Today we headed out of Austin and made our first stop in Snook, Texas, home of Sodolak’s Original Country Inn for lunch. We started with the specialty of the house, and our reason for visiting: chicken-fried bacon. Yep, you read it right — chicken-fried bacon. The heart stoppin-est appetizer in the land. I washed that down with a surprisingly good cheeseburger and hit the road for Waco. In Waco we stopped at the phenomenal Texas Rangers museum, where we learned all about the long (and sometimes sordid) history of the Texas Rangers. Of particular import, I learned that while Chuck Norris as Walker, Texas Ranger made frequent use of his martial-arts skills in apprehending bad guys, real Texas Rangers rarely use massive roundhouse kicks on a daily basis. And with that we headed further east to Canton, Texas where we had dinner at the “World Famous” Dairy Palace before retiring for the evening.

We again started the day with breakfast at Dan’s Hamburgers, though I couldn’t bring myself to eat at a place called “Dan’s Hamburgers” a second time without getting a hamburger. Breakfast of champions, there. It was a decent burger, but nothing to write home about. (Though apparently enough to blog about. ) Our final day at the festival began with a quiet folk-pop set from Elizabeth Willis. Next we headed over to the WaMu tent to see The River City Christianettes, a high-energy gospel/soul group who put on a very fun, entertaining performance. From there we strolled over to the Austin Ventures stage to see Scott Biram, who refers to himself as a “dirty old one man band.” His unique style of the blues is hard to describe — he sings through a harmonica mike the whole time, giving his voice a strange, distorted sound as he grunts out lyrics over the dirty boogie of his guitar. After that it was back to the WaMu tent where we saw Nakia and his Southern Cousins. Nakia’s music is a little reminiscent of Joe Cocker, although with more of a soul bent. After taking our leave of the WaMu tent, we strolled over to the AT&T Blue Room stage where we caught a few songs from The Kills before taking our place at the AMD stage for Gillian Welch. Gillian Welch put on a great rootsy-folk set, and brought Alison Krauss out for one song. After that we were hot, tired, and hungry, so we grabbed a bit to eat and relaxed in our chairs at the BMI stage for awhile, before finding our way back to the AMD stage for Neko Case. Next we stopped by the Austin Ventures stage where we caught a few songs from fellow Cincinnatians, the Heartless Bastards before moving back to the WaMu tent for Shooter Jennings. Shooter Jennings plays countrified southern rock, which he and his band blast out as loud as possible. Lots of fun. While I stayed to watch the rest of Shooters’ set, Shelly snuck over to the AT&T stage to see Blues Traveler and then went over to the AMD stage to see The Raconteurs. Meanwhile I made my way over to the BMI stage where I relaxed while watching The South Austin Jug Band before meeting back up with Shelly to cap off the night watching Kevin Fowler. Kevin Fowler plays a rock-inflected country music, singing fun party songs such as “The Lord Loves Drinkers,” “Don’t Touch My Willie,” (That’s referring to a Willie Nelson CD, of course! My, you have a dirty mind!) and “Beer, Bait, and Ammo.” He also included a few surprising covers, including “Sweet Emotion,” “Crazy Train,” and “Fat Bottomed Girls.” And that was it for the 2008 Austin City Limits Festival. Hot, dusty, and tired, we got back to the hotel and collapsed.

Short on time this morning, so a quick recap of yesterdays events. Breakfast at Dan’s Hamburgers, then on to the see the following acts: Bonnie Bishop, Langhorn Slim, The Old 97′s, Band of Heathens, Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves, Robert Earl Keen, John Fogerty, and capped the evening with a mindblowing set from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

If yesterday was the day of BBQ excess, then today marked the beginning of three days of music excess. We arrived at Zilker Park around 11 am and set up our lawn chairs in our usual spot — in the shade of a tree in front of the BMI stage, which happened to be the site of our first show of the day. Ben Cyllus kicked things off for us with a roots-rock set that, in many ways, set the tone for the day. Next we made our way over to the WaMu tent to catch a few songs from The Jones Family Singers, who entertained us with a lively gospel show. Leaving the WaMu tent we scooted over to the AT&T Blue Room stage where we caught a few songs from the soulful Dan Dyer. At this point Shelly snuck off to catch a few songs from Autamata and Paula Nelson (daughter of some guy named Willie) while I staked out a spot at the AMD stage to watch Asleep at the Wheel. Shelly caught back up with me about halfway through Asleep at the Wheel’s run through Bob Wills tunes and other western swing favorites. ACL Fest never really starts until Asleep at the Wheel kicks things off, so their set left us ready to go. We strolled over to the AT&T Blue Room stage to see Austin natives What Made Milwaukee Famous churn out a set of solid rock. Again Shelly and I split up briefly as she went back to the WaMu tent for some more gospel, this time provided by Brotherly Luv while I went back to our chairs at the BMI Stage to see Sunny Sweeney who gave us a nice dose of mainstream country. Next we traipsed back over to the WaMu tent to catch a few roots-rock tunes from The Freddy Jones Band before swinging over to the Austin Kiddie Limits stage to watch the Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars who always put on an amazing show. As soon as that show wrapped up we walked to the adjacent AT&T Blue Room stage where we caught the end of Del tha Funky Homosapien’s show, which was raucous rap with an old-school vibe. From there we headed back to the BMI stage, stopping at the Austin Ventures stage to catch a listen to a few tunes from Delta Spirit who were cranking out folk-rock at high decibels. Once we finally made our way to the BMI stage we caught Bobby Bare Jr. (Son of country legend Bobby Bare Sr.) who, after a rough start, settled in to give us a dose of guitar rock with a hint of folk/americana at the edges. After all that we stopped to refuel with some food and beverages before returning to our chairs at the BMI Stage to see Ryan Bingham who delivered a hard-edged set of take-no-prisoners country music. Next we were pleased and surprised to discover Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (of Once fame) playing under the name “The Swell Season.” After their alternately ethereal and comical performance, we headed back, exhausted, to our chairs at the BMI stage for our final show of the night, Donavon Frankenreiter. Frankenreiter has a smooth funk sound, proving that a little bit of sugar does indeed make the funk go down. For his last two songs, Frankenreiter brought G. Love (sans Special Sauce) onstage to jam with his band while they absolutely brought the house down, providing a fitting finish for the night.

Today was the big BBQ tour day! We started our tour by picking up our tour companions, Matt, Cherie, and Tom at their hotel, then headed out to Taylor, Texas where we visited the Taylor Cafe. The Taylor Cafe is easy to miss, being just another run-down building on a run-down block. And the inside isn’t much better. The bartender/waitress was unpleasant, but the BBQ was good. I was a little surprised to see they put BBQ sauce on the brisket, but all-in-all this made for a good first stop for our tour. From Taylor, we drove down to Elgin, Texas where we stopped at The Southside Market & BBQ. Again we went with brisket and sausage, and both were excellent. Definitely a step up from the Taylor Cafe. Here the brisket had more smoke flavor and was a little more tender. The sausages were among the best I’ve had. Getting full, but needing to move on, we went down the road to Meyer’s Smokehouse, also in Elgin. Still pretty full from The Southside Market & BBQ, we went with a small order of brisket. The brisket here wasn’t as tender as others, but was full of flavor, actually somewhat resembling the seasoning you find in beef jerky. A little weird, but still pretty tasty.

And then it was time. Lockhart, Texas, the BBQ capital of Texas loomed just a few miles away. Our first stop in Lockhart was at Smitty’s Market, our favorite place from last year’s BBQ tour. At Smitty’s we got a bunch of brisket and hot rings and chowed down. Again Smitty’s demonstrated why they were the best last year, and easily topped everywhere else we’d stopped earlier in the day. Filled to the brim with ‘cue, we headed about a mile south to Chisholm Trail Bar-B.Q., the one place in Lockhart we hadn’t made it to last year. Upon entering, I was surprised to see that the Chisholm Trail actually had a salad bar and BBQ buffet. But as this was technically our 5th lunch I decided to pass. As I stood in line waiting to place my meat order, I turned around to find Matt loading up at the buffet! Some are just gluttons for punishment, I guess. To my further surprise (and horror) I then noticed that he’d ordered himself a giant hunk of chicken-fried steak! I can’t imagine what he was thinking, but all took our orders back to a table where we discovered that the brisket at Chisholm Trail was fantastic, right up there with Smitty’s or anywhere else in Lockhart. Definitely worth the stop. (Matt never quite made it through that chicken-fried steak.)

Unable to consume any more, we returned to our respective hotels to digest for awhile, before meeting back up on SoCo for a show at The Continental Club. The show was opened by Sarah Borges who put on a fun, high-energy show that completely won over the crowd. The headliner for the night was James McMurtry, who Sarah Borges introduced as, “fucking weird.” Is he? I’ll let you judge for yourself.

Our first stop this morning was in Dublin, Texas, home to the first, and oldest operating Dr. Pepper bottling facility. There we toured the bottling plant, and tasted their Dr. Pepper which is still made with real cane sugar, rather than high-fructose corn syrup as all other Dr. Pepper is made with. Following our Dr. Pepper tour, we made our way to San Saba where we enjoyed some absolutely amazing brisket at Broken Spoke BBQ. The brisket there is the first I’ve had that can compete with the brisket served up in Lockhart. Happy, and with full bellies, we continued south to Enchanted Rock State Park. Enchanted Rock is a massive piece of granite that rises about 500 feet above the surrounding countryside. We took the summit trail up a brief but very strenuous 3/5 of a mile to the top of the rock. While on top we enjoyed the views, and explored a small cave just below the summit. On the way back down, we ran across a squirrel and some deer before hopping back into the car and moving on.

Heading south again, we eventually found ourselves in Luckenbach, Texas where we strolled around taking in the ambiance while sipping a beer and conjuring up images of Willie, Waylon, Jerry Jeff, and all the other “outlaws” that once haunted the place. Quickly losing sunlight, we moved on to Pedernales Falls, which we reached just before dusk. The sunset was beautiful, but a lack of water made Pedernales Falls more like Pedernales Rocks and Puddles. We left in the fading sunlight and made our way, finally, to Austin where we’ll be until Monday morning. Grabbed a quick dinner at Capt Benny’s near our hotel before retiring, exhausted, for the evening.

We started the day with a visit to the Roger Miller Museum in his old hometown of Erick, Oklahoma. The folks at the museum were kind enough to open the museum for us, though it is normally not open on Tuesdays. As such we got a personal tour of the museum which really helped to make Roger’s quirky personality shine through. We wound up spending nearly three hours in the museum which left us a little behind schedule, but that’s what speeding is for. Next we stopped in Mclean, Texas to visit the Devil’s Rope Museum, dedicated to the history of barbed wire. The museum contained an awe-inspiring collection of barbed wire and associated tools and other paraphenalia. In addition, it housed a small exhibit on the dust bowl, and a wing of assorted Route 66 knicknacks. Just down the road we found a cute restored Phillips 66 gas station before putting the pedal to the metal towards Amarillo.

On the way to Amarillo, we stumbled across the largest cross in the western hemisphere. Just west of Amarillo we visited the Cadillac Ranch, which is basically a bunch of old, graffiti-covered Cadillacs stuck nose-down into the dirt in the middle of a cornfield. By now we were starving, so what better place to satisfy a craving for meat than The Big Texan Steak Ranch? The Big Texan Steak Ranch is famous for it’s “free” 72 oz. steak. It’s free, alright, if you can eat it all, along with a baked potato, 3 fried shrimp, a side salad, and a roll….all within 60 minutes. Otherwise it’s $72, though you do get a souvenir t-shirt for the effort. I decided to pass on the tempting offer and instead had a considerably smaller (and gristly) steak with mashed potatoes and mac ‘n’ cheese. None of that was particularly good, but that wasn’t why we were there anyway. As luck would have it, just as we were placing our orders, two guys decided to take the challenge. The wait staff set them up at a table on a small stage in the middle of the large dining room, with a digital clock situated behind them. After signing waivers, the steaks were delivered along with the sides, and the clock was started. Those poor guys didn’t stand a chance. By the end of the hour it seemed as if they had hardly made a dent in their oversized steaks. On the way out, I noticed a sign listing recent visitors who were successful in tossing all that food down their gullets in an hour, including one man who ate it all in a shocking 25 minutes! After leaving The Big Texan Steak Ranch, we had a looong drive south and east to Breckenridge where we’re currently staying the night.

Started out this morning with a quick visit to the Walton Five & Dime, the original Walmart, in Bentonville, Arkansas. Though modern Walmart’s are open 24/7, this one was closed on Mondays. So we headed west into Oklahoma, where we picked up Route 66 a little north of Tulsa. We had planned to stop in for burgers at Hank’s Hamburgers in Tulsa, but discovered it closed as well. By happenstance we’d just passed a tasty looking burger joint on our way to Hank’s, so we backtracked a few miles to Hatfield’s Hamburgers “Home of the Real McCoy” where we enjoyed some tasty burgers and tater tots. The burgers were thin, but were made from seasoned ground beef. Hatfield’s also serves a full menu of barbecue, but we had more eating to do today, so we couldn’t go whole hog. (So to speak.) Following Route 66 into Sapulpa, we stopped at Hickory House B-B-Q where got a pulled pork sandwich and potato salad to go. Confirming my initial olifactoral suspicions on the way in, I spotted their smoker on the way back to the car. The pork was very flavorful, making for a terrific sandwich, although the potato salad was merely average. As we continued along Route 66, we took opportunities to veer off the main road onto Old Route 66, where we could imagine the road more as it was in the 1930′s. Eventually we were pulled off the road by a sign promising “Historic Brick Broadway” in Davenport, Oklahoma. That turned out to be a brick avenue lined by empty buildings. There was a nice mural there though. A little further down the road we came across the Arcadia Round Barn in Arcadia, Oklahoma. The barn has been lovingly restored and is a fine example of late 19th century architecture. Sitting outside the barn were a few old road graders of the type that were used for the original grade of Route 66. Hard to believe those got the job done considering what we use today.

After passing by Oklahoma City, we stopped a little farther west in El Reno. El Reno is home to Sid’s Diner, which is reputed to make a fine onion burger. At Sid’s, the burgers start as round balls of ground beef. Those balls are smashed flat on a large griddle. Then a handful of onion slices are tossed on top of the burger, before being smashed into the burger with a spatula. That mess of beef and onions are allowed to cook on the griddle, causing the beef and bits of caramelized onions to commingle, fusing into one tasty, crispy glob which is then placed on a toasted bun with your choice of condiments. We sat at the counter next to a group from New Zealand who were driving the entire length of Route 66, and had stopped in at Sid’s based on a glowing recommendation. The staff were friendly and even gave us a coney on the house, as it was their other specialty that we “just had to try.” The coney was ok, but nothing special. (This was hardly fair — they couldn’t know what a big deal coneys are in Cincinnati…)

Departing El Reno, we continued along Route 66 until we reached Hydro, Oklahoma, home to Hammons’ Station, also known as Lucille’s. Lucille’s was a filling station on Route 66 operated by Lucille Hammons, “The Mother of The Mother Road.” The station is abandoned, but has been relatively well maintained. Later, after seeing what seemed like hundreds of billboards advertising it, (Look out Wall Drug, you’ve got competition!) I was compelled to stop in and visit the Cherokee Trading Post & Restaurant, which turned out, naturally, to be a tourist trap without a gimmick. Still, what’s a road trip without tourist traps? We soldiered on, pausing in Clinton, Oklahoma to snap a quick picture of a giant indian named Howe, and in Elk City for picture with a giant Route 66 sign. We’re staying the night tonight in the City Drug B&B in Wheeler, Texas, though we’ll dip briefly back into Oklahoma tomorrow.

Started this morning in Ozark, at the foot of Mount Magazine, the tallest peak in Arkansas. Our first stop was the “Lost Valley Trail” which is about a two mile hike up a small valley to Eden Falls and Eden Falls Cave which is located in the cliffs above the waterfall. The hike started out as a leisurely stroll along a nice gravel path. That was not to last. We soon found ourselves ascending a steep hillside on a rock “staircase” in order to reach the waterfall and, eventually, the cave high above it. The effort turned out to be well worth it, as Eden Falls is beautiful to behold and the view from outside the cave is very nice as well. Apparently about 250 yards inside the cave is a 35-ft. waterfall, but as we did not bring a flashlight, we could explore no more than about half that distance before prudence dictated we proceed no further.

Famished after our hike, we stumbled upon the Crystal Mountain Mexican Restaurant. Shelly had steak fajitas, and I had a combination plate with two tacos and two ground beef enchiladas. Everything was excellent and we left full and happy and ready to make the drive north to Cosmic Cavern. While waiting for our tour to start, we chatted with Mike, our tour-guide-to-be who happens to be a big baseball fan, having visited every Major League ballpark in the country. So we talked baseball until it was time for the tour to start. Since we were the only two who had arrived for a tour, the three of us descended into the cave. Cosmic Cavern has just about everything you’d want to find in a commercial cave: stalactites and stalagmites, soda straws, cave bacon, flowstone, two “bottomless” lakes, unexplored sections, and rickety stairs (a.k.a. lawsuit waiting to happen.) galore. The tour, at about an hour and half, was thorough, fun, and informative.

After schlepping back up all those stairs we were again exhausted, so we pushed on to Eureka Springs. Eureka Springs is a small resort town in the Ozarks with the usual assortment of bed & breakfasts, cafes, junk shops, junk shops, and junk shops. Oh, and “old-fashioned pictures” stores. And fudge. I didn’t see any saltwater taffy. Anyway, we strolled along Main Street for awhile, drove the “historic loop” which took us past many fine historical homes in the Eureka Springs area. Finally we could take it no longer and headed to the Bavarian Inn for dinner. Dinner started with cups of cream of sauerkraut soup. This interesting concoction was absolutely delicious — tangy and tasty. For the main course, I enjoyed a plate that included a bratwurst, sauerkraut, smoked pork, and potato pancakes. All were superb. Shelly went with the sauerbraten which was served in some kind of vegetable sauce and came with “peasant dumplings.” The sauerbraten was good but not exceptional, not being quite “sauer” enough to suit me. Dessert included apple strudel a la mode with glasses of Riesling. All in all a fit finish for an exhausting day. After Shelly rolled me out to the car, we drove into Bentonville for the night.

We got off to a bright and early start this morning and headed into Arkansas. Our first stop was in Batesville at Mark Martin Ford, home of the Mark Martin Museum. The museum contained several of Mark Martin’s race cars, driver’s suits, trophies, and other memorabilia. Next we headed for Barb’s Bar-B-Q in Searcy. Barb’s Bar-B-Q turned out to be a small roadside cafe with a carryout window and a few picnic tables along the side. Surprisingly, the menu was full of hamburgers, corn dogs, pork tenderloins, etc. Despite the name, Barb’s Bar-B-Q had only one barbecue item on the menu, a pulled pork sandwich. As a result, my expectations were immediately lowered. Shelly and I each ordered a pulled pork sandwich with slaw. In spite of my initial misgivings, the pulled pork sandwich was excellent. As I walked around to the side of the restaurant to sit at a picnic table, I spotted the smoker around back. Then I sat down and had a bite — delicious! Tender pork with nice smoke flavor, tossed in a tangy sauce and topped with some curious slaw. The first thing we noticed was that the slaw was yellow in color. Upon tasting it, I suspect the slaw was made with some mustard, though I’m not at all certain. Regardless of the contents of the slaw, it all made for an excellent sandwich.

With bellies full of barbecue, we headed further into Arkansas, where we visited Petit Jean State Park. The park is absolutely gorgeous, containing breathtaking views of the Petit Jean valley and Cedar Falls. We also were lucky enough to run into about half a dozen hawks circling over the park. Our next stop was to be the Parking Meter Museum in Russelville. Unfortunately, it seems the museum is located inside a local business and is only open Monday through Friday. Disappointed, we made for our next stop, Feltner’s Whatta-Burger. At Whatta-Burger, an employee takes your order as you first walk in and writes the order and your name on a white paper sack which is whisked away back into the kitchen. Next you stand in line until you finally reach the register where the paper sack reappears, this time filled with your order. The Whattaburger is a largish burger, dressed however you like it. It’s hard to rave about the Whattaburger a day after visiting Dyer’s, but it was an excellent burger and very obviously popular with the locals.

From Whattaburger, we traveled to Mount Nebo State Park where we took in the spectacular views at Sunset Point which provides a 270 degree panorama of the surrounding valleys and hillsides. From Mount Nebo we made our way to Magazine Mountain State Park where we again enjoyed gorgeous vistas on our way to a short hike up to the top of the mountain which also happens to be the highest point in Arkansas. In the fading sunlight we drove down from Magazine Mountain to our hotel in riverside Ozark. Three meals into the day we were actually still hungry, so we dropped in at the Ozark Cafe where I had a relatively average ham steak and Shelly enjoyed a decent top sirloin.