The boyfriend's work retreat weekend's finale dinner occurred here, and it was quite the Texan experience, to say the least. Yes, I know it's going to seem a bit contrived as Marriott owns this property and likely specifically designed and developed it to appeal to individuals seeking the typical Texan experience, but it was actually quite fun.
The whole experience commenced at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, where we all shuffled onto charter buses, equipped with water and beer-filled ice chests. The ride is rather scenic, through some of the hill country, as you are indeed headed to a more rural isolated area. The video prepared for the Knibbe Ranch is way cheesy and there's even a lengthy scene from "City Slickers" spliced into the presentation.
Once we arrived at Knibbe Ranch reception hall/dining area (the ranch itself is ginormous, but we remained mostly where we were deposited), we were warmly greeted by the Knibbe Ranch staff with trays of wines, a pair of (poor overheated) Longhorns waiting for your photo ops, and a small enclosure of armadillos for your petting needs (aren't those suckers carriers of leprosy???). I was almost immediately assaulted by mosquitoes, so I ended up briskly walking around the reception hall to note that yowzer, this really did feel like a "ranch." I mean all ranches have a mechanical bull set up for bolder/drunk visitors, right? And how about that real live flickering camp fire with real smores for us to roast up! I found it odd that a staff member sat by the restrooms the entire night, but I assume that's part of the hospitality factor - in case something goes awry in the stalls because you know . . . open bar.
Now I'm admittedly not really the country music type (shocker, right?), but the live band was pretty awesome. I remained mostly sober, in recovering mode, so I didn't partake in the two stepping, line dancing, whatever it was. The high ceilings and openness of the venue probably renders this a perfect wedding reception or massive celebration site. For anyone planning a western/country-themed wedding - Knibbe probably would be a most excellent selection.
Oh, and I actually actively sought out a hearty snack of trail mix before we hopped onto the bus, motivated by my fear that dinner would be a massive meat feast, but two of the salads and one of the roasted vegetable sides were in fact vegan! The food was actually labeled with ingredients and/or indicated as "gluten free" or "vegetarian." Hurray! As for the open bar - yeah, I was recovering and my endless glasses of orange juice (from a bottle) were delicious, thank you very much. read more