Chuck invented a new term today... "stop and go 75". It was ridiculous. The traffic stopped and then started up fast again and then stopped again. Over and over. Such is life on I-35 in Texas, heading north from San Antonio to Dallas today. It was a tiring drive.
We had the good fortune to stop by and have some of Texas' best BBQ at Smitty's in Lockhart, again. We've decided that they are our favorite. A big plus was that they were open. The other famous BBQ joint in Lockhart, Kreutz Market, was closed on Sunday. We got some yummy smoked shoulder beef, an inch thick smoked pork chop and two rings of "hot" (sausage). The sausage is made by Smitty's and is fresh and loosely packed inside the casing. It's the best darn sausage in Texas. :-)
Showing posts with label road trips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label road trips. Show all posts
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Fall in the Hill Country
This weekend has been spent in transit. Friday we drove from Plano to San Antonio. Today from San Antonio to Kerrville and back. Tomorrow reverse Friday, detour by Lockhart for some of the best damn BBQ in Texas.
I love the Texas Hill Country. True we don't have beautiful trees with fall colors... wrong state for that. Unless you find the Lost Maples State Natural Area in Bandera County. It's glorious there. But today we saw some of God's country aka the drive to Kerrville on I-10. I love that drive through the hills. It's a beautiful view of the hill country. It brings me back to my paternal family roots. My great-great-grandfather Phillip and gr-gr-grandmother Margaretha were German immigrants to the hill country of Texas. When I'm in this area, I think about them and their lives and those of their children and grandchildren.
My great-grandparents - Helwig & Anna lived in the hill country too. Probably had a "town" house where they lived when in town... the small town of Boerne Texas. My grandfather Albert started the exodus from Boerne as a young man. He went to seek his fortune in Mexico around the turn of the century (1900) at age 20. He didn't marry until 1916. His bride was a young woman born in 1895. They had a Victorian romance in 1915-16 and exchanged love letters between Mexico and Texas when he went home for a visit in 1915. Mary was born to an Irish immigrant mother, a school teacher and principal of a private "french" school in Mexico City. Her father is a mystery. We know his name but his heritage is mostly unknown. His last name, Bauche, is thought to be Bohemian (Czech) or Austrian. His mother was probably Spanish or Mexican. We don't know... too much time has passed and nothing was written down. But I have the love letters. Some day I'll write their love story to share with the world. Today I shared the letters with my cousins and some Aunts who didn't know that they existed. It was a special day in the hill country.
I love the Texas Hill Country. True we don't have beautiful trees with fall colors... wrong state for that. Unless you find the Lost Maples State Natural Area in Bandera County. It's glorious there. But today we saw some of God's country aka the drive to Kerrville on I-10. I love that drive through the hills. It's a beautiful view of the hill country. It brings me back to my paternal family roots. My great-great-grandfather Phillip and gr-gr-grandmother Margaretha were German immigrants to the hill country of Texas. When I'm in this area, I think about them and their lives and those of their children and grandchildren.
My great-grandparents - Helwig & Anna lived in the hill country too. Probably had a "town" house where they lived when in town... the small town of Boerne Texas. My grandfather Albert started the exodus from Boerne as a young man. He went to seek his fortune in Mexico around the turn of the century (1900) at age 20. He didn't marry until 1916. His bride was a young woman born in 1895. They had a Victorian romance in 1915-16 and exchanged love letters between Mexico and Texas when he went home for a visit in 1915. Mary was born to an Irish immigrant mother, a school teacher and principal of a private "french" school in Mexico City. Her father is a mystery. We know his name but his heritage is mostly unknown. His last name, Bauche, is thought to be Bohemian (Czech) or Austrian. His mother was probably Spanish or Mexican. We don't know... too much time has passed and nothing was written down. But I have the love letters. Some day I'll write their love story to share with the world. Today I shared the letters with my cousins and some Aunts who didn't know that they existed. It was a special day in the hill country.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Vacation Memories
My husband loves to plan our vacations. In the last couple of years, we haven't taken a long out of state vacation unfortunately.
Here's the line up of past Bloom productions (you might notice the theme of baseball running through the vacations... well Mr. Bloom is a die hard fan. His goal is to visit all the major league ballparks in America some day.)
- 2002 - Trip to a conference in Atlanta
Great drive-in (The Varsity, the world's largest such place), great downtown fun (Atlanta Underground), wonderful history (MLK National Memorial), tallest escalator (to the metro), and a great ballpark (Atlanta Braves) - 2003 - Texas to New York with many stops along the way.
Tennessee (great Memphis BBQ (Corky's) & Chinese Giant Pandas at the Zoo and Greenville - home of President Andrew Johnson)
Virginia (Manassas battlefield and home of a good friend of mine in Fairfax Co.)
North Carolina (Durham Bulls game and very good peaches)
New York (NYC & Catskills stayed in the homes of a college friend of Chuck's; on 4th of July attended a game of the Hudson Valley Racoons minor league team, the best baseball game I've ever been to, ever!) and Cooperstown, home of the baseball Hall of Fame, and the Hudson Valley, Hyde Park (FDR's home and the Vanderbilt Mansion - both national park sites)
Mongomery, Ala. (visited the Southern Poverty Law Center headquarters and saw the Civil Rights Memorial) - New Orleans, visiting with Chuck's son and wife, and Shreveport.
- 2004 - Texas to Michigan & Chicago with many stops along the way.
Highlights: Chuck's daughter Kelsey came along; visited Lincoln's birthplace & national historic site; visited Oak Park and Frank Lloyd Wright museum and attended Sunday service at Unity Chapel that he designed; Chuck & Kelsey attended a Cubs game at Wrigley Field; University of Michigan; a great art museum on the campus; Ann Arbor; Detroit; Kentucky (the famed Kentucky Horse Farm); Cincinnati chili and much more; stayed in Oak Park with my BBF and her hubby; Arkansas (home of a good friend of mine and Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball game) - 2005 - California & Oregon
Chuck drove from Dallas to California (LAX) to meet me there (saved a few days of vacation time for me); He visited New Mexico and Arizona along the way with Joshua Tree, Saguaro and other national park destinations; San Diego: zoo, water front, famous hotel (Coronado del Rey), Chuck's sister Vicki and her daughter Alissa; Getty Museum in LA; San Francisco: ship museum, Ghiaderelli square, wonderful Dungeness crab; Aquarium under the Bay; Golden Gate Bridge; Muir Woods; Redwood forest; Oregon visiting Jennifer & her little girl; Harry & David factory store; Crater Lake; Ashland home of Lithia water (natural lithium in the water); ZZ Top concert outdoors; Yosemite National Park; Whiskeytown in Redding, Calif. - 2006 - The Texas Tour
Gonzales: visited the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery and saw the graves of Dr. John Turner Tinsley and his wife, Nancy Willis. Ancestors on my mother's father's mother's side of the family. Her name was Cordelia Tinsley, daughter of Fountain Gillespie Tinsley who was John Turner Tinsley's son. Dr. John Turner Tinsley was a patriot of the Texas War for Independence.
Bigfoot: my maternal grandmother's home town, visited my great-grandparents graves, John T. and Cornelia Boyd.
San Antonio: family home
New Braunfels: German Texan history
Boerne: Zoeller Family Reunion - 2007 - Family Reunion & Austin
Louis Mueller's BBQ in Taylor (one of the top five BBQ places according to Texas Monthly) and Kreuz Market in Lockhart (also in the top 5)
Austin, TX (research at the Texas State Library)
Boerne, TX - 2008 - Family Reunion & San Antonio - some highlights of where we visited
Smitty's BBQ in Lockhart (guess what? Also top 5) http://www.smittysmarket.com/
Fredricksburg, TX plus Enchanted Rock, Luckenbach TX (famous due to Waylon Jennings-Willie Nelson song). Passing through Sisterdale & Comfort. These were all German settlements of the mid-1800's like Boerne, TX.
San Antonio Riverwalk & Jazz at Jim Cullum's Landing
Brunch at the Menger Hotel (next to the Alamo)
Luling City Market (great BBQ and the fourth of the top 5; sausage 1 blouse 0)
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