Texas 101

I have reached Texas.

I'm not in Austin yet, but I'm not that far away. :)

Originally, I planned to reach Austin this afternoon, but when the opportunity to take an exciting detour came my way I jumped at the chance; it was definitely worth it. 

Frank and Bill from Half Hour Wated(and Bill's kids Zoe and Sage) met up with me in Dallas for a night of authentic Texas barbecue, perusing of antiques M'antiques, and Doctor Who discussion. 

The first stop was the Lockhart Smoke House where Frank and I met up to discuss my trip and our careers while waiting for the next batch of smoked meats to be ready for purchasing. 

Lockhart was a nice place with a setup unlike anything I've seen in the northeast, but it's apparently somewhat common here in Texas. In the front of the restaurant are the tables, condiments, and I think there was a small bar. When you're ready to order(and there is a batch of meat available) you walk all the way to the back, past the tables and the restrooms, to a smallish room that looks like a miniature general store or a deli counter. There you wait in line to order from a selection of smoked meats and appropriate side dishes. 

Then they take a piece of butcher paper, slap down the meats in the center, loosely fold up the sides and then just hand it to you. It was a very bizarre interaction, and I was very happy to have a few locals who knew the rule book for how a smoke hours like this works. 

You pay, grab a drink, pick a table, and then proceed to gorge yourselves on some delicious Texan delicacies. No plates needed. 

(L-R bread for some reason, barbecue sauce, sausage, brisket. 

Not pictured: some really awesome potato salad). 

It was awesome. 

The potato salad was the dark horse winner of the night for yours truly. It had a really nice kick to it. Everything else was also awesome. We just sort of made our own semi-sandwiches with the bread and dipped it in the vinegar-based sauce until our fingers and arteries were drenched in grease. If you're ever in Dallas: I highly recommend it. It probably took 5-10 years off my life, but it was totally worth it. Who wants to be 90 anyway?

To let the food settle, we took a trip down the street to a store called "M'antiques", an interesting collection of old toys, furniture, bad comic books from every era, and a surprising amount of Nazi memorabilia. Yeah, that part was weird. Also there was a room just filled with stage spotlights, a piano, and a giant egg. 

(Why!? Why!?)

Eventually we walked around the block for a while and discussed Doctor Who, Fantastic Four, and a gaggle of other nerdy topics you probably don't care about but that we all have VERY strong opinions on. Seriously, there's a reason we're all podcasters. 

Currently I'm at a nice rest area on the way to Waco(and then Austin). I haven't decided yet if I'll stay here or get a bit closer to Austin before I stop. Either way, I don't plan on going into the city until the sun is up. First impressions and all that...

On the audio front today, I started off with some podcasts. This time it was "Cortex", a sister-show to "Hello Intenet" that focuses mostly on productivity and processes. Then I switched over to music for most of the rest of the day. I'm not much for country music, but since I was entering Texas, I figured I'd go as close to that genre as my taste will allow. I ended up listening to the entire discography of "Maylene & the Sons of Disaster" as I drove through the countryside. 

Speaking of the countryside, I'll leave you with this final observation for the night. As I drove from NJ to TX, I couldn't help but note that(at least from the interstate) every state looked pretty much like a slightly hillier version of PA. A few of the trees were different and such, but otherwise, if you told me I was still in PA I would have been inclined to believe you. 

That all changed about an hour before the end of Arkansas. Suddenly, the scenery no longer reminded me of PA, but of my area of South Jersey, just a lot bigger. This feeling persisted well into Texas until I started approaching Dallas, when it reminded me a lot more of North Jersey. North Jersey, but still NJ. 

It only took me about 1,500 miles, but I'm starting to feel at home again.