Click on images below to enlarge:
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| Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
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| A warning sign in the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower
Center. I tried not to frown, though I'm afraid I did.
| A fairly typical example of the chaotic part of the wildflower park.
| In my opinion, the prettiest section of the park, which I actually didn't
think was anything special. (I took this picture basically to prove I
wasn't lying when I criticized the park.)
| The same section farther down the path is equally unremarkable, yet
still prettier than everything else.
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The view from the top of the observation tower showed green in every
direction.
| I took this picture because I liked the composition of the scene.
| An example of the formal arrangements, with gardens laid out in plots,
in one part of the park.
| In person this plot reminded me of a large bonsai. I don't experience
the same feeling from the picture.
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| A flower. I took this at super-high resolution so you can see the
spikes.
| Ditto. Although I like the composition of this picture better (with the
flowers in the background), I don't like how this flower has a bit of a
spider web on it.
| The Wildflower Center had a pretty cool exhibit by Shou Ping, an artist who
paints paper with watercolors, then folds the paper into flowers. As the
pictures shows, all her pieces have depth from layers of paper figures.
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| Lockhart: Smitty's
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| Smitty's
market. At first I thought it was closed.
| One of Smitty's wood-fired pits. This one contained sausages.
| A better look at the fire.
| The counter where people order meat, another pit, and a man with a
piece of brisket stabbed on the cutting block, ready to slice off a
piece. The meat dripped (I'm not sure what: fat?) as it was carried
from the pit to the block. Notice the sawdust on the floor, likely
there to absorb the drippings.
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The dining hall, old decorations, and the counter for sides and drinks.
The television at the corner was turned to Judge Joe Brown when I
arrived. Before I left, someone changed it to Fox News.
| My brisket and small-ish ribs, served on butcher paper, along with the
requisite white bread to do with what one will.
The brisket was
very good: moist and well marbled. I ate it as an open-faced
sandwich--it's so marbled the fat would be overwhelming without the
bread. I loved the blackened ends, dense with their spice rub.
The
ribs were similarly good, though one side of one rib was crunchy (which
I didn't like).
| The side of beans, which I think were simply boiled in water, weren't
worth wasting calories on.
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| Lockhart: Kreuz
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| Kreuz's
warehouse-like space.
| Kreuz's huge stacks of firewood out back show it means business. Why
they left them uncovered in the rain, I do not know.
| One of Kreuz's dining halls. Notice all the historical remnants.
| The other dining hall, and sides-and-drinks counter.
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| Kreuz's chopping block and four of its many barbecue pits.
| Kreuz had a few humorous messages posted on its premises, including this
one on a door.
| My brisket and large rib, again with white bread on butcher paper.
The brisket had good flavor but wasn't as moist and succulent at
Smitty's brisket. It wasn't bad but certainly wasn't remarkable.
The rib was intensely piggy. It screamed: I am a pork product. It was
too piggy for my tastes, though I can understand why others could love
it. While I could appreciate it, that's as far as I could go.
If
you look at the bottom of the full-sized image, you can see the flecks
of the spicy rub on the outside of the ribs.
| German potato salad.
Because the beans looked the same as Smitty's disappointing ones, I
ordered something else. This potato salad was served warm and had a
spicy kick. It was decent, and definitely felt like a starch bomb.
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| Lockhart: Downtown
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| Lockhart's central building, a courthouse, as seen through the distance
in the rain.
| Closer-up.
| A typical downtown street. Downtown extends only for a block in this
direction.
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| San Marcos
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| I didn't take any pictures in San Marcos.
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On the way to San Marcos from Lockhart, I saw a sign advertising Cinco
de Mayo and the state "menudo competition."
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On the way out of San Marcos toward Gruene, I passed what might be one
of the largest outlet malls in the country.
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| Gruene
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| Though every building was different, most were old single-family homes
converted into shops. I took this picture as a representative example.
| Of all the historic buildings in Gruene, I liked this natural-wood,
ranch-style one the best. It's now a wine shop.
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