Vacation: Part Two

During the second half of our vacation, we mostly just ate things because that my favorite thing to do on vacation. Or any day of the week really. I told Derek that some year when I am an old woman, I would like to receive a scrapbook of all the pictures he has ever taken of me and food. The ones from this trip are sure to bring back some happy memories.

On Wednesday, we went to Gruene for dinner at the Gristmill and dancing at Gruene Hall.

That is half of an entree at the Gristmill because Texas is crazy. I learned that if a man has chicken fried steak for dinner, it makes him very happy and his odds of dancing with you later triple.

 

It was rockabilly night and the band was fantastic. If you have never been to Gruene Hall, I highly recommend. Even on a Wednesday night it was the place to be. There were the two little old ladies who did not stop dancing the entire time. I kind of wanted to join them, but they were definitely too cool for me.

On Thursday, we went on an epic barbeque road trip. After reading up on places in the barbeque edition of Texas Monthly, we discovered that 3 of the top 5 were within an hour of Wimberley. 

First stop, City Market in Luling.

I'm just going to come right out and say it. This place was the best one of the three. Sorry if that kills some of the suspense.

You walk in and you want to chew the air. It smells so good. In the back there is a separate room, a holy of holies of sorts, and the windows and door are brown from smoke. Inside there are pitmasters who look exactly like you think they should: burly, bearded, oldtimers. 

We got ribs, brisket, links and bread. The pickle and onions were just for me. No plates. But there was sauce, which isn't true of the other places.

There were also no forks, so that is Derek cutting sausage with double knives.

 

Words cannot express how much we liked it, so that picture will have to do. And then I ate a praline that was made by someone's grandma.

 

 

This is a movie theater in a little town near Luling. We drove past it because it seriously looks like a tractor dealership. A matinee movie was the only activity we could handle on such full tummies.

Second stop, Smitty's in Lockhart.

That barbeque has been happening in that building for over a hundred years.

 

 

 The business side happens here. Obviously.

 The food was very very good, but our least favorite of the three.

 But the building was the cutest.

Last stop, Kreuz Market also in Lockhart.

This is the only picture we have. It's my barbeque smirk.

 

The building was new and large which was kind of weird for it's location. The brisket had a great char, but they were out of ribs so it's hard to judge. Kreuz earned points for having German potatoes and ice cream sandwiches. 

We got a little lost on the way home and ended up on the prettiest dirt road drive.

 

 

 

On Friday we had a lot of hammock time and I finished reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. I like to jump on a trend about two years late.

 

We went out for a fancy dinner at a winery and planned all of our future vacations. We may go on more extravagant trips to more exotic locations, but I think this one will have a soft spot in my heart.