There is a convenience store right at the Travis/Hays county line with a good selection! the Salt Lick now has a winery, so you can buy a bottle there if you want (but it isn't that good, IMO).
Yes, I know, Texas liquor laws make no sense. But you learn to deal with it. 馃榾
I've always found Salt Lick overrated. It's not bad but it's not as good as everyone makes it out to be either. I've had Franklins and thought that was really good but agree that it's not worth waiting hours for. I only got it because my team told our intern at the time that his job was to go get BBQ and wait in line there. He thought we were joking but we were serious. Big boss and I were in town working on a client and big boss wanted Franklins.
M meglosBack from Austin:
-In general nowhere has anywhere to park, all decent restaurants have a wait time.
-Salt Lick BBQ. We got luck, only a 20 minute. Very, very good but not exceptional. Wouldn't hesitate to eat here again.
-Round Rock Donut. Thirty car line one day, we skipped and came back another day with virtually no line. Good, but over-hyped. On the plus side it wasn't expensive.
-Juan in a Million pretty long wait, maybe 30 to 40 minutes. Food was good but it was really crowded and in a sketchy neighborhood. Juan himself brought my food since it took a bit longer then everyone else's and shook hands and talked to us. He is a a local celebrity so the two people from Austin thought that was pretty cool. His son wrang us up and saw my Chicago Cubs hat. He mentioned that he would be there later in the week. We gave him some restaurant recommendations.
-Didn't get to go to the National Museum of Pacific War but did spend a 2 or 3 hours at the Texas Military Forces Museum. Not crowded and free. Very interesting and could go back to that again because I ran out of time.
-Texas Capitol was packed and not that interesting.
-Zilker Botanical Garden. Very scenic and photogenic. It is a great place to take engagement, wedding, or pregnancy photos.
-The Alamo. Very crowded and not much to read and not enough exhibits. It has been re-built, renovated, and changes so much since the original events it was pretty underwhelming. They need to improve the experience.
M meglosBack from Austin:
-In general nowhere has anywhere to park, all decent restaurants have a wait time.
-Salt Lick BBQ. We got luck, only a 20 minute. Very, very good but not exceptional. Wouldn't hesitate to eat here again.
-Round Rock Donut. Thirty car line one day, we skipped and came back another day with virtually no line. Good, but over-hyped. On the plus side it wasn't expensive.
-Juan in a Million pretty long wait, maybe 30 to 40 minutes. Food was good but it was really crowded and in a sketchy neighborhood. Juan himself brought my food since it took a bit longer then everyone else's and shook hands and talked to us. He is a a local celebrity so the two people from Austin thought that was pretty cool. His son wrang us up and saw my Chicago Cubs hat. He mentioned that he would be there later in the week. We gave him some restaurant recommendations.
-Didn't get to go to the National Museum of Pacific War but did spend a 2 or 3 hours at the Texas Military Forces Museum. Not crowded and free. Very interesting and could go back to that again because I ran out of time.
-Texas Capitol was packed and not that interesting.
-Zilker Botanical Garden. Very scenic and photogenic. It is a great place to take engagement, wedding, or pregnancy photos.
-The Alamo. Very crowded and not much to read and not enough exhibits. It has been re-built, renovated, and changes so much since the original events it was pretty underwhelming. They need to improve the experience.
i think part of the problem with the Alamo is that is was run by the Daughters of the Texas Revolution until just a few years ago when the state took over management. They made a lot of additions and updates over the years that probably would not have been allowed by a state historical society. They also kept all the artifacts and documents that used to be shown in the Alamo, so the state had to start over from scratch with building the exhibits.
if you ever get back, a better experience is to tour the other remaining missions around San Antonio.
https://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm
these have been managed by the National Park Service for decades and are a lot better than the Alamo. And they are still active parish churches. You have to drive around the city to see them, but it鈥檚 a nice day trip.
