Luling and Lockhart, Texas

I haven't posted for awhile because I haven't had WiFi except for what I could tether from my phone. You are really not supposed to do that with Straight Talk, and we have been using alot of data so I decided to wait until we got to the Colorado River Thousand Trails to use their WiFi.

We got a call from Bill Gehr (RV Bill) that he had a piece of equipment that I might be interested in for my 5th wheel. He was doing a review of it for Motorhome and Trailer Life magazines and didn't think he needed it for his rig so we decided to use my rig for the test rig. We changed our course and decided to skip Medina Lake TT near San Antonio and go straight to Luling for three days. This is near Lockhart, the BBQ capital of Texas. Smitty's Market and Kreuz Market (Pronounced Kritz) are the most famous. We beefed out for 3 days and payed for it, but it was SOOO worth it!

Here is a picture of our Passport America Campsite in Luling. It is called the River Bend RV Park.

River Bend RV

We went into Luling the first afternoon to the City Market to have our first taste of BBQ. BBQ in Texas is not the same as in California. We grill meat, they smoke meat. It is also funny that they call them markets, when all they sell is prepared food. It is not really what you would call a market.
We had the brisket, smoked sausage rings, and of course white bread! It was seriously awesome!!

Sunday we went to San Antonio which was about 60 miles away to go to church and see the sites. We went to a Vineyard church which is what Crystal went to in San Luis Obispo.

We first went to the Alamo. It was very busy because it was Presidents weekend.

Remember the Alamo!

We enjoyed taking in all the history of the Alamo. We then walked to the River Walk. This is a canal built with locks and all with businesses and restaurants for miles in the city.

River Walk

For $8.25 a person you can get on one of these boats. They take you on about an hour ride through the "horseshoe" and tell you about the history of the buildings around the canals.

River Boats

We were originally going to walk around the river, but there were soooooooo many people because of the holiday it was really hard to get anywhere. It was much easier to just get on the boat and have the pilot tell you about everything.

River Boat Ride

There were some very cool buildings around the river. Everything from Gothic with gargoyles to European style.

Cool Architecture

We headed back and went through Lockhart. We hadn't been into Lockhart yet and there were 4 BBQ places we had to try and we were leaving Tuesday!!

Lockhart

The only BBQ place that was still open at 6:00pm on Sunday was Blacks BBQ. It was good, better then anything we have had in California, but the least favorite of the places we ate at in the area.

Monday we had to have a strategy because we had three places left. Smittys, Kreuz, and a place that all the locals told us we needed to try called Chisholm Trail.

We decided not to have any breakfast and go to Smittys at about 11:00. We shared 1/2 lb. of Brisket and one sausage ring.

Smitty's Market

They all have huge wood piles, this one is Smitty's but they are all about the same!

 

Wood Pile

We then went to Walmart and did some shopping. At about 1:30 we went to Kreuz and got another 1/2 lb of Brisket and one sausage ring and shared. 

Kreuz Market

On the way out of town we stopped by Chisholm and bought some to take home for later. We also bought some potato salad because I read it was the best around.

Now for our ratings....

1. Smitty's Market - Best Brisket - Best Sausage

2. City Market (In Luling) 

3. Chisholm Trail - Good Smoke, Potato salad was like Cynthia's! Best value (Brisket $7.25 per lb.)

4. Kreuz Market - Brisket was a little fatty but the fat rendered in so it was OK

5. Blacks BBQ - Brisket fat did not render in, so you had to cut it off. Meat still tasted good

Whew!! We made it! 

We are meeting up with Bill and Jenn at Beuscher State Park right next to Smithville, Tx. Smithville is where the movie Hope Floats was filmed. We had planned to stay for 3 nights, but more on that in the next blog.

Love you,

Brian and Patty