Good Eats -- Southside Market, Elgin, Texas

Recently, we traveled from San Angelo to Conroe. If you view a map, there is really no direct route for that trip. And that can be a good thing, for it gave me an excuse to pass through Elgin, Texas.

I spent my career as an educator. In other words, I moved a lot and made very little money. My father before me was an educator. In other words, as I was growing up we moved a lot and Dad didn't make much money. As a result, I really don't have a hometown as many people do, but I did get to see a good part of Texas, and I have a lot of experiences as a result.

During my 4th and 5th grade years, Dad was superintendent of schools in Elgin, Texas, which is located about 24 miles east of Austin on U.S. 290. While there, we rented a house from a lady named Stach, who lived next door to us -- or rather, we lived next door to her. We lived in the poor house while she lived in the big house.

Our house in Elgin, Texas, from 1966-68

At that time, Mrs. Stach was a widow, and she controlled her husband's interest in Southside Market, a BBQ institution in Elgin. As kids, my friends and I would peddle our bicycles downtown, cross the railroad to the southside of the tracks (hence the name, "Southside" Market), and enjoy the hot sausage. We'd order the hot sausage, crackers, cheese, and some ice cold RC Cola on summer days and enjoy the eats.

Over the years, Southside Market has changed owners a time or two or three and has moved from its old downtown location out to Highway 290. It's a big place. Southside Market today bills itself as the oldest BBQ joint in Texas, and claims to have been founded in 1882. There are many travelers on Highway 290 who make it a point to stop at this "BBQ joint" to enjoy the good eats there everytime they pass through Elgin.

When I'm hungry for BBQ, I'm hungry for BBQ. I don't care about potato salad, cole slaw, beans and other sides -- I want smoked meat. So when Donna and I passed through recently, we bellied up to the counter and ordered old style: one-fourth pound sliced brisket, one-fourth pound traditional hot sausage, one-fourth pound jalapeno-cheese sausage, and cheese, all served on butcher paper -- no plates. Crackers these days are complimentary. We doused the sausage with the hot sauce provided at the tables and dined in style. We were stuffed, all for about $11.

Are you hungry yet?

If you've never tried Southside Market, visit the link provided in this post and start making plans. You won't be sorry!

I'm already planning my next trip through Elgin. Gosh, I love Texas!

Finding a House

We've been planning our retirement for the past 2 years. We knew that once we retired, we would probably return to West Texas because we love the area, but more specifically to be closer to our daughter and her family.

We looked at all our options. For a while, we thought about purchasing some acreage and immersing ourselves in gardening and rural living. But we decided that would be too much work and might interfere with all the playing we wanted to do, so we then began focusing on finding a place in a town. We felt we needed to locate in a large town for medical services, shopping, and other conveniences, and, since we wanted to be in West Texas, that didn't leave too many options. We spent at least some time looking at Lubbock, Abilene, Midland, and San Angelo.

We've never spent much time in Abilene, so after a trip there about a year ago, we ruled it out -- it just didn't feel like home. We also made a trip to Lubbock, which had been our "shopping town" for several years from 1979 to 1987. I like Lubbock, and it has everything we need. However, it has grown so much in the 20+ years since we've lived in the area that it just no longer had that right feel, either. Besides, it does get cold up on those South Plains, and we really don't care for those dust storms.

So that left Midland and San Angelo. We lived in Midland for 5 years before, and we really like that town. However, housing prices have really gone up since we sold our home there in 2002. And Midland is really a one-dimensional town, too -- it goes as the oil market goes, so to speak. So we decided against Midland, despite all the wonderful things that city has to offer.

So, after much looking about, we signed a contract last week on a new home in San Angelo; it is due to be complete in late June. We'll be moving out there in about 2 weeks. Our current house is due to close soon, so we will have to move our household belongings to storage temporarily until our new house is complete. We will live temporarily in our trailer.

Although we've never lived in Angelo, it was our shopping town for the 8 years we lived in Ozona, a small ranching community about 75 miles to the southwest. We've always liked San Angelo; in fact, we purchased some acreage in the Dove Creek rural subdivision there in the 1990s, only to sell the property when we moved to Midland. There have been several times when we wished we had kept that tract of land.

We were able to contract our house in time to make all the important selections for tile, carpet, counter tops, brick, paint, fixtures, and other items, so we look forward to getting out there to watch the house being completed.

What Is a Drought?

In my last post, I addressed the dry conditions and wild fires in West Texas. It is clear that the state is in the midst of a drought. Many people have a misconception of what a drought is, though. For them, a drought is a period of time of no rain. However, a drought is actually an extended period of time when a region has a deficiency in rain.

During a drought, there may be periods of rain, but this rain does little or nothing to relieve the existing dry conditions. In our modern urban society, many people are not even aware when drought conditions exist; however, those involved in agriculture certainly are aware of drought conditions.

The best way to learn about a drought is to read Elmer Kelton's The Time It Never Rained. Mr. Kelton, who passed away August 22, 2009, was a native of West Texas and spent the bulk of his years in San Angelo, Texas. He was considered by many, including me, to be the greatest Western writer of all time, and he won numerous awards throughout his dignified career.

The Time It Never Rained was set against the background of the 1950s drought, considered by many to be the worst drought in the last 70 or 80 years. Charlie Flagg, the central chracter, was one of a dying breed of men who worked the harsh West Texas land. Ever independent, Charlie refused government aid and suffered through the drought as best he could. It is this struggle that forms the basis of the novel, but the real focus of the novel is the character of Charlie Flagg. In many ways, he is a brother to Homer Bannon, the proud and moral character in Larry McMurtry's Horseman Pass By, which was later made into a movie called Hud, starring Melvyn Douglas and Paul Newman.

What separates the Western writings of Mr. Kelton from others, such as Louis L'Amour, is his emphasis on characterization and his dedication to historical accuracy. Mr. Kelton once said, "I can't write about heroes 7 feet tall and invincible. I write about people 5-foot-8 and nervous." If you want to learn about the Texas Revolution, then read After the Bugles or Massacre at Goliad. If you want to learn about the Texas Rangers, then read Ranger's Trail, Texas Vendetta, or The Way of the Coyote. If you want to learn about drought and its affects, then read The Time It Never Rained.

House Hunting

We spent 5 days in San Angelo last week looking at houses and preparing for the move there we expect to make in May. We secured a postal box, opened a bank account, found a storage facility for our trailer, and bought a new house. Our new home is still under construction and is due to be completed by June 30. We are, needless to say, very excited.

The first night we were there, a storm passed through the area. Sometime during the night, there was a lightning strike northwest of town that started a fire. The foreman at the ranch saw the strike, checked the fire, and then reported it. Firefighting crews thought they had contained the fire during the night, but the next morning the fire gained new life. We watched the smoke intensify throughout the day as we rode around town looking at houses. This fire was called the Encino Ranch fire, and it was soon contained. Recently, a much larger fire to the north of San Angelo has emerged, called the Wildcat Fire, and it is still doing considerable damage to the countryside as I write this.

It is difficult to express just how dry that country is. I thought the best way would be to show a picture. While in Angelo, we drove through San Angelo State Park, which is on the western edge of the city. The park lies along the shoreline of O. C. Fisher Lake, which is formed by the North Concho River. If you look at a map of this area, you will see that the lake appears to be quite large:

San Angelo, Texas; OC Fisher Lake to the west

The map above makes the lake look quite large. Below are some pictures I took of the lake as we drove around the park.

Boat ramp to dry lake bed

Boat ramp and dam



Body of lake

I read an article in a local paper on Sunday about the wild fires occuring across the state. At the time, there were 47 fires in progress -- 31 in East Texas and 16 in West Texas. The whole state is dry. Temperatures in the San Angelo area are approaching 100 degrees, and we are still in April. Winds across the state are almost constant, and they -- along with lower humidity levels -- continue to dry out grass, shrubs, and trees. It's a tinder box out there.

House for Sale

I've neglected to update the blog recently because we have been quite busy. In the next few days, I'll try to relate what we have been doing the past few weeks.

We put our house on the market when we retired earlier this year. We had our first offer in March, though we were unable to come to terms with the prospective buyer. However, a second buyer happened along and we were able to agree on a price and move forward. The house is now under contract and has been inspected. Unless something out of the ordinary occurs, it appears that we may be moving soon.

We moved to East Texas in 2002. Up to that time, we had spent most of our adult lives either abroad or in West Texas. In fact, our daughter was born in Plainview, Texas, (north of Lubbock) in 1980. She now lives in the Big Spring area with her husband and son. She considers West Texas to be home.

Although Donna and I both grew up in the eastern part of the state, we have always preferred the west ever since we first moved there in 1979. We only returned home in 2002 to be near my father when his health began to fail. Now that he is gone and we have retired, we are ready to return to the part of the state we now consider home.

So, we're now collecting boxes, packing away our household belongings, and getting ready for the next phase of our lives. In the next few postings, I'll relate details concerning our new home.

Big Bend Country

One of the most unique areas of Texas is the Big Bend country. It is so remote and off the beaten path that even relatively few Texans have ventured to that part of the state. But it is one of my favorite places, and I look forward to visiting there often in the future. I’m no stranger to the "Last Frontier", as locals often call that region. From 1991 to 2002, I lived on the edge of the “Trans-Pecos” region of Texas, and my job from 1997-2002 took me there often.

One way to get to know that region is through literature, and there are two books I highly recommend. The first of these is I’ll Gather My Geese by Hallie Crawford Stillwell. Hallie is a legend in the Big Bend country. As a young woman in 1916, shebegan her teaching career in remote Presidio, Texas, in the western part of the Big Bend. In 1918, Hallie married Roy Stillwell, who owned a 22,000 acre ranch about 50 miles south of Marathon, Texas. From that time on, she spent most of her time on the ranch, and her book traces her life through World War II in an honest, simple writing style. Hallie died in 1997, and her descendants still operate the Stillwell Store in a remote location southeast of Marathon.

J. O. Langford suffered throughout his young life from malaria, which he had contracted as a child in his native Mississippi. After marrying, he began moving west in hopes of reviving his health in a drier climate. While in a hotel lobby in Alpine, Texas, in the early 1900s, he overhead some men discussing a hot spring on the Rio Grande which supposedly contained curative powers. After inquiring about the land, he learned that it was open to homesteading and filed.

In 1909, Langford moved his wife and infant daughter to the property at the mouth of Tornillo Creek, which is located in the eastern portion of today’s Big Bend National Park. His book, Big Bend: A Homesteader’s Story, follows the lives of his young family as they grow to love this isolated country and its inhabitants. What I especially enjoy about the book is how completely the Langfords are able to immerse themselves in the culture of the area and how they learn to live simply and in harmony with their surroundings and their neighbors. For example, Mr. Langford thinks nothing of his weekly trip to the post office, a round-trip of 14 miles which he walks.

I’ve found that most local libraries usually carry these books. Although they describe a Big Bend of the past, they detail the history of the land and they capture the spirit of the frontier that still exists in the region. If you plan a trip to the region, start by reading one or both of these books.

Tyler State Park -- March 21 - 24, 2011

The beautiful spring weather called to us, so we decided to hitch up the trailer and head for the great out-of-doors. However, rising fuel costs made us look for someplace close to home, and we decided to visit Tyler State Park.

Tyler State Park is a 985 acre park in northern Smith County, about 10 miles north of its namesake city, Tyler, Texas. Located about 2 – 3 miles north of Interstate 20 on FM 14, the park is convenient for East-West travelers who need to make an overnight stop.

View video of Tyler State Park.

The centerpiece of the park is a 64-acre lake that is popular with fishing enthusiasts, swimmers, and various boaters, including those who prefer canoes and kayaks. During the past decade or so, the park has really become popular with mountain bike enthusiasts, who enjoy the rolling hills and the 13 miles of bike/hike trails that are contained in the park.

Weekends at the park are notoriously busy due to the park’s proximity to Tyler and its recent popularity among the mountain bike crowd. One of the nice things about being retired is that we can visit such spots during the week when most people are either working or are in school.

This trip turned into one of our most pleasant camping experiences. We selected site 54 in the Big Pines Campground (see map). I was able to position the trailer so that the steps from our rear door allowed us to step down onto the picnic table concrete pad. Our awning extended over most of the picnic table. The fire ring was just beyond the awning. This was one of the coziest campsites we’ve enjoyed. We also had a partial view of the lake.

Campsite 54 in the Big Pines Campground

There are about 173 campsites within the park. It can become quite crowded on weekends and during holidays. During our stay, probably only 30 or more sites were occupied daily. However, when we pulled out Thursday, the sites were already filling up for the weekend.

We arrived on a Monday, setup our camp, then went for a short ride through the park to get our bearings. After returning to camp, we hopped on our bicycles and took a short ride around the campground. We always enjoy seeing the various RVs and how other people do things. We learn a lot this way. As evening approached, we built a fire, roasted some wieners, enjoyed some chili dogs, then retired.



Relatively Empty Big Pine Campground

The next day, we took a long hike along Loops C and D of the park. The dogwoods were in full bloom and dotted the hills. The hike was quite a workout because of the hilly terrain. After returning to camp, we built another fire, grilled some sausage, and enjoyed the evening.



Dogwoods on a slope on Loop C Trail

Donna was in a fishing mood, so she spent about 4 hours Wednesday feeding the fish. I spent time in camp doing odds and ends. Trailers require periodic maintenance, such as lubricating the arms for the slide out and the steps, making minor repairs, and just general cleaning. Storage space seems to always be limited on RVs, so I periodically repack items, taking out those things we never seem to use. It’s important to continually inventory all your gear to ensure you are not carrying more weight than you need to.

Wednesday evening was steak and potato night. Donna made potato, carrot, and onion turtles and a salad to accompany the steaks. It was great.

The trip was fun and it was very relaxing. Only 2 things bothered us. First, the wind blew steadily at 10-15 mph, occasionally gusting to 25 or 30, almost our entire stay. Second, the pollen covered everything. Once we returned home, I spent a great deal of time washing everything off. Otherwise, a great trip to a great little park.