USA Road Trip - Day 16 (San Antonio, Texas to Fort Worth, Texas)

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A late night as I tried to remove some of the bird poop from the Camry. Lesson learned as follows : “Do not park overnight under trees again !” The shortest route to Fort Worth is via I35 North about 4.5 hours but I googled last night to see if there was a scenic route and straight away I read about an alternative route that added maybe 30 extra minutes mostly driving on Highway 281 via the Hill Country regions. We went passed Johnson City which has a population of only 1656 but famous as the home town of President Lyndon B Johnson (LBJ). First stop was Blue Bonnet café in Marble Falls which was about 90 minutes from San Antonio. We stopped here and we both had a malt milkshake which was more like a thick shake and beautiful in the old style metal glass. Kerry ordered a slice of lemon meringue pie and I told the waitress we would share. Kerry would later tell me she was angry when I decided to share as she wanted a piece of her own. However once it came out she did not mind as it was huge. After all we are in Texas ! Headed away and we were amazed at all the Texas wildflowers out which looked very pretty. We went passed a modern looking school as we came into the town of Lampasas. I noticed it had a football field with grandstands and a baseball field. We stopped briefly at the visitors centre and the guy there said it was just a training track. He said the main stadium was much bigger which seemed surprising for such a small town but he said all the outer areas all come in to town to watch Friday Night High School Football ! Next we headed into to Hico where we first stopped at Wiseman House Chocolate shop where they make everything by hand locally. We bought a couple of small items, and then headed across the road to Koffee Kup family restaurant and we both had coffee. I had a bowl of bean & vegetable soup. Kerry was still full from the milkshake and lemon meringue pie consumed earlier. Strange place but quaint and obviously popular with locals, skinny toilet doors where you had to walk in sidewards. The Highway was weird in that it frequently had overtaking lanes but when they ended there was no lane markings or arrows so they just joined without warning. As we approached Fort Worth we went passed a school that looked new. It had a Football Stadium with grandstands, a separate gymnasium and other buildings and the sign said Joshua High School 9^th grade. Are you kidding this place is only for the 9th graders ! All 3 stops today were recommended from one trip advisor review I read last night so that felt good as they all had some character which is what we want to see on these road trips (e.g. real America !). Much more fun than driving on the Interstate. It was pretty tricky finding our hotel (Towne Place Suites which is another Marriott Chain). Both Mr. Tom Tom and Google Maps on iPhone said “you have arrived at your destination” only to find a train line between us and the Hotel ! Used common sense to get around and check in around 5pm. We took the 15 minute walk downtown to Sundance Square and the temperature was still nice around 23 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Dinner at Riskys BBQ served by Mike. Kerry had the Grilled Catfish and I had all you can eat Beef Ribs for only $12.99 which were large but not as nice as what I had at Ruby Tuesdaysin Charleston. I had 4 and did not ask for any more. It was accompanied by some coleslaw but it was not fresh and looked like something you bought at a Coles supermarket back home and just stuck it on a plate. I had 2 beers in large glasses (Rahr Blonde I think), Kerry had a Chardonnay followed by a Margarita. We only got charged for 1 beer so bill was $40.55. By the time we walked back to the Towne Place Suites we had crossed about 20 traffic lights and we must have had about 18 that let us cross without waiting so this is a very pedestrian friendly place (and flat as well). Did some washing tonight to get rid of the coins we are collecting. I was not happy though when I called reception to confirm they would let me change pennies for quarters only to get down there and have Kiwaris tell me that if I wanted to swap 45 pennies and a nickel I would need to wrap the pennies in a coin wrapper myself ! This is a Hotel and I am the guest so to be asked to wrap coins I found offensive and out of place for a Marriott chain(maybe I was exhausted from the long drive or disappointed at having my first bad meal choice on the trip so far ?). So far Texas has proven to be a very flat landscape much to my surprise. Tomorrow is forecast to be a cool 15 degrees and very windy so I think the shorts can be packed away for a change. We are staying here in Fort Worth tomorrow which Kerry has been looking forward to since the team on Sunrise filmed live here a few years ago.

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