Waco is 100 miles north of Austin. The trip to Waco introduced Caylan to many of the important relationships and places in my life. We visited my alma mater, Baylor (it was homecoming!). I went to Baylor from 2000-2004. After school, I moved to Houston for a year, before moving back to Waco for another 3 years. I loved Texas, especially Waco. I made great friends, married/divorced/reconciled, and enjoyed exploring the outdoors.
The food scene in Waco is dominated by hole-in-the-wall restaurants, grease, and spicy food. There are so many unhealthy places I wanted to take Caylan, that there was no way we could visit them all without also visiting the ER. To welcome Caylan to Waco, we shared a GUTPAK from a resturant named Vitek's. The GUTPAK included brisket, sausage, jalapeños, onions and cheese on a bed of fritos - plus a side of white bread.
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We offered to deliver a GUTPAK to my friend Revekah's clothing store. She declined. I lived with Revekah for two years. During that time she was the proud doggy-parent of Bradley, a very handsome great dane. Bradley was fawn colored (Jane is blue - look it up on Google). Now Revekah is married (to Jeremy) with a 16-month old human baby child (Esther Margaret). After we packed the GUTPAK Caylan and I stopped at Prefontaine, the women's boutique that Revekah owns. Prefontaine always has beautiful and clever window displays.
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That afternoon we had a couple of firsts. Revekah's house is overrun with dogs who don't all get along (her dachshund Claire and three of Jeremy's cattle working dogs - Nero, Pistol, and Winnie), everyone agreed Jane should stay at John's, my ex husband. John's great dane, Rainier, died a year ago at the age of 11, and John was happy to host another dane. Here is a video of Jane playing with Nero, who I am told is one of the best cattle working dogs alive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3r_Xbzoey0&feature=youtu.be
Nero must not be allowed to play in the house. Wise doggy.
John had given Rainier's crate away so we put Jane in Rainier's old sunroom. The only thing stopping Jane from tearing up the house was a simple child's gate. John, who happens to own three paddle boards, took us SUPing (stand up paddle boarding) on a river in Waco. Hanging out with my fiancé (Caylan) and ex-husband (John) went fine (and no one "fell" in the water or drowned) thanks to maturity, peace, time, distance, and let's not forget: professional counseling. Caylan and John became good friends and laughed and laughed. Caylan liked John so much that I had to explain (again) why our marriage didn't work. Everyone had so much fun!
Enough about the sappy emotional side of things and back to paddle boarding. The saying goes, "if you can stand up, you can SUP." The boards are basically giant surfboards and the paddle is like a cane. If you lose your balance, you can catch yourself by putting your paddle in the water. We SUPed where the Brazos and Bosque Rivers meet, which is in the heart of the city, on the edge of Cameron Park. Cameron Park is a 416 acre park featuring limestone cliffs that rise out of the water (but are too unstable for climbing - this is called "rotten" or "skunk" rock). It is the second largest city park in the country (second to Central Park in NYC which is twice the size). I spent years mountain biking and running the trails that weave through the park and its limestone cliffs, but I had never seen the cliffs from a SUP vantage point.
After a few hours of SUPing we made it back to the house at sunset. We pulled up to John's house and heard barking. Jane? She never barks. We ran to the door and as John started to unlock it, the door knob fell off. Jane had clawed through several layers of paint of the 132 year old door. Jane had been with us 24/hours a day for the last 20 days. She must have been so worried when she saw us leave through that door, that she was determined to find us. John assured us that it was okay and that he was planning on refinishing that door soon anyways. We were all so embarrassed - yet understanding. The next day John bought Jane a crate - partially in preparation for him adopting another Great Dane.
Friday morning we went to breakfast at a bakery named Lulu Jane's, a new place in gentrifying east Waco. We heard the place was popular and that we needed to get their early. We got there at 9:30 and the man behind the counter said they were switching over to lunch. At 9:30?! We cleaned them out of the few remaining pumpkin bread slices and orange scones. Over breakfast, the conversation turned to BBQ and Jeremy offered to teach Caylan how to smoke brisket. Caylan was all ears and the two decided to start grilling pronto. Smoking meat is a labor of love, requiring the cook to check the temperatures every hour. Jeremy and Caylan took shifts monitoring the temperature of the grill throughout the night. They started Friday afternoon and we ate Saturday night. It was so good! We made home-made french fries and cole slaw to go along with the meat. No BBQ sauce was needed.
During the day, Caylan and I rollerbladed on a path in Cameron Park and by the river. This suspension bridge was built in the 1880s to allow ranchers to move cows to market. It was also the practice design for the Brooklyn Bridge.
We shared a glazed donut from Shipley's, a franchised donut shop headquartered in Houston. Rewind to Winona. There is a legendary donut place near our home in Winona. It smells good on our morning run, but the donuts are dry and cold. Then we ate at the infamous institution, Voodoo Donuts, in Portland, OR, but I thought they could have been better and that Shipley's donuts were tastier. Today was donut judgment day (DJD in the biz). Would Caylan agree that Shipley's tastes the best? HE DID! His only complaint is the confusing hyphen that Shipley's uses to spell "do-nuts." We think it has to do with "DOUGHNUT" being shortened to "DO-NUT" but Caylan thinks it should be spelled "DO'NUT." A donut by any other name would smell just as sweet.
The next day we SUP'ed again. This time we went to the Baylor Marina. Then we went to a grand opening party for a new bike shop, Bear Mountain. It was fun to see old friends. That night, we babysat Revekah's child, EM, for a few hours. She was sleeping, so we just watched the video monitor, trying to catch her in the act of turning over. This was the same night that Caylan monitored the brisket.
Saturday was Baylor Homing. We walked to the Homecoming Parade. We met the NoZe Brothers in costume (Baylor's secret society) and saw the Pi Phi float that got rejected from the parade because of faulty brakes. Our favorite float was from the astronomy club - lots of moving parts!
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When we got home, we enjoyed eggs and blueberry waffles with Revekah and Esther Margaret. EM has a sweet disposition and is such a good girl. She loves books and will bring you a book and plop down in your lap for you to read. If you read too slowly, she'll turn the pages for you. Her favorite book is Cowboy Slim. EMis also a lover of dogs. She pets and chases them. Says woof, woof! She moves fast making it is difficult to capture a picture of her!
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After breakfast we toured Baylor. We visited the Armstrong Browning Library, which houses the largest collection of poems by Robert & Elizabeth Browning. The library was recently named one of the most beautiful libraries in the country by Mental Floss magazine.
I showed Caylan the business school, Old Main, the secret spots where I used to "builder" (term for climbing buildings), and the bear habitat, where real bears (the mascot) live on campus.
It was hot in Waco (88F) and we needed a refresher. We made the mistake of going to Food For Thought (the one healthy place to eat in Waco) before the football game and ended up waiting 30 minutes for a smoothie.
Caylan was still looking for boots, so he talked to Jeremy, the boot expert. Jeremy sent us to Style Station, even though he didn't appreciate the liberal prophesying of the owners. While we were there the owner walked around babbling "women's 7 here, men's 8 there, 11's up here and around the corner." We didn't find anything.
Next we went to Cavender's, a boot mecca. Caylan had a very helpful salesperson and Caylan tried on several boots. We learned leather soled boots are for dancin'. Caylan found a pair of shoes, made by Jeremy's favorite brand for boots, Twisted X (from Decatur, TX). Low and behold, when we got out of the shop, Jeremy drove by in the parking lot (I swear he was seeing if we were there!). Caylan proudly revealed his purchase. Jeremy was excited until he saw they were shoes, not boots. "Those aren't boots!" Jeremy said.
Before dinner, we went for a bike ride and got chased home by a rain cloud. Here is a photo of Caylan and I by long horn (cow) sculptures downtown.
-1.jpg)
For our last night in Waco, we enjoyed THE brisket, with homemade blue cheese cole slaw, deep fried sweet potato fries, and four kinds of blue bell ice cream. Texans love Blue Bell ice cream and for good reason - it's great. (I once had a college roommate who after 9/11 tried to transport Blue Bell to her boyfriend in Utah using dry ice. TSA didn't like that. Bless her heart.) We laughed a lot over dinner. Especially when Jeremy, who is a legitimate cowboy, told tales of cattle ranching and herding.
We woke up at 4 am to leave by 5 on Sunday morning. Revekah sent us on our way with freshly juiced carrot juice and kale/apple smoothies. We picked up Jane and embarked on our longest travel day of the trip: 17 hours to Dubuque, IA. But first, we stopped at the Czech Stop to get the best kolaches in America.
Yum.
The food scene in Waco is dominated by hole-in-the-wall restaurants, grease, and spicy food. There are so many unhealthy places I wanted to take Caylan, that there was no way we could visit them all without also visiting the ER. To welcome Caylan to Waco, we shared a GUTPAK from a resturant named Vitek's. The GUTPAK included brisket, sausage, jalapeños, onions and cheese on a bed of fritos - plus a side of white bread.
.jpg)
We offered to deliver a GUTPAK to my friend Revekah's clothing store. She declined. I lived with Revekah for two years. During that time she was the proud doggy-parent of Bradley, a very handsome great dane. Bradley was fawn colored (Jane is blue - look it up on Google). Now Revekah is married (to Jeremy) with a 16-month old human baby child (Esther Margaret). After we packed the GUTPAK Caylan and I stopped at Prefontaine, the women's boutique that Revekah owns. Prefontaine always has beautiful and clever window displays.
-1.jpg)
That afternoon we had a couple of firsts. Revekah's house is overrun with dogs who don't all get along (her dachshund Claire and three of Jeremy's cattle working dogs - Nero, Pistol, and Winnie), everyone agreed Jane should stay at John's, my ex husband. John's great dane, Rainier, died a year ago at the age of 11, and John was happy to host another dane. Here is a video of Jane playing with Nero, who I am told is one of the best cattle working dogs alive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3r_Xbzoey0&feature=youtu.be
Nero must not be allowed to play in the house. Wise doggy.
Enough about the sappy emotional side of things and back to paddle boarding. The saying goes, "if you can stand up, you can SUP." The boards are basically giant surfboards and the paddle is like a cane. If you lose your balance, you can catch yourself by putting your paddle in the water. We SUPed where the Brazos and Bosque Rivers meet, which is in the heart of the city, on the edge of Cameron Park. Cameron Park is a 416 acre park featuring limestone cliffs that rise out of the water (but are too unstable for climbing - this is called "rotten" or "skunk" rock). It is the second largest city park in the country (second to Central Park in NYC which is twice the size). I spent years mountain biking and running the trails that weave through the park and its limestone cliffs, but I had never seen the cliffs from a SUP vantage point.
After a few hours of SUPing we made it back to the house at sunset. We pulled up to John's house and heard barking. Jane? She never barks. We ran to the door and as John started to unlock it, the door knob fell off. Jane had clawed through several layers of paint of the 132 year old door. Jane had been with us 24/hours a day for the last 20 days. She must have been so worried when she saw us leave through that door, that she was determined to find us. John assured us that it was okay and that he was planning on refinishing that door soon anyways. We were all so embarrassed - yet understanding. The next day John bought Jane a crate - partially in preparation for him adopting another Great Dane.
Friday morning we went to breakfast at a bakery named Lulu Jane's, a new place in gentrifying east Waco. We heard the place was popular and that we needed to get their early. We got there at 9:30 and the man behind the counter said they were switching over to lunch. At 9:30?! We cleaned them out of the few remaining pumpkin bread slices and orange scones. Over breakfast, the conversation turned to BBQ and Jeremy offered to teach Caylan how to smoke brisket. Caylan was all ears and the two decided to start grilling pronto. Smoking meat is a labor of love, requiring the cook to check the temperatures every hour. Jeremy and Caylan took shifts monitoring the temperature of the grill throughout the night. They started Friday afternoon and we ate Saturday night. It was so good! We made home-made french fries and cole slaw to go along with the meat. No BBQ sauce was needed.
During the day, Caylan and I rollerbladed on a path in Cameron Park and by the river. This suspension bridge was built in the 1880s to allow ranchers to move cows to market. It was also the practice design for the Brooklyn Bridge.
We shared a glazed donut from Shipley's, a franchised donut shop headquartered in Houston. Rewind to Winona. There is a legendary donut place near our home in Winona. It smells good on our morning run, but the donuts are dry and cold. Then we ate at the infamous institution, Voodoo Donuts, in Portland, OR, but I thought they could have been better and that Shipley's donuts were tastier. Today was donut judgment day (DJD in the biz). Would Caylan agree that Shipley's tastes the best? HE DID! His only complaint is the confusing hyphen that Shipley's uses to spell "do-nuts." We think it has to do with "DOUGHNUT" being shortened to "DO-NUT" but Caylan thinks it should be spelled "DO'NUT." A donut by any other name would smell just as sweet.
The next day we SUP'ed again. This time we went to the Baylor Marina. Then we went to a grand opening party for a new bike shop, Bear Mountain. It was fun to see old friends. That night, we babysat Revekah's child, EM, for a few hours. She was sleeping, so we just watched the video monitor, trying to catch her in the act of turning over. This was the same night that Caylan monitored the brisket.
Saturday was Baylor Homing. We walked to the Homecoming Parade. We met the NoZe Brothers in costume (Baylor's secret society) and saw the Pi Phi float that got rejected from the parade because of faulty brakes. Our favorite float was from the astronomy club - lots of moving parts!
-2.jpg)
When we got home, we enjoyed eggs and blueberry waffles with Revekah and Esther Margaret. EM has a sweet disposition and is such a good girl. She loves books and will bring you a book and plop down in your lap for you to read. If you read too slowly, she'll turn the pages for you. Her favorite book is Cowboy Slim. EMis also a lover of dogs. She pets and chases them. Says woof, woof! She moves fast making it is difficult to capture a picture of her!
.jpg)
After breakfast we toured Baylor. We visited the Armstrong Browning Library, which houses the largest collection of poems by Robert & Elizabeth Browning. The library was recently named one of the most beautiful libraries in the country by Mental Floss magazine.
I showed Caylan the business school, Old Main, the secret spots where I used to "builder" (term for climbing buildings), and the bear habitat, where real bears (the mascot) live on campus.
It was hot in Waco (88F) and we needed a refresher. We made the mistake of going to Food For Thought (the one healthy place to eat in Waco) before the football game and ended up waiting 30 minutes for a smoothie.
Caylan was still looking for boots, so he talked to Jeremy, the boot expert. Jeremy sent us to Style Station, even though he didn't appreciate the liberal prophesying of the owners. While we were there the owner walked around babbling "women's 7 here, men's 8 there, 11's up here and around the corner." We didn't find anything.
Next we went to Cavender's, a boot mecca. Caylan had a very helpful salesperson and Caylan tried on several boots. We learned leather soled boots are for dancin'. Caylan found a pair of shoes, made by Jeremy's favorite brand for boots, Twisted X (from Decatur, TX). Low and behold, when we got out of the shop, Jeremy drove by in the parking lot (I swear he was seeing if we were there!). Caylan proudly revealed his purchase. Jeremy was excited until he saw they were shoes, not boots. "Those aren't boots!" Jeremy said.
Before dinner, we went for a bike ride and got chased home by a rain cloud. Here is a photo of Caylan and I by long horn (cow) sculptures downtown.
-1.jpg)
For our last night in Waco, we enjoyed THE brisket, with homemade blue cheese cole slaw, deep fried sweet potato fries, and four kinds of blue bell ice cream. Texans love Blue Bell ice cream and for good reason - it's great. (I once had a college roommate who after 9/11 tried to transport Blue Bell to her boyfriend in Utah using dry ice. TSA didn't like that. Bless her heart.) We laughed a lot over dinner. Especially when Jeremy, who is a legitimate cowboy, told tales of cattle ranching and herding.
We woke up at 4 am to leave by 5 on Sunday morning. Revekah sent us on our way with freshly juiced carrot juice and kale/apple smoothies. We picked up Jane and embarked on our longest travel day of the trip: 17 hours to Dubuque, IA. But first, we stopped at the Czech Stop to get the best kolaches in America.
Yum.
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