It's been a long 3 days. After the cool low hundreds of Vegas we were happy to head into Phoenix where we hit 120 degrees.
Aah, that was refreshing.
Along the way we stopped by the Hoover Dam and took the typical tourist pics with everyone else, 5 years after we did the same on the way towards California.
Outside Phoenix we hit our first BBQ spot, called Thee Pitts Again. It's won a bunch of awards and was on the Food Channel. Here's Jen running in:
We each had brisket sandwiches here which came on "Kaiser" rolls but were really challah rolls. It was pretty good for a first stop but nothing to go back for. The meat was sliced very thinly, like a cheese steak sandwich, only without the elastics that smack you in the face if you pull too hard. I only have video of the food, if anyone knows of an easy way to resize the clip, let me know.
Next stop was spending the night in Tucson, I think we had a protein bar for dinner.
We then started going east and headed into El Paso TX which is right on the border of Mexico. Not a place we're moving to any time soon, but we did have some decent Q at The State Line BBQ.
This was a definite step up from the Phoenix spot, even though there was no cartoon pig on the outside. I had a pulled beef sandwich and Jen got a smoked pepper turkey sandwich. I thought both were very tasty but Jen didn't seem to enjoy the turkey very much.
Next was a very long drive toward Austin. If Texas ever decides to build a new city, they need to do it between El Paso and Austin. That's a LONG road to nothingness. We decided to stop in Sonora TX and about 2 hours out we saw this in the sky:
And that was only the beginning since we headed right into it. It rained buckets and the lightening lit up the sky. Since there are no trees around, the car is automatically the tallest thing around and so we drove behind a horse trailer for miles. That way in case lightening hit, we'd have BBQ equine right there.
From Sonora, we headed toward Austin which is where the good stuff is found. First stop was called The Salt Lick and was about 20 minutes outside of Austin in the middle of absolute nowhere. You drive through the backwoods and it seems like you're pulling into someone's farm but then you see the parking lot with 75 cars and people waiting outside of a farmhouse with smoke coming out of the roof. Smelled pretty good too.
You walk in and right there is the BBQ pit with a ton of meat being cooked.
We split a sampler plate which had some brisket, sausage and a rib along with coleslaw, beans and potatoes. A well-balanced plate. This was finally the good stuff. Very tasty, although I'm sure we'll have better ribs in the Carolinas.
Then we drove through Austin so we can get to the next BBQ place, at Jen's insistence of course. The town of Lockhart we're told is the Mecca of Texas cattle and BBQ and has 3 famous places. The goal was to hit Kreuz's but it was closed for July 4 so we went to Black's instead. It had a long line which was a good sign and we suck out like sore thumbs, another good sign. It had a cafeteria style self serve area for the wholesome veggies like corn bread, creamed potatoes, etc. Then you walk up to a man who is holding a big knife in front of a lot of meat and he asks you what you want. I had a chopped beef sandwich and Jen had a look of "No way am I eating here". The sandwich was basically chopped brisket on a hamburger bun that's microwaved. Yeah, I thought the same until I tasted it. It was great. No pictures here, it wasn't that type of place. I did sneak a video but it's too big to post here.
After gorging around Austin, we drove straight through Houston and headed toward Lafayette LA where we are right now. Today we head to New Orleans. Maybe we'll find something to eat.
Ciao.
