world famous texas bbq, the salt lick in driftwood tx, and happy hour at blue dahlia bistro westlake
I'd heard about the salt lick long before we moved to texas. I'm not a huge fan of barbecue so we hadn't made the effort to seek it out. then we realized it's not that far out of the way when driving between wimberley and austin. so we scheduled the stop in driftwood.
I love the setting! they don't take credit cards so bring cash (they do have an ATM) and it's also BYOB so most people bring big coolers filled with beer/wine. it appears you can buy beer wine from the winery in the adjoining building...
I liked it. I'd say it is up there with the best I've ever had. there was some debate if it was good as, or better than rudy's bbq, maybe not better. but we all agreed the sides were way better, and possibly the best of any bbq joint I've been to.
(I need to remember to take some razors down to the river property)
we got our food from the salt lick take-out booth. sat outside at one of their picnic tables, listened to the country boys playing guitar (top pic)
BLUE DAHLIA BISTRO WESTLAKE HAPPY HOUR:
I'd read about the blue dahlia happy hour, but the prices seemed too good to be true. had to go check it out in person. with several food options at just $4, and $10 bottles of wine... AND they had entertainment too!
the cheese plate was only $9 and was more than a group of us could finish. the cheese was good, but nothing fancy.
WIMBERLEY PROJECT RIVER HOUSE:
kat has been so busy with her IP Law work. it's good to be so busy, but she also put in a weekend of hard labor so we could lay a new VCT floor in our river cabin. she's a perfectionist, and I knew the final product would look great (and it does). I worked the adhesive and moving heavy things while she arranged and cut the VCT.
we need a weekend with a less time consuming chore; less work and more relaxation. she needed a rest, but she doesn't like to stop once she's started.
we did find time to cool off in the blanco river.
speaking of fancy cheese.... I found my beloved der scharfe maxx at spec's! and some other alpine style cheese, kaltbach. the new one was good, but for me, the scharfe maxx is SOOO much better. it was enjoyed with a 2009 alsatian pinot gris from the baron de hoen
it's hatch chilli week at HEB. we roasted a few on the grill to use later this week.
some friends had given us a bag of dried red chillies from new mexico. I made a paste from some, added garlic, sea salt. I used it to marinate wild caught gulf shrimp for grilling.
that grill was so hot, OUCHIE! I probably said a few other words you may not want me to say in front of your children. I tell my kids "those words are reserved for emergency situations, such as dropping a brick on your foot (or putting your hand near hot coals). then it's ok to use them and we know it's a REAL emergency."
so far, none of my kids have dropped a brick on their foot or had to use any emergency words.
those chilli marinated shrimp were GOOD!
now that the cabin is starting to look nicer and has a good level of comfort, I'm trying to get back to the original goal, less grid reliance or net-zero energy. ideally, we'd like to be somewhat self suffiecient for our power needs. I have rewired some mexican folk art tin stars so they have LED lights that are powered from a solar/PV array and deep cycle battery. we hope that we will eventually have enough solar/wind power that we could run a small a/c without relying on the grid for power.
the finished floor, and kids enjoying the clean new surface.
we've found baby koi in the lower pool (overflow from the larger koi pool) at our home in westlake (austin). I tried to get a pic via iphone. so far we've counted at least seven!
sidenote:
you might be from austin if: your kids argue for their favorite bob schneider song over breakfast. yes, this really happened. while eating eggs on hatch chilli cheese bread, my 9 yo son announces he might like 40 dogs better than yeah, I'll do that, Shhh. my 4 yo son did not agree. #1 son then asked me to play Lovely Creatures while they ate breafkast. #2 son started CRYING when 40 dogs played instead of yeah, I'll do that, Shhh.