BBQ

Next stop on our trip is Austin. But first, we had our first Buc-ee's stop. We were like kids in a candy store, or in this case a convenience store. Of course we got some brisket sandwiches for lunch as well as a few snacks like beaver nuggets and jerky.

We headed to our campsite at McKinney Falls state park. We were too early for checking in, but the ranger let us park and take a hike through the park. It is a nice park that is probably more photogenic in the summer. They have some spots for fishing and swimming as well as a couple of waterfalls. It’s the former estate of Thomas McKinney, a racehorse breeder and one of Austin’s original colonists. There are plenty of trails to explore.

Today our main event was lunch. We decided to try out Franklin BBQ, based on the article in The Infatuation, which was forwarded to us by Greg's cousin Erica. Thanks Erica! The article describes Franklin BBQ as follows: “You’ve heard about Franklin Barbecue. Your neighbor has heard about Franklin Barbecue. Your aunt’s cousin’s best friend who lives in Wisconsin has heard about Franklin Barbecue.” We decided to take your aunt’s cousin’s best friend’s recommendation! What a great choice.

We arrived at 10:30 am, the restaurant opens at 11, and they stay open until they run out of meat, usually a couple of hours later. We were told the line was shorter than usual, but they gave out chairs while we waited. We chatted with the folks in front of us in line, who drove from Houston for lunch and were driving back this afternoon with meat! Behind us was a couple from Sweden. Before we got to the front, they told us they were already out of turkey. But we didn't come for the turkey.

Amy believes this is the best BBQ she has ever had. Greg agrees with the caveat that it was a touch too salty. The guy from Houston let us know that they use a “Dalmation Rub”: only salt and pepper. They had 4 great sauces, but the meat was so good that it tasted worse with sauce.

After we finished, the pit master was kind enough to give us a tour of the smokehouse. Their smokers are custom built from old propane tanks. Today they were smoking only 56 briskets. At full capacity, they can smoke 110! They said that the smokers work 24 hours: brisket by day, ribs by night.

After lunch, we needed to walk off the meal, and we were a half mile from the state capital. We decided to walk there for a tour. Our guide was particularly mediocre and so was the tour.

UT Austin is very close to the capital; you can see the football stadium from the capital building. We decided to take a walk over. They were having a spring activities fair on campus. We got the sense of how big the school was just by the number of clubs on campus.

Finally, we decided to walk back to the car, mostly because we left our water bottles there and we were very thirsty from lunch. We ran a couple errands before heading back to the campground.