Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Texas: Food, Beer, and Fun in one weekend, gotta love it!!

Hi everyone!
I hope this finds you healthy and happy!
I am sitting on the plane of last leg of our Trip to Texas and thought I could share with you all that we experienced over our long Independence Day weekend. 
Now if you are not a fan of Texas or do not want to hear someone gushing about it, you may want to stop reading now, otherwise here we go. We flew in to San Antonio jumped into a rental car and took off! We were on our way to the 41st annual Wilie Nelson 4th of July picnic in Fort Worth the next day, but first we had to stop in Round Rock for dinner. Why you might ask, no, not for the world famous donuts at the Round Rock Bakery which use to be a must before we went wheat free, but because that is where the Salt Lick Barbeque was located. The Salt Lick has 3 locations now. The original is in Driftwood and it is really quaint, if you ever get a chance to go there do it, you will love it if you like Barbeque. *Side Note: many people think that grilling is barbequing IT IS NOT. Grilling is what you might do on your home grill or what is often called a barbeque. True Barbeque is where the meet is usually prepared with a dry rub and then left to set for several hours, after that it is smoked over wood at a low temperature in either a smoker or a pit  for sometimes 12 - 18 hours depending on the size and type of meat. After this process it is sliced and served, sometimes mopping occurs, that is when sauce is mopped n the meat over and over. My preference and from what I have seen, Texas Barbecue is served " Dry" wth the sauce on the side.*
The Texas air permeates wth the smell of burning wood, the Salt Lick states " You can smell our pits from miles away" too funny! 
After our fill of the famous Therman's Choice plate: Brisket,Sausage and Pork Ribs, along with Beans, Potato Salad, and Cole Slaw and a Coke, everything that is flavored and carbonated is a Coke in Texas, I had a Dr. Pepper from Waco, Yum! After the purchase of shirts and Salt Lick Rub for home use, we waddled out to the car. I would also like to add that Barbeque is generally served with bread, we are wheat free so we passed on it, but did get the pickles and onions, I think they and jalepenios are a must with this type of food.
                            
 Ok, Saturday was all about The Willie Nelson Annual 4th of July Picnic!
Its held at the Stockyard in Fort Worth. 
There are several food trucks on the grounds that we got some killer Frito Pie at that night.  
For lunch however, it was all about Billy Bob's which basically shared the parking lot and co hosts the event. ICE COLD TEXAS BEER, which is the only way to get a beer in Texas I do believe, and a BILLY BOB COB(salad) Wow! This salad makes almost any man happy with its ample amount of meat, my hubby thought it was steak, I thought it was brisket, and the bacon it was amazing! It is served in a huge bowl that was more than enough to fill us up for hours and it did! 
Back to the beer for a minute, the Picnic only serves Bud or Bud Light, Shiner Bock is our favorite and there was a newer Texas only beer we tried called Ziegen Bock, nice and smooth no aftertaste. So we bought and drank our beer in Billy Bob's in the awesome honey tonk and also provided me the opportunity to shop Texas suvinors which in my world is always a good thing :)
Well, that was a fantastic way to celebrate our 4th of July 2014.
On our way to Rockport Texas we stopped somewhere I just have to mention in San Marco which is a truck stop called Buckee's. I mention this because it is a must see. I found out that they are opening all over Texas, but this  one in San Marcos is 68 THOUSAND Sq. Ft.!  It has everything! Snacks, BBQ, drinks, fruits, Vegis, deli counter, t-shirts, home decorations, you name it, they probably have it, and yes they even have gas too. 
In Rockport we ate a great little place called Moon Dogs. It's on the water and their food and drinks are great. I had two different tacos, one fish, one beef, both excellent. We were in a party of 5, everyone ordered something different and the comments were all positive, can't beat that! 
Moon Dogs was doing a remodel: addition but were still opened, well worth your time. 
The last place I want to mention is The Crab N (in).
I mention this because it is like several restaurants that cook your fish that you bring them and they supply the sides, or you can buy the whole meal from them. 
I have never seen this before, so I thought it was a cool idea. 
I would love to tell you how wonderful the meal was, unfortunately that was not our experience. To be fair, this place is popular and it was packed. We had a table of 3-4 different groups all ordering different ways they wanted their fish prepared. We are wheat/ gluten free so we ordered ours blackened. Others ordered theirs blackened or fried. Ours came out much later than everyone else's and it was much darker. 
After finishing all I could eat, my husband and I compared notes and both of us realized the food was hard for us to finish as the salt, or extreme over salting was  rediculous. 
We were guests, and knew only three other people at the table, it was no time to complain. As our hosts were brought up to speed, one of them tried the fish and was surprised we had eaten it. 
Other people who had ordered the blackened fish, tried it, and it was totally different from what they had gotten. Could they have had an off night? 
Could they have over seasoned,?
Could they dislike tourists? All are possible, yet sometimes we all just have an off moment.
 I would simply say if you eat at one of these type of places and are not happy, remember this is Texas, most people really do care and will make you some of their fish to replace it. 
I will remember this because,
 I LOVE TEXAS!!!

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