From the Heart (Of Texas): Road Trip (Saturday)

It was like a pilgrimmage to Santiago de Compostela, with my parents' bay house as the sacred shrine at the end and numerous important stops along the way. First, we stopped at Buc-ees, using their pristine bathrooms, stocking up on Buc'ee nuggets, and buying a few Texas souvenirs. They were out of sweet tea but no matter: Mikeska's, our next stop, would have some. (Before we got there, though, we had to pose next to the huge beavers and the giant stuffed bears in front of the store!) And even though it wasn't yet 10 am, we were assured of barbecue when we got there. The kids marveled at all the "stuffed animals" on the walls, this roadside barbecue joint a veritable church of taxidermy. I ordered the traditional array of sides: potato salad, pinto beans, pea salad, macaroni salad, banana pudding. Gommie and Pop chose brisket, ribs, sausage, chopped beef sandwiches. Sweet tea. I had just been reading on the plane the day before Calvin Trillin's dissection in the /New Yorker/ of how /Texas Monthly/ chose the state's best barbecue, choosing a complete unknown in 2007. In the article, Trillin recounts that one Texas barbecue joint is like any other:. And in case you've never been, I'll tell you: you saunter up, tray in hand, to the person next to the pit, who may or may not give you a taste while you're thinking, and then order your beefy lunch by the pound; sides, optional, ordered separately. Usually, sandwiches are not available: if you want one, grab a couple of slices of Mrs. Baird's white bread at the register on your way to tables stocked with sauce. Texas barbecue usually comes sauce-free. And that's almost exactly what happened.. Next we headed only a few miles away to Prasek's Smokehouse. But we don't often visit there for the barbecue; we liked the baked goods, specifically sweet cheese and fruit kolaches, sausage kolaches (or "pigs in the blanket"), and chocolate sheet cake. We'd called in our order at 7 am, wanting to be sure we got all the kolache flavors--strawberry, apricot, peach, pineapple, cream cheese, cottage cheese, plain sausage, and jalapeno sausage. Sis had been concerned that she couldn't recall her favorite flavor, though she recalled it was sweet and light colored (i.e. not prune!). She beamed when she saw the choices and, I believed, eventually decided it was apricot that she preferred. I picked up some pinto bean seasoning too. My folks and the kids, in a separate car, made a swazu to Staff's, a catering company that, I believe, has done most of the family's weddings, to pick up the kids' first meal of fried chicken. They were nonplussed by the cripsy coating, which found this vegetarian evading her vows (I had had a bite of Mama's chopped beef sandwich, with it's sweet, vinegary sauce; ah the taste of childhood summers! Mea culpa, mea culpa. Texas is a tough place for vegetarians, with its chicken fried steak, fried seafood, brisket, fried chicken, even pork fat in the beans!). About 45 minutes later, we arrived at our destination, full and happy to have arrived. Let the vacation truly begin!