Now really there were only two less than spectacular parts of the trip and both had to do with airplanes, so yeah travel can be a bummer some times. On the way down to Austin, had a nice direct flight from Philly. Sat next to a nice young lady, you have to promise to keep this next part a secret from Doug Beck because he is going to get super jealous , who looked like Ana de Armas from War Dogs. Plan lands in Austin and we end up sitting on the run way for 45 minutes. Good thing we did because I would have never noticed how beautiful her eyes were since the whole flight I was reading Dune and didn't look up once. Stuck on the runway she makes a Sponge bob joke and the next 45 minutes go by slightly faster but that's a flash compared to the next trip to the airport.
On the way back through Charlotte, well the rain ruined everything. The Flight from Austin got delayed for 45 minutes, which was no problem had a 2 hour gap for the connecting flight. Once again through got stuck on the runway when landing. This time it was 2 and a half hours. Thank goodness Dune is a pretty long book and I had just started reading it. Well the nice pilot who had no control of the situation keep saying don't worry the outgoing flights are delayed so don't run to the connecting flight. Guess who missed their connecting flight, this guy and about 500 other people.
Now it's close to midnight and they have us line up to talk to customer service to get us on flight the next day. Fortunately, the airline decides to give out the phone number because the line moved about 10 feet in 30 minutes. I know because I want from one end of the closed rum bar to the other end of the closed rum bar. Why was all the rum gone! So call the number get rebooked for the 9 am flight in the morning but they offer to book me a hotel room. I decline because who hasn't dreamed of having a sleepover at an airport. So I don't get much sleep but I remembered I had pokemon Go on my phone and there are a lot of pokecenters and gyms at the airport so I played that for about 7 hours. No sleep just pokemon GO. It's just like being in grade school again just with smart phones instead of yugioh cards, pokemon cards and Sonic Adventure 2.
Well to sum up the boring part I got on the 9 am flight and got home, had to take an extra day of off from work even through I moved all my hearings from the airport between 4 am and 7 am. That's being a responsible coworker.
Now the fun stuff, hope I didn't lose all readers with the boring stuff above. The first stop on the BBQ tour for me was Stubs BBQ. Now some of you may know it for the sauce which is sold in many stores but what it should really be known for is the BBQ buffet and live music shows that take place.
I got some creamed spinich and sweet poataes to go along with the brisket and pulled pork
Veggies are not normally my thing but this was going to be a carnivore weekend and I figured I had to at least put something green in my stomach to make sure I made it through the weekend. The spinach was actually really good but you could tell there was butter in it which makes all veggies edible.
Now the brisket, to be honest it was probably on the lower end of the austin spectrum but it was still good. If I had it in jersey it be towards the top of the list right below the top two places.
The two things that seperated from the rest of the Texas brisket I had was this brisket was less juicy than the others and it lacked the kick in the bark. Austin Texas, I should be tasting that pepper on the bark. It was still a solid meal but you just need to use sauce. The pork was solid as well. Overall the vibe I got from this place was it was more a party place that sold bbq which is fine. It is still a solid meal and you should definitely check out all you can eat deal.
Well after Stubs I walked around the Capital a bit, it rained a bit so I didn't take good pictures and walked a mile to my air bnb to wait out the rain. After the rain passed I headed out on the hunt for more brisket.
The next stop on the tour was Sam's B-B-Que. Now this place was great, well priced and the owner inside was super friendly. The next time I go back I am hitting this place up again. The down side was it was a bit dirty on the inside but I feel like that is basically a guarantee to be great tasting bbq. Now your stomach may not like you the next day but I had no problem and food tasted great.
I got the brisket sandwich and this was a steal. A generous serving of brisket that was the proper moistness and had the pepper bark that is expected when you are eating Austin brisket. While I was eating this BBQ I knew I was in the right City for my BBQ weekend excursion.
The next stop was Rollin Smoke BBQ. Now this one I went with the Brisket sandwich again, also not shown was the banana pudding.
Again this brisket had a great fat content, strong flavor in the bark and was easy to eat and basically fell apart in my mouth as I ate it. The problem sometimes with brisket sandwiches is that it can be dry with the bread and brisket. Not the case with the two sandwiches I had in Austin. This bbq food cart is a late night stop that you have to hit on your way back from 6th street.
Also here I meet a bachelor party from Boston. They were talking about Gronk spiking their t-shirts during the superbowl in a Mexican resort. Well needless to say I had to bring up how Nick Foles and the birds beat the Pats so clear Foles > Brady. They were really nice guys and let me join in with there party so that is the end of the BBQ recaps for Saturday night.
Sunday was supposed to be wake up early and wait in line for Franklin BBQ but as I was walking over to line up it started to pour and there was lightening. In maybe the most adult decision I have ever made I went back to catch some more zzzs. (I actually thought a younger me would have kept walking the rest of the way and waited under the metal roof. Not sure I like the new me.)
Well that's the outside. Guess the rain ruined the trip and I have to go back right. Well, I decided to walk by since a bunch of other places did not open up due to the rain, food trucks right, and boom the line didn't look that bad so I hopped in line and waited about an hour. It was worth it.
Unfortentaly the ribs went right before me. Legitimately two orders before me was the last of the pork ribs. The beef ribs were 86ed way before I got the counter to order. So I got the Brisket, pulled pork and smoked turkey. Each was a real treat. I let you look at some more pictures before I give my recap.
Alright if that does not make you hungry I don't know what will. The brisket was cooked wonderfully. It was hands the best brisket I have had. There was a strong pepper bark and it really fell apart in when I bite into it. You can use your fork to cut through it which is the way brisket should be.
The smoked turkey was also great. Turkey as most of know can be on the dry side but don't worry about that at Franklin. This turkey was moist and again was able to be cut through like butter with my fork. It was the perfect pallete cleaner for the pork.
The pork was well seasoned and had a good taste to it. Again, like the brisket it had a pepper bark and the taste was perfect for what I imagined Texas BBQ should be. This was basically a religious experience for me.
Now it was great but I know lots of places in the area also do great bbq, while Franklin is the staple what is exciting about the area is how all the places put their own spin on what Austin BBQ is. I really look forward to the opportunity to go back and try more of the places.
After eating all that I needed to take a break and take a nap.
After nap time it was off to La Barbecue but the wait was over an hour. Crazy, well only because I had already waited an hour for Franklin that day and did not feel like waiting for another line of that length. It's okay though because Kerlin BBQ was right done the street and I could pick up dinner there. Wait, there ran out of Brisket, well there goes the theme of the weekend. I ended up getting the Ribs to go because it looked like it was going to rain again and I was not eating outside.
The Ribs were delicious and eating these ribs did make me a bit more disappointed about not having some at lunch but hey I propably would not have had the Turkey so there is the tradeoff. These ribs like most meat in Austin was seasoned with Pepper and it worked. Even after walking for 15 minutes back to where I was staying the ribs were easy to eat. If I took Cell phone photography in school instead of calc 3 you could see the great color of the ribs. They had a great taste.
Also on my way back I walked by a family that was trying to raise money for funeral. They were selling Brisket tacos and cupcakes. (As well as raffles for Tequila but you can't bring that on a plane)
The brisket here was solid. It made up for Kerlin having run out. The cupcake was also a nice sweet.
So as I said it started to down pour and I just made it back in time to miss the rain. Also it was wrestlemania! Seth Freaking Rollins taking on Brock Lesner to kick the show off. Seth is my favorite. I think I like him because he turned his back on the shield and went through the whole redemption angle and was finally the one to beat the beast. Or I watch the triple threat at the royal rumble of him vs Cena vs Brock and got back into wrestling. Probably that one. So stayed in and watched that because I wouldn't have had dry clothes if I went out.
The next day I had a limited amount of time so I went to Copper's BBQ for lunch.
It was a solid finally brisket. Again more of a party BBQ place than the BBQ is the star. That being said it had a solid flavor. Good flavor, not dry and fun atmosphere at 1 pm on Monday. It must be popping on a Friday.
Oh, wait I also went to go check out the meme board at El Arroyo.
Yeah I got an enchilada. I took a picture of the sign that day but I can't find it anymore. Oh, well guess I have to go back.
Overall, I had a great time. Yes the weather was not that great but that is not going to stop me from having a great time. There was a lot of things that did not break right but it was fun time and great way to refresh myself. This was the first time I went on vacation solo and it was a great experience. I recommend that people give it a try. I did some meditation and enjoyed great food. It was a 5 star trip. Unlike my reviews as the Premiere BBQ blogger in South Jersey I am not going to rate each restaurant because that would throw off the scale. That being said I look forward to returning and trying some of the places I missed. I see you La Barbacue. You are must stop next time.
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