Hays City Store

Sometimes you just need to get away. In Austin, Texas, a relaxing country retreat isn't far if you simply head south to Hays.

When Samantha suggested checking out Hays City Store for a bite to eat, I knew I wanted to bring my camera along to document her during the Texas golden hour. If you've followed my work over the years, you will recognize Samantha. She is one of my best friends from growing up (we met in 7th grade) and my favorite model to work with (although she'd never describe herself as a model, she is). She is also a gal with a serious eye for iPhone photography.

We headed out and promptly... got lost. It was Google's fault, okay? A few back country roads later, we course-corrected and pulled up to the restaurant bathed in perfect light. After putting our name on the waitlist (the restaurant is popular, people!), we walked around back to find a beautiful clearing. Looking at the images, you'd think we were in the middle of nowhere! Not so.

After snapping a few images of Samantha in her natural habitat (about to chow down on some chips & queso and truck stop enchiladas) we called it quits. After all, we were there to relax, y'all.

Man, now I really want some queso.