BBQ Tour: Day 3

Well, Sandi and I were ready to go. We weren't going very fast on our tour, and I was getting a bit letdown about the night before so we ended up trying Taylor again on the way home.
Thank goodness, we were much earlier but thankfully missed a huge lunch crowd.

The small surroundings of Talyor. It was quite abandoned. LOL

The meat was held back out of view so it wasn't quite as fun as the previous places. But as we waited for the guy to get another brisket he cut us off little pieces to munch on. Wow, it was so good, we were totally salivating while we waited lol.

I got a sliced beef brisket sandwich and a baked potato. Definitely, my favorite. The brisket had this crunchy outer layer that had so much flavor. I HATE fat on meat but it was so flavorful and crunch that I almost could have eaten it by itself. It reminded me of Shake and Bake flakes. LOL, yes that's a good thing to me...

Me and Guy Fieri, man, we know how to pick em!

The wall of awards.....And Louie Meuller's BBQ deserves EVERY one of those!

Yes, no closing time, it's when the bbq is sold out. Love that!

Well in closing: Louie Mueller was definitely our favorite, both Sandi and I agreed. We loved our small trip and can't wait to return later. I had a great time and I can't wait to eat at more places I read about. It's truly fun to chase around notable places....

BBQ Tour: Day 2

We actually started Day 2 VERY lazily. Sandi and I woke up for breakfast but then I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon pool side while she slept. After a good time pool side and in the pool, getting too red, we took off to Llano, 75 miles NW of Austin, because it's Brian's FAVORITE bbq.
We got to Cooper's around 2-3pm so it wasn't busy at all. In fact, we were the only car when we pulled in.

The dining area was nothing but picnic tables, tubs of pickles, mustard, paper towels and bread bags. And when I saw we were the only ones there, I meant it. :)

So when you walk up to Cooper's you will stop at the smoke pits. The magical meat man raises the meat door and an array of yummy food almost takes your breath away. "What'll you have?" Lol, love that. I chose some brisket and jalepeno sausage. Sandi picked a half chicken and rib. After our meat was placed on the plastic tray, we were told to go inside.

This nice guy took our tray and cut up our meats. Then it was weighed and priced and wrapped in paper.

Lol, how bad does that look?

Ok, only true bbq lovers are salivating right now...Others just lost their appetite. THANKFULLY, Cooper's has silverware for you! (Not all BBQ Institutions do!)

After eating at Cooper's I drove around Llano to see the county courthouse. Pretty building and... National historic building!

They had all these plaques of men from the area who gave their lives in all the recent wars from Vietnam to... the Iraqi Freedom and War on Terror. Old Llano...

Sandi, Brian and I tried to play Bingo at Union Park Bar but we got there too late. So we went to Katz's Deli right beside since B was hungry. Unfortunately, my stomach was still full of bbq so I only had drinks. But the drinks were great. Pretty sure Dave Navarro was our waiter. B had to fly in the morning so Sandi and I shut the bar down across the street. Gotta love Austin.

Cheers from 6th Street....Tomorrow, try No. 2 with Louie Meuller's

BBQ Tour: Day 1

I was reading the Houston Chronicle one day and found a story on a Connecticut man who toured the major BBQ powerhouses of Central Texas. I asked a friend if she'd want to go and with her confirmation I marked the map and we headed out.
Well, our first destination was in Taylor, Texas just NW of Austin. We were heading towards Louie Meuller's BBQ but alas, we found this. It was a MONDAY! What do you mean, so much bbq got eaten on a MONDAY that you aren't open at 6:30pm? So, we headed another hour South...

The Salt Lick BBQ is about 20 minutes SW of Austin. So, after an unanticipated extra hour in the car we were hungry and ready for bbq. But, so were a LOT of other people...

The parking lot alone was scary at how vast it was. Would we ever eat bbq tonight??

After we put our name down we waited in this outdoor picnic area. It was BYOB, bring your own beer, and I was thankful for the few Smirnoff Ice's I had left over from the Colorado trip. Unforunately, they weren't cold and there were only a few, so I saved them for our meal.

Everyone was looking longingly in this direction...the actual restaurant where our taste buds would soon be cleansed with the salty, smoked taste of Texas BBQ. And everyone waited patiently with the hostess and her hand-held microphone to call the family name.

Well, after 20 minutes or so, we were getting bored so we took the time to make sure our existence here was a proven fact. Soon enough our names were called.

We walked into a open space of picnic tables. It was loud and busy but I was so busy watching the meat come from the counter that I barely was aware of anything else around me. After cracking a Smirnoff, our lovely waitress Kris helped us order a combo plate so we could try small portions of three different meats. Well, Sandi had never been at a bbq place before, so with a little extra help and explanation of meat, we finally placed our order.

Sandi and her first bite of BBQ!

My combo plate included brisket, turkey and a pork rib. Each was outstanding...

As we were leaving I stopped to take a picture of the Holy Grail of the meat we had entirely consumed. While doing so one of the waitresses invited me into the kitchen to get a shot of the fire and see/feel how intense it really is back here.

I only wish it hadn't been so late and close to closing because I know during the day that thing is covered in meat.... Salt Lick, keep fulfilling your carniverous purpose in life, we love you and can't wait to see you soon! :)

Outdoor area when no one is around...and all lit up for nighttime.

We set up our refuge for the BBQ tour at the Hampton Inn on 35 and 183. For real, just stay downtown. It looks like there's a $20 difference but there really isn't with taxes. Love my Hamptons, though.

Um, sorry, Mr. Monkey, we'll give you your privacy! Goodnight! :)

Home to Houston

Was just posting some new things in Houston. These Five Guys Burgers and Fries places have popped up recently. I tried it out with my mom. WOW, awesome. And these were the small burgers and fry!

We went downtown to Hobby Center to see WICKED for my birthday. While downtown saw this interesting sculpture.

FOURTH ROW BABY......FOURTH ROW......to see Wicked. It was......there are no words......AMAZING is all I can think but it was so much more. Actually ran into Phillip, an old UNT music student with me back in the day. It was cool to hear how he was doing in the touring company and NYC.

Also tried Ruby Tequila's finally. Good chimichanga... I love places that cook their own foods from their own ingredients and a Mexican food with NO microwaves?? Damn straight.

Brenham and SPONTANEOUS Kerrville

Well, Friday, I had nothing else planned so I went ahead and went to Brenham, following the Texas Highways July Magazine. My plan was to go to the Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. So, I went somewhere to get something to eat first, so that I didn't get light headed, as the day was hot and I hadn't eaten. I've always seen this diner on the side of the road, so I thought it'd be a nice place to stop for a bit, rather than fast food.

I had a burger and fries.....Not anything special but it was made there to order so I wasn't displeased.

Then, I went for the Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Park... Here is where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed committing treason upon Mexico, the original owner of the land. Thus started the Texas Revolution.

The Visitors Center was very and the best place to start your journey. Here is where you pay your $9 or so to look at the rest of the park attractions, which include the Lone Star Museum (or Rose Museum, something like that), and the Barrington Farm or some living history farm.

Inside is the museum that has a good exhibit on the history of how Texas became a state.

Here was one of the artifacts in the small museum.... They also had a great gift shop :) For the record... LOL

Love me some historical plaques!!

Independence Hall... I didn't purchase the tour so I'm a little unsure of what happened here. I'm pretty sure, however, it's where the declaration was signed...or represents the type of place/building it would have been signed in.

The plaque....

Then, I called my friend Sandi, and we high tailed it to Kerrville (5 hours from Houston) to catch the show Cats at the Point Theatre. While going there we passed into Johnson City (Sandi's last name) so we stopped for photos.

Point Theatre...

The set of Cats.....NOT professionals... Lol, I thought they would be, but nope, just local kids and all ages coming together to sing along to a recording of background music. Dancing weak but they have great heart!

Tons of people, and the show doesn't start til the sun goes down so it's actually not so bad.

View of the river from our seats. AND, once the sun went down we saw all these awesome lightning bugs!! It was great.... So, maybe a waste of money, but who cares? Lol, it's summer and I had a fun time. Nothing like crossing something off your travel list!