Spent a week in Texas

[Koolau]

Looks like it. The pictures show mostly antique planes.

Heh, heh, I hate to tell you, but the average age of GA aircraft is well over 30 years. So, if they were cars, MOST GA aircraft are antique. But I know what you mean. Some of those planes are over 70 years old. Too bad we haven't figured how to keep ourselves "air worthy" to the same extent.

It's clear that someone who built this "fly-tel" loves airplanes/flying. General aviation has been in decline for a long time (on the surface - due to costs; In reality, due to regulation.) It's only through love of aviation that GA will continue to exist. YMMV

 

[meierlde]

Two places for your next visit to that area:

1. Salt Lick BBQ: The Salt Lick
2. Do a Friday tour at the Austin BeerWorks (my college roommate is one of the co-founders, so I might be biased, but dang, the beer is good): Austin Beerworks: Brewers Hell-Bent on Excellence

Many arguments are had over the best BBQ some say its in Lockhart at one of the establishments in that town, others say Coopers in LLano (and now New Braunfels but I have not compared the two). There are also a couple of places in Luling on the list, and one in Taylor, so I guess it is you pay your money and take your choice.

 

[chrisaukcam]

We are going to San Antonio in Mid March for my son's air force graduation. Plan to see the Alamo of course. Anything else we should go see. Good places to eat?

 

[REWahoo]

We are going to San Antonio in Mid March for my son's air force graduation. Plan to see the Alamo of course. Anything else we should go see. Good places to eat?

Be sure to take a stroll along the San Antonio Riverwalk and take a cruise on the river. I'd also recommend Mi Tierra Cafe Y Panaderia as a very good place to eat - open 24/7.

 

[meierlde]

We are going to San Antonio in Mid March for my son's air force graduation. Plan to see the Alamo of course. Anything else we should go see. Good places to eat?

There is San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with 4 other missions than the Alamo.

 

[martyb]

Many arguments are had over the best BBQ some say its in Lockhart at one of the establishments in that town, others say Coopers in LLano (and now New Braunfels but I have not compared the two). There are also a couple of places in Luling on the list, and one in Taylor, so I guess it is you pay your money and take your choice.

My vote for some of the best bbq in the area...Zimmerhanzel's in Smithville, TX. mmm....mmmm!!!

 

[audreyh1]

The Coopers in Llano is the most famous, but we actually prefer the Coopers in Junction, TX. The brisket and ribs are just to die for. Fortunately there is a truck stop next door, so we can usually park our RV nearby.

The Cooper's BBQ restaurants vary significantly from one town to another - don't expect them to be the same.

 

[REWahoo]

The Coopers in Llano is the most famous, but we actually prefer the Coopers in Junction, TX. The brisket and ribs are just to die for. Fortunately there is a truck stop next door, so we can usually park our RV nearby.

+1

We stop at the Junction Coopers whenever we're passing through there. Outstanding BBQ.

 

[eridanus]

We are going to San Antonio in Mid March for my son's air force graduation. Plan to see the Alamo of course. Anything else we should go see. Good places to eat?

The Alamo? Lower your expectations.

 

[ziggy29]

Many arguments are had over the best BBQ some say its in Lockhart at one of the establishments in that town, others say Coopers in LLano (and now New Braunfels but I have not compared the two). There are also a couple of places in Luling on the list, and one in Taylor, so I guess it is you pay your money and take your choice.

We live in Llano (at least until next week) and our favorite (so far) is City Market in Luling, particularly their sausage. (Haven't done all the "trinity" in Lockhart yet, Smitty's, Kreuz and Black's.)

We've found Cooper's to be good but inconsistent. When they "nail" it and you get it off the pit at just the right time, it's as good as it gets. But we've been there a few times when the meat had clearly been sitting on the pit for too long.

 

[ziggy29]

My vote for some of the best bbq in the area...Zimmerhanzel's in Smithville, TX. mmm....mmmm!!!

We've never stopped in Smithville. All I remember about Smithville are (a) "Hope Floats" (forgettable as that was) and (b) the water towers with the smiley faces on them along Route 71 in the area. And I'd never even heard of this place, which is odd since after nearly 10 years in Texas I've heard of most of 'em in Central and South Texas by now.

 

[REWahoo]

We've never stopped in Smithville. All I remember about Smithville are (a) "Hope Floats" (forgettable as that was) and (b) the water towers with the smiley faces on them along Route 71 in the area. And I'd never even heard of this place, which is odd since after nearly 10 years in Texas I've heard of most of 'em in Central and South Texas by now.

Zimmerhanzel's didn't make the Texas Monthly list of the Top 50 BBQ joints, but it did get an honorable mention.

 

[ziggy29]

Zimmerhanzel's didn't make the Texas Monthly list of the Top 50 BBQ joints, but it did get an honorable mention.

The odd thing is that I've driven that stretch of 71 quite a few times but I don't ever remember seeing any signage or advertisement for the place along the highway. That's probably why I never knew it existed.

 

[calmloki]

Sorry, but I keep thinking "Second place was two weeks".

 

[Koolau]

The Alamo? Lower your expectations.

True if you are expecting a huge venue. The old mission is actually relatively small. Some of the 1836 defensive works have been mocked up, but the original site is not in tact. GO for the amazing history of the place. That it survived the many battles there (not just the 1836 battle "for Texas") is some kind of miracle. Texas (and the Alamo) is a "State of Mind", so YMMV. ENJOY!

 

[martyb]

The odd thing is that I've driven that stretch of 71 quite a few times but I don't ever remember seeing any signage or advertisement for the place along the highway. That's probably why I never knew it existed.

The deal with Smithville (my wife's hometown) is that the old families which are still largely in control (meaning have the $$) of Smithville, don't want too much growth. They want to keep it a small town, instead of what has happened in Bastrop since Austin started moving that direction. So....hardly any growth. There's very little of Smithville to be seen on Hwy. 71. I remember when they built that stretch of highway....which bypassed the town. That's the way Smithville wanted it. To get to the actual town of Smithville, you turn off Hwy. 71 onto FM 230. That will take you across the Colorado River (a second time, it's very curvy) and will bring you right past the front of Zimmerhanzel's. After you eat bbq there, you can turn left and you'll be in downtown. Before Hwy 71 bypassed the town, all the east-west traffic passed right through Smithville. This place truly is an example of a sleepy little town. It's nearly exactly the same as it was when I met my wife in 1991(working at HEB in Bastrop). The only new business to speak of in that town are the ones you see on the highway....a motel, a convenience store, and a hospital. Otherwise, almost zero change. Many of my wife's family are still there.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

We live in Llano (at least until next week) and our favorite (so far) is City Market in Luling, particularly their sausage. (Haven't done all the "trinity" in Lockhart yet, Smitty's, Kreuz and Black's.)

I have tried Kreuz and Black's by ordering and having sausage shipped to California -- well, DH and brother did it. Neither sausage compared to my memories of Luling's City Market sausage, and when I returned there this past Monday, I found the sausage was as good as I remembered.

The whole trip, one week, 1025 miles, Austin, down 71 to Houston, Beltway 8 to Pearland, back down through Sugar Land to Needville, up to Cypress, on to Luling, Lockhart, and back to Austin; down through San Antonio to Alice, to Corpus, over to Port Aransas, through Beeville on back to Austin, was terrific.

One highlight was definitely the Lockhart sausage from City Market. YUM.

 

[Idnar7]

Anyone familiar with Earl Campbell's brand of spicy sausages/links? I used to find it in grocery stores in Austin in the '90's. Thought that was great sausage to grill/smoke. Google shows it is now produced by J Bar B, Texas's largest sausage producer. Located in Waelder, TX.

 

[lark_L]

I'm WAY jealous. I grew up in Waco, but Mom was from Fredericksburg and Dad was from Kerrville, so we spent a lot of time in the Hill Country. My aunt married a rancher when I was 11 and we spent a lot of time out in the country on his place between Ingram and Harper.

I'm in Iowa now and need a Texas Hill Country fix in the worst way. Not too long (hopefully) and we ER and goodbye snow and ice.

 

[Lazarus]

I'm WAY jealous. I grew up in Waco, but Mom was from Fredericksburg and Dad was from Kerrville, so we spent a lot of time in the Hill Country. My aunt married a rancher when I was 11 and we spent a lot of time out in the country on his place between Ingram and Harper.

I'm in Iowa now and need a Texas Hill Country fix in the worst way. Not too long (hopefully) and we ER and goodbye snow and ice.

I grew up in North Missouri I need a midwest fix. I live in Texas now. I like it here but miss home.

 

[GolfingDuo]

Visiting San Antonio this summer

Hi we are new to the forum. This summer (yes we know it is the hottest time of the year) are planning on visiting San Antonio. The reason for our visit is one just a vacation which we have not done in a couple of years and two we are nearing retirement and San Antonio is our choice of retirement location. We live currently in central Massachusetts and have a decent retirement as I am military and federal technician with two decent pensions. We will look around at different options to living there and come back home to discuss it further.

So I guess as I have read the River Walk and the Alamo are two. Another is shopping and one store I plan on visiting is Paris Hatters. I am also considering Hill Country Retreat as it is a 55+ comunity by Del Webb and relatively new. As it stands we probably will be able to buy into a home with no mortgage and such so it is all about location for us.

So the time frame we plan to go is early July and we will be there just under a week. We like to golf as our name implies so I am considering that as an activity but we are flexible with that since it will be the hottest time of the year. I expect we will spend a good deal of time driving around so I am thinking outside SA proper and maybe even metro. What suggestions?