Texas! How is it?

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Burt_Macklin said:
While does anyone know about some good small towns in Texas? Something with around 10k people with good schools and land for a hobby farm. I’m looking at Boerne at the moment but don’t know much about it at the moment.
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West, TX is much smaller than you’re looking for (pop. under 3,000) but it feels bigger.

Not sure about the schools, but I know there is a Catholic elementary school. West is on I-35 (20 miles to Waco, 77 miles to Dallas and 120 miles to Austin). It has a very strong Czech vibe and hosts an annual Czech polka festival.

cityofwest.com/

westfest.com/
 
Sugabee43 said:
Good heavens, YES!!! Beats most BBQ by a long shot!! The breakfast tacos are amazing!!! 👍
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When you talk of a ‘BBQ restaurant’, does that mean that everything is literally cooked on an indoor BBQ?
 
Xantippe said:
West, TX is much smaller than you’re looking for (pop. under 3,000) but it feels bigger.

Not sure about the schools, but I know there is a Catholic elementary school. West is on I-35 (20 miles to Waco, 77 miles to Dallas and 120 miles to Austin). It has a very strong Czech vibe and hosts an annual Czech polka festival.

cityofwest.com/

westfest.com/
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Yeah, but fertilizer plant blowing up the town puts it way down on my list of places to live in TX. 🙂
 
LongingSoul said:
When you talk of a ‘BBQ restaurant’, does that mean that everything is literally cooked on an indoor BBQ?
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No. In TX, it means they have big outdoor, commercial BBQ pits where they smoke or BBQ the meat over wood- usually mesquite or hickory wood.

Some places will cook the meat indoors in some kind of way, but most of the popular TX BBQ places are going to be pit BBQ.

For example:

pappasbbq.com/the-meat/
 
LongingSoul said:
When you talk of a ‘BBQ restaurant’, does that mean that everything is literally cooked on an indoor BBQ?
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I hope not!! Most BBQ is technically cooked on a wood fire; low and slow. Different woods bring different flavors to the meat. I supposed a lot of restaurants have their wood cookers indoors, but just for venting purposes, it’s best to have them outside.
 
Xantippe said:
It’s not ALL blown up.
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oh, I know… but still…

Of course I grew up with Dow Chemical in my back yard… which could have blown up any time and in fact did have explosions and noxious gas releases so who am I to talk?
 
1ke said:
No. In TX, it means they have big outdoor, commercial BBQ pits where they smoke or BBQ the meat over wood- usually mesquite or hickory wood.

Some places will cook the meat indoors in some kind of way, but most of the popular TX BBQ places are going to be pit BBQ.

For example:

pappasbbq.com/the-meat/
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As you can see from that site, sausage is a bigger part of the BBQ culture than it is in a lot of places in the US.

Related: There seem to be a lot of Czech-origin BBQ places.
 
I’m seriously considering getting smoked turkey from Rudy’s for our small Thanksgiving dinner.
 
Xantippe said:
I’m seriously considering getting smoked turkey from Rudy’s for our small Thanksgiving dinner.
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Oooh- great idea!! I may take one to Louisiana, and my MIL can still make her Cajun rice dressing to go with it!! 👍
 
1ke said:
No. In TX, it means they have big outdoor, commercial BBQ pits where they smoke or BBQ the meat over wood- usually mesquite or hickory wood.

Some places will cook the meat indoors in some kind of way, but most of the popular TX BBQ places are going to be pit BBQ.

For example:

pappasbbq.com/the-meat/
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That truly sounds divine!
 
1ke said:
oh, I know… but still…

Of course I grew up with Dow Chemical in my back yard…
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Dow is still in my backyard (not literally, of course). I am close enough to see the orange flare during a major burn off though.
 
1ke said:
There are SO many.

Anything outside Austin or San Antonio would be nice. Never been to Boerne but knew people from there. Places like Marble Falls, Seguin, etc., are nice.

Anything in the Brazos Valley near College Station or Bryan or Waco.

Not far outside Houston and you are into small towns. Brazoria County is great, where I grew up.

Can’t speak for DFW area or anything in west TX, not that familiar with those areas.
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I drive through Marble Falls on the way to Inks Lake SP, really pretty town. It’s becoming a picturesque town of wealthy retirees though. The same is happening all over Burnett county really. People who’ve earned their money outside of the county are moving into the county for their quite, peaceful slice of Hill Country. I guess it would be hypocritical of me to complain but I am worried about what the increased number of people will do to an already water scarce area. I think for what I want I just need to find a job in Alaska 🙂
 
Burt_Macklin said:
I drive through Marble Falls on the way to Inks Lake SP, really pretty town. It’s becoming a picturesque town of wealthy retirees though. The same is happening all over Burnett county really. People who’ve earned their money outside of the county are moving into the county for their quite, peaceful slice of Hill Country. I guess it would be hypocritical of me to complain but I am worried about what the increased number of people will do to an already water scarce area. I think for what I want I just need to find a job in Alaska 🙂
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This is quite similar to the situation in Maui where outsiders with lots of money move in and price the locals literally out of house and home.

The resulting situation is almost feudal with a wealthy landowning minority and the rest who cannot afford to buy a home but rent and work three or four jobs to afford the rent.

Lords and peasants.
 
Burt_Macklin said:
While does anyone know about some good small towns in Texas? Something with around 10k people with good schools and land for a hobby farm. I’m looking at Boerne at the moment but don’t know much about it at the moment.
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If I was looking for someplace, I’d try within a half-hour radius of Waco. The Hill Country is beautiful; it gets decent rain; you have the proximity of the I-35 corridor and several cities of 50,000-100,000; but there’s a ton of wide-open spaces.

Likewise, I might consider looking in a radius around Longview, over in East Texas. It’s a part of Texas that has actual trees, good rainfall, and convenient access to decent-sized cities.

A third place I’d try is somewhere in the middle of the triangle between I-10/I-35/I-45.

I don’t know how Boerne is-- it depends on what you want to do with your hobby farm. There’s a lot of limestone in that area, so the soil might be pretty rocky. Not a big deal if you’re running goats or cattle, but it might take a bit of effort to grow things.
 
midori said:
If I was looking for someplace, I’d try within a half-hour radius of Waco. The Hill Country is beautiful; it gets decent rain; you have the proximity of the I-35 corridor and several cities of 50,000-100,000; but there’s a ton of wide-open spaces.

Likewise, I might consider looking in a radius around Longview, over in East Texas. It’s a part of Texas that has actual trees, good rainfall, and convenient access to decent-sized cities.

A third place I’d try is somewhere in the middle of the triangle between I-10/I-35/I-45.

I don’t know how Boerne is-- it depends on what you want to do with your hobby farm. There’s a lot of limestone in that area, so the soil might be pretty rocky. Not a big deal if you’re running goats or cattle, but it might take a bit of effort to grow things.
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There’s a Kindle book that might be helpful:

“Farm Flop: A City Dweller’s Guide to Failing on a Farm in Two Years or Less.”

devinrose.heroicvirtuecreations.com/blog/2014/09/30/farm-flop-available-for-pre-order/

I didn’t actually finish the book (so painful!), but the setting is Texas (mainly outside Austin, I believe). I was telling stories from the book to my (non-Texas) rancher dad last year and he loved it. It’s sort of a compedium of non-farmer farm mistakes.

I originally saw the book advertised with an excerpt on CAF (the author is a Catholic guy) and I think it was awfully nice of him to share his experience with the rest of us.

I don’t know what moral the author drew from his experiences, but the one I took was–keep mistakes SMALL.

Unfortunately, everything’s bigger in Texas.
 
Well, I may not ever live there, but (maybe thanks to the food talk) I’d consider a visit (but not in the heat of the summer.) 😉 Who wants to be my tour guide??? 😃
 
pensmama87 said:
Well, I may not ever live there, but (maybe thanks to the food talk) I’d consider a visit (but not in the heat of the summer.) 😉 Who wants to be my tour guide??? 😃
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Come down here ma’am 🙂 We have the best Mexican food and various other alternatives.

Just head down the I-35 until you run out of country :):)🙂

ICXC NIKA.
 
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