Welcome to our follow-up installment of the Chevy Texas spring road trip! Our team was invited to take an amazing road trip to the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails and Festival in a 2019 Chevy Silverado LTZ. The event lived up to everything the Official Bluebonnet City of Texas stands for. It was complete with a great live music lineup, amazing food vendors, activities for the kids, arts and crafts, a farmers market, and even a wonderful wine trail. First and foremost, the gorgeous state flower of Texas was front and center on the picturesque 40-mile scenic drive around Ennis as well as during the festival and at the Kachina Prairie nature preserve. The bluebonnet is a beauty to gaze upon, and this North Texas city does its best to ensure it gets every bit of attention its due. This spring, with help from our friends at Chevrolet, Erin Baxter and her family took an awe-inspiring road trip to the perfect free event that captures the essence of Texas in the springtime!
Lifestyle
Texas Spring Road Trip: Chevy Tackles Ennis Bluebonnet Trails & Festival
Photo: Erin Baxter, Texas Hill Country
A family road trip to tour the wildflowers of Texas is best made in the safety and comfort of a reliable vehicle. It should be something big enough to hold your luggage, well-equipped for charging devices and ensuring connectivity, and luxurious enough to comfortably get everyone to and from your destination. With its large cab and comfortable full second-row seating, the Chevy Silverado was big enough to seat four adults with plenty of room left over. The available 4G LTE Wi-Fi feature kept the group online throughout the trip to Ennis, and the onboard Apple CarPlay option kept them tapping their toes, dash, and steering wheel to some of their favorite Texas tunes. Upon arrival in the City of Ennis, Erin and her family checked into the Visitor Center and headed to the festival to enjoy some great live music! The Friday night headliner was Le Freak, which turned out to be a fantastic show to kick-off the weekend lineup!
Photo: Facebook/Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival
At 2 p.m. Friday afternoon, Erin went live on Texas Hill Country Facebook with Julie Hejny, President of the Ennis Garden Club (which founded the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails and Festival in the 1950s), and Ashley Colunga, Marketing Director for the City of Ennis. This was the 58th year for the festival, according to Julie, who said that it started out small and has continued to grow each year. With the help of the city and sponsorships, the event has expanded to become a special three-day festival. With more than 60 vendors, plenty of activities to keep the kids busy and involved, great food trucks, and the Ennis Education Foundation’s “Wine Wander” event, this weekend is something folks throughout Central Texas and beyond look forward to every year. Not only that, but the miles of bluebonnet trails in and around Ennis are open throughout the entire month of April, the maps for which can be found on the Ennis Y’all mobile app as well as at the city’s Visitor Center.
Photo: Lori Andreas
On Saturday, April 13, 2019, Erin and her family made their way to a nature preserve wildflower tour at Kachina Prairie. Covering 30 acres of undisturbed native grassland, Kachina Prairie is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Clark and is actively conserved by a coalition consisting of the Ennis Garden Club, City of Ennis, Indian Trail Master Naturalists, and the Texas Land Conservancy. Following the wildflower tour, the Chevy Silverado got the group safely back to downtown Ennis to participate in “Wine Wander” at noon. Together, they toured through the shops, sampling various wines from great Texas wineries and seeing parts of the historic downtown as they went. In addition to tasting some delicious wines, the tour included a souvenir wine glass, an event bag, and a map of all participating wineries for those who wished to tour or visit another time (which would make another great Texas spring road trip!).
Photo: Erin Baxter, Texas Hill Country
Erin and her family had a blast touring the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival vendors, making the most of their time taking in the sights and sounds. The beauty of the bluebonnet as a centerpiece for the event, the city, and the surrounding area was unmistakable. Festival-goers would be hard-pressed to find something more Texan to celebrate, and it was surely worthy of the hard work and effort put forth by the Ennis Garden Club and the City of Ennis. During Sunday’s performance from Gladys and Maybelle, Ashley Colunga went live on Texas Hill Country Facebook, outlining the great entertainers, the fantastic event features, and of course, the more than 40 miles of beautiful bluebonnet trails to experience.
Photo: Facebook/Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival
The great accommodations, the vast beauty of the newly blossomed bluebonnets, and the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival made this Texas spring road trip one for the books! Erin’s passengers enjoyed the space and reliability (not to mention the amazing style) of their 2019 Chevy Silverado LTZ in metallic blue and were appreciative of the luxury in which it toured them in and around Ennis. Three days of celebration and activities combined to make this North Texas trip an experience they won’t soon forget! For more details on the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails and Festival, visit the link available here or check out the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival Facebook page! Go ahead and book your trip for next year – it’s not too early!
