Last summer, my wife (known also as The Boss), our daughter, her boyfriend and I made a trip through central Texas and our son couldn’t go because he was going through boot camp (actually not far from where we were at for part of the trip), so this January we took him on pretty much the same trip. We were flying into Austin where we would hang out for the day and then stay the night before driving up to Fort Worth for a couple of nights at the Stockyards. This is our trip through central Texas 2.0.
As is typical when we’re going on a trip with our son who lives on the other side of the state, we met up at Orlando International Airport for the flight to Austin.
We started off sharing a couple breakfast items at Cask & Larder and yes we like biscuits.
Then it was time for the flight out to the Lone Star State.
Once we arrived and picked up our rental car, we headed south out of Austin to visit the K. Spoetzl Brewery & Distillery in Shiner, Texas. We visited the brewery on the previous trip, but our son REALLY wanted to see it and off we went. Of course there were some extra stops along the way and on the way back. It’s what we do.
When the music video for Darius Rucker’s “Fires Don’t Start Themselves” came out in 2023, there is a scene where the character Darius plays gets out of his car in front of a doughnut shop. I mean come on, you know that I was going to find out where that shop was (and if it even existed) and wouldn’t you know it, it’s an actual doughnut shop in Lockhart, Texas! I knew exactly what I had to do and of course some doughnuts were purchased and consumed.
We still had a while to go to get to Shiner and we decided to take our son to the biggest Buc-ee’s in the country which happened to be on the way down in Luling, Texas.
Yes a brisket sandwich was bought and shared (we were going to eat at the brewery, so we didn’t want to fill up). Turns out that we stopped there on the way back up to Austin as well.
The K. Spoetzel Brewery and Distillery in Shiner, Texas (population 2,127) has been brewing beer since 1909. You can take tours of the brewery and it’s seriously a great place to visit if you can find the time to make your way out there. While you can find a couple of types of their beers across the country, they always have several types on tap that you’re not going to find outside of Texas. It’s also home to K. Spoetzel BBQ and we enjoyed a chopped brisket sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich.
This was our second visit to see this brewery and the only reason we likely won’t come back is that it does take a pretty good commitment to get out there, but the trip is 100% worth it.
On our way back up to Austin we did stop at Buc-cee’s in Luling once more and just over the I-10 interchange you’ll find the Luling Lavender Fields.
We had seen this place on our first trip and made sure that we stopped in for a visit this time. It’s a pretty cool little place and we picked up some lavender items and tried lavender ice cream.
As we continued back into Austin we stopped at Terry Black’s Barbeque in Lockhart and I’ll say that this is in the Top 10, possibly Top 5 best brisket sandwiches I’ve ever had. And the BBQ sauce that I had on it was AMAZING. Side note though, I bought some of that BBQ sauce at another location in Waco the next day and when I opened the bottle at home a couple weeks later, it tasted nothing like what I had on this sandwich.
We stopped at Live Oak Brewing Company on the southwest side of Austin for a pit stop before heading into downtown and up to our hotel north of the city.
The Texas State Capitol in Austin. They build everything big in Texas!
After checking into our hotel in Tech Ridge (we stayed at a Homewood Suites this time and at an Avid around the corner the summer before), we drove over to Celis Brewery for one last adult beverage of the day and then started wondering about finding something for dinner.
H-E-B is to Texas, what Publix is to Florida, but there aren’t quite as many of them. On the other hand, with the exception of Wegman’s, it’s my favorite grocery chain in the country and we ended up picking up some things from there for dinner. I typically load up on all kinds of items to bring home from H-E-B, but I knew that we’d be stopping at a new store north of Fort Worth the day we headed back home.
We were pretty exhausted from waking up early, the flight, the drive down to Shiner and the trip back into Austin so we called it a night and crashed at the hotel to get ready for another long day as we were driving up to Fort Worth with a stop in Waco the next day.
It doesn’t take much to make me happy and these Texas shaped waffles that Homewood Suites had for breakfast were more than enough to put a Texas sized smile on my face to start the day. We also had to hit the road to head up to Waco for a visit and then onto Fort Worth so that we wouldn’t arrive at rush hour, so it was time to head out.
Round Rock Donuts has been open since 1926 and on my first trip to Austin back in 2021, we did not have the chance to make it there. On last summer’s trip we did and I was blown away. They’re in my Top 5 list of favorite doughnuts on the planet so far and of course we were stopping here that morning.
On a whim, I asked one of the people standing in line at Round Rock Donuts if there was an actual “round rock” and I got the whole history of the rock AND directions to it. Basically, when the drovers (the folks who worked the cattle drives) would bring cattle up from the south along the Chisholm Trail, they would use this rock a a marker to cross Bush Creek and that’s where the town got its name. We also found Chisholm Trail Crossing Park and it’s always a good idea to soak up a history lesson whenever you can.
These are a few of the sculptures you’ll find along the walkway at the park.
Rudy’s Country Store and Bar B Que locations can be found throughout a good portion of Texas and I make a point to stop by one on every trip to grab something to eat and to buy a bottle of their “sissy” sauce (the regular BBQ sauce has a pretty hefty kick of heat to it). Since it was still breakfast time, I just bought a single brisket, egg and potato taco for the road.
And then we hit the road north to Waco and to visit Magnolia for a couple reasons.
Of course everyone has to get a picture of the silos and while we did get a couple things at the bakery, they disappeared before I could get a picture. Oops.
It was actually pretty chilly (this was the middle of January after all) and we didn’t hang out too long. It was blistering hot during our trip the previous summer and we saw a bit more of it, but there was one place that wasn’t open yet during that visit.
Yes M Doughnuts, located across the street from the giant Magnolia complex, opened after we had stopped by the previous summer and of course I was going to get a few to try.
You can definitely tell that our trips revolve around food and beer with some other stops in between and we were still only halfway to Fort Worth.
On our previous trip from Austin to Fort Worth, we missed the exit where the Czech Stop was located and there wasn’t anything that was going to keep me from getting to it this time. And OMG is all I can say. Be prepared to wait in a lengthy line, but it’s worth it.
Bush’s Chicken was right next door to the Czech Stop and the chicken smelled so good that I had to go in and get a couple pieces for the road.
We finally made it to the Fort Worth Stockyards and to our home for the next two nights. The Hotel Drover is located in the heart of the Fort Worth Stockyards and to be quite honest, it’s not a place I would typically pay to stay at, or at least be able to afford to stay at. Thankfully our son had enough points for us to stay there for those two nights and the total would have been almost $2,000! Yes, the hotel is named after the guys and gals that worked the cattle drives.
This is the outside of the hotel and below are a couple of views of the lobby. Outside of the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World, this is my favorite hotel lobby as far as the coziness factor goes.
Our room wasn’t huge, but it sure made up for it with the “lodge” cozy factor.
Guests are able to go out at night and get a leather luggage tag branded. Mine is hanging in my closet so I can give it a sniff every now and then because I love the smell of leather.
Here’s the Hotel Drover at night.
There is a beautiful area outside behind the hotel.
After checking into the hotel, we were looking to try a couple different things to eat and of course we were in search of some adult beverages. We didn’t want to stray too far as we were going to the rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum in the stockyards that night and then we would be seeing Tracy Byrd at Billy Bob’s (which is the largest honkytonk on the planet).
Here’s the view looking east on Exchange Ave.
We also wanted to catch the evening cattle drive through the stockyards.
This NEVER gets old.
And you never know when a random group of folks riding horses is going to show up when the road is closed.
We started off sharing some appetizers at Povender Hall on Exchange Ave. across from the coliseum and then we wandered a bit before heading over to a place The Boss and our son had been to on their trip the previous year.
Second Rodeo Brewing has a great atmosphere and there’s typically live music playing. Some of the “tables” are like you’re eating inside a truck and they have some very good food (this is their cheesesteak) to go along with plenty of adult beverage selections.
Cowtown Coliseum is where the rodeo takes place. The Boss and I had been here the previous summer with our daughter and her boyfriend, so we definitely had to get our son in there on this trip.
I could see a rodeo every week if that were possible and even though this arena is slightly smaller than most, it’s still a great show.
The other reason it’s nice to come here is that you can sometimes get into Billy Bob’s for FREE with your rodeo ticket.
Tracy Byrd puts on quite a performance and the size of Billy Bob’s (did you know that they even have their own rodeo arena inside?) is mind blowing.
We had seen quite a lot on our journey from Austin up to Fort Worth that day and we were too worn out to stay out much longer, so we walked back over to the Hotel Drover to hang out in the lobby for a bit (after all, it’s a lobby you want to hang out in as much as possible) to prepare for the next day.
I let the crew sleep in on Saturday morning because we had a full day of hitting a trio of local breweries coming up. So I wandered around the stockyards for a bit, going into pretty much every store that was open and then it was time to get them up and grab lunch (after all, we needed some food on our stomachs for what was coming).
Taqueria Temo is located just northwest of the stockyards and it’s an easy walk over. We had been craving some real street tacos on this trip and this place sure checked that box. Two thumbs up for sure.
Now it was time to play designated driver for the beer drinkers and off we went on a bit of a brewery adventure.
Cowtown Brewing Company is located just south of the stockyards.
Wild Acre Brewing Co. is located southwest of downtown and while they have a nice menu of beer and food, it’s the outside of this place that blew our minds.
Yes the outside area at Wild Acre Brewing Company is unlike anything I’ve ever seen!
Maple Branch Craft Brewery is located west of downtown Fort Worth and I have to say that this trio of local breweries we visited that afternoon sure showed us how good the local brewery scene is.
After all of that consuming of adult beverages by those who were not driving, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for our last evening in Fort Worth.
We had planned on staying out pretty late, but a serious cold front was approaching and the temperature was dropping a bit too much for this little group from Florida. We ended up stopping at a couple places in the stockyards including the White Elephant Saloon (which is one of those places you have to visit every time you’re here even though the drinks aren’t anything special).
Yes the White Elephant Saloon has a long history (albeit not all at the current location) and it’s worth a visit just because of the history of the name of the place.
The temperature continued to drop and I was tasked with getting dinner while the other two went for one more adult beverage back at Second Rodeo Brewing.
I had seen Tannahill’s Pizza Shop on our last visit and a couple times on this visit and pizza just seemed like something we could all three dig into and not spend a bunch of money. They make a great pie and we ended up eating it back at hotel.
The temperature was seriously getting cold (they were expecting a hard freeze that night and into the next day which was sort of freaking out the locals.), so we hung out in the lobby of the Hotel Drover with a bunch of others who were also looking to escape the cold.
I woke up Sunday morning to an actual temperature of 22 degrees outside with a wind chill of 17 degrees! WTH is up with that? Neither The Boss nor our son considered going out to get breakfast, so I bundled up and off I went to walk around the corner to The Biscuit Bar.
Okay, these may not look like much, but they were some delicious biscuits.
It was time to get packed and head out for a few stops before we needed to be at Dallas/ Fort Worth International Airport, so we hit the road for one last time on this trip. First up, a visit to one of the newest and largest H-E-B stores in the state.
Laugh if you want, but once you step into one of the larger versions of H-E-B, you will know just how nice a grocery store can be.
The cookies on the top shelf are called Marranitos. They are Mexican gingerbread pigs and while not every H-E-B carries them, if I see them, I’m bringing some home!
Of course I’m always looking for something to tie Brevard County to on our trips and yes that’s a space shuttle on the bags of the store brand Houston blend coffee. This is also a must buy every time we’re in Texas.
Our next stop on the way to the airport was to a giant Cabela’s. I mean GIANT! What you don’t see in the photos below are the Africa room where there are dozens of animals on display and the Texas room that displays animals from across the state. There’s a similar Cabela’s like this outside of Austin and we visited that one back in 2021.
This store is simply amazing and worth a visit if you’re in the area.
You can’t go wrong with a Whataburger when you’re in Whataburger territory and this one is across the street from Texas Motor Speedway. The milkshake in the cup is actually a Dr. Pepper milkshake which was the real reason for the visit and it’s not something they offer all the time. BTW, I won’t take a sip of anything Dr. Pepper-ish.
But it was time to get to the airport and if we wanted to relax for a bit in the Capital One Lounge for a bit, we needed to boot, scoot and boogie on over there.
This was my second visit to the Capital One Lounge at DFW and it sure is a great place to relax before your flight.
Finally the announcement came to board our flight back to Florida and that wrapped up our trip through central Texas 2.0. And yes at some point we’ll be paying a visit to the Lone Star State in 2026.
