Little Germany

Destination: Fredericksburg

By Robert Macias

Travel time from:

Would you like your team members to get to know each other better? Just create a Slack channel and get Donut to invite people. Donut will introduce team members through direct messages and encourage conversation between them. This works for both on-site and remote teams, so your matched team members can meet either in person or virtually. To install Donut, go to donut.com and click the “Add to Slack” button. You may then be prompted to sign in to your Slack account, or if you're already signed into multiple Slack workspaces then you will be prompted to choose a workspace. Depending on your team's settings, you may not be able to install bots if you're not an admin. Instantly start a video meeting right from Slack to increase face-to-face time with your hybrid team. Vote enables your team to vote anonymously about workplace issues. Anyone on your team can call for a Vote. Donut randomly sets employees up on coffee dates (or video chat dates for remote/hybrid teams!). Donut enables us to pair up Campers within Slack and allow them to schedule an outing for themselves, be it in person or virtually. We introduced Donut as an experiment and invited Campers to participate, with an offer to pay up to $10 per pair for coffee or snack. Slack is a new way to communicate with your team. It’s faster, better organized, and more secure than email.

• Austin - 1.5 hours /
• Brownsville - 6.25 hours /
• Dallas - 4.25 hours /
• El Paso - 7.5 hours /
• Houston - 5 hours /
• San Antonio - 1.25 hours
• Lubbock - 7 hours

In the B&B capital of Texas, you’ll find lazy mornings, fine wine, good fishing and one confused rooster.

As I stared at a statue on Fredericksburg’s main square that depicts a German settler receiving a peace pipe from a Comanche chief, it occurred to me that both men must have felt somewhat lost. The Native Americans and the Germans had seen their worlds turned upside down. Many of Fredericksburg’s first residents were sons of aristocrats, well-educated but largely lacking the skills needed to survive on the frontier. In keeping with European tradition, the first son normally received the father’s entire inheritance. The second and third sons, well, they moved to Texas.

The first band of Germans arrived in 1846 under the leadership of John O. Meusebach, who worked for the Adelsverein, a controversial group of German noblemen who sought to encourage mass emigration of Germans to Texas. While the group maintained that the effort was largely philanthropic — a bold attempt to open up a new land of opportunity for Germans — critics asserted they were mostly interested in creating new markets for German goods. Also known as the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, the Adelsverein never realized its grand vision of a new Germany in Texas, but it was instrumental in the establishment of New Braunfels and Fredericksburg (which was named for Prince Frederick of Prussia, an influential member of the Adelsverein).

One key to the German immigrants’ survival was their ability to forge peaceful relations with the Comanche tribe. Local historians say that the Meusebach-Comanche Treaty may well be the only treaty between white men and Native Americans that has never been broken. The early immigrants also benefited from the arrival of a splinter group of Mormons who settled in the community of Zodiac, four miles east of Fredericksburg. Many of the Mormons were skilled carpenters, building one of Austin’s first city jails and numerous saw and grist mills throughout Central Texas, according to The Handbook of Texas.

Each new arrival in Fredericksburg received two plots of land, one in the city and one in the country. It was customary at the time for European farmers to live in the city and travel each day to their fields. Instead, the city’s early settlers built their primary residences on the farm and constructed second, smaller “Sunday houses” in town. They would work all week on the farm and spend the weekends in town, where they’d run errands, socialize and go to church.

Many of the former Sunday houses are now charming bed- and-breakfast inns. In fact, virtually every square inch of spare living space has been converted into a bed and breakfast. Some are in former garages, backyard cabins, extra bedrooms or one half of a duplex — you can’t walk 50 feet in this town without someone offering you a hot cup of coffee and a fresh muffin.

I stayed in high style in the Hemingway room at the A.L. Patton Suites on Main. Basically a huge one-bedroom apartment, it’s in the top floor of a historic building above the Cottage Café. It’s perfect for anyone seeking total privacy. I never saw the proprietors. I picked up the keys at First Class Bed & Breakfast, and it was my own little hideaway for the next few days. Of course, that also means that the second “B” was a little lacking; breakfast consisted of coupons that could be redeemed at local eateries. Because of its central location, however, several restaurants, breakfast joints and shops of all kinds are a short walk down the road.

At one of those shops, Chocolat, I discovered one more reason why the Atkins diet is fading into oblivion. Owner and founder Lecia Duke has dubbed them “liquid center chocolates,” but frankly, I think she could use a little marketing advice. That name just doesn’t do them justice. There’s a chocolate outer coating, a small crunch, and then your entire mouth explodes with the taste of the liquid contents. Flavors range from cognac to espresso to peach nectar. They should be called Choc-Splosion or maybe Choc-O-Mite. Upstairs in the historic home that doubles as a candy factory, Duke showed us the top-secret (no photos allowed) technique she invented to produce these little chocolate grenades. Let’s just say it’s incredibly labor-intensive. You can bet Duke and her minuscule staff put in mighty long hours.

After leaving Chocolat and wandering around the main drag for a couple of hours, I realized I’d caught a bad case of knick-knack neurosis. It’s a close cousin of highway hypnosis, and it appears to be brought on by gazing at too many neatly arranged shelves lined with small gift items and endless varieties of jam. It seems to disproportionately affect the male of the species. I could see fellow sufferers scattered around town, sitting on park benches and at sidewalk cafes, staring languidly into their coffee cups. In addition to a general sense of malaise, its symptoms include the irresistible urge to escape from any building where the primary activity is shopping.

Fortunately, I would soon find the cure a few miles away. Guide Dan Cone had agreed to give me a fly-fishing lesson on the Llano River.

Along the way, however, we briefly stopped at the Castell General Store, and the owner insisted on showing me his trained rooster. On cue, the rooster savagely pecked at a singing Billy Bass toy as it writhed on the floor. Oh sure, it was funny, but then it got weird. I’ll spare you the details, but as it turned out, the pecking was only, uh, foreplay.

I left this disturbing memory behind as I waded into the cool, gently flowing water of the Llano River. Cone soon discovered that I was to be a challenging student. You see, in my younger days, I knew only cane poles, push-button Zebcos and — serious anglers, please skip the rest of this sentence — I was once the proud owner of a Pocket Fisherman. The very idea of fly-fishing had never really penetrated my consciousness until the movie A River Runs Through It plunged fly-fishing into the mainstream, as it were. The movie made it look like a manly form of water ballet, the graceful whip of the rod, the gentle curl of the line, the fly landing silently on the water’s surface. It looked so easy.

As I stood in thigh-deep water, I could see fish all around me — we were surrounded by fish, including sizeable carp, gar and bass. When Cone told me to cast to a certain area, I would inevitably hit a spot about 10 feet to the right. After several sighs, Cone decided to move on and try to teach me how to “roll cast” and “false cast.”

Roll casting was the technique I remembered from the movie. You sort of whip the line in a rolling motion and the fly is supposed to land quietly at the selected location. At least this one I could do, although I still had trouble with accuracy. False casting is a showy method used to reach a mundane goal: eliminating slack in the line. You cast forward and backward in mid-air, slowly releasing the slack until it’s all gone. I was a little fuzzy on the mid-air part and kept slapping the water in front of and behind me.

Through it all, I somehow managed to catch two small sunfish. However, they seemed a little sluggish — I’d probably already smacked them on the head a few times during my spastic false casting.

I met up with the rest of the tour group back in Fredericksburg for lunch at Hondo’s, which is named after Hondo Crouch, longtime local character and self-proclaimed mayor of nearby Luckenbach. His daughter, Cris Crouch Graham, owns the restaurant, which also hosts first-rate live music from Thursday to Sunday. I opted for Hondo’s donut burger and onion strings. It was a ton of tasty food, and I was happy to keep my mouth full, because I didn’t really feel like talking about my embarrassing fishing misadventure.

Another site for great live music is a little further off the beaten path: Torre di Pietra Winery, east of Fredericksburg on 290, features local and regional acts on its expansive outdoor patio that overlooks a vineyard. And the wine’s not bad, either. One of their biggest sellers is the provocatively named Red Flirt, which was a little sweet for my taste. I preferred the Texas Merlot.

Continuing the wine theme, we topped off one evening at Cuvee, a downtown wine bar and restaurant. The slick interior at first seemed a little out of place, but the staff’s friendly, easygoing manner soon reminded us that we were still in small-town Texas. Owner Len White, a self-described wine geek, teaches wine classes at the restaurant as part of his mission to demystify wine. The upstairs attic lounge, with its overstuffed leather chairs, is an excellent place to wind down after a day of lamely attempting to learn how to fly-fish.

The next day, I felt completely within my element. After all, hiking to the top of Enchanted Rock is little more than a slightly strenuous walk, right? Well, it had rained the night before so the rock was perilously slick in places. But I quickly learned the trick of walking on a diagonal to maintain good traction. As we zigzagged up the enormous hunk of granite, I was amazed at how much greenery was growing in little cracks throughout the rock face. On top, there were even a few small oak trees, along with swatches of bluestem grass. It’s an oddly magical place, and it’s easy to see how people from ancient times to the present have become convinced that the massive dome has some sort of mystical power and is, indeed, enchanted.

For my last night in Fredericksburg, I felt obligated to have at least one German meal. I was not altogether enthusiastic about it, however, since I normally associate German food with bland sauerkraut and pallid sausage. At Der Lindenbaum, I ordered the konigsberger klopse, beef and pork meatballs in caper sauce. It was delicious, and my dining companions raved about the jagerschnitzel. After coffee and a giant piece of black forest cake, my anti-German-food bias was, once and for all, successfully vanquished.

From the city’s excellent restaurants to its rich history to its proximity to fish-filled rivers, Fredericksburg is a town that reveals new surprises every time you visit.

Details

• First Class Bed & Breakfast Reservation Service
  (888) 991-6749, <www.fredericksburg-lodging.com>
• Hondo’s on Main
  (830) 997-1633, <www.hondosonmain.com>
• Torre di Pietra Winery
  (830) 990-9755, <www.texashillcountrywine.com>
• Der Lindenbaum
  (830) 997-9126 <www.derlindenbaum.com>
• Chocolat
  (800) 842.3382 <www.chocolat-tx.us>
• Castell Guide Service
  (325) 423-0045, <www.llanoriverflyfishing.com>
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
  (325) 247-3903 <www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/enchanted_rock>

Trying to find ways to inject some fun into your remote team’s work days?

With COVID forcing employees to adopt remote working, communicating with teams via apps like Slack and Zoom has been on the rise. But staring into a computer screen all day without any work colleagues around can take a toll on an employee!

So, what can you do to help your team have a bit of fun?

How about trying out some Slack games?

Slack is a workplace communication and file sharing app, but it can integrate with tons of tools, including games and social apps.

In this article, we’ll look at why you should use Slack during work breaks. We’ll also show you some games and social apps that you can implement for your team’s break-time diversion.

This Article Contains

(Click on a link to jump to a specific section)

Why You Should Use Slack For Games And Social Apps

Slack isn’t just a workplace chat app.

Here’s why Slack can be used for a variety of non-work applications:

A. It’s Easy To Create Communities In Slack

Have you heard of an app called Discord?

The Discord server is where gamers worldwide engage in game-specific team chats.

But what does it have to do with Slack?

Like Discord, there are Slack channels, teams and global communities dedicated to different topics.

These channels cover a ton of topics such as travel enthusiasts sharing the best photo spots, soccer buffs arguing over the latest games, and gamers discussing a video game with the game developer.

You can easily create a new channel so that each employee can get together and discuss non-work related topics or play a fun game whenever they are on break.

B. Slack Is Perfect For Breaks

If you’ve worked in a physical office before, you’ll know that people don’t just talk about work.

They chat about their personal lives, sports and politics.

Using Slack channels for non-work-related chat gives your remote team space to take a break, socialize and bond over mutual interests. It’ll help strengthen connections among remote team members.

If you’re concerned about platform compatibility, don’t be!

Many of these Slack apps are accessible on the browser, and Slack’s desktop and mobile apps.

So, where can you find games and social apps for Slack?

You can download apps from the Slack app directory, and some apps are even downloadable from their websites.

7 Slack Games And Apps To Add Fun To Your Workspace

Let’s take a look at a few games and apps that will make work a lot more fun for your team.

Remember, you can customize the Slack Bot for a list of games and commands, so your team knows how to launch specific games or social apps.

1. Donut

Would you like your team members to get to know each other better?

Just create a Slack channel and get Donut to invite people. Donut will introduce team members through direct messages and encourage conversation between them.

This works for both on-site and remote teams, so your matched team members can meet either in person or virtually.

By connecting people, Donut helps teams build trust and friendships, regardless of physical distance.

Here are some ways that Donut works:

• Remote workers: Creates virtual coffee meetups and daily meetings so distributed teams can get to know each other.
• Team building: Facilitates cross-department meetups and lotteries for activities like a special virtual company lunch or a coffee break with the CEO.
• Learning opportunities: Donut connects peers for mentorship programs, job- shadowing sessions, and introduces code review buddies.
• New hires: Welcome new hires with onboarding pals and new hire lunch buddies.

Where to get Donut: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the Donut website.

2. Polly

Polly is designed by a Seattle startup developer of the same name. It’s not a single game app but a suite of light-hearted, interactive social and team-building games designed for Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Here’s a look of some of Polly’s features:

• Trivia: Get your entire team to compete over trivia questions.
• Hot Takes: This feature lets you run a random Hot Take poll and spark a round of debate to give your team an exciting break.
• Surveys: Get feedback from your remote team using Pulse Surveys to see how they’re doing and ask for their opinions on important matters, in real-time.

Where to get Polly: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the Polly website.

3. Rock-Paper-Scissors

Remember playing rock-paper-scissors with your buddies to decide who had to buy lunch?

Your remote team can do that too!

Once installed, you can launch this fun game in your Slack channel with slash command “/rps @mention” (where “mention” is the person you’re challenging). You can also play in direct message channels with just “/rps”.

Want an extra challenge?

Type “/rpsls” for rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock!

Where to get Rock-Paper-Scissors: Install from the Slack app directory or the Rock-Paper-Scissors website.

4. Trivia

Enjoy answering questions during your coffee break?

This app is called Trivia, but it’s actually a suite of four games designed for Slack and Microsoft Teams:

• Trivia Quizzes: Offers 1000s of fun and easy trivia quizzes for your team.
• (Un)Popular Opinions: Get quick votes on any subject from your Slack team.
• Word Puzzles: Discover the word genius among your team with this anagram puzzle.
• Gotcha!: Generate multiple-choice questions for your players. They get points for getting it right, and you can earn points by fooling them with the wrong answer.

Track results on a leaderboard to see team member rankings and generate some friendly competition.

Slack Donut Hole

Where to get Trivia: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the Trivia website.

5. Tic-Tac-Toe

This is an old-school classic morphed into digital format in Slack.

Now you can challenge a team member with a game of tic-tac-toe over a Slack channel. All you have to do is type “/ttt @mention” (where “mention” is your team member) to challenge them.

Run a quick three-minute game or let it last the whole day. You could also play personal challenges via direct message with “/ttt.”

Where to get Tic-Tac-Toe: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the Tic-Tac-Toe website.

6. WordofTheHour

Ever wanted to learn a new language but just couldn’t find the time?

WordofTheHour is an app that helps you expand your vocabulary. Every hour, a new word is featured with translations into over ten languages. It’s a fun game for any user who loves learning languages, and it could even be useful on your next overseas trip.

How does this game work?

Once installed, use these bot commands:

• /getword: displays the current word of the hour
• /getword help: gives a list of all commands available
• /getword channel: sends the current word of the hour to the entire channel
• /getword <your language>: displays the list of words in the specified language

The Reddit community supports the app, and any user can join to contribute to clarifications and translations.

Where to get WordofTheHour: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the WordofTheHour website.

7. ChessBot

Never played Chess and want to learn?

Chess is one of the oldest games in the world and is probably one of the most widespread.

With the ChessBot, you can challenge a Slack team member to a game of Chess.

What’s interesting with this app is that you don’t have to play a game all the way through, just make a move when you have a quick break.

Where to get ChessBot: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the ChessBot website.

6 Slack Apps To Break Monotony At Work

Now, let’s take a look at some Slack games and apps you can add to your team’s Slack workspace to break the monotony of your daily routine:

1. Giphy

Trying to express yourself with something more than an emoji?

A picture can speak a thousand words, and Giphy will help you find that picture perfect GIF to express yourself to team members and add a bit of humor to things.

This Slack integration is easy to use once you install it. Just type “/giphy <subject>” and you’ll get a GIF of that subject. For example, “/giphy cats” will display a cat GIF in your channel. If you’re not happy with the GIF that you got, you can shuffle or cancel it.

Where to get Giphy: Install from the Slack app directory.

2. Simple Poll

Need to get a quick opinion from your team?

With Simple Poll, you can create native polls right within Slack.

But how is this fun?

It isn’t, but you could make fun by giving your team a break with fun, non-work-related polls.

On a more serious note, you can even use anonymous polls to get your team’s thoughts on company issues they may not be willing to answer directly.

Where to get Simple Poll: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the Simple Poll website.

3. Search

Search isn’t a game, but it’s a fun way to do quick searches within Slack, instead of opening Google search on your browser. This gives your teams a nice break from all the work-related communications they’re used to seeing!

You can use the Search tool when you want to do a little shopping or check out the latest tweets while on break.

How does Search work?

Once installed, you can use this tool to search Amazon, Twitter, DuckDuckGo and Urban Dictionary directly from your Slack chat window. All you have to do is use the slash command “/<site> <search item>.”

Here’s an example of the slash command for looking up the word “Echo Dot” in Amazon: /amazon echo dot. And it’ll return the “Echo Dot” results for you in Slack.

Where to get Search: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the Search website.

4. Spotify

Enjoy listening to music from Spotify when you work?

Music helps break the monotony when you get too focused on your job. You can also play white noise in the background to help you focus.

So why not control Spotify directly from Slack without switching apps?

With the Spotify integration and slash command /spotify, you can:

• Play music
• View track information.
• Share music with your team.

Remember, you’ll need Spotify Premium to access the Premium feature library.

Where to get Spotify: Install from the Slack app directory.

5. Twitter

Feeling the need to stay up-to-date with Twitter, but don’t want to launch Twitter in your workspace?

Getting some social media activity is a great way to break the monotony of work.

You can post tweets to a channel, expand shared Twitter URLs, and display the full tweet and any attached media. You can use this integration to keep tabs of tweets from team members in company-owned accounts.

You can use this Twitter integration to display selected tweets on a public channel or keep it reserved for a particular company team on a private channel. This is a good way to share information with team members, like update-tweets from services that a team relies on.

Where to get Twitter: Install from the Slack app directory.

6. Meme Bot

Looking to share some memes with your remote team?

This is an app to spice up a chat on a channel full of team members. Use Meme Bot to get instant memes from Slack using slash commands “/meme-list” and “/meme.”

Where to get Meme Bot: Install from the Slack app directory or directly from the Meme Bot website.

Closing Thoughts

Working remotely can be challenging, and everyone needs a break to casually interact with team members now and then. Playing games is one of the easiest ways to help your team de-stress from hours of concentrated work.

Adding a little fun into the Slack workspace can also help teams relax, improve team relationships and communication. You could also have a dedicated channel for games and another channel for social interactions.
Whichever way you chose to implement a non-work channel, your remote team will appreciate the opportunity for a bit of distraction. Additionally, it’ll be a great way to reinvent your company culture!

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Liam Martin is a co-founder of Time Doctor—a time tracking and productivity monitoring software designed for tracking hours and productivity of remote teams.