Great Things in Texas - Or Stuff I can't live without - Part One

Yah, I know that I don't post much on my blog right now. It's tough to stay motivated when I'm also doing a book blog with my wife. So far that's been going pretty smooth. We have a lot more content on that one. But in the meantime, I feel like posting stuff that's great about Texas and the book blog isn't the proper spot for it.

Locations:

http://www.gruenehall.com/ - Music/Drinks. I'm putting this up there without going in Gruene Hall. I spent my time outside staring at it while I was getting prepared to go eat some good food. I needed food more than the interior of a bar. Others may differ with that belief, but I'm sticking to it. It leads to the next location:

http://www.gristmillrestaurant.com/ - Great food, Great Location(on the Guadalupe river), and excellent architecture. Used to be the Gruene, TX cotton gin until it became one of the best restaurants for casual food. Go there, take a ton of pictures, eat the wings and a burger, and be happy.

http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/ - Yah, I know that this is also the home to my interstate rivals, the Spurs. It also happens to be one of my favourite places to just chill out. You will have to walk around, but you get to be below street level and on the river. Plenty of places to stay and eat at. They've also increased the length of the Riverwalk since we've been there so I am uber-excited to be there.

http://www.lockhart-tx.org/web98/ - Lockhart is on my list of places to see before I die.... in Texas. I mainly want to go b/c it's the BBQ capital of Texas. Smitty's, Kreuz, and Black's are renowned. I imagine myself going for two days so I can get BBQ twice in one day, and then the final one on the way out of town(probably going down to the Riverwalk). I love BBQ!

http://www.bluegreencommunities.com/land-for-sale/by-location/texas/san-antonio-austin/ - Mystic Shores, but really all of Canyon Lake. This is the hill country and one of the most beautiful parts of Texas. The folks have land down by Canyon Lake. The land is gorgeous, reasonably priced, and close enough to those places I mentioned above. I wish I had 30,000 laying around to purchase 1-2ac of land down there.

http://coopersbbq.com/ - I'm sure you're seeing a trend here. Some of the best places in Texas involve great food. It'll get worse as this list grows. =D Cooper's was introduced to the family by the parents through my Uncle(I'm pretty sure). They have one down in Mason, but also a new location in New Braunfels; which is where Gruene, TX is. You can order Cooper's online. I would recommend the brisket.

The 281 - It's a beautiful drive from San Antonio, TX to Wichita Falls, TX. It might be a little slower than taking the 35, but you just see some great Texas. It's amazing to be driving through the hills just full of trees. It's like nothing you get down here in Southern California. There are plenty of little towns along the way that just remind you of what life used to be like. And a few favourites that i'll mention in a bit.

So this is part one - I need to head for bed and I'll take us up through the 281 and maybe a couple stops off the 20 West Side