States: 10 Days: 64 Miles: 21,135
Tombstone turned out to be a lot of fun. It was essentially a living theme park, but one that was really well done, so much so that it didn’t feel like a theme park (except for the actual theme park, which I avoided). It was beautiful to walk around and felt safe despite the Wild-West history being re-lived. I think the clincher for me, though, was the weather. Walking around in cold, crisp, sunny blue-sky weather was a delight after weeks of below freezing temperatures. It felt like a spring day in the UK, which I am quite nostalgic about after two years away. The whole experience felt like friendly, happy, small-town life (in a good way). A small town that I could actually see myself living in. For a while at least.
After Tombstone, I detoured through Truth or Consequences (purely for the name) and arrived in Roswell. Planning to spend two days, I was scuppered by the White Sands National Park being closed due to the shutdown, ditto Carlsbad Caverns. Which left me with two days to explore Roswell. Which is about one day and 23 hours too many. Part of the problem with traveling so much is that you get to see some of the iconic places around the world that you have spent a lifetime hearing and learning about. Then you go there, and they disappoint you, as all they are is a name and a story. Istanbul was the same for me (apologies to Istanbul lovers), but I felt that reading about Istanbul and its amazing and rich history was infinitely better than actually visiting the city. I knew it was a special place, but for me, there was little special left of it. More so with Roswell. It is a famous name. Famous for something that never actually happened, so building a tourist town on that basis must be particularly difficult; although they make a valiant effort.
Making my way up through Texas to San Antonio, I experienced many a Spanish Mission, including the famous Alamo, and stayed at the most glamorous hostel I think I’ve ever seen for only $12 per night. Moving on up to Austin, my most industrious day in Texas was definitely my day experiencing the Lockhart Barbeque Challenge. For the uninitiated, Lockhart is arguably the “Heart of Texas Barbeque” (I don’t mean to start a barbeque war – I said arguably!). It has three famous barbeque joints: Kreutz’ Market, Smitty’s and Black’s. Some also include Chisholm Trail in that list. The Lockhart Barbeque Challenge is an attempt to visit all three (or four) of these establishments in one day. Ideally with a group of friends to share the wealth (and the cost!). I had no friends, so I took a cooler for leftovers instead. I ordered the same thing in each place in an attempt to compare: brisket, pork ribs, and one of each sausage on offer, usually one plain and one jalapeno. Kreutz’ was my first experience, arriving at 11.30 and by the time I got to the front of the queue, the line was out the door. The man behind me in the queue smugly noting this with relief that he didn’t have to wait for over an hour for his lunch. Choice meats ordered, paid for, and wrapped in brown paper, I began to get slightly worried about the volume of food I had committed to eat that day. I decided to leave all sausages for a later taste-test, otherwise I wouldn’t last the day. On leaving Kreutz’ Market, I noticed just how much I smelled of the smoke from the pit fires and bemoaned wearing all new clothes that day. Then I walked into Smitty’s and realised that Kreutz’ was just a warm up smoke-fest! Slightly worried about my stomach, I walked around town before turning up at Black’s for their instalment. On the way in, the wall is lined with famous people that have eaten at Black’s over the years, one of whom was Matthew McConaughey (those of you that know me well will know I have a bit of a thing for MM). I tried very hard not to be biased, but Black’s shot up to the top of the list for this very reason and I hadn’t even ordered any food yet! I tried my absolute best to complete the triad and eat the brisket and ribs I had ordered (double at Black’s, as they had baby back as well as spare ribs, and, of course, I had to see the difference…). Unfortunately, I had just finished the brisket (which was admittedly fantastic), but then a cockroach ran across the table up to my plate. Which instantly made me feel quite ill (especially after three plates of barbeque meat), and instantly disqualified Black’s from the running. I possibly may have even completed the quartet and added Chisolm Trail to the list of contenders, but after the cockroach experience, I was blissfully provided with a good excuse to stop there and call it a day. After retiring to the glamorous hostel, taking a few hours to recover (and a few glasses of red wine), and washing all the clothes I was wearing that day, I judged the sausages that I had brought home in the cooler. In the reverse order that I tried the restaurants just to attempt some semblance of fairness. My judgement: Kreutz’ Market best for brisket and ribs, and Smitty’s best for sausage. Blacks possibly better for brisket but disqualified. Sorry Matthew McConaughey.
MTIHLSF:
Do not lean against the walls in a barbeque smokehouse.
Brown sugar is not a thing in America. It’s either white sugar or three different types of sweetener. I now take my coffee plain.
After Lockhart, it was my pleasure to visit Austin. I knew what to expect before I arrived, as a friend used to live there, but I still loved the experience – one that lived up to its reputation. It was like the Bristol of the US. And it had brown sugar in coffee shops. And I made some new friends (whilst waiting in line for more barbeque food!), also from Michigan – as was my new friend from Tombstone. Turns out people from Michigan are very friendly to strange British people.
After a brief stopover in Oklahoma (really struggled to find things to do in Oklahoma), I have skipped a few steps to meet my brother in Birmingham, Alabama, as he is here on a business trip. Feeling a little bad that he is now stuck in Dallas due to a broken-down plane and I am enjoying his Executive Business Suite without him… Not too bad though.
Since Arizona, the stops have been cities and more cities, but I am very much looking forward to backtracking (after my two-day detour in Birmingham), and heading back to the Mississippi river corridor, for some very different atmosphere: Little Rock, Memphis, Clarksdale, eventually arriving in Louisiana for some swamps, plantations, and the much-anticipated New Orleans. I have wanted to visit Louisiana ever since I knew that it existed. I hope it lives up to my massively excited imagination and doesn’t go the way of Istanbul or Roswell.