So. It’s been awhile since I’ve written. I stink. I have little to excuse myself other than laziness and travel. The last few weeks, Amanda and I have been back and forth from her family’s home in New Jersey for reasons crazy. Literally.
Oh well. It’s not like you pay to read this.
Once we had finished up in Roswell, we headed to the next destination: Abilene, Texas. On the way? A highly recommended Texas food staple:
Tom & Bingo’s Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q in Lubbock, Texas. This place serves one thing and one thing only: brisket sandwiches. When we started researching for this trip long long ago, I had no idea what brisket was. Since then, I’ve learned that it’s basically the breast meat of a cow. To make it great, apparently one has to smoke it or cook it for hours and hours in order to make it adequately tender and enjoyable. After an overnight and into the day smoking, this fellow carves of chunks until the restaurant runs out (the restaurant closes when they run out, rather than have closing hours proper):
I love steak in almost all forms. The meat of a deceased cow is just tops. I had my hopes up super high for this place as I have never eaten brisket, it was highly rated for its brisket, and they only offered one thing (brisket in sandwich forms). When a food shack has been open for a long time and has spent the entire time serving only one things, it’s probably going to be incredible.
Amanda and both went in with those high expectations and came to the same conclusion when we were finished: Tom & Bingo’s Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q in Lubbock, Texas stunk butt. Here’s the sandwich I was handed:
I wracked my taste buds trying to figure out why this sandwich was so disappointing. I finally came to a decision and will attempt to describe the problems.
1. The bun which the meat sat between was of awful quality. It was an almost stale, spongy poorly toasted hamburger bun of the lowest order. Not a good way to start a great sandwich.
2. The brisket itself, the reason we set foot into the shack in the first place, while very tender, was almost flavorless. Not only was it lacking in the delicious department, but it was far from abundant. The natural flavor of the meat itself, which was pleasant, was overpowered by the bun, as the brisket was lost in all of that starch. In short, the reason we opened the door to the establishment was too sparse and not flavorful enough. It was cooked very well however.
3. The sauce sitting on top of the brisket, and which was “highly recommended” by the fellow with the knife, wasn’t all that great. I didn’t slather it on, as was recommended, because I didn’t want to lose the flavor of the brisket itself. I guess the reason that they recommend the sauce so highly is to mask the fact that the meat itself is a little bland. The sauce itself was a little sweet and tangy, but not great at all.
All in all? Not a great stop. A huge disappointment. Tom and Bingo need to step their proverbial brisket game up. One thing that they have going for them? The interior of the meat shack has bus station seating. It was awesome:
Once we headed out to the car and got back on the road to Abilene, there wasn’t much to see. One f the cool things however, was the amount of modern oil derricks. I expected to see lots and lots of oil derricks pumping away in the Texas landscape, but was really shocked to see this giant wind turbine farm:
Way to go Texas.
After the turbine farm, we stepped on it, as we had a date with some real Texas Friday in Abilene. First up? Dinner:
From the outside? Basically a barn:
On the inside? Still pretty much a barn, but with tables and the elderly:
What an incredible decision we made coming here. Admittedly, we had some help from a book, but still, we are geniuses. I ordered a nice little sampler with some smoked turkey, spare ribs and boring sides:
Amanda ordered a similar plate, but with brisket:
Firstly, the brisket pictured above completely demolished the lunch brisket. Savory, a little fatty, about as tender as anything can be without falling apart on the fork and incredibly seasoned. I enjoyed a bite. Amanda enjoyed more than that:
On to my plate. The green beans were crappy, the baked potato was mediocre, the smoked turkey was tasty, if not a little dry. The rib? Holy essword. It was the most delicious thing ever to touch my tongue. That dry rub of mystery seasonings covering it not only was a perfect mix of spices, but it also, over the course of being slowly smoked, turned into a crunchy film of delectable crust. I wish I had ordered, instead of turkey, potato and green beans, more ribs in their places. Heck, I wish I could have replaced the silverware, plates and elderly folks with ribs. Holy moly.
Before the trip, I worked with a fellow who I suspect wished he was from or lived in Texas. It was curious to say the least. Now that I have eaten at Joe Allen’s in Abilene, Texas, I would be willing to move into the kitchen subsisting on drippings from their smoker. Jason is probably still a crazy person for wanting to move to a backwards state like Texas, but it became a bit more forgivable after that dinner.
Yum.
After dinner, which was, as I cannot stress enough, super extra delicious, we were off to some exciting Texas high school football. I was really excited to see some “only game in town” entertainment both on the field and in the stands.
I researched a high school to go to and came up with Wylie High. They were a mediocre team, but their stadium holds 8,200 people and I expected it to be full and rowdy.
We arrived a little bit late and walked up to see this:
This façade going into the stadium probably cost more money than my entire high school. Way to do it big Texas. I was now primed for some awesome football and crazy fans.
I got some decent football, including a great injury, complete with ambulance:
The crowd was actually really subdued. It seemed like it was more social engagement than life of death stereotypical Texas Football. It was a bit of a disappointment. Not a disappointment? The amount of Bump-It brand hair accessories in the crowd:
I guess that might not be fair. Perhaps a lot of the women in Abilene have horrible birth defects that give their head an incredible lump in the back? Maybe.
For some perspective on the fan situation, here’s a reaction to a home team touchdown (of which there were many):
For comparison, here’s a Big Spring 90 yard pass. The much smaller fan base across the field I way louder than the Wylie High bumpkins:
Poor showing Abilene. Poor, poor work.
While the fans were a bit of a disappointment, the halftime show delivered entertainment in spades. I am so happy that I started to film these marching bands. First up? The Big Spring High band and color guard girl who left her costume and flag (kind of important) back in Big Spring:
Next up? During the same routine, I found a fellow who takes his flag corps a little too seriously. He cracked me up:
The game itself was kind of boring, but halftime certainly delivered. Thanks Big Spring High School band and flag kids. You are the best. But maybe also the worst.
After the game, we retired to the hotel nearby, slept,and got back on the road. Once we hit Fort Worth, we stopped in here:
Highly regarded in one of the many books we had, and also on the internet, we were pretty excited to try it out. We got there around 11:30am. We walked up to the front door, pulled on it and turned right back around and drove away. Why? Well, the restaurant closes at 11am on Saturdays. Duh.
This made me angry. What kind of restaurant closed at 11am? The Paris Coffee Shop does. Of course. Maybe they are taking the “Paris” part of their name a little to seriously? Maybe they strike every Saturday to show solidarity for the Parisian protestors marching to bring awareness to the super high unemployment rate in France? Maybe I hate the Paris Coffee Shop from now on? Yes. I do.
We drove here after I complained to Amanda for a few minutes:
Joe T Garcia’s. It was packed with people. Completely full:
We got a table pretty quickly, luckily, and chowed down:
Pretty good rice, excellent refried beans and dry, kind of crumby (not crumb producing, but the 1960s slang version) miniature beef chimichangas. I should have gotten something else, as no chimichanga will ever top El Charro’s offering. Gosh darn that thing was sterling.
A fun quirk? I ordered a Coca-Cola Classic. It came with a cherry:
Weirdoes.
After brunch, we drove on, hoping that the weather would hold out so we could go skydiving. Here’s the weather:
It was like this off and on for most of our trip once we left San Francisco/Oakland. It was delightful. Obviously, we didn’t go skydiving. Instead, we kept driving, slowly, through the rain until we hit Arkansas.
*Dumb Nun Aside* – When I was in first grade, one of our class projects was to write to a state governor and get an info kit about the state back. I picked Arkansas out of a hat. We all went down the lie choosing from the hat and when I selected mine, a girl in class asked the teacher, Sister Ann, how to pronounce it. Sister Ann took a beat, then replied “Are-Kansas”. Even though I was only in first grade, I knew that wasn’t correct, and that, I presume, why I have held onto that memory and discarded so many others. maybe public school isn’t so bad after all? *Dumb Nun Aside Over*
*State Selection Aside* – I selected Arkansas, as I stated above. The governor of Arkansas when I was in first grade? None other than the greatest fiscal president of my, and likely your, lifetime; Bill Clinton. *State Selection Aside Over*
When we got to Little Rock, our destination for the next morning’s festivities, we got to the hotel and enjoyed a little extra free time. So, obviously, we used it to watch TV and sleep. Duh. The next day, however, epic:
*Word usage aside* – I don’t really like how the word “epic” has lost it’s meaning in the last year or so. Everyone overuses it. Stop it. *Word Usage Aside Over*
That is all. I will try to get some more writing done soon. I promise.
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