Tick Tock

Do you hear that? It is the sound of time running out on the Summer of Jay 4. On Thursday, I go back to school, for more time than is necessary to "get ready."
In the meantime, I am trying to do a few more fun things in these last remaining days. To that end, Tara and I took a road trip to Lockhart yesterday to eat as much barbecue as we could manage in an afternoon. We started at Smitty's, where Tara had some disappointing brisket, and I had some yummy sausage. Hers was too dry, and not fatty enough for her taste. She did like her bottle of Czech beer, though, on the first day is was available at Smitty's, it turns out.
We then walked and drove around the downtown area of Lockhart, building up a little hunger for more beef. We went to Black's, for what should have been much better brisket. It was more moist than Smitty's, but did not have the smoky flavor that I was used to. Overall, our food experience was lackluster, especially given the burden of high expectations. Lockhart BBQ lives on legend and reputation, but it does not always deliver. I've had so much great BBQ there that it would take 3 more disappointing trips to make me really question why I would go again.
On our way out of Black's, Mr. Black himself greeted us while we were getting back into the car, asking about meal. He is getting on up there in age, and I was not about to give him too honest an answer about that particular meal. Besides, he went out of his way to introduce himself, which I thought was cute, as if I would not know who he was. I forgot to take my camera with me to Lockhart, but Tara took some shots with her cellphone camera. If she can figure out how to send them to me, I'll try to post them tomorrow. Before leaving town, we stopped at Kreuz Market to get some more meat to take home and freeze. More sausage links, and some big ol' pork chops for me. All in all, still worth the drive, even with the price of gas.

Today I went to LuLu B's, which bills itself as a Vietnamese sandwich joint. This is another South Austin trailer situation, similar to the crepe place from earlier in the summer. It was a great way to combine my wariness of Asian food with my devotion to good sandwiches. The grilled pork was very good, with a cool marinade that gave it a zingy flavor. About every 7 bites, I would get a serious kick from some far-away spice that made me wish for a gulp of milk. It was kind of like playing Russian Roulette with a sandwich. I also tried a shrimp summer roll, which was fine, and probably very good if you like that sort of thing.

Tomorrow will be my last Summer post. I will try to reflect a little, which means it will likely take me several hours to write. Insights come slowly, if at all.

Peace,

js4