On our way out of Austin a few weeks ago, we breakfasted with my cousin and her husband at one of their favorite spots, Amaya’s Taco Village. It’s right on I-35, making it easy off/easy on.
What Decor? What Atmosphere?
Amaya’s is all about the food, because there isn’t anything else. Oh, there’s a spacious parking lot and a very clean building, but you have to bring your atmosphere with you. The walls are beige with basic orange peel texturing and the floor in linoleum. The tables are Formica. Most of the dishes are of either white or beige melamine. The flatware was really flat (you know what I’m talking about). In other words, we wouldn’t have been there if my cousin hadn’t taken us.
But my oh my oh my, are we ever glad my cousin took us. I ordered the Ranchero Deluxe. I knew I could eat the eggs and some carne guisada. I even planned to take a few bites of the chorizo con huevo. Yum, yum, yum. My cousin and her husband got huevos this and that, but Mr. Bill was not feeling very brave. He ordered the Pancake Plate.
The Pancake Plate
When they delivered the food to us, they seemed to put about a million dishes on the table. There was queso with carne, salsas of every description, tortillas and on and on and on.
I tucked into the eggs first and they’d gotten them perfect. I order my eggs hard, because I don’t like the runny stuff, but I really don’t want hard yellow disks in the center of my whites. The guy in the kitchen knew that somehow. Nothing ran, but the yolk had just gelled the very second he took them off the gill. Then there was the carne guisada. Tender beef in a perfectly spiced sauce. Nothing to take the top of your head off, just delicious. I even had a few bites of the chorizo. If I’d had any room, I might have eaten more, because they were good, but I was full. The refried beans and potatoes looked tasty, but they didn’t seem to mesh with my South Beach Diet.
Bill seemed to forget that he’s on the South Beach Diet with me. Yes, that’s a piece of sausage peeking out from under that huge pancake and that’s real syrup he poured on there. Way to support me, Pancake Man.
With a hearty breakfast under our belts it was time to head further south. We discovered the wonderful little town of Gruene, so come back next week so I can tell you all about it.
Next on my South Texas Ramble was Austin. Now there are lots of reasons to go to Austin, but this time my primary objective was spending time with one of my favorite cousins. However, while I was there, she was busy. She’s an Altrusan and they had a fund raiser that evening. Being a long time fan of Altrusa International, I was thrilled to participate. The event was sort of a happy hour at Cover 3, an Austin hotspot.
We were able to visit with my cousin for a little while before she scurried away to set things up. We arrived later with her husband. Let me tell you, Cover 3 is very popular. It was early on a Tuesday night, but you’d have thought we arrived at 7:30 on a Saturday evening.
It’s a Busy Place
Cover 3 is a sports bar and restaurant. The buzz was roaring when we arrived and the big screens were beaming action into the crowd. We asked after the Altrusans and were directed upstairs. WOW – how do you spell success? Every available couch and chair was full and making out way through the crowd was a challenge. In one corner folks were chatting up The Daytripper and in the other they were checking out the raffle baskets. We dutifully bought a handful of raffle tickets and looked for a place to have some dinner. My cousin had worried the proceeds of the event wouldn’t cover the minimum for booking the space. I think her worries were groundless. We gave up and found a table downstairs.
I’ve recently become a South Beach Dieter and this vacation was a trial run of what life is like on the diet. I quickly noticed the things I can eat are usually on the more expensive parts of the menu, but they’re also among the most delicious. Hubby had shrimp tacos and my cousin’s husband a burger. I ordered Sauteed Gulf Snapper with Fresh Blue Crab. Everyone else was very happy with their choices, but I’ve got to tell you, I was BEYOND happy. If this is dieting, then I can live with it. Since the menu didn’t say anything about the huge mound of mashed potatoes which would accompany my entree, I didn’t know I needed to select another side, but Bill was thrilled to clean those non-SBD potatoes off my dish and the huge entree completely satisfied any vestige of hunger I might have developed. I confess, I was jealous of the beers they were drinking, but I was a good girl and stuck with my water.
After the meal, we made our way back upstairs for the big finale, the raffling of the baskets. Everyone who won was happy with their haul, but I was not among the winners. We made our way to my cousin’s home and visited a little more before hitting the sack. It was a lot colder when we woke up the next morning. The Polar Express was on its way.
Come by next week and I’ll tell you about an amazing place to have breakfast in Austin.
TRAVEL THERE: SOUTH TEXAS CHRISTMAS RAMBLE – WACO, AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO & GALVESTON
Did you miss me last week? I missed being here, but not too much, because I was out having fun. For years I’ve wanted to visit San Antonio while the luminaries glowed on the Riverwalk. I finally headed that way and tacked Galveston’s Dickens on the Strand at the end of the trip. I didn’t know the North Pole would be traveling with us.
Rambling South
Having declared this a ramble, we did take it slow. Last Tuesday morning went like almost any morning at our house, except that my bags were packed and sitting next to the door. After my morning ride on the stationary bike, I made some breakfast and then headed for a bath. Meanwhile, my husband, the investor, checked on the market and made sure his trades were all properly lined up. About 10:30 we hit the road.
Waxahachie Drive Tour
First stop, Waxahachie. We were a few days early for the Gingerbread Tour of Homes, but thought we might take a sneak peek at some of the old Victorians all dressed up for Christmas. I’d found a copy of the tour map online and started putting Bill through his paces. He was very obedient, but by the fifth house we realized the effort wasn’t worth it. It’s the second time I’ve tried to do this and after this second fail we hightailed it back to I-35.
A Detour for the Love of Dr. Pepper
I had a wish list for Waco which included the Lee Lockwood Library, but they’re closed on Tuesdays, so we went to the Dr. Pepper Museum. This pilgrimage had been lurking for a while on my “to do” list, but the other times I’d tried to drop by failed for one reason or another.
I’m a Pepper. Are you a Pepper, too?
Now, if there ever was a Pepper, it’s me, so I was looking forward to the museum big time, but erase all thoughts of the CocaCola Museum in Atlanta out of your mind. Dr. Pepper doesn’t even come in a close second. Even a Pepper like me has to admit it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go. Just pare down your expectations a bit.
The building housing the museum is where the beverage was originally served and then bottled. Since we were there on a mid-week afternoon in early December, we didn’t exactly have to fight any crowds. We paid our $8 per person (choke choke) admission and started poking around the place.
Long before Dr. Pepper was a soda fountain drink, Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store was well known as the largest drug store in Texas. Cowpokes and railroad tracks converged in Waco creating a clientele for emporium’s soda fountain, but old Morrison, didn’t create Dr Pepper. One of his employees did. For a while, even though the drink was popular at the soda fountain, no one thought of bottling it. For one thing, soda fountains were all the rage and for another, bottling was an expensive process.
A la Madame Tussard’s, a wax replica of the man that did invent Dr Pepper greeted you in the original soda fountain area. He told you the history of Morrison’s Drug Store and that odd little beverage invented there. He also explained why the artisan wells in Waco made the bottling of Dr Pepper a possibility.
The reason I choked on the price of admission is because the majority of the museum is just a warehouse for Dr. Pepper ad media. Strolling through the first two floors is, for the most part, a review of the Dr Pepper marketing campaigns. Yes, there’s the original soda fountain and a room set up like the original bottling facility, but that’s pretty much all there is that has historical meaning for anyone except an ad executive. The third floor is devoted to Foots Clements. He’s a one time delivery truck driver who made his way through the ranks and then led the company for many years.
Remember this campaign? Have you ever actually drank it hot?
Several displays reminded me that 7Up is part of the Dr Pepper family, but what I found odd was that almost half of one floor was devoted to root beer. Root beer? I could never find the link between root beer and my favorite soda, but I did learn a few things about the whole frosty mug thing.
There’s a gift shop full of Dr Pepper t-shirts and commemorative bottles and then there’s a snack bar, where you can get a free sample of Dr Pepper products mixed the old soda fountain way. I’d have preferred a can. The sample didn’t taste quite right – but I bet when they started bottling Dr Pepper most people said they preferred what they were used to at the soda fountain.
The historical part of the museum
Should you go to the Dr Pepper Museum? Well, that depends. Are you a Pepper? If you’re a devoted drinker of the brand, then you will enjoy it. Are you a Baby Boomer? Then you’d probably enjoy the walk down the advertising memory lane. Are you majoring in marketing at one of our American universities or colleges. Then maybe you’d learn a few things. Otherwise, like my husband, you’d probably prefer to spend your time elsewhere.
jane sadek 