TanksPanky: FTJ, Entry 70: Beau Finds Nirvana at Salt Lick

We are in the hill country surrounding Austin, TX, and while the wind is still howling, at least the humidity of Port Aransas is behind us. The area is quite pretty, and a nice change from the miles and miles of scrubby flat land we have seen up to now.

You can see a little of the hill country here -- Dave and Joyce's RV is up ahead on the road.

But the world famous Salt Lick barbecue restaurant in Driftwood, TX, has got to be a major highlight of this trip so far -- especially for Beau.

It was a bit of a drive from our RV resort, La Hacienda, but so worth it! When we arrived, a little after 6 pm, the place was already jumping. The smell of the barbecue wafted in the air -- along with dust from the hundreds of cars in the parking lot. There were tons of people everywhere, and a great Stevie Ray Vaughn-like band was rocking the place. The place is BYOB, so most people were dragging coolers and big buckets of beer. What a happening!

We got a table right away and the cholesterol extravaganza was underway. I had a plate of two giant ribs and brisket, Beau and Dave got the ribs, brisket and some other meat, and Joyce, who is a very healthy person, ordered the turkey.

AMAZING! And such an experience. Now this was the Texas we had been hoping for.

Some of these photos are a bit blurry, but we wanted to capture some of the "flavor" of the place:

The happy cowboy who directs traffic into the place.

The band was terrific.

The guys then splurged on an extra order of a beef rib -- the traditional Texas rib. Dave compared his to the brontosaurus rib Fred Flintstone orders in the cartoon -- the rib that tips his car over, if you recall.