I love the candied cashews. I used to get my dad a banana pudding every stop.
Oh, and the handmade potato chips to go with the brisket sandwiches. I would hate for that to be your only BBQ in Texas, but it’s pretty dang good!
1 Like
Just got back from Austin, TX for friends’ 50th bday
-
love this airbnb in Rainey St district: view from the livingroom/balcony
-
to die for beef ribs at Terry Blacks BBQ
https://www.yelp.com/biz/terry-blacks-barbecue-austin -
rent kayak to go down the Colorado River
3 Likes
FYI, Town Lake is really one of a chain of lakes that is dammed-up chunks of the Colorado.
National Aviary and Warhol museum are unsung great spots in Pittsburgh. You could also do Fallingwater but you want tickets ahead of time for that. The Carnegie Museum is wonderful or Phipps Conservatory might be fun.
Then heading east, you could stop at the 9/11 memorial in Schenksville. mid state, there’s lots to do in State College (Penn’s Cave, farm stays, Penn State stuff). Further east you could stop in Doylestown and/or New Hope for shops, hikes, little museums. Washington’s Crossing state park is beautiful and well done if you like your outdoors hiking with a historical bent. Don’t cross PA on Rt 80 the whole way, you’ll die of boredom or construction.
NJ – the Duke estate property (https://www.dukefarms.org/) has programs worth investigating. NJ has many neat, small places if you avoid the NY sprawl.
2 Likes
Don’t forget Charlie Vergo’s for BBQ, and the old fashioned soda fountain in the department store on Beale Street! My S and I roadtripped to CA last summer; Memphis was one of the highlights of the trip. I second Civil Rights Museum (very powerful). We took a hard pass on Graceland. The Cotton Museum was interesting (Groupon often has 50% discounted tickets).
From Mephis, we wet to Arkansas, but not sure if that it on your route. If it is, I have lots of info. for Arkansas - that was a surprise!
3 Likes
I’ve walked and biked this property. Very nice.
Central Jersey native here, although now living in France. We did an Ohio/Kentucky/Nashville roadtrip last May, in conjunction with our son’s graduation from Denison. Ohio was mostly Columbus, which is a really nice city if you are stopping over. Short North is a fun neighborhood with a lot of murals and good restaurants. We enjoyed a Short North stay at La Meridien, the Joseph. We went south via Lexington, where we visited Claiborne Farm, home of Secretariat. That area was beautiful and the Claiborne visit was terrific for anyone who likes horses. We spent just one night in Nashville, and that was enough for us to visit the few blocks where there are a lot of restaurants and bars with live music. Unless you have a specific interest, I probably wouldn’t stay longer. Same for Louisville, where we visited Churchill Downs and saw the home where Muhammad Ali grew up. If you like quirky stops, we enjoyed our stay at Wigwam Village in Cave City, Kentucky and our visit to one of the local caves (Crystal Onyx Cave, which was both fascinating and a hoot). On other trips we have stayed in New Orleans, San Antonio, Houston and Austin, among the cities on your list. New Orleans was really great, and I still want to go back to see some of the areas we missed - it’s definitely not a one-day stop We stayed at a terrific place that is now called Sonder Maison de Ville, right in the middle of the French Quarter. Even thought it was a block off Bourbon Street, it was quiet and atmospheric. Tennessee Williams actually lived for a while in the room where we stayed. In San Antonio, we stayed at a historic hotel on the RiverWalk (Omni La Mansion del Rio) on our first stay and enjoyed that. In Austin, we stayed at the Driskill, right in the center, which was great, but we also considered some renovated motels, etc. In Houston, we stayed at a hotel near Rice. It was actually a really fun neighborhood, with lots of very good, very international restaurants.
2 Likes
There are so many great things to see and do in both Austin and San Antonio that I couldn’t begin to list them all. If I had to pick just a couple for a short visit, I’d go to Barton Springs (swimming if in the hot months) and then take a boat tour to watch the bats emerge at dusk from the Congress Ave bridge (Austin), and go to one of the lesser known missions after eating at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk (SA). But obviously there are tons of options.
The one part of Texas that I think people overlook is the area stretching roughly southeast from the Austin-San Antonio metro area toward Houston. As a lifelong Texan who has lived in five different places within the state, this region is the most “Texas-y” part of Texas, if that makes any sense. Germans, Mexicans, and American frontier folk blended together here to create the culture that became Texas. You will generally see more Texas flags than US flags everywhere in Texas, but in this part, Texas will outnumber US at least 10-to-1 (my kid and I counted while driving through a few years ago). And the bluebonnets are lovely in the spring. Some highlights as you travel through:
Lockhart - The barbecue capital of Texas. There are 3-4 world class BBQ joints in this one small town, though there are eternal disputes as to which is best.
Gonzales - The spiritual home of Texas, in a way. It’s the site of the first skirmish of what would become the Texas Revolution, wherein a local settler sewed a flag with a cannon that dared the Mexican troops to “Come and Take It.” This flag is everywhere in the town today (even more than the Texas flag), and there’s a museum on the town square explaining the history. And, to my surprise, the town is chock-full of lovingly restored Victorian-era homes.
Shiner - The beer capital of Texas. Just east of Gonzales, this old German town still produces the famous Shiner Bock at the Spoetzl Brewery (tours available!).
Brenham - The ice cream capital of Texas. Blue Bell Ice Cream, the pride of Texans everywhere, is made here (tours available, with free samples!!!)
Washington - The historic capital of Texas. Settlers gathered to write a constitution and declare independence here in 1836, presumably not realizing that their actions would someday lead to an ice cream empire down the road in Brenham. There’s a museum with guided tours.
I could do a whole separate list for the Hill Country (west of Austin-San Antonio), but based on your trip itinerary, it would be well out of the way. But come back sometime - there’s another whole vacation over there.
2 Likes
Some recommendations if you go to St Louis—the Gateway Arch, the St Louis Art Museum in Forest Park, Soulard Market. Go up to The Hill for Italian food and stop in Volpe’s for Italian salami, etc. The Missouri Botanic Garden is also a gem. Grant’s Farm petting zoo, deer park, Clydesdale’s—it’s fun for kids.
If you are going through PA, visit Lititz, voted the coolest small town in the US a few years ago. There’s a delightful park near center square, lots of shops including an indie book store, lots of restaurants, and Rock Lititz, which is where famous musicians come to practice. It’s unlikely you’ll see anyone famous, because Rock Lititz does a good job of protecting their privacy, but Justin Bieber was spotted a year or so ago. While you are in Lancaster County, drive route 340 east of Lancaster, then turn into the backroads to see Amish farms in action. If you’re here on a Tuesday, take in Root’s market, which is a food market, flea market, and animal market combined. Also, explore Lancaster city.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.