This Week at Al's Hideaway 02-08-026

This Week at Al’s Hideaway

This week at Al’s Hideaway was anything but quiet. The weather couldn’t have been better, Cowboy Mardi Gras went off without a hitch, and the energy was exactly what Hill Country events are all about. A big thank you to 11th Street Cowboy Bar for hosting such an incredible celebration. We’re proud to have been part of it, floats and all.

With all that activity, it feels like a good time to start answering one of the questions we get asked the most:
Who is Al, and how did Al’s Hideaway come to be?

Al’s Hideaway didn’t start as a business plan. It started as a story.

The name comes from Albert Banis, my wife Jennifer’s grandfather — known to his family as Abe. He was part of the Greatest Generation, shaped by the Roaring Twenties, the hardships of the Great Depression, and service during World War II. But beyond all of that, he was a man who believed in family, time together, and getting out into nature.

When Jennifer was young, Abe would take her out of San Antonio and into the Texas Hill Country to camp, hunt, and simply be outdoors. Those trips were their escape from everyday life. They called it their hideaway. Years later, when we began dreaming of creating a place where people could slow down and feel welcome, that name came back to us — and Al’s Hideaway was born.

The dream started to take real shape during a motorcycle trip through the Ozarks. Camped on top of Mount Nebo, Jennifer and I found ourselves talking about campgrounds — what we liked, what we’d change, and what felt right. At one point, she asked if I thought I could build a campground of our own. I told her, “If you can dream it, I can build it.” She said she dreamed big. I told her I could build big.

When we got home, the dreaming turned into planning. We started designing, researching, and trying to figure out where something like this could exist. We didn’t have land yet, and we didn’t have all the answers — but we had a vision, and that was enough to get started.

Today, that vision keeps moving forward. We’re always looking for ways to improve, including recently testing a new AI answering service to help when we’re away from the phone. As always, we welcome honest feedback — good or bad — because Al’s Hideaway has always been built on listening to our guests.

And we’re looking ahead. The Hill Country calendar is filling up fast, with Thunder in the Hill Country, hosted by Bike Rallies of Texas, leading the way. Events like this are exactly why Al’s Hideaway exists — a place to use as a basecamp, rest up, and enjoy some of the best riding Texas has to offer.

This story isn’t finished. It’s still being written — one trip, one guest, and one week at a time.

Until next Sunday,
Al

Wishing Happy Trails.
Y’all be safe & God bless.