Thankful for Luling

Luling Texas. We put this on our list of stops when traveling across Texas. We try to schedule our trip so that we arrive here around lunch. A small Texas town with an oilfield history as evidenced by the pump jacks all over the town. The pump jacks are ancient but still in service. The cool thing about these pump jacks ? They are painted and not just a solid color.

See? Here..let me post a few more for your viewing pleasure.

and this one

How can you not love this art? Besides the Watermelon Thump and the colorful pump jacks, this wee town has the best BBQ and that's why it's on our "must stop list".

The restaurant is a warehouse looking place. You won't find white linen on the tables. Checkered oilcloth on picnic benches; BBQ sauce in glass jars on each table and the jars are lidless. This is to discourage the patrons from leaving with the sauce. You can always spot a newbie as soon as they walk in the door and select a place to sit. Soon they realize there is no wait staff. They watch as other patrons walk in the front door and head to the back and disappear thru double doors to the right and reenter the room thru the door to the left. AH HA!

As you swing thru those doors you are faced with an assembly line of workers who are removing meat from the room size smoker and slicing the brisket, sausages and ribs which are served on white freezer paper accompanied by plastic forks and spoons. You exit back to the dining room, the waitress brings you some beans and bread and a drink. Your selections on entrees are nil. You get beans!

You clean up your table when you leave and this place is never empty! One of the best BBQ places I've been to and it rates right up there with Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Why am I posting about this? Well, hubby came thru Luling on his way home Wednesday and he stopped in Luling and brought home some ribs, brisket and sausage and a large container of the BBQ sauce. Awesome!

It's a long way to drive from here to just get BBQ so I was very appreciative that he thought to bring some home. We feasted on Luling BBQ late evening after the traditional turkey dinner yesterday at noon.

I'm not one that cares what the diner looks like as long as the food is good. I can't say the same for hubby so sometimes we disagree on where we will stop for food breaks on the road. I always check out the parking lot not the building. If it's full then I want to stop. He, on the other hand, he looks at the building and says "I'm NOT eating there!"

Would you eat here?
This video is the daytime drive away from Dreamland. Can you imagine this drive after dark?

The first time I went here was after dark. You drive on a narrow winding road up a large hill out of Tuscaloosa. It's in the city limits but there is no street lights so it's very dark. Eventually you find this little place and you look at the building and wonder if the trip was worth it. Booths and tables with oilcoth, the walls are covered with football memorabilia; pennants, t-shirts, team pictures, newspaper clippings on the Crimson Tide and license plates from around the USA. A waiter appears and says "slab, slab and a half, half a slab". He says this so fast that it sounds like an auctioneer for food.

Half a slab per person is more then one person can consume. A drink is delivered, the half slab is delivered with sliced bread. No entrees. Just a drink, bread and the ribs.

This is where the locals come before and after a home game. It's very well known and people stop in from all over the USA. This is another stop when headed to the north east.

And if you ever get to Tuba City, Arizona around the north rim of the Grand Canyon, stop at the little truck stop with the large dirt parking lot and have a Navajo Taco! If there are more then 5 cars in the parking lot, you might want to drive around a bit till one leaves so you can scoot right in there and have some where to sit! Did I mention it was small? It's in the intersection. Did I mention the town was small? One intersection. You can't miss it!