Ever since my daughter was born four years ago, Hubby and I made an annual trip to Brookfield Pumpkins in Thurmont, Maryland for a day of fall fun. I received my "pumpkin season has started" postcard in the mail recently (apparently that mail forward is working well), and realized that we needed to find a Texas venue for fall activities. So, relying on one of my favorite web resources, I started researching pumpkin and apple picking options near Houston. Here's what I learned: 1. you cannot pick apples here. Yes, I knew from Southern Living that I now live in Zone 10 the "Tropical Zone," but I didn't really realize that meant no apple picking until Pick Your Own crushed that dream. 2. Pumpkin picking here doesn't usually mean actually picking a pumpkin. Most pumpkin patches feature pre-picked pumpkins that are placed in a field surrounded by moon-bounces and little train rides. I abhor moon-bounces in any setting (germs), but I really didn't want a commercialized pumpkin picking event. So, I broadened my search toward Austin, and we settled upon a day trip to The Jersey Barnyard in LaGrange.
Of course, no road trip is complete without at least one meal and some road snacks. Once we selected LaGrange, barbecue savvy/hobby pit boss Hubby miraculously knew "just where we needed to go" for lunch. So before we headed to the farm, we fortified ourselves with lunch at Zimmerhanzel's BBQ (307 Royston St.) in Smithville; Smithville is home of the Tigers, y'all!
On a Saturday afternoon, the line at Zimmerhanzel's wrapped around the entire perimeter of the restaurant. Yes, we had two kids in tow, but we had driven an hour and a half for this barbecue experience and the smoke smelled amazing. There was no turning back now. So, I took a seat with the kids and we occupied ourselves by looking at the taxidermy that lined the walls.
Hubby had been waiting in line for about 30 minutes when they announced that they were out of chicken, ribs, chopped beef, and brisket. They had plenty of sausage left though, so we stood strong. Finally, Hubby came to the table with plates of sausage, beans, the last of the potato salad for the day, and a few slices of brisket.
The portions were very generous at Zimmerhanzel's. Each sausage plate included three links of homemade, Czech style sausage. The sausage was peppery and delicious, the kind of sausage that spoils you when you go to pretty much any other establishment. We gave most of the brisket to the kids, since it's pretty much the only meat my curiously vegetarian four year old will eat. But, we saved a piece or two for ourselves, and I'm so glad we did. I've eaten a moderate amount of Texas barbecue during my visits and this was by far the best brisket I've ever had in a restaurant (Hubby's still takes the prize for best brisket ever). It was perfectly smoked with a beautiful pink smoke ring around the edge. And, like any good Texas barbecue it didn't require any sauce (though Zimmerhanzel's sauce is quite good). The potato salad, despite being a disturbing bright yellow color, was filled with hardboiled eggs and sweet pickle relish and provided a nice alternative to meat, meat, and more meat. With an icy Dr Pepper on the side, it was pretty much barbecue heaven.
One quick tip, I spoke to a very sweet worker at Zimmerhanzel's who informed me that, yes, it is this crowded every Saturday. She said if you want to make sure you get the meats that you desire, you should call a few days ahead and place your order. We'll remember this for future trips.
Before we left Smithville, we drove around the town a bit because Hubby had read that the house used in the movie Hope Floats, was in Smithville. Neither of us have seen the film, but hey, this was an unexpected sightseeing opportunity! As we snaked around the beautiful neighborhoods in Smithville, our four year old daughter kept asking,"Are you sure this is the way to the pumpkin patch?" and "Do you have the GPS on?" We answered yes to both. With some difficulty, we located the house on 8th and Olive:
Also, before leaving Smithville, we encountered this guy:
Apparently, Smithville found its way into the Guiness Book of World records in December 2006, when they baked the worlds largest gingerbread standing at 20 feet tall and weighing over 1308 pounds. Sadly, Smithville no longer holds the record, but this statute of "Smitty" remains in a town park.
Our bellies fully of barbecue, we pressed on to The Jersey Barn. The Jersey Barn is primarily a dairy farm establishment. Their claim to fame, among the agro-tourism business they have, is that one of their cows was in a Bluebell Ice Cream commercial! The farm is in a beautiful Texas countryside setting with a field of longhorns across the road.
On the way home, we had to make just one more stop. On our way to Smithville, Hubby spotted a kolache restaurant on the side of the road. There was no way we could have a Texas road trip without stopping for kolaches. Since we were still full from lunch and ice cream, we decided to make a quick stop at Hruska's in Ellinger, Texas. Kolaches are a Czech pastry that are very popular in Texas due to the large Czech population in parts of the state. They are a perfect breakfast treat consisting of a dense, sweet dough filled with fruit fillings (apricot, apple, prune, cherry), cream cheese, or savory varieties (ham or sausage). Hruska's has been in business for over 100 years and traces its kolache recipe back to a single Czech baker.
While Hubby fueled the car, I ran in to select the kolaches. The selection was overwhelming.
I settled on apricot, apple, poppyseed and a savory variety consisting of jalapeno, cheddar, and ham. It was hard not to devour the kolaches immediately, but we saved them for a Sunday breakfast. They were well worth the wait and better than any kolaches we've encountered in the larger chains. Worth an hour plus drive? Yes, most definitely.
And, so concluded our first official Texas road trip. We hit all the required elements: kitschy sight seeing, quaint small towns, barbecue, and kolaches. Oh yes, and we found our pumpkins which were the entire impetus for the adventure. It was a perfect Saturday and I hope we have many more such Saturdays in our future. Texas forever.
*Photo credit for "Smitty" the Gingerbread goes to Larry D. Moore.
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