Recent Vacation Reflections And A Few Thoughts

Please forgive me if I haven't taken the time to reflect on my recent Austin trip, but we'll take a few moments and paragraphs right here since I actually have some time now. It was a wonderful time while I was there, and I sure needed the break.

Central Texas, as a whole, is a fabulous place for any traveler to make an excursion. Austin is certainly a big part of that. I decided to spend a full week down there doing what I do best: explore. Why not? Picture-taking on my digital camera was at such a high that I've got to divide the number of prints I get made because of expense. The trip, overall, was good. I enjoyed great views of the Colorado River through West Austin and the rock cuts that front it in some places. If you ever see the hills in that part of town, they're absolutely breathtaking. One scenic overlook on Capital Of Texas Highway (State Loop 360) has an incredible view of Downtown Austin in the distance. I didn't always have the benefit of clear days during my time, but on a clear day, it's a great pic. What you will see frequently in that region and the Hill Country is limestone. That's right. It's the state rock of Texas. Limestone here, there, and everywhere. In natural rock cuts, buildings, houses, and even signage. Makes me proud to be a Texan.

And no trip is ever complete without great food. I finally took the opportunity to try a place called Texas Chili Parlor. It's near UT just north of downtown, and it's a hole in the wall. One afternoon, I sat down and had me a bowl of red. The best thing to do is order the mild. I had the medium, and that was incredibly spicy for me, but I managed to get through said bowl. This I can tell you: My sinuses really got cleared. Other places included Hill's Cafe (owned by KVET morning host Bob Cole) and Hang Town Grill, where both places offered really good cheeseburgers. I also made a long-overdue visit back to Salt Lick BBQ, so I stopped at the Dell Diamond location in Round Rock, as opposed to going to the original Driftwood location. The smoked meats were just great, as they haven't lost their touch. In the great Texas barbecue belt, there are lots of places to stop for the world's best 'cue, and I have been to all of the following on previous trips to the area (Black's and Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas Rib Kings, Stubb's, Green Mesquite, and County Line in Austin, the original Cooper's in Llano, and Meyer's Smokehouse in Elgin). And, yes, there's also Rudy's Country Store and BBQ, which has Austin locations but are now all over Texas that I can just stop by the one in Frisco today. My other stops were the legendary Matt's El Rancho for Tex-Mex and regional Mexican favorites, Brick Oven Pizza in the Arboretum, and Jim's for breakfast on most mornings. Jim's has great offerings all day, but my last two visits saw my hash browns being more hollow than usual, and they're better than that.

The expedition also included a stop in Fredericksburg, a German community about 81 miles west of Austin on U.S. Highway 290. If you had to go to one place in the Texas Hill Country to spend at least two nights, this would be the place. Their Main Street is lined with various shops and restaurants with a visitor count that would rival or beat most small towns. On a Wednesday, mind you, they had a lot of visitors that you could swear it was Saturday! I had lunch at a fine German eatery called the Altdorf Biergarten for some jager schnitzel. You won't believe this, but I actually had a glass of beer with my meal for the total German experience. (Okay, I got Lone Star instead of some German brand. Had to save money.) It had been some twenty years since the last time I even had any kind of a beer, so why not just this one time? I also thought about stopping on Main Street for some of Fredericksburg's famous fudge, but decided to pass. Maybe next time.

Also taken from the trip were real Texas longhorn cows and fake ones. The replica of one longhorn can be found near Johnson City, and it's at the Benini Sculpture Ranch. Here's a link for you.

The Benini Studio and Sculpture Ranch

The winding hills around the region, with the vistas that accompany them, offer some of the most exciting views that are worthy of pictures, some of which I could not take because I couldn't pull over at many of them, as the speed limit was 70. Speaking of speed limits, back in Austin proper, this city is so woefully behind in infrastructure. What they have now is better than nothing, but the Capital City has to continue to deal with freeway gridlock and side street congestion. The trouble is, many Austinites are so anti-freeway or environmentalists that they've killed many opportunities to improve mobility in their city. West Austin is beautiful, but it's also in great trouble. Loop 45 needs to be completed all the way around the city, but the area between U.S. 290 and U.S. 183 in the southwest to northwest is going to be problematic with so many houses and developments going in, and not one thought given to a right-of-way needed to complete the belt. The last thing I want to see is Capital Of Texas Highway being completely torn up and converted to freeway (or tollway since TXDOT is out of money). There may not be any choice now but to do just that. That's the price a city pays when everybody wants to move there.

People have asked me if I got to see any bats under the Congress Avenue bridge over the Colorado River? The answer on this vacation is no, but the season had yet to really begin, so there would not have been anything to see there. I did go inside of Camp Mabry for the first time, and there were replicas of tanks and fighter jets that needed some pics taken of, so I took full advantage. Face it, folks, it's just too dangerous to pull over on MoPac Expressway when that visible fighter jet is too tempting.

All in all, I had a great time in the Austin area and it is always a joy to be part of that great city's experience. The weather was such that the sun did not beat down on me as it usually would, so I was actually more comfortable than usual. Will I go again? Absolutely. If gas prices ever go down, there will be road trips there once again, not necessarily for one week. What I need is a career where I would do nothing but travel Texas and chronicle everything in sight. And that's another blog altogether, but wouldn't that be something?