the mariachi music? A short walk from the Riverwalk is Market Square, a vibrant, bustling, colorful marketplace. The indoor El Mercado, which was modeled on an authentic Mexican market, features 32 shops. Another 80 specialty shops are found in Farmers Market Plaza. Market Square also features plenty of food and beverage vendors along with Hispanic festivals.

If you operate a retail establishment of any kind, this is a must see. Each shop presents their wares just a little differently. There are plenty of ideas in presentation, signage, product selection, and creating overall ambience that are not prevalent just anywhere. We offer it as a stop so you’ll see it in the mix of other great retail establishments and discuss it during your NAFDMA school on wheels state of mind!

Montesino Farm
Wimberley
Tours F, S

We’ll tell you right up front this stop is weather dependent. If there is any high level of rain at all, this is a problem. You’ve got to cross over the river to get onto the farm!

Montesino Farm is a beautiful organic farm. They participate in farmers’ markets and are just beginning to branch into agritourism as well. Montesino Farm is home to a few cattle, goats and other critters. But the focus is on vegetable production. They are also building some ponds and intend to stock them with fish.

 Natural Bridge Caverns
San Antonio
Tour A

Natural Bridge Caverns is among the largest underground caves discovered in Texas. Like many caves around the world, it captures the attention of tourists and nearby residents alike. It mines admission fees and requires keeping things fresh and neat. Like any other destination, it must add new attractions to stay interesting and encourage return visitors.

Natural Bridge Caverns has added a large climbing wall, a 350-foot zip line and a huge gem mining sluice. We won’t have enough time to get into the caves during our tour, but we’ll make a quick visit to see the added adventures. We’ll also see the visitor center, which houses a gift shop, snack bar and public restrooms. This stop will generate great interest for those on the tour who are thinking about adding any of the attractions offered here. It’ll be a brief stop, but it would be a mistake to not go at all since it’s just 1 minute from Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch.




Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch Inc.
San Antonio
Tour A

The motto of Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is “African safari, Texas style.” That’s just what visitors get when they drive through Texas scrub and encounter a variety of species far from their native lands. The ranch, which began as a cattle and goat operation in 1884, was designated a Family Land Heritage Property in 1989. The same family has used it for agricultural purposes for more than 100 years; the sixth generation currently operates the ranch. The ranch opened as a safari park in 1984. It features more than 50 different species of animals and more than 3 miles of roads.

NAFDMA’s Tour A will get a look at the behind the scenes at this operation, which has become one of the top 30 attractions in the state of Texas. We’ll see the Longneck Learning Center, the Visitor’s Center, and a private showing of the customized animal handling facility designed mange the many wild species on the ranch.

The Natural Gardener
Austin
Tours P, S 

John Dromgoole is the Natural Gardener. He’s been a leader in the advancement of organic gardening in Texas for more than 30 years. The Natural Gardener is an outstanding retail nursery that stands second to none in the area. It’s living proof that natural gardening can be beautiful, exciting, and profitable. The Natural Gardener store is loaded with merchandise, supplies, plants, and customer service. The grounds include a vegetable garden, herb garden, butterfly garden, brew house (that’s compost tea), labyrinth, tipi, xeric garden, orchard and vineyard and even a couple of miniature donkeys.

Sustainable tour goers and plant enthusiasts will pick up a few tips on displays, signage and service. A few might even be interested in John’s Lady Bug Brand compost and soils, which are retailed at nearly 200 other nursery and garden centers throughout Texas. John hosts a local weekly radio show, a television show and does speaking engagements across the country. He’ll even be matched up with Jim Hightower at our NAFDMA conference. But don’t let his celebrity credentials fool you! He’s an entrepreneur through and through. The Natural Gardener is proof.

Pedrotti’s North Wind Ranch
Helotes
Tours A, B, C, F, P, R, S 

Our hosts, Louie and Sue Pedrotti, have created an oasis of rural Texas not too far from urban San Antonio. North Wind Ranch was built as a catering business to capitalize on San Antonio’s bustling convention industry. Louie had spent a lifetime in the catering business and made the decision to build a place of his own. So he and Sue purchased North Wind Ranch after its first owner couldn’t quite make a go of it. They’ve been building ever since! They cater parties of all sizes at their own facility or at other facilities. They added a rodeo facility that seats 900 people and can be used to bring in real rodeos, in which real cowboys and cowgirls compete for points and prize money. In addition to rodeos, the Pedrottis can host a variety of events, from boxing matches to fashion shows. They will also cater parties with themes other than “Texas,” such as Hawaiian or Jungle.

For our group’s purpose, though, it’s all about Texas. Every tour converges at Pedrotti’s for Tuesday Night’s Round-Up!  We’ll hoop and holler with a Texas style meal, margaritas, Lone Stars and Shiner Bocks. There’ll be a little two steppin’ and a few other Texas-style activities, too. When the excitement simmers down, you’ll board the ole coach bus again and take a half hour drive back home for your last night in San Antonio at the historic Sheraton Gunter Hotel.

Tour C arrives a bit earlier than most to get a full facility tour before the party begins. The tour includes the kitchen and each hall as well as a special discussion with Louie and Sue together with some of their key staff, including their newly hired marketing specialist.

The ranch features a variety of different halls, including the 12,000-square-foot, air-conditioned Shooting Star. This hall has seating capacity for 750, with an outdoor patio with seating for an additional 500. The 24,000-square-foot Lone Oak seats up to 1,200 people. Two smaller halls are 10,000-square-foot Brokemill and the 6,000-square-foot Chuck Wagon. The air-conditioned and heated Chuck Wagon seats approximately 100 and has a bonfire pit and picnic tables outside.

Pape’s Pecan House
Seguin
Tour R 

Pecans and nutcrackers abound at Pape’s Pecan House. The Pape family opened Pape’s Pecan House in 1961. They process, crack, shell, package and sell pecans during harvest season. The locals who have small pecan groves certainly know where to bring their nut cases!  In the off season, they sell harvesting equipment, ag chemicals and young pecan trees. They also perform service and repairs on machinery. The shop is home to a nutcracker museum overflowing with more than 4,000 nutcrackers of all shapes, sizes and styles.

Pape’s Pecan House is a perfect example of how you can take a single agricultural product and create a landmark retail business around it. It’s not big and it’s not new. But it is true to its roots, and it is successful.

Back to Top