Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
Drill Here, Drill Now |
This brings up a pro tip - wear stretchy pants when visiting Texas. When I lived in Cali, Alaska, and Alberta I used to gain 5 lbs during a 5 day trip. Chongo, sorry to rain on your skinny jean parade  Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
|
Member |
Women are involved in the planning so likely Fixer Upper/Gaines family has something to do with the interest in Waco...
--------------------------------------- It's like my brain's a tree and you're those little cookie elves. | |||
|
| Member |
Don’t know if you are into bass fishing but if you get a day to yourself, catching some Texas largemouth can be fun. Austin and SA are outside my old stomping grounds but someone else might have a recommendation for a guide service. I recall that Falcon Lake on the Tex-Mex border used to be good. | |||
|
| Little ray of sunshine  |
Float on the Guadalupe near and around New Braunfels, which isn't far from San Antonio. Go see a show at the Gruene Hall in Gruene near New Braunfels - it is a genuine old time honkey tonk, but they get good national and regional acts. You just about can't have a bad time there. (I disagree on the Gristmill - it is just a mediocre Sysco-food place to me. It is in a great location though, and the lines can be out the door.) San Antonio is good. The Riverwalk is fun, as is the old Mexican market/mercado. The Alamo is in San Antonio, of course. The National Park Service parks of the old mission compounds is excellent and shows the missions as they were in the 16th/17th centuries. You might see my dad at one of those - he is a volunteer. There is more good Tex-Mex than you can shake a stick at in San Antonio, but NONE of it is on the Riverwalk, I promise. Eat somewhere else unless you just want to sit by the river, which is nice. It can be hot as hell in September - be prepared. Austin has a good music and bar scene, but I haven't been there much in the last ten years. LBJ's library is in town. UT. The capital. Austin is incredibly crowded and can be hard to drive in. Waco? There is nothing of interest there. Really. I can't imagine why anyone would go to Waco for a vacation. My wife went to Baylor University and she agrees. Skip it. Even the Gaines store - the TV handyman people - is held to be wildly overrated. My daughter-in-law dragged my son there from Ft. Worth and even she had to admit it was a bust. Drive over to Lockhart and eat barbeque at Kreuz's, Smitty's (the former location of Kreuz, but there was a family falling out), and Black's. Really, all three. Those three are the stars and three of the best in Central Texas and by extension in all of Texas. Chisholm Trail is also supposed to be pretty good. Lockhart has more top tier barbeque than any other town. As JAllen says, Snow's is the hot ticket now, but only open on the weekend. Just outside of SA, in Leon Springs is the original Rudy's BBQ (a combo barbeque joint/gas station) which is better than the satellite Rudy's which are scattered all over central Texas. Rudy's is all good, but the original seems better. Salt Lick near Austin is good, but I think slightly overrated and not a destination barbeque place. The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. | |||
|
I run trains! |
I had a very long response and just lost it all. Most of what I had typed up got mentioned already. That said, take a look at Bracken Cave outside of San Antonio. Largest bat colony in the world, seeing them fly out of the cave each afternoon/evening is something to see. As for BBQ, unless you like the touristy stuff, I'd skip Salt Lick BBQ, much better options in/around Austin that I'd spend my time at. Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view. Complacency sucks… | |||
|
| Member |
Fredricksburg also has a pretty good vineyard with a nice tasting room. You can drop the women off there for a few hours while you visit the Nimitz museum. Becker Vineyard "I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." Thomas Jefferson | |||
|
| Oh stewardess, I speak jive.  |
Salt Lick in Driftwood is an experience that transcends the average-ish quality of its bbq. I have seen more "BBQ guns" there on weekends than any other place I have ever been. Big trucks, creased jeans, cowboy boots, fancy holsters, and nice guns. One might mistake it for a Texas Ranger event if you didn't know better. It's a cool spot, the food is good enough, and it's very *Texas*. But you can get better BBQ in several places. | |||
|
| Wandering, but not lost...I think  |
I'm from San Antonio and my family lives in Austin - I don't disagree with any of the suggestions and observations made thus far. There truly is nothing attractive about Waco, but if you find yourself there despite our warnings, you MUST stop at Collin Street Bakery for a meal or a snack. Their cherry icebox cookies are crack to me! Buy a dozen...I dare you not to eat the whole dozen in one sitting! I can't add much to Austin suggestions, as I'm not from there and only go to see family. I'm a fan of County Line Barbecue, but only this location. The rest are mediocre and lack the ambiance of the back deck where you can sit with a cold drink and feed turtles and fish. Heading south on I-35 you can stop by the Cabela's store in Buda/Kyle, then head on down to my hometown. One area not yet mentioned in San Antonio is the up-and-coming Pearl Historic District. Hip, trendy, just off the Riverwalk and nestled smack-dab in the clusterfuck junction of I-35/I-10/Hwy 281...it's been a major rejuvenation project for the past 5-ish years. Kinda neat, parking sucks, right outside Ft Sam Houston, Broadway (old money area), Tommy Lee Jones lives/lived around there. On the NE side of town is Natural Bridge Caverns, offering underground exploration of the stalactites and stalagmites, bat guano, etc. Other than that, follow advice already offered in this thread. | |||
|
| Muzzle flash aficionado  |
If you like history, the Menger Hotel in downtown San Antonio is interesting. It's right across the street (!) from the Alamo and just a couple of blocks from the Riverwalk. Some of the buildings of Hemisfair '68 still exist (at Hemisfair Park). (I went to the fair in 1968.) In 2007 I walked the Riverwalk all the way down to the dam. It's a good walk, but quite nice. flashguy Texan by choice, not accident of birth | |||
|
| I believe in the principle of Due Process  |
Adjacent to the Natural Bridge Caverns is the Wild Animal Ranch, where you drive in your own vehicle around through the various areas with all sorts of exotic animals wandering around. My granddaughters loved it. There is a covered petting area in a barn. Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
|
| Member |
If you really want to get the Texas Experience, and have already had some brisket, get some Shoulder Clod at Kreuz in Lockhart. --K | |||
|
Texas Proud |
If you're planning on visiting Gruene I suggest booking Gruene Mansion Inn for at least one night. Located right on the Guadalupe river. NRA Life Patron | |||
|
| Member |
Austin = major traffic gridlock in every direction at all hours. San Antonio = lots of Tex-Mex food in addition to the sights,the Riverwalk, and the Alamo. The bar in the Menger Hotel across the street from the Alamo is famous as the spot where Teddy Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders. Gruene (pronounced green like the color) = lots of antique shopping, good restaurant right on the river. Waco (again, why?) Texas Ranger museum, although I have not been there myself. If you do go to Waco, go on up I-35 another fifteen miles to Exit 353 (West, TX, as opposed to west Texas) and get lots of kolaches at the several kolache bakeries. As mentioned above, barbecue joints all over central Texas. Try them all.  | |||
|
| Oh stewardess, I speak jive. |
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm | |||
|
אַרְיֵה |
A side trip to Arlen, in Heimlich County, to sip an Alamo beer with the guys.  הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
|
Doubtful... |
I'll go along with the majority of what has been suggested so far but, have to part ways with the Waco naysayers. The Texas Ranger Museum is well worth a visit. It can take the better part of a day to see and truly absorb the history. Best regards, Tom I have no comment at this time. | |||
|
| Something wild is loose  |
Agree also about the Gristmill; the absolute best place for chicken fried steak in SA was Lulu's Jailhouse, but alas it may be closed. +10 on Rudy's - the best barbecue in this half of the Universe. And Fonda San Miguel in Austin had some great South American cuisine back in the day... "And gentlemen in England now abed, shall think themselves accursed they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day" | |||
|
Peripheral Visionary |
If you're in Austin, get brunch at the South Congress Cafe. It's a hipster-ish place, but damn the brunch is good. In addition to all the excellent bbq previously mentioned make sure to stop at a Buc-ee's.   | |||
|
| Oh stewardess, I speak jive. |
^ South Congress Cafe is excellent, as is Gueros, Clay Pit, Taco Deli, Torchys, and more. Yes, Austin has bad traffic, but no worse than a dozen or more big cities all over the US. | |||
|
| Member |
jhe888 mentioned them, but I'll emphasize them: I really enjoyed the other Missions far more than the Alamo. === I would like to apologize to anyone I have *not* offended. Please be patient. I will get to you shortly. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 3 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
© SIGforum 2024