Yeehaw! Texas trip

Ya'll make me laugh! I had a little camera issue, but am back on track. Here's a summary of our Texas trip. This vacation was focused on visiting Food Network recommended spots, mostly for BBQ (nothing fancy), and brewpubs/bars.

Austin
We were very excited to visit Austin, as we've been told it's much like Madison, WI. The universities and state government are a big part of both cities. Austin is really like Madison on steriods. They have a larger population, but a much more vibrant retail and food industry.

We realized in Texas, to be classified a good beer bar, you needed to have about 20 taps or more. It was great! There were also plenty of Brewpubs, including "Uncle Billy's."




We went to the State Capitol, which was beautiful, but our camera battery was dead, so no pics. The inside of the capitol wasn't much special, but the huge sprawling grounds were beautiful.

The LBJ Presidential Library was amazing. If you ever have a chance ot visit, do it. It's right on the university campus, and is awe inspiring. LBJ was an amazing president of the people. It was a moving experience.

Lake Travis was pretty. Lots of gated communities around Austin with beautiful homes. The lakeside communities were no exception.



Food report:
The staples of Texas bbq are beef brisket, pork spareribs or baby back ribs, sausages, chicken and turkey. Sometimes there were beef ribs.

Meals generally came with coleslaw and beans. The coleslaw was generally ok, the beans were not my cup of tea. Generally boring. Give me some boston baked beans any day.

Louie Mueller had our favorite brisket and sausage by far. The place was a dive, in a dead town. But they had a James Beard award! I would go back to Louie's in a heart beat. Thanks, Guy, for the recommendation!

Ironworks sucked...lots of Austin folks recommended it, along with Rachel or Giada, but it wasn't worth it.

The Salt Lick was recommended by almost every Food Networker, from Bobby Flay to Duff, to Giada. And every Austin-ite also seemed to recommend it. The location, about 20 miles outside of Austin, was beautiful. Giant building and vineyard. But the seating was casual picnic tables, and you bring your own alcohol. The beef ribs were to die for. Brisket was good.

Green Mesquite, a Food Network recommendation, was nothing to write home about.

Another food notable: breakfasts. Magnolia Cafe (a food network recommendation from Guy and Giada), was great! The gingerbread pancakes and "Migas with Love" were the best breakfast we had the whole trip. Love the great Tex Mex breakfast and dinners we had on the trip.

Ooh, one more food notable. I wanted to eat at food carts, but we were always too full of bbq. One night we skipped dinner, and went out on the town. I had a 10 pm hankering for something and we saw a funky hot dog cart. I had a hot dog with chipotle sauce, chopped bacon, onion, and peppers. Yum!

We got to watch the Packers beat the Bears in Austin. Lots of both fans, so had a great time. We were invited back to Packers' fans house with brats and beers, but the guys got in a scuffle as they were leaving the bar, and we decided that was a bad idea.


San Antonio
Of course we had to hit the Alamo and quote Pee Wee's Big Adventure. I was surprised The Alamo was right in the heart of San Antonio and not outside the city. It was actually quite moving.


We found a great outdoor bar and happened to be one of few guests. Tried lots of new good beers while enjoying some sun.



The Riverwalk area was beautiful.


We stayed at an old grand hotel that John Wayne and Audie Murphy often stayed at. Chris thought that was cool. We hit "Howl at the Moon" piano bar two nights and had a very fun time. You can pay to have quotes put on the mirrors behind the players, and some Packers, Bears and Steelers fans were exchanging jabs. You can see that in the photos if you look closely.


We did drive out to Freidericksburg, an old German town. It didn't excite us, but we did stop at a good winery that many online recommended. I thought the wineries would have mostly sweet wines, but there were some good dry reds.

Texas Pride BBQ was out of the way, but pretty darn good. By then we were getting a little sick of BBQ, but it was a good experience.

Chris also made me visit a flight museum, where I found interesting things about underage servicemembers and flying monkeys! These are chairs they sent monkeys into space in.


Finally, we did hit the Spoetzel Brewery, home to Shiner Beer.



Galveston
Weather was cold and foggy most of our Galveston stay. Our hotel across the street from the beach did little good. Galveston was not a place I'd recommend for couples our age without families. There were a lot of closed buisinesses from Hurricane Ike years ago, and generally not much to do. We found a decent bar outside of town where we chatted and drank with some competition bbq cookers. Very nice folks, but a little rednecky. Made for entertainmentment.

We also went to an offshore oil drilling museum. I felt dirty paying admission, but it was really interesting and well done. I tried to ignore the propaganda (the "minimizing environmental impact" display sponsored by the oil companies).It wasn't busy, so we took full advantage of the children's interactive zone.

A noteable food stop was "T Bone Tom's." We had "armadillo eggs." It's pulled pork with bbq sauce , stuffed in a jalepeno, breaded and deep fried. About the size of a baseball! So delicious.

On the way home, the storms across the midwest made our travel challenging. Were supposed to fly from Houston to Minneapolis to Madison on Tuesday. Made it to Minneapolis, but no available flights to Madison until THURSDAY. Ended up renting a car and driving home, with an overnight stop in a cheap motel. Then Chris locked the keys in the rental in our driveway, while it was running. Smooth move, Chris.