Texas - Part 2 (March 24-28, 2021)
“Barbeque may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start.” - Anthony Bourdain
We continued our tour of Texas with a stop at Lockhart State Park in Lockhart Texas. This was an ideal location for us because Lockhart is situated almost directly between the cities of Austin and San Antonio, both cities we were excited to visit. As an added bonus, Lockhart is known as the barbeque capital of Texas (more on that later!) Unlike most of the locations we had previously visited, we knew exactly what we wanted to do while in the area.
There was no way we could travel through the state of Texas without visiting our friend Chris who moved to Austin about eight years ago. We decided that the best day for us to get together with Chris would be Thursday, our first full day in the area. Early birds that we are, we got ourselves together early Thursday morning and headed into Austin, about 30 miles away (but with a speed limit of 85 mph it didn’t take us long to get there!) We had some time to kill before meeting Chris so we decided to check out the state capital (full confession – I completely forgot that Austin was the capital of Texas until that day!) We were surprised to learn at the visitor’s center that the Capitol was open for self-guided tours. The capitol grounds were VERY heavily guarded and once we learned that the State Legislature was in session (only for 140 days every two years) we understood why. There were Covid testing tents set up outside the entrance but we talked to one of the guards and learned that we only needed to be tested if we were going to testify or planned to visit the Senate chambers. If we only wanted to walk around the building or visit the House of Representatives chambers, we didn’t need to be tested. We aren’t sure why the House and Senate chambers had different rules but we decided that we didn’t really need to visit the Senate and we certainly had no plans to testify. We spent the better part of an hour wandering around the building and even got to see a few bills being passed by the house. These are the kinds of experiences that we love stumbling on!
Later that morning, we met up with Chris for brunch then he drove us around to a few of his favorite spots in the city, starting with a cool downtown area with interesting shops and fun murals. Chris took our picture together in front of a few of the murals, which is a treat because opportunities to get our photo taken together are rare on this trip. We ended the day by sharing a beverage at an outside bar called Bangers. It was just a perfect day and we absolutely loved spending time with Chris again.
We watched way too many Youtube videos to not know exactly what to do on a one-day visit to San Antonio the next day - visit the San Antonio River Walk, the Alamo (of course), and the San Antonio missions. Again, we got to the city fairly early, around 9:30, which we quickly realized was a little too early for the people of San Antonio. We pulled into a public parking area - $8 for the whole day – but there was no attendant to take our money. Fearing we’d get towed, to tried to find someone who might know what we should do. Finally, we found a super helpful city employee who said he’d “talk to Shannon” and make sure they didn’t tow the black Excursion. We were a little apprehensive but he came through for us because the Excursion was still there at the end of the day.
Absolutely nothing was open along the River Walk when we first arrived so we set out to visit the Alamo. Tickets to tour the inside were free but had to be reserved as they had a set number of people they were allowing in the Alamo at one time. Thankfully we had no trouble securing tickets and opted for the 2 pm tour so that we could take a little time to walk around the city (our favorite thing to do!). We walked for several blocks, enjoyed our picnic lunch (also a favorite thing to do!), and then made our way back to the River Walk. Taking a boat tour up and down the River Walk seemed like a popular thing to do but instead, we invested our money in a few adult beverages and a gigantic soft pretzel at a German Restaurant along the river. From there we headed back to the Alamo for our inside tour. No photos allowed unfortunately but it was pretty neat inside. Our son asked us later if the Alamo was a little underwhelming and after visiting the rest of the San Antonio Missions later that afternoon, I’d have to say yes. The Alamo was cool (because it’s the Alamo) but the rest of the missions were just incredible. To think those churches were built over 200 years ago, are still standing AND still have active congregations is amazing. In addition to that, they are part of the National Park Service. It’s “a unique partnership between the National Park Service and the Catholic Church” per the park ranger on-site that day. Although we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day, I’m glad we took the time to visit all five of the missions. This was definitely not a case of “if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all” because each one was unique and beautiful in its own way.
Now, let’s talk barbeque! Apparently, there are several places in Lockhart to get good barbeque (Black’s, Smitty’s, and Kreuz Market) but somewhere along the way, we heard that the locals eat at a place called Chisolm Trail. It wasn’t far from our campground so we stopped there for takeout after our day out in Austin. Charley and I each opted for the sampler – brisket, ribs, and pulled pork with three sides and bread. Oh my goodness! The food was AMAZING! I wouldn’t even say that I’m a huge fan of barbeque but maybe it’s because I’ve never had authentic barbeque before. The staff of Chisolm Trail was super friendly too and after learning that we were from New York, they threw in some fajita meat for us to try. There was so much food we actually had enough for dinner the next night. I’m pretty sure that meal will be one we talk about for a long time.
Our visit to the Austin, San Antonio, Lockhart area was just perfect. Friendly faces, great food, and amazing weather – this location definitely ranks high on our list of favorites so far!
We aren’t finished with Texas just yet. Texas part three will include our time in west Texas (which actually looks a feels a whole lot like New Mexico).
