Category Archives: Food

The Salt Lick – Everyone Must Go Here!

We’ve been waiting a while to check this place out. Back in 2009, we took a trip down to Austin and tried to find it. I’m pretty sure it was just out of eye sight and we turned around. Let me tell you this time around there was no turning back!

The Salt Lick is BBQ.

Here, let me just show you!

Did I get your attention?!

That was our reaction when we saw the grill too.

We knew The Salt Lick was popular but we really didn’t have any idea how popular. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was packed. When I say packed, I really mean at least 300 cars. Maybe at least 400. I’m not a good judge at these things but there were A LOT. We had gotten this far, there was no turning back.

Turns out there was a 45 minute wait, and it was a “good” night. “Not that busy” we were told. Oh my. We didn’t care. We were here on a mission. We decided to explore.

The first building we saw (first picture above) was a wine tasting building. Don’t let me fool you, it actually has a “real name” I just have no idea what it is. The Salt Lick has an on site vineyard so you can go into this building and taste some samples, eat some cheese, feel sophisticated and such. I wanted to taste the wine but I really have absolutely clue about anything wine related so as intimidated as I felt, I walked out looking for the beer.

Yes, how convenient. While you wait, you can buy beer (by the six pack), wine, fresh squeezed lemonade, popcorn and even play some bocce ball. You can also bring your own cooler filled with your choice of beverages. Yes, it’s food paradise.

I actually had to teach a couple guys how to play bocce ball. Sy said “She’s Canadian. She will tell you how to play.”. Thank you Mr. Texas. My grandfather use to love playing this game.

So then we waited for our table. In paradise.

We’re two good lookin’ people!

This entire deck was filled with picnic tables under these huge trees all strung with lights. In the next “waiting” section, there was some live music to keep us company.

Anticipation is horrible. Mr. Texas turned into Curious George.

“Can we go inside and check out the grill?”

Yes. Yes you can. You can even walk around the grill to take a picture.

Oh boy did I feel special, until I was informed they let everyone do this! But how awesome?!

I’m not sure if I can really put into words the atmosphere of this restaurant. It’s located in the most beautiful countryside there is. It’s relaxing and just feels like home. The restaurant itself is actually in two buildings, the original (above) and a newer building (which looks as if you are sitting outside with the big windows all wrapped around the building). Our waitress told us that both seat about 1,300 people and we lucked out because a 45 minute wait is nothing. Sometimes, it gets up to two hours. Let’s take a second here, a two hour wait for a restaurant that can sit 1,300 people?! Crazy, but it is worth it. I would wait the two hours and obviously I’m not the only one.

Let’s talk about the menu. It’s definitely affordable and not as expensive as we thought. Brisket, pork ribs, sausage and turkey. Sides consist of potato salad, coleslaw and beans. Typical BBQ. Exceptionally delicious. To give you a hint of the prices, you can get “Family Style” which is all you can eat for $19.95. This includes unlimited brisket, sausage, pork ribs, potato salad, coleslaw and beans. You should come hungry because for that price you’ll have a hard time finding that good of a deal anywhere else (and I’m pretty sure it won’t be as good.)

Here is Sy’s “Family Style”. Let me tell you – that bread was delicious!

I opted for the Combo plate which was two meats, potato salad, coleslaw and beans. I’m not a fan of beans so my opinion really doesn’t matter on that. The potato salad tasted like a mustard (which is how potato salad is made in the South) twice baked potato salad. The coleslaw had a sweet cucumber dill taste to it. To be honest, I wasn’t here for the sides and I don’t think either of us were overly impressed with the sides. The meat is where it was at! I had brisket on my brain. The turkey was good but my heart was won over by the brisket. Holy Moly! Was it ever good. And have I mentioned the BBQ sauce? It had a kick of what we think is honey mustard but it was just downright mouthwatering. The meat was delicious with out but it was phenomenal with the sauce. If anything, I really wish I had bought a bottle. I’m not sure what I was thinking.

Now this bread that I mentioned. Soft. Sweet. Oh so good. Who doesn’t like some carbs deep down inside?! My meal was so scrumptious, I made what I called a “fat sandwich”. Yes, I was that person. I took a piece of the bread, broke it in half, cut up some brisket and put it right in there and made a little sandwich. To top it off, throw on some of that oh so good BBQ sauce and you’ve got a Fat Sandwich. Love it. It will love you back.

Now, you must be wondering if we were full at this point. Yes, stuffed really. Did that stop us from getting dessert. Heck no. We don’t know when we’ll be back! (We had a fridge in our hotel room.) Peach cobbler. The top was a cakey crust, kind of like my apple pie recipe I’ll be sharing a little later. Tasty!

We also got a ride on a golf cart back to our cars. That’s how awesome this place is. Have no shame in eating your heart out!

I’m going to be honest here and say that I truly thought that the best BBQ I have had was Rendezvous in Memphis. Rendezvous – you have some competition. Let’s just call it even and say you are the best in Tennessee. The Salt Lick – you own Texas. The atmosphere, the food, everything is just about as perfect as it can get. We can’t wait to go back!

And Then I Fell In Love With Gruene, Texas!

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Love at first sight.

Feeling at home within seconds of an arrival.

This is what Gruene is to me. Let me introduce you!

Gruene is a tiny, Texas town on the outskirts of New Braunfels (between Austin and San Antonio). Within the last month, I’m pretty sure I’ve been told by a handful of different people that I would absolutely LOVE this town and that I must go. So I went. They were right.

Much like other towns in the Hill Country, Gruene was founded by German influence around 1845. The founders of Gruene (Ernest Gruene and his two sons) planted the land with cotton which became a huge cash crop. This also brought businesses and many families to the surrounding area. Businesses included a merchantile store, a cotton gin that was powered by the Guadalupe River (which runs thru town) and the construction of Gruene Hall.

In 1920, Henry Gruene (son) passed away and soon enough the town becgam to crumble and soon the Great Depression hit. All businesses closed, except for Gruene Hall (which has never closed). In the 1970’s, the Gruene estate was sold, new businesses moved in and Gruene became part of the National Register of Historic Places. Without all of this history, Gruene wouldn’t be the town that it is today.

Gruene Hall. I pretty much ran smack dab into the building before I realized what it was. It was “the” building that I came here to see. I LOVE dancehalls just as much as I love Texas towns like this. Give me a dancehall, watertower and an old Texas downtown and I’m pretty much in love. There’s so much character and history.

Gruene Hall is a dancehall. More importantly, it is the oldest dancehall in the state. Lyle Lovett, George Strait, Jerry Lee Lewis, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, those are just a few of the artists who got their start here. If you are more into movies, the dancing scene in ‘Michael’ with John Travolta was filmed here. There is live music here everyday – just another reason to check it out. Honestly, it’s just a place where I could sit down all day and just imagine of all the people who have walked thru the doors and soak up the atmosphere. Amazing.

The walls are just filled with memorabilia of the folks who have come in. I became in awe for a few minutes.

This may sound weird, but I loved the floors. They were so old and you could feel each board move when you walked. Completely filled with character and charm. Absolutely authentic.

(Above) This is actually the outside of the bar. Fenced in, it’s like an adult playground. There’s a basketball hoop, many picnic tables, tons of room to move about. The sides of Gruene Hall are actually just screened, opened windows so you won’t be misisng out on the music that’s playing inside.

(Below) is the main stage. If walls could talk and tell me about the shows that have gone on in here. The acoustics sound great. It’s raw. No offense Billy Bob’s but Gruene Hall is where it’s at!

We arrived right in the middle of Jeff Strahan’s CD release party. This weekend getaway was a birthday getaway and coincidentally, shortly after arriving, Jeff Strahan began saying how it was his son’s birthday. He then asked if there were any other birthdays. Sy immediately began saying “Right here! Right here!” and pointing to me. Jeff Strahan’s attention was caught by someone else (where I’m thinking to myself, “phew!”) then he came back and said there’s a young lady in the back too – what’s your name. Sy says “Diana!”. “Happy Birthday Diana” says Mr. Strahan.

What’s persues? The entire crowd in Gruene Hall, and the band sings Happy Birthday. I have to say, it was pretty darn awesome and a memory that I will not forget. I kind of wish I had it on video but at the same time, I didn’t want to focus on recording it. I just wanted to soak in the moment. It was pretty darn special. Thank you Jeff Strahan!Please check out a video of the “Happy Birthday” song on Jeff Strahan’s You Tube page, here!

Jeff Strahan is an Americana / Blues artist. From what we heard of him live, he is fantastic! We bought his cd “Blue ‘Til I Die”. The cd is great but listening to him live is just phenomenal. I definitely recommend looking up his schedule and checking him out!

Well, Sy finally got me to walk out of Gruene Hall (only to have me turn around and walk back in to buy a cd). Once we made it out, I realized that there’s just too much to explore in the time that we had. So I had to be quick!

Across the street from Gruene Hall, is the “town” of Gruene. We made our way into Gruene Antique Company where Sy found himself some coins (the man likes coins) and this Vermonter found herself something maple related! Who would’ve thought in Texas?!

It’s amazing how small of a world this is and every so often, I am reminded. This was not only a reminder but it was meant to happen to me. 2,000 miles from Vermont, what do I find? Not one, but two old maple containers. I have been surrounded by maple syrup my entire life. I LOVE it as much as Texans love their steaks. This wasn’t the most interesting part in finding these. If you notice, the container on the left has the name of H. W. Russell & Sons. The name sounded familiar but I wanted to call my dad and tell him of my find. Sure enough (it shouldn’t be a surprise) my dad knows H.W. Russell & Sons. Small world. (My dad’s been in the maple syrup business for a LONG time. It’s not really a surprise that he knows them.)

Some other finds in town included the General Store, more antique shops, wineries and miscellaneous shops. The Guadalupe River is nearby as well if you wanted to float the river. Generally, it’s a tourist town but it’s one hell of a town. If only I had an chair that I could park on the corner and just sit and try to soak it all in all day!