Throwback Thursday – My First Texas Barbecue Roadtrip

Just been thinking about my my first Texas barbecue tour in 2011 with my son. My stated purpose was to get him some highway driving time since he had recently gotten his drivers license. But I Also really wanted to go get a bunch of Texas barbecue. So we did a one-day 375-mile tour of some of the most famous barbecue joints in the Texas. We started in Luling at City Market. From there we spent a few hours in the BBQ capital of Texas, Lockhart, sampling the smoked meats at Kreuz Market, Black’s Barbecue and Smitty’s Market. We were planning to hit Milt’s Pit BBQ in Kyle, but given how much we had already eaten, we opted instead to spend a few hours wandering around Cabela’s in Buda to let all that amazing meat digest. From there we headed to Driftwood to finish out the day at the world-famous Salt Lick BBQ. I was very surprised by how much had changed from when my wife and I first visited Salt Lick a decade earlier. On that first visit, sitting in the original screened-in porch just feet away from that beautiful barbecue pit, smelling the live oak smoke and cooking meat, and tasting that mustard-based barbecue sauce, had locked me in as a huge fan of Texas barbecue. So on this visit I was surprised by how commercial Salt Lick had become. It wasn’t the same with the huge parking lot and massive new restaurant – but the food was still good. And the whole thing was a great barbecue roadtrip with my boy where we made never-to-be-forgotten memories.