BrokenSpoken

I headed back to Corpus but decided to play tourist one last time. I got a room at the Omni hotel in downtown Corpus Christi. I ended up having dinner at Water Street Oyster Bar.

Ya gotta love happy hour! Half off draft beer, oysters and sushi…all of which was wonderful!

The Omni is a class hotel. I personally think it’s worth the extra money for the stay!

On the way out of College Station I came across a Costco! Bonus round!

The drive to Port LaVaca was uneventful. I wanted to go there because Bill and Rachel had told me about the top 50 BBQ joints in Texas. LaVaca BBQ was in the 8th place slot. Turns out it was well deserved.

I should have gotten a picture of their sign out front as it was much better than this one, but…this will have to do. The brisket was fork tender, the Cubano style pulled pork was outstanding (but even better with the house made mustard sauce). I had a cup of brisket gumbo (let’s face it, soup is good for the soul) which was quite good. The other two sides was their version of jalapeno coleslaw and creamed corn…neither was as good as what I make, however I was given a piece of cornbread which the waiter assured me was “special”. He was right!

I spoke with the owners (their daughter has taken over the full time position of Pitmaster). They are wonderful small town folks who would be a blast to get to know better. I’ll have to make the trip back while I’m staying in Corpus Christi.

One of the waitstaff told me I should take a drive to Indianola, about 12 miles away and have a beer while watching the ocean and the fisherman trying out their luck. I decided to go and was glad I did. The staff was….eclectic is probably the kindest word to describe them. The boss/matriarch of the crew was somewhere in the 40’s to 75 range wearing leopard print hot pants (not a pretty sight) and the rest were all as interestingly attired. Regardless they were a good bunch and served cold beer.

I did get to watch the locals catching fish too.

I left Waco by heading east. I went through a great big clockwise loop before ending back up in College Station. On the way I found three smaller towns, Corsicana 25k population, Nacogdoches 34k, and Lufkin 34k. All had their own bit of charm.

Corsicana has a ton of charm in the downtown area. I saw this City Jail which had been turned into a residence. If you look above the front door it has the City Jail title still there. It is exactly the type of place I would like. Little to no maintenance and right in the middle of everything.

I saw the below sign in downtown Nacogdoches and just had to stop in.

It was a killer cigar store…and so much more. Want memorabilia, check, vinyl albums, check, cigars….absolutely. I was inside their walk in humidor and began to listen to a couple inside. The wife was telling the husband about each brand and what she thought he might like. I mentioned that I should have her do the same for me! Turns out she used to have an interest in the store and paid close attention to what people said.

She indicated they had recently moved and when I asked where to she replied “Mena, AR”. I began to laugh and explained that Anita and I had gone to Mena to look the town over. At one point we considered buying property but decided against it. She said they love it there.

So three more towns have made it onto the “small town” list.

I got into College Station around 6pm. After a quick shower I walked (yes, I walked) to Red’s Ice House. I had breakfast the first time I was there and had a great staff waiting on me so I wanted to see if dinner would be as good. Turns out the same two waited on me for dinner and the rest of the staff was outstanding as well.

I even had a short theological chat with my bartender, Georgia. Hats off to her for her conviction. Also a thumbs up to Gabby who used to live in Tacoma and hasn’t looked back since she left. She commented she no longer has to be careful about what she says bothering others. She freely speaks her mind and not offending anyone. What a concept.

I am glad to put the traffic construction of San Antonio behind me! I’m headed to Waco by way of a highway that will take me west of San Marcos & Austin.

Marble Falls, TX is a pretty little town in an area full of lakes but it isn’t what I’m looking for. I was hoping Killeen, TX would peak my interest but no luck. Same with Temple, TX.

I wasn’t looking for much from Waco, but maybe because I held my bar low the town was better than expected. It’s not making the short list but still…

I was glad to leave Abilene in the rear view mirror. That meant the hill country of Texas was not far away. Man this part of Texas is flat! So it was nice to start in with the hills as I pulled into Fredericksburg, TX.

My brother Wes and I had ridden through here many years ago and really enjoyed the place.

I stopped for a good BBQ lunch at Eaker’s BBQ and was not disappointed. However looking through a different set of eyes told me Fredericksburg wouldn’t be making the short list either. Far too touristy feeling.

Tonight’s destination was New Braunfels just north of San Antonio. Man was I ever glad to get there. It seems as though all the roads in San Antonio are torn up! Complete pain in the butt to get through.

However, I did manage to find a very unique watering hole a short drive from the hotel. I enjoyed my time at Freiheit Country Store. It may have started as a store but you can see the additions of bar, dancefloor and band stand. It was a kick.

Started off the day with going to Granbury, TX where Mark Fowler, former Metro partner of mine lives. I met him where he currently works with some young guys training horses for competitive roping. It was a fun watching someone practice their craft that they are obviously good at.

Mark was kind enough to offer his house to stay at in Oct when I wrap up in Corpus Christi. I might just take him up on that.

I headed out towards Abilene, TX. No particular route, just the westerly direction. It’s a good thing I wasn’t set on a direct path, because Texas DPS had the road I was on completely blocked off due to a head-on wreck. A short prayer for those involved and a detour around.

I made it to Abilene around six. Once again this town won’t make the short list.

I took off from Longview this morning and decided to check out Tyler, TX, only about 45 mins away. They are similar in size but that’s where the similarities end. Tyler has a city with a feel of decline…needless to say, it’s off the list.

Not much to say other than being glad to get to Mo and Randy’s (Anita’s sister and brother in law) house and out of the Dallas traffic.

It was good to see spend an evening with them. Randy and I watched the two NCAA tourney games. The Duke vs UConn game was great, no matter who you were rooting for it was a good game to watch.

I left Memphis fairly early since I didn’t sleep worth a darn. It was nice to leave the big city on a Sunday so I didn’t have to deal with traffic.

It wasn’t long before I was in Arkansas. I hadn’t ever been in the eastern side of the state. I must say…it was flat. Lots of farmland, though I’m not sure what the crops were.

I stopped in Stuggart, AR for breakfast at a tiny hole-in-the-wall called Chit Chat Chew. I do mean tiny. I had four or five folks inside doing the Chat part of the place. They did a good job on a western omelette.

When I entered Kingsland, AR I saw a sign that made me double back to get a picture.

I guess I need to re-watch Walk the Line!

The countryside was pretty since it went from flatland to lots of evergreens with some hills around. Too bad there isn’t a smallish city that appealed to me, however, I did make it to Longview, TX and had dinner at Bubba’s 33, a very active, noisy sports bar. They had a great staff and darn good food.

Turns out I like Longview a lot…it’s a contender.

I did a little more exploring of the Downtown area today. Recent years have given Memphis a bit of an unsavory flavor, but the last couple of years they have apparently done a good job of getting things under control. I can’t say I ever felt uncomfortable during my walks. Of course not being out late at night in the wrong place helps considerably.

Breakfast was at BarDog Tavern a short walk away from the hotel. Had a basic breakfast. What was fun was the board showing a special drinks for March Madness. Look at the pic and you’ll see what was fun…

I ended up having lunch in what is considered Midtown. It’s about five miles from Beale street. Much more residential but with a thriving restaurant/art/theater scene. I might consider switching hotels and exploring it a bit more…we’ll see.

This was my unfortunate attempt to capture the view from the hotel bar from on high of the bridge crossing the mighty Mississippi. And this is what I get for not looking over my photos!

Decided to make my way to Memphis but I decided I could use a haircut and trim along the way. By doing a quick GTS (Google that shit) I found a barber not far off the road on the way way out of Chattanooga.

I stopped in at The MAX Barbershop. I told the gentleman what I was looking to get done and I heard a voice behind me “Mike”? I turned and saw Nik our waiter from last night! I mean what are the chances. Besides being a waiter Nik is a rock climber. I had given him my number the night before in case he ever got out west. He too was in need of a haircut. He actually had his head shaved. I told him he was going to have a hard time keeping his fellow wait staff off him!

The drive to Memphis was all freeway (once again I meant to stay on highways but got redirected to the freeway. I think if you take a break from moving it auto selects the most direct route).

Downtown Memphis is a bit of a challenge to navigate like most cities that have an older history, but I got to the hotel without too much challenge.

I had a good meal at the B.B. King Blues cafe and walked back to the hotel to hae an exciting evening of watching the NCAA tournament.