Mom joins the adventure! After a great night in Baton Rouge, I went to pick my mom up at the airport and we started the drive to Houston, TX to stay with Katie and J. The first thing we did was search for a lunch place and found a road side seafood restaurant called Pier 51 Seafood.
It had decent fried seafood, but the best part
was their special sauce that they made
in house called Landry sauce. It was
essentially a seafood cream sauce with
bits of seafood in it.
After that it was only a few hours until we crossed the state line into Texas! I will commend the state of Texas for putting their welcome center at the same exit where the "Welcome to Texas" sign is since it is super convenient to pull over to pick up maps, get snacks, and also take pictures with the sign/ Texas star. Many states just have the sign on the side of the road, not at an exit, and if you blink you could miss it. It's either that or you nearly cause a wreck trying to snap a quick picture of it while driving by at 70 MPH.
Me acting like a star? Who knows.
Unfortunately, Texans seem to interpret this sign as, "Drive as if you've never
heard of cruise control- the Texas Way."
View of the skyline driving into Houston.
Passed through Houston, TX to get to Richmond, TX- home of Katie and J.
I was lucky enough to have seafood gumbo two nights in a row
so that I could see the differences between Louisiana (roux-based) gumbo
and Texas (tomato, okra) gumbo. I now know that both are
delicious and I think I will combine elements from both
kinds when I try to make my own!
Thank you for hosting us for the evening and for the delicious meal!
Sleepy kitty
One of their many pets.
The next day we got an early start and hit the road so that we could get to San Antonio in time for lunch. I had read about a great food truck park that had a collection of 15 different food trucks to choose from, and we couldn't wait to see the selection!
Remember the Alamo! Lots of cool history.
San Antonio, TX- what a beautiful city along the river.
Talk about fulfilling the stereotype- state trooper in a cowboy hat in 98 degree Texas weather.
The greatest road-side attraction yet- Buc-ee's- not just a convenience store.
This place was incredible. It was about the length of a football field and it had everything you
could ever want for a road trip or just at all- candy, drinks, pots, pans,
clothing, tools, artwork, etc.
They even had a whole section of the deli counter devoted to jerky! I was
skeptical at first but after a sample, I was hooked. We ordered some to go
and the Sweet and Spicy would be my recommendation. Advice: eat
jerky only when you're alone or with people that you aren't trying to impress-
it's not a pretty sight.
The guy working at the register was kind enough to let me try the beaver
nuggets and I was glad I asked. They are a sweet, caramel treat similar
to caramel popcorn without the annoyance of them getting stuck
in your teeth. Apparently things with ridiculous names can be tasty too!
Buc-ee's also had a great pastry/bakery section with cookies,
cakes, pastries, rolls, etc. We got a sausage, cheese, and jalapeno
hotdog wrap and it was certainly better than any gas station
food I'd ever had before and for only $1.49.
After spending entirely too long at Buc-ee's, we got back on the road and headed
to San Antonio in search of the food truck park.
We found it!
....and then we realized that there wasn't a single person there.
Literally.
(We spotted a man in a neighboring parking lot and asked him why
no one was there and he said because it was too hot. Never
thought I'd hear that from a Texan, but I guess everyone
has their limits and 98 degrees must be theirs.)
So we had to change plans and find a new place for lunch. I wanted
to try Barbacoa (where the name barbeque originated from and
was originally slow cooked cow head, but is now used more
to described slow cooked meat with Mexican spices) so I
googled a few places that were famous for it and discovered
Taqueria Datapoint, which was a little north of the city.
It was a quaint place in a small strip shopping center and the
two waitresses working greeted us only speaking Spanish, which
was exciting because we got to practice our Spanish with them!
I asked our waitress what her favorite thing on the menu was and she said
the carne asada taco and the barbacoa taco, so I got one of each.
(I tend to always ask the servers what their favorites are because
generally they know the menu the best since they eat the food
a lot and can make great recommendations). I also ordered
a side of avocados to put on the tacos. Both were delicious and super
tender, but I would have to say that the carne asada was better than the barbacoa.
Mom got a beef gordita that was also very good with a side of
caramelized onions and avocado.
After lunch we got back on the road and headed to Austin! We made a
quick stop along the way at the Premium Outlets and then got into town around 5pm
to our hotel downtown.
On our way to dinner!
I knew we would only have two meals (one dinner and one breakfast) in
Austin, so I had to make them count since it is such a foodie town.
I did lots of research and the best two places I found ended up being
owned by the same people. No wonder they both looked so great!
One is a food truck named Odd Duck and once that became
so successful they opened a permanent restaurant (about 7 months ago)
named Barley Swine, and we ended up choosing this one.
We left for dinner around 7pm and our culinary adventure did not end
until 11pm, which included 3 different stops along the way. Needless
to say I am slipping into a food coma, mom is already asleep, and I
will have to describe the good eats tomorrow because I want to do them justice
because I might have found my favorite place along the way so far!
What a great night!
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