Tag Archives: Texas

FORE!

Over the weekend I got to play my first round of golf. Real golf. The golf where you carry around your own bag with your own clubs for 18 holes trying to get this little ball into this little hole with a flag. Real golf. Except for me I was just carrying around this golf bag with 5 clubs, three of which I actually used.

I’ve always thought I’m a mini-golf kinda gal. Frankly, I rocked at mini-golf and sad to say for the people who I played against, I was very competitive. Growing up we would spend a lot of time with my grandparents who would keep us in line when our parents were working. My brother would go golf with my Pepere and I would hang out with my Memere. As we grew up, golf was never anything that interest me. Um, maybe I should clear this up – Sergio Garcia was interesting to me. Having played softball for my entire life, I thought the golf club should be swung like a softball bat and it doesn’t work like that. And yes, I’ve even tried the Happy Gilmore approach.

Then one day its like the entire world changed. I was introduced to a driving range. Can you hear the “aha!” and see the lights shining down? I was taught how to actually hit a ball! And found out that its actually a lot of fun to hit that little ball pretty hard! It came to the point where I didn’t care where I hit it, it just felt good to hit that little sucker a really long way (and no, I had no idea where I was aiming).

Sy plays golf pretty often. He golfs like I would snowboard when I lived in Vermont… as often as I could either with friends or by myself. Obviously, we have some priorities here. Well I was loving the driving range and having not really played softball since I moved to Texas, I think I just missed swinging at something. Every now and then I’d ask Sy if he would take me to a golf course so I could try. I think he was nervous. Actually, I know he was nervous. He said as competitive as I am (and how I do not (definitely do not) like failing), I would end up really pissed off if I didn’t do well. So we worked in steps.

Last summer, I had to pleasure of going to a golf course for the first time. I drove the golf cart around the course. It was pretty fun. You can cruise in those little suckers but I still had that inkling of wanting to learn how to play (maybe not on this day it was about 110 degrees outside). This weekend a miracle happened, he (FINALLY) took me to a golf course that he grew up playing.

Meadowbrook in Arlington aka Ghettobrook. It is a small 9-hole course (that you play twice), its cheap and it’s not super busy. It’s like a little golf secret! Little did I know that I’ll be trying out for the LPGA tour next year. I didn’t do so bad other than not knowing the rules and pushing Mr. Sy’s buttons by talking, not putting my bag behind me and to the right far enough, taking too much time to find my ball but overall he was a good teacher. (He told me I’m not suppose to be doing these things even though all I kept hearing from them was “Shit!” from the group behind us.)

I hit it down the fairways pretty straight, well for the most part and when I could hit it. Tee’d off and hit a few balls farther than Mr. Sy (ok maybe just once) and was at par for at least 3 holes when I went to putt. AND I ended it off on a pretty good note by bogie’ing my last hole. Oh Yeaa! Whoohoo! And the crowd goes wild! (Or in the case of golf, does their quiet clap.)

This is the tee box from the third hold.

The first round I ended up hitting the ball thru the trees right off the green!

The only thing that I can’t say that I like is that I feel like I am always in a rush with these groups of men playing behind me. I’m not a fan of being followed but by the time we finished the game, my anxiety was better.

Don’t judge the stance.

All in all, I would like to try it again… I want to try it again… I will try it again. So all you ladies – golf is not a man only sport (frankly you don’t even need to golf, cruising around in a golf cart drinking some cold brews sounds pretty fun too and a lot less work), give it a try. Until next time, I’ll be looking for my prime, plaid outfit practicing my putts in the living room!

Buc-ee’s, Madisonville, TX

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If you ever find yourself driving down I-45 just north of Huntsville, you are not going to miss Buc-ee’s. There are signs at least an hour away, if not more, advertising their Beaver Nuggets, fudge, and their truck stop. So, we just had to stop to check this place out and see what was so great, right?

This truck stop turns out to be a very popular destination. First, there was a line to exit the interstate to stop at this locale. The first thing we noticed is the 30+ gas pumps out front followed by the packed parking lot (however not so packed that it was difficult to find a parking spot). Then we ventured inside…

Inside you will find a general convenience store. You will also find gift shop type items (everything Texan of course), cast iron pans, kitchen items, dishes, books, signs and A&M / UT items. You’ll also find seasonings for just about any dish you can think of, from grits to cornbread mixes and meat seasonings.

Beaver Nuggets, what the heck are Beaver Nuggets? Yea, I know what you are thinking. You’ve heard of Calf Fries, I can’t wait to see what this is but thankfully Beaver Nuggets is just pieces of beef jerky. (I can’t take another take on calf fries, I don’t quite understand it.) Buc-ee’s had a HUGE array of food. Pre-made sandwiches and wraps, or even made to order. They also have hot dogs, corn dogs, and chopped beef sandwiches (we’re in Texas after all). However, you should see their beef jerky counter. It’s got to be a good 20 feet of a display case. Desserts you ask? They touch on that too with cookies and even a fudge station. I wouldn’t believe it if you went in there and told me that you couldn’t find something that tickled your fancy in there.

Finally – the bathrooms. I have never been in a rest stop, or location that had bathrooms this nice. The bathroom is HUGE and each “stall” is its own personal room. That’s right, you get an entire door and its pretty much its own box. I was impressed. And as busy as it was in there, there were plenty of stalls open.

The only downfall to Buc-ee’s is how incredibly busy it was. I suppose we kind of asked for it stopping in mid-day on a Sunday. It should be kind of expected. However, if you can handle the absurd amount of people, I would suggest stopping to at least check this place out. It’s one heck of a truck stop.

For More Info: http://www.bucees.com/madisonville.htm

Crawfish Boil, Houston, TX

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Coming from Vermont, I can’t say that one of our “specialties” is crawfish. Here in Texas it seems like everyone has gone to a crawfish boil and no one has anything bad to say about them. I have friends that have talked about crawfish, how good they are, I’ve even seen them sit there and eat a while tray of them (that’s you Matt) and the entire time all I could think of was – that is just plain disgusting. I mean lets think about this, you are essentially breaking these little guys in half and “sucking head” (drinking the juice that’s in the top portion of the crawfish) and then eating the meat in the tail. All I can think of is I am NOT eating the intestinal organs of these guys – that’s disgusting.

This past Saturday, I found myself going to Houston to attend one of these said “Crawfish Boils”. “How disgusting is this going to be?”, “What if I don’t like it, what am I going to eat?”, “I am not eating the innards of these things and I am not “sucking head”.

Well turns out crawfish are pretty darn tasty. Not only did I like them, I LOVED them. Let me explain the process.

First the crawfish were cleaned (salted really)…

Next, in the pot they go!

Here they boiled for a few minutes, mixed in with some good ole spices and such.

Then they came out looking like this…

…and this! 200 pounds of these little guys were cooked.

And once they were in the cooler, we put a little more Cajun seasoning on them.

A boil isn’t complete without sausage, corn on the cob and potatoes!

The final touch is to make yourself a box.

Now came the part I was nervous about – eating them. The key is to twist (the tail off), peel (the first couple “scales?” of the tail), pinch (the end of the tail), and pull (the meat out of that tail!). They weren’t so bad.

OK – so they were pretty darn delicious! So good, oh so good.

If you have a chance to find a Crawfish Boil (if you are in the South, finding one should be easy) – check it out. I’m sure you won’t want to miss it!

Thank you Brown family!