Top Retirement Blog
Online MBA

Good Eats – Texas Style, Part II

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Dining

In an earlier post, I told of my visit to the County Line BBQ restaurant. In that post, I promised to also write about the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX, about 20 miles from Austin. Salt Lick seems to have legendary status among barbecue aficianados, as witnessed by the plethora of out-of-state license plates in the parking lot. I made my second visit to this rustic location last week.

This place is definitely out in the sticks, and they want you to know that they appreciate the time and gasoline that it takes to reach their restaurant. One of the servers was wearing a T-shirt that said it all (not pictured…the photo in the post is of another T-shirt that spells out the purpose of the place). This restaurant is BYOB if you want to drink alcohol. You are invited to bring your own beer or wine, but warned that it is not permitted to bring your own soft drinks or iced tea. By the way, this is Texas, not the deep south. They have heard of unsweetened tea here, and this diabetic appreciates their consideration.

The menu is what you would expect from a top-notch barbecue restaurant. The family-style option would be overkill in my estimation. I ordered the combination plate, and I had plenty to eat. I really did not need an all-you-can-eat serving. As you can see in the picture on the right, the serving could easily be known as “heart attack on a plate”, but believe me, it is oh so good. The combination plate includes pork ribs, sausage, and beef, served with potato salad and baked beans. You also get homemade bread, pickles, and sliced raw onions. To me, the onions made the meal. I would determine the culinary experience to be outstanding. By the way, the BBQ sauce is also served on the side so that the diner can determine how much sauce should be used.

The establishment is in a very rustic location with a large parking lot. It is easy to miss, however, and the sign marking the location is very unobtrusive. I was not the only person to drive right past and have to turn around and come back. The scenery is very “Texan” and one can see for miles it seems. The picture on the left is of a small pond near the entrance.  As I said, the location is very rustic, and it is popular with both locals and tourists. I got a heads-up about the place from a friend in Germany. I don’t know how other people learn about it, but a quick walk-through of the parking lot at 2:00 on a weekday afternoon showed cars from as far away as Oregon, Arizona, Kansas, and Florida. On a previous trip there, I spotted a car from Alaska, but I chalked that up to being either a military member or a UT Longhorn student, but I could be wrong.

As I left the premises, I saw two guys in casual clothes wearing a gun on their hip and a badge attached to their belts. I’m not certain about this,but I believe that I spotted some real-life Texas Rangers, and I don’t mean baseball players. Shown at right is a picture of the interior, and below is a picture of some of the accolades garnered by Salt Lick.

Getting there is a bit of a trick, but the website gives good directions. The easiest way, should you find yourself in Central Texas, is to take I-35 to Slaughter and then take Slaughter west until it dead-ends into FM 1826. Take a left and drive about 10 miles (you’ll see a Hindu temple on your left as you drive along). The Salt Lick will be on your right, but pay attention, as it is very easy to drive right by the place. As the guy’s T-shirt said, it’s worth every mile.

Retired-Ed

2 Comments

Keeping Austin Weird

Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Travel

Okay, so I am leaving Austin today. Man, do I love this city. I’ve only spent a short time here, about 13 weeks overall. Not exactly on par with my friend Jim who told me that he lived here for 15 years, 10 of which were spent as a UT undergraduate. Nope, I can’t compete with that, but that seems a little weird all on its own. You see, “Keep Austin Weird” is the slogan of the business community here which promotes small business. Well, that’s how it started out. I think that it has taken on a different perspective. There are some really weird things in Austin, and I didn’t really discover them until I Googled the phrase a short time ago.

I invite you to visit this site to get a handle on current and past Austin weirdness. Really. You should go to that site and look at some of the pictures and stories. Because I believe in honoring copyrights, I won’t include the pictures in this post, but you should look at some of them. You won’t believe your eyes. I’ll add a link to the keepaustinweird site so that it will be easy to find if you return later. Yep, I really have enjoyed my time here and even got caught up in the College World Series. As I write this, the Longhorns are down one game to zip in the best of three series.

I went to college in northern Indiana. I think that Valparaiso University deserves its own post some day. But honestly, baseball was not a huge draw there. I think that college baseball is more of a southern sport. In fact, the teams from the north have to go to Florida or some other warm weather locale to get ready for their seasons. Here in the hotbox of central Texas, Augie Garrido’s Longhorns are HUGE. I wish them well tonight in a do-or-die game against LSU. At the end of round one of the College World Series, once Arkansas was eliminated, the commentators on the radio pointed out that UT was the northernmost school left in the tournament. That ought to tell you something. Austin, Texas, was the northernmost city left in the tournament. Yes, it is definitely a southern phenomenon. (I hear that they also play football here in Austin).

So it’s goodbye to Austin for me, but I’ll be back with the Queen for a short visit next month. Maybe I can show her some of the weirdness that Austin prides itself on.

Until later from a different location, I am still retired-ed.

Retired-Ed

2 Comments

A new travel site – pretty cool

Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Travel

As I was driving back to my apartment (really it’s child A’s apartment) the other night, I was listening to a guy on the radio. This is talk radio, and he was talking about money-saving ideas. He mentioned a travel website that is really rather innovative, especially if you are (ahem) not working and are flexible in your travel dates. I checked it out and I pronounce it as being pretty cool. The site is called voyij, and that’s pronounced like “voyage”.

The way it works is like this. You enter the airport that you would like to depart from and also the date that you’d like to travel. The site then searches many travel sites and comes back with a listing of good deals for you. I just searched for a vacation from St. Louis, and it came back with hotel rooms in Vegas for as little as $11 per night. OK, that’s Vegas, and they are known for practically giving away their rooms in order to make their money on your gambling losses. But there are some other incredible deals to be had. They will list flights, hotels, or “vacations” which include the flight and the hotel.

There is also an opportunity to select certain destinations or types of vacations, such as an “art and culture” vacation. Hopefully, that would not include the Vegas strip, but that could be either art or culture, or both, to some people. There is also a “last minute vacation” option. I just clicked on that, and if I want to go to Cancun for 3 nights, leaving on the 29th of June from St. Louis (did I mention that I’m leaving Austin and going to St. Louis this week?), I can go for $430. Not bad, but I have a previous engagement. The in-laws will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this weekend. Well, the celebration is this weekend; the actual anniversary of their wedding date was a couple of weeks ago, but their number one child couldn’t make it (that would be “The Queen”) until this week.

I think that this “Voyij” site has some real possibilities. They need to fix some errors, however. For example, the Frankfurt International Airport (code FRA) is Frankfurt AM MAIN (emphasis is mine), not Frankfurt an der Oder, which is over near the Polish border.  But that’s small potatoes compared to what the site can do for people who want to get away. Give it a try.

Retired-Ed

4 Comments

Why I won’t rent from Hertz again

Posted on June 21st, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Travel

Last week I took Daughter A’s car to the shop for a little work. (That’s what dads are for, right?) Anyway, I needed wheels so I went to the Internet and started checking bargains. After several sites, I determined that I got the best deal using my AARP membership and renting from Hertz. I rented an economy car, which turned out to be a Chevy Aveo.

The young lady who rented the car to me was very efficient, and she’s not the problem. Shortly after renting the car, I noticed that it was having some mechanical problems. When I would come to a stop, it was very questionable whether the car would start normally or lurch along on about 2 cylinders at perhaps 3 mph. It simply wasn’t safe to drive it. Here in Texas, as in many states (but NOT in Germany [hint, hint]), it is legal to make a right turn on red. I almost had to go home to change my underwear after making that right turn on red only to have the car bump, lurch, and scoot along with cars coming at me at 45-50 mph. Something just wasn’t right. There’s no reason why someone should have to pay to drive a death trap.

So the next morning I took the car back to the rental agency. The young lady was not there, but there was a young man sitting in an office and wearing a tie. Hmm. He must be someone important if he wears a tie. (He says to himself with a sly smirk, as I have not worn a tie since May 19th, my last day at work). This guy tells me that all Aveos are slow to get going. There was no test drive, no examination of the car, just a dismissal. Maybe if I had been wearing a tie……?

I’m thinking that all Aveos probably do not act that way, and if they do, Hertz has no business renting them to an unsuspecting public. Of course, to whom do I complain? I tried Hertz and was just told that I should have been able to swap out the car at any Hertz station. Well, that didn’t happen. I was dismissed. Do I complain to the car maker? Let’s see, President Obama is now the owner of GM. Do you think he is  going to have time for me? I seriously doubt it.

My answer to all of this is to never rent from Hertz again. Are there any more Hertz horrors out there?

Retired-Ed

2 Comments

Hotel Bergwirt

Posted on June 16th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Travel

I am so fortunate! Back in 2007, my office moved to Ansbach, Germany. So my job also moved, but my wife’s job did not move. I was faced with a decision of commuting 1.5 hours each way, every day, or moving myself to Ansbach. After talking it over with the Queen, we decided that I would make the move to the Ansbach area and come home on weekends. That decision made for some difficulties, such as being separated for long periods of time. Another problem was what to do about furniture. I really couldn’t move “my” furniture from our house, since it was also “our” furniture, and the Queen needed it where she was living. So I decided that I would look for a hotel that would offer me a long-term rate.

I went on the Internet and got lucky. I found the Hotel Bergwirt in Herrieden, a town about 10 km from Ansbach. If you check those links, you’ll see that it helped that I have at least a basic knowledge of German. I’m not fluent, but I get by. That helped when it came to picking a place to live. More about Herrieden in another post. The Bergwirt is a delightful hotel with a gorgeous view (the picture at right is a view of the sunrise on my last day there), a wonderful restaurant, and great gemuchlichkeit. Der Wirt (The innkeeper, or owner) is Herr Max Schneider. Herr Schneider, according to their website, is the 4th generation of the same family to be in charge of the hotel. His daughter, Katja, already has her Meisterbetrieb (a certificate of mastery) in hotel management and is frequently seen working in the office or as a server in the restaurant. Another daughter, Michaela, has designed the web page, or at least I believe that to be so. She is studying graphic design. Herr Schneider, his family and staff, will take great care of their guests.

When I first arrived, I had a room on the east side of the hotel in a room with a small balcony and a view to die for. The picture at left is similar to the view from my balcony, except this one was taken at street level instead of the fourth floor. I would come home from work and sit on the balcony and drink wine and enjoy the picturesque valley. On Sundays, when I would return from a weekend at my home with the Queen, I would love to sit there on that same balcony and do the crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper. And drink wine of course. As autumn moved into winter, I could use the balcony as a refrigerator to keep my wine cold. Are you seeing a pattern here? That area of Germany (and the area where we now live) is Franken or Franconia in English. Frankenwein (Franconian wine) is very well-known and frequently imbibed in Germany. The vineyards are quite picturesque, and wine-tastings are a very popular pastime.

The grounds of the hotel had their own beauty, as witnessed by the pool which contained koi (carp….but that’s not a German word. It’s Japanese). I would walk out by the pool in the fall and in the spring in order to sit on the patio and admire the scenery. And drink wine. Did I mention that I like the wine from that area? After enjoying the scenery, a trip to the restaurant was often in order. While the menu was not extensive, the food was always outstanding. The primary offering is Fränkische Spezialitäten (Franconian specialties), and you would not be disappointed with any dish on the menu. It is all delicious. In the fall, one of the offerings is Kurbiscremesuppe, or pumpkin cream soup. I really enjoy that and would order it at every opportunity. In the springtime, the special soup is Spargelcremesuppe, or (white) asparagus cream soup. The Germans love their Spargel, and it didn’t take long to make a believer out of me. It took longer to get the Queen on board, and after twenty years in the Bundesrepublik, I think that she has finally decided that she also likes Spargel.

I regret that the pictures of my room(s) are on my computer back in Germany and not on my laptop which I have with me here in the States as I write this. In mid-December of my first year there, Herr Schneider came to me and offered me monthly rates on a small apartment on the west side of the hotel. I gave up my beautiful view but gained a kitchen instead. The refrigerator could be used for…guess what! Yep, it’s perfect for keeping wine cold. I like white wine, which is served chilled. Red wine was for guests and could sit on the floor under the Essbank (more or less a kitchen table) when not in use, as I rarely had guests.

The hotel also has a wonderful sauna garden (Saunagarten in the German language) , and you can see pictures on their website. A caveat to my non-German readers: The saunas in Germany, and in many locations in Europe, are taken in the nude, and men and women join in the experience together. For Americans, especially, that seems to be a culture shock that many people do not care to experience. If you don’t mind that, and you find yourself in  the area, I recommend trying it. The sauna at the Bergwirt is free of charge. By the way, I translate Bergwirt as “The inn on the hill”, and that it is. I offer that as a very loose translation. German linguists may disagree with me on that point. (Kathi, how did I do?)

A final note about the hotel is that it lies in Mittelfranken, or “middle Franconia”, a beautiful area in the foothills of the Alps. Herrieden is an absolutely delightful town.To me, one of the most notable aspects of the town is the “Storchentor” or “stork gate”. You can see why it is called that in this picture. It’s a bit difficult to see the storks in the nest, but they are there. Again, my better pictures of the gate and the storks are on a different computer and I can’t show them in this post. Herrieden is over 1200 years old, and while I don’t know how long the stork’s nest has been there, it has been there for a while. I know because of the droppings that wash down the sides of the roof after a rain. The roof has white stains where the rainwater washes down.

And there you have it. My home away from home for the past two years. I loved that town, and I loved that hotel. I was able to book many of my friends and colleagues into the hotel when they came to town on business, and I was able to share my delightful find with them. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. If you ever find yourself in central Bavaria, I hope you will stay at the Bergwirt in Herrieden. (My goodness, this is a long post. You can tell I am passionate about this.)

Retired-Ed

3 Comments

KOMANDO

Posted on June 14th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Hobby

Let’s face it. Not everyone, including me, is a geek. I’m far from it. When I started writing this blog, I didn’t even know what php was. If you don’t know either, you’re not alone. I’m still learning. The closest that I have come to geekitude is when I would walk down the hall and ask our IT people for help on my office computer. But what to do when I’m at home and want information? There is help out there for us non-geeks. I get a lot of my information from Kim Komando, the self-styled “America’s Digital Goddess”. She’s everywhere! She produces a weekly three-hour radio show (although the American Forces Network only airs one hour) every weekend. She has a daily “digital minute” on selected radio stations. There are three daily emailed items: the Cool Site of the Day, the Daily News, and the Tip of the Day. I believe that she also has a syndicated column in a national newspaper. And that’s not all. She also produces a weekly newsletter. All of these items are free.

You can get a wealth of information on her website.While there, you can check out the tips, cool sites, and the various forums (as a former Latin student in high school, I still think that the plural ought to be “fora”, but I digress). You can also join Kim’s Club, for which there is a fee. The lady knows her stuff, and her staff must work 24/7 to come up with all of the information that is available there. If you listen to her show or read her columns, you’ll also get the sense that she is a devoted wife and mother. In short, she really seems like a real person. Maybe someone you’d like to have coffee with.

Right now, she has a give-away going on. She calls it her spring stimulus give-away, and more than $40,000 are up for grabs. All you have to do is enter. I am including a banner below for you to click in order for you to get in on the opportunity to win a great prize. Unfortunately, I haven’t won anything yet, but I keep hoping.

Enter Kim Komando's Spring Stimulus Giveaway
Enter Kim Komando's Spring Stimulus Giveaway

If you have a question about anything digital, I suggest that you take a look at her site and do a search. Chances are that someone else has already asked the question and received an answer. Good luck

Retired-Ed

2 Comments

My New Favorite Hangout

Posted on June 12th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Dining

When my daughter was first injured in February, I arrived in Austin to help her about a week after she fell. She was still in the hospital, where she remained for eleven days. After that, she was in a nursing home for three weeks to receive physical therapy. After being released from the nursing home, she wasn’t able to walk or climb stairs, so living in her own apartment had to be delayed. We found a motel with handicapped-accessible rooms where she could live, and she moved in around the middle of March. At that time, I noted that there were at least four restaurants within walking (or wheeling) distance. One of them was very close, and I was delighted to learn that it was a Tex-Mex restaurant with an extensive happy hour every day. I quickly became a regular at Pappasito’s. What a great place! There’s nothing quite like an ice-cold beer in a frosted mug to make one feel better after surviving the hot Texas mid-day sun.

During their happy hours, Pappasito’s features several different beers at a discounted price along with special deals on a half-dozen or more “starters”. My favorites have been the fried zucchini sticks and the stuffed pooppers. Both are quite tasty. It’s a large restaurant with a long bar which features several television sets tuned to various sports channels. Thankfully, the sound is turned down or there would be quite a cacophony of conflicting announcers.

When you sit down, your cheerful bartender takes your order and also presents you with complimentary chips and salsa which are refilled as needed.  The bartenders are really great. I have made friends with Andrew, Bobby, Michael and Richard. The girls that I have met are Amber, Kirsten, and Melissa. They are all super people. Charming, efficient, intelligent, and all around nice-looking young men and women. It’s really a pleasure to be served by them. A couple of them have told me that they are planning to go back to school, and that will be a loss for the establishment.

In addition to the great service at the bar, the food is outstanding. Check out the menu here. I certainly have not sampled every menu item, but what I have tried has been excellent. The servers in the dining room are very professional and helpful. On Wednesday evening, you can enjoy half-priced fajitas for two. My daughter and I did that on Wednesday and I had enough to eat and take home that I also had enough for lunch on Thursday. Our server was most helpful. Thanks, Chris.

This is a chain operation, owned by the Pappas brothers, and they are not limited to Austin. Indeed, you’ll find them at many locations Texas and one in Georgia. And that’s not all; the company has several other brands, including Pappadeaux, a seafood restaurant, which is next-door to Pappasito’s in Austin. I’ve been wanting to try it out since I have been here, but it’s constantly crowded. It must be good. I’ll try to take my wife, the Queen, there when she visits in July.

As I indicated in the title, this is a favorite hangout for me, and I will miss it when I leave Austin in the next couple of weeks. I’ll return with the Queen for a short visit, but somehow I don’t envision her enjoying it as much as I do. If you stop by in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be the old guy at the bar in the afternoons enjoying my self-imposed limit of two really cold beers.

Retired-Ed

5 Comments

Thanks, but I’ll pass

Posted on June 11th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Dining

When my family and I were stationed in northern Germany, we were living in the former “British sector” of the once-divided country. Consequently, we had many British military bases within easy driving distance. The British soldiers would flock to our PX on the weekends and would stock up on typically American items. One big hit was the barbecue grill. Once I saw a guy leaving with two, one on each shoulder. I asked him what the big attraction was (we are separated, you know, by a common language). His reply? “Do you have any idea how much these things cost in the UK?” Touche!

Of course, we did things in reverse. We would go to the British NAAFI (their version of the PX) and buy typically British items. My wife and I would go to Fallingbostel and buy what we wanted. We’d stock up on jams (“jellies” are something entirely different than what Americans know), what we would call “crackers”, and “crisps” (American version: potato chips). On occasion, I would go to Rheindahlen, the headquarters of the British Forces in western Germany, and located within the area of my American School District, and make even more purchases.

We really liked the “crisps” and always stocked up on them and also shortbread cookies, frequently known as “biscuits” to the Brits. Well, now I am beginning to wonder about things. One of the big companies that market crisps is Walker. You’ll find Walker’s crisps all over the place. The company has recently come out with a new flavor: Cajun Squirrel. I kid you not. What the hell were they thinking? Is it possible that the British palate is in love with cajun-flavored squirrel? Is squirrel even popular in merrie olde England?

Now I am reminded of our travels around the world. We’ve been to a lot of places. In almost any big city, and quite a few villages in Europe, you can find German restaurants, Italian restaurants, Mexican restaurants, Greek restaurants, French restaurants, even Brazilian restaurants, but I don’t recall ever seeing one that advertised itself as an English restaurant. Don’t get me wrong, there is really good English food. Try going to a British pub and you’ll eat well. There’s a restaurant in London (only one?) that serves traditional “English” food, and it’s great. It’s called Porter’s, and it’s on Henrietta Street, if you find yourself in London. You can get shepherd’s pie, beef and kidney pie, baked cod, and a host of other really good food.

But cajun squirrel? Walker’s, thanks, but I think I’ll pass.

Retired-Ed

8 Comments

The Alamo, The Riverwalk, and Plenty of Cold Beer!

Posted on June 10th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Travel

Oh, wow! Did I have a good time last week. My daughter, Child A, needed to go to a conference in San Antonio for a couple of days (just one overnight). She still isn’t able to drive, so I was enlisted to drive her there. My original plan was to drive there, drop her off, drive back to Austin and then go back the next day to pick her up. What a dumb idea! So I decided to stay over. Without a hotel reservation at the last minute, I wondered what to do, so I tried Hotwire. You’ve heard of them, right? I had, but I’d never used them before. I was quite impressed. Hotels, airlines, car rental companies, etc., that haven’t sold their rooms or flights, or rented their cars, will turn the opportunity over to Hotwire who can sell the room, flight, etc., at a discount. After all, a room rented at a discount is better than sitting idle. Anyway, I was able to score a room at a 4-star hotel (the Hilton Palacio del Rio), right on the Riverwalk, for under $80. With taxes and fees, the total bill was still under $100 for the night. Not bad, eh?

This is the lower level of my hotel, taken from the other side of the river. See, I got really lucky. Just one elevator ride down and I’m at the river level. The hotel had a few dining and drinking establishments to utilize, including Durty Nelly’s, which had been recommended to me by a friend.

In addition to being able to walk along the famous Riverwalk, one can also cross over the river by way of many bridges along the way. You can also leave the river level and climb up to street level. For those needing “access”, there is at least one elevator to take you to and from the river level. Of course, at street level, you can cross the river on one of the upper bridges as well.

I had heard of the Riverwalk, but I really didn’t know what to expect. The construction of this walkway was done as a project of the Works Progress Administration (the WPA) during the Roosevelt administration. It was part of his program to get the US out of the Great Depression. I remember a history teacher in high school telling us that some people back then referred to the WPA as “We Piddle Around”. In any event, they did a great job on the Riverwalk. Originally a 2.5 mile walkway, the Riverwalk has been extended to four miles and has many beautiful sights. On the right, you’ll see a picture that I took of an especially pretty part of the walkway. Even in the rather warm weather that day, the shade provided by all of the vegetation made for a very enjoyable walk. There are several areas to stop and rest (or have a snack or a cold drink) as well as at least one man-made waterfall for one to enjoy. And, as you might expect on any scenic river, there is an opportunity to take a guided tour on a boat. I waited until the following morning and took the tour right before I left the city. It was outstanding.

This is a picture of one of the tour boats of the Rio San Antonio Cruises company. This company provides scheduled cruises, river taxi service (not narrated), and charters. I saw one boat carrying a group of teen-age girls singing “Happy Birthday” at the top of their lungs to one of their friends. The scheduled tour is narrated by a very engaging “driver” who points out many of the landmarks along the way. I learned, for example, that one stage along the river was used in the movie “Miss Congeniality” and a bridge was used in the movie “Selena”, starring J-Lo. Jennifer Lopez stayed in a hotel along the Riverwalk during the filming of that movie. The price was right for me as a “senior citizen”. The cost was only $6 as opposed to $8.25 for the regular price. Similar discounts are also available to the military and Bexar (pronounced “Bare”) County residents. There is also a special price for children. In case you are wondering why the boat in the picture does not have passengers, this company is actually hiring. The people on the boat are being trained by an experienced guide. The ones in the hats with red hatband have been with the company for more than 10 years. Wouldn’t that be a cool job?

Along  the Riverwalk, one gets a glimpse of the Tower  of the Americas (backround) which was erected for the Hemisfair in 1968. That celebration commemorated the 250th anniversary of San Antonio’s founding. As you might expect, the tower today is topped by a restaurant. The red sculpture is the “Torch of Friendship” and was a gift of the government of Mexico to celebrate the strong ties between the two countries. Apparently, not everyone is enamored of this sculpture (try Googling it), but I was impressed. It certainly is “modern” art and has a place of honor in downtown San Antonio.

No visit to the city would be complete without visiting the Alamo, perhaps the most famous site (and sight) in San Antonio. I waited until the morning that I was leaving in hopes of getting a chance at cooler weather. I was lucky. As a child, I certainly had heard of “Davy Crockett” and “Jim Bowie”. Kids my age grew up singing “The Ballad of Davy Crockett”. We learned (correctly?) that he was born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, greenest state in land of the free. He was raised in the woods so he knew every tree and “kilt him b’ar when he was only three”. I have to guess that most of that is hyperbole and was meant to sell records, tickets to the movie, and of course, several tons of “coonskin caps” back in the middle 50s. Oddly enough, I didn’t see any mention of “Davy”  Crockett while I was in San Antonio. Nor did I hear mention of “Jim” Bowie. Everywhere it was “David Crockett” and “James Bowie”. Mr. Crockett was a three-term congressman from Tennessee. Col. Bowie was one of the commanders of the garrison at the Alamo.

Of course I had heard of the Alamo. Everyone has heard the cry “Remember the Alamo”, but I didn’t really have a good idea of its history and the accounting of what happened there in 1836. The site, including the shrine and the grounds has been maintained by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas since 1905. The area is beautifully maintained, and I was quite surprised to learn that admission to the shrine and to the grounds is entirely free. While inside the shrine (gentlemen: remove your hats), I learned that there would be lecture outside, beginning in about three minutes. I made my way outside and was enthralled by the lecture given by the docent. I had no real idea of how the heroes of the Alamo struggled to hold out against incredible odds. Texas was struggling to gain its independence from Mexico, and fewer than 200 men held out against a force of several thousand, led by General Santa Anna. The link that I have provided will inform you of the history surrounding the Alamo and the battle that culminated on March 6, 1836. I urge you to check it out. Perhaps, like me,  you will learn a bit of history that you had only heard about but never really understood.

In closing this travelogue, I want to go back to the very beginning. I was so impressed with the deal that I got from Hotwire that I hope to add a banner to this site. Don’t be surprised if you see one in the next few days.

And by the way, I know I am in Texas. The prediction is for 101 degrees tomrrow and Friday and 102 on Saturday. For my European readers, gratefully, that is in Fahrenheit!

Retired-Ed

1 Comment

Yeech!!!!

Posted on June 6th, 2009 by Retired-Ed in Dining

Let me be clear right up front. I like eating at Denny’s. (“Did he say Lenny’s?”  ”No, Grandma, he said Denny’s”) Sorry, inside joke for my younger daughter to enjoy. But I digress. Whenever we come to the States for a visit, I like to eat a few breakfasts at Denny’s. In fact, when I returned last February to assist the aforementioned daughter, my first morning in country featured a breakfast at Denny’s. I’m a traditionalist at heart, and I’ve always enjoyed the Grand Slam Breakfast. For the past few years, they have had the “Build Your Own Slam” menu item. You can pick any four items for a set price. I usually order two eggs (over easy), link sausage, a biscuit, and grits. Gotta have those grits. And I was neither born nor raised in the South. I think it’s genetic. I can trace my family on my father’s side back to South Carolina in 1700s. That must be it.

So I was dining at Denny’s one day last week for a breakfast meal. I thought I would go for a little variety. Big mistake! I noticed a menu item of breakfast burritos. Now I’m familiar with the concept, and you can get breakfast burritos in many locations, especially here in Texas. While perusing their options, I saw something that caught my eye: The Grand Slam Breakfast Burrito. The menu said that you could enjoy your favorites from the grand slam menu along with the breakfast burrito. All Right! Let’s give this puppy a try. It should have tipped me off when the server said that I was the first one to order that item from her and to let her know what it was like.

So I tried it. (Remember those old Alka-Seltzer commercials: “So I tried it….Thought I was gonna die”)? Well, this wasn’t quite that bad, but I wonder what genius thought that it would be a good idea to wrap a tortilla around a pancake (yes, a pancake!), scrambled eggs, and some meat (either bacon or sausage…I can’t remember).  Lordy, it was awful. I tried pouring hot sauce on it to make it more edible, but it was to no avail. That meal was almost inedible. I did choke down a few bites before giving up. I told my server that it was an idea whose time has not yet come.

Will I go back to Denny’s? Oh sure. I like eating there. Will I get the Grand Slam Breakfast Burrito? Not on your life. You’ll find me eating the Build Your Own Slam and enjoying it.

And congratulations to my nephew John who graduated from high school today, almost three years after a horrific car accident left him in a coma for weeks and hospitalized for months. Way to go, John!

Retired-Ed

3 Comments