Back from Texas

I flew back today from 5 days in Texas -- it was a great trip!

We flew out on Andy's birthday (7/4) to Austin and rented a Buick Lacrosse. We spent Wednesday and Thursday night in Austin and saw 311 at the Back Yard both evenings. In addition to seeing four 311 concerts, we were also going to try to sample as much Texas BBQ as possible. Wednesday we had to stop in and eat at The County Line BBQ, an old-time favorite for us (there was a County Line out in Littleton for a long time but it closed a couple years ago). Thursday we stopped in and sampled the offerings at Rudy's for lunch. Rudy's is an interesting place: a convenience store and BBQ restaurant in one and the food was very good. After the 311 concert on Thursday we went to Sam's BBQ in a somewhat questionable neighborhood somewhere in Austin -- I had ribs and sausage with potato salad and beans (all very good!).

Friday 7/6 we packed up in Austin, and after lunch at the Salt Lick in Driftwood, we made the trek to Dallas. In Dallas, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Downtown (priceline for $65/night made it a real bargain). After the concert on Friday we went to a Hooters -- mostly because it was the only thing open at 11PM (strange, huh?). Saturday, there was no concert (it was nice to have a night off!). We wandered around downtown for a while and had lunch at Mi Cocina in the West Village. It was really good -- we both had a margarita while Andy had Fajitas and I opted for their combo #57 (56??) and both were excellent. Saturday we had dinner at Peggy Sue BBQ; ribs and sausage for me again.

We packed up in Dallas on Sunday 7/8 -- we headed for Bakers Ribs for lunch on the way out of town. Sunday afternoon we arrived in Houston. Dinner was at the Salt Grass Steak House -- it seemed fitting that the first visit should be in Texas even though the chain has made it's way to Colorado. I really enjoyed the food. The 311 concert Sunday evening in Houston was probably the best I've seen this summer. The sound was great -- not too loud and we had pit tickets so we were right up front. We had pit tickets in Dallas as well, but the pit area was probably 2x the size there so even though we were in front of all the reserved seats we were still a good 20 feet from the stage. In Houston, the pit was maybe 12 feet deep -- probably more like 10. The worst thing about Houston was the humidity and temperature -- it seems like it was 90 degrees and 100% humidity at 10PM (well, maybe the worst thing was the bugs, but the heat was a close second).

Monday morning we checked out of our final hotel, and headed to the final restaurant we wanted to try in Texas: Pappasito's Cantina. If you're familiary with Pappadeaux in the tech center -- Pappasito's is owned by the same company and the restaurants have a familiar sense of style and the service is excellent at both. I had Pappas Grill and Andy tried the lunch Fajitas. Both dishes were excellent, and our waitress bought us desert: A cheesecake whose name escapes me. She told us to just take a bite even though we were both full -- we darn near ate the whole piece! After that we raced to the airport to return the rental car and head home. We drove 750 miles in Texas in 5 days -- I'm glad that we elected to fly down to Texas this year rather than drive like last. We were able to go to the show in Houston -- if we'd done that I imagine that this post would have been composed in a hotel room in Oklahoma City.

I'm really looking forward to the 311 show at Red Rocks in August, but it's great to be home.

While I'm thinking of it -- I think the pest control people got the squirrels taken care of right before the trip. I'll have to listen for the tell-tale sounds early in the next few mornings to know for sure. I've got my fingers crossed.

I hope everyone's doing well!