Lucy in disguise with diamonds

We got into a lot of rush hour traffic on our way into Austin making our one hour trip two hours. After getting settled into our hotel and going out to explore the city, we immediately fell in love with Austin. Since we were in Texas, we decided we had to try as much barbecue as we could. We went to go to a place named Stubb's for dinner. The restaurant has their own stage outside and there was a concert going on with a band we really liked. We were kinda jealous we didn't know about the concert beforehand! There was also a band that was inside the restaurant that we could see from our table on the second floor. We loved the place and all it's charm and atmosphere. However, what it had in ambiance it lacked in good eats! We shared some ribs and a couple of sides (we've been sharing everything since we have SOOO much food to try in each city). All of the food was kind of cold and the ribs were tough and tasted weird. They had a great jalapeno creamed spinach, though which we loved.

The next morning we went to breakfast at Juan in a Million (ha!). Throughout the trip we've been to lots of places with really good reputations and cult followings. We felt that some of the places were very overrated or just not something to write home about. This was NOT the case with Juan in a Million. Although it has great reviews and is constantly crowded with people eating their Don Juan breakfast tacos, we felt it was completely UNDERRATED! We shared the Don Juan taco and with every bite we took we looked up at each other in disbelief at how good this very simple dish was. I want my birthday cake made out of it! After paying our $6 bill, we left very full and satisfied. 

Next we went to Commerce Street, which quickly became one of my favorite streets in the world! (Sorry, Las Ramblas) It kind of felt like my own personal heaven was built in the middle of sunny Texas. There were so many stores and cute food stands, we could have roamed the streets all day. We planned all of our food stops along Commerce Street strategically so we could try everything we wanted without exploding.

We went to a stand called Hey Cupcake, that sells cupcakes out of a silver trailer. We got a 24 Carrot and a Sweetberry cupcake. We shared the Sweetberry cupcake first because we were still so full from breakfast. It was easily the best cupcake we've ever had. 

We walked around a little more and shopped a little before getting ice cream at a famous Austin ice cream shop, Amy's. There was a sign outside that said if you can guess what movie this quote:

is from, you received a free crush in for your ice cream. I told Larry, "I feel like it's The Breakfast Club or one of those 80s movies." He said he would tell the guy when it was our turn but I said NO! I don't have any basis for thinking that. He didn't listen, and when it was our turn he asked the guy if it was the Breakfast Club and was right! (It was the Gorbachev trivia incident all over again :) So we got some delicious strawberry ice cream and a passion fruit milkshake and went on our way.

Since Larry ran out of clean shirts, next we went to the Austin mall to buy him some shirts for the next few days. It was a really nice mall but we didn't have much time to spend there. As if we should be eating anything else, our next stop was The Salt Lick, another highly rated barbecue restaurant. It was about 45 minutes outside of Austin but we decided it was worth the extra drive to the original restaurant. 

We pulled up to an unpainted wooden house and we immediately knew we were at the right place. There were big signs that said BYOB, so we did. As soon as we opened the car doors we could smell the firepit. We walked in and saw huge picnic tables in an indoor porch surrounded by trees. We chose a table so that we could still see the firepit from our seats. The firepit was huge and full of all types of meat, all slowly being cooked. We ordered a sample plate so we could try all of their barbecue: turkey, sausage, brisket and ribs. We were surprised how fast the food came out, but then realized it was either ready or it wasn't going to be ready. We loved everything we tried, especially the ribs. They also have their own barbecue sauce which we liked and bought one to take home. When we were done eating, we went over to admire the firepit. I took a picture of it and before I knew it the guy behind the firepit was inviting us behind the counter to see it up close. He was so nice, he even asked Larry to pose for a picture!

It was when we were leaving the Salt Lick parking lot that we started to realize our trip was almost over. We drove to Dallas that night for, I'm embarrassed to say, another food stop. We stopped in probably the quirkiest place we've been to yet, Twisted Root Burger.

Once you order, they hand you a card with a name on it so that when your food is ready they call out a silly name over the microphone. ("Tony Romo! Your food is ready!!! Try not to drop the ball on your way up here!!!!") We COULD NOT believe what our card said when we read it:

We got their blue cheese jalapeno burger and fried pickles and loved it! They also have this amazing homemade ketchup that we had to bring home with us too!

Remember the Alamo!

We left the rest stop around 7:30 and Larry drove as I kept sleeping. <3 The car needed an oil change so that was the first thing we did in San Antonio. For brunch we went to Taco Taco Café (“So good, they named it twice”). Bon Appetite magazine and a bunch of other food critics claim they have “the best tacos in America,” so of course we had to try it. The place was a real hole in the wall and didn’t allow pictures but had really good salsa. We tried green enchiladas and a breakfast taco, both were really good. Although, I wouldn’t say “the best in America.”

Then we headed downtown to do the San Antonio Riverwalk. It was such a nice walk with the river on one side and little restaurants and shops on the other side. It was also a relief to be down underneath the shade of the trees because it was in the 90s! 

 

After grabbing an overly sweet snowcone, we went over to The Alamo. We grabbed a seat next to some canons to finish the snowcone before going into the museum. To our surprise, a tour guide came out and told the whole story of The Alamo as we sat there in the shade. He did a great job painting a picture of what was a really horrible battle and what led to Texas becoming part of the union.

We decided to leave San Antonio a little early so that we could be in Austin by dinnertime.

The Thing.

We sadly left Leah’s around 6:30am, the GPS read: 999.8 miles to San Antonio. As we left, Larry was still talking about cactuses and how much he liked Arizona. On the way, we kept seeing signs for a tourist attraction called “The Thing.” “The Thing – Exit 322,” “The Thing – 100 miles,” “The Thing – 50 miles,” “The Thing 3 miles.” 

When exit 322 finally came up, you can guess where Larry and the Family Jules went. The $1 entrance fee got you inside to a self-guided tour of the “museum.” We were warned by the guy who sold us the ticket to be really quiet so as not to wake “The Thing.” They had a lot of old cars including one said to have been used by Adolf Hitler, but couldn’t be proved. There were old weapons and antiques that reminded us of our good friend, Crazy Jeff from the “Point of Interest.” They had one antique gun that was one of the rarest items in the world, and was one of a kind. 

We kept following the yellow footprints on the ground where we saw more weird items like giant dried up tarantulas. Finally we arrive in the room where “The Thing” was! It was in a glass case and we slowly peered over the edge to see what it was. It was definitely…. interesting. What is it? Well we can’t tell you that! We will say though, if you ever find yourself somewhere between Arizona and Texas, be sure to stop by! ;)

I guess New Mexico got last pick on the state slogan?

For lunch, we chose a brewery in Las Cruces, New Mexico: High Desert Brewing Co. We ordered extra small nachos and they were bigger than most regular nachos! The food was really good and we liked the beer too. The rest of the day was just a LOT of driving! When we got into Texas, we were literally driving on the border of Mexico. We could see the houses on the other side of the highway. We stopped in a town to get some milkshakes, and we soon realized what sets Texas apart from other states. EVERYBODY drives pick-up trucks!! There was ONE car other than ours that wasn’t a pick-up truck in the entire town! 

We drove until we couldn’t anymore and stopped in a truck stop an hour away from San Antonio to spend another night in the car. As they say here in Texas, “Home is where you hang your cowboy hat.” :)