I know, you've probably been waiting for us to just get our act together, take the short drive over to Cibolo, and slip into Harmon's for some awesome barbecued vittles. And Friday, we did just that. And I was starving when we got there way past lunch time.
If you aren't familiar with the Universal City - Shertz - Cibolo metroplex area, you'll want to make sure you have good directions, or just use the Garmin like we do.
We rolled into town just after 2 in the afternoon, and saw the place, but with no cars parked out front, thought maybe it was closed. But turns out, there is parking in the back, along with the awesome smokey smell of the barbecue pit. 
When we walked in, we were the only customers and the staff was cleaning up from what was probably a pretty busy lunch. Important note: Harmon's is not midget freindly.* The counter and especially the soda fountain seem as though they were designed for tall people and no kids! Good move, I say.
The restaraunt has three areas; a game room with a pool table and arcade games, the regular dining area,
and then a larger dining area that can be used for parties and such. The owner told me that they have live music including a Blues night.
Eager to eat becasue we were starving, my wife ordered the chicken and brisket combo. The first test for her is always, "Does the meat stand on its own without sauce." Yes and yes. This chicken is wonderful with or without the sauce. But go ahead and try the sauce. Between the two of us, we probably went through half of the squeeze bottle at our table.
The brisket had an excellent flavor and again, I could easily eat it without the sauce, but didn't, just becasue Harmon's sauce was so delicious. And yea, we bought some to go.
I paid $2.00 more and ordered the pork ribs and chicken for my combo. If you think that the chicken looks totally blackened, it is. But it was not burnt by any stretch. The chicken simply falls off the bones and seriously, between the two of us, a buzzard couldn't have licked a DNA sized morsel of chicken from the bones when we were done.
The ribs were fine. They had a nice taste to them but truth be told, I could name off two or three other places that I would have to rate a little higher, but by all means, if you stop by, give them a try. They certainily do not skimp, and when you order a plate from Harmon's, you won't go hungry.
In addition to the bread, pickles & onions that came with our combos, we ordered two sides each. Between the two of us, we ordered potato salad, green beans, ranch style beans and cole slaw.
The potatoe salad is interesting - it has a nice mustardy taste to it and if I'm not mistaken, there were bits of green olives in it. The green beans were spiced up just a bit with onions. Certainly better than straight from the can like many places try to pass off. The Cole slaw was nice and creamy, and the beans were actually really good. I don't know if they were specially made by Harmon's or just some quality brand from a can being used. My wife was slightly disappointed that there was no creamed corn available, but we did hit the place just after lunch.
To seal the deal, we ordered a cup of peach cobbler which my wife enjoyed.
If you visit for lunch but only want to try one thing, go for the chicken and by all means, enjoy the sauce. That above all else warrants a big Tasty Treat for Harmon's in Cibolo.
* I'm just kidding. No Little People were harmed in the eating of our lunch.
See the rest of the pictures on Flickr.
I got a really nice e-mail from Rich, a reader who visits the Blog from Schertz, and since he and his wife were out in Driftwood, TX, thought he would fill us in on Salt Lick BBQ. In case you didn't know, Driftwood is north of San Marcos, roughly between Austin and Johnson City.
Rich tells us, "I've really enjoyed reading your blog for awhile now and check it often. Thought you may be interested in our visit today to Salt Lick BBQ up in Driftwood...Hill Country near Austin. If you haven't been to Salt Lick yet I recommend it."
"I'll have to say I failed "Dave 101" and didn't take a photo of my plate upon arrival. About halfway through my meal I realized I should have, so I shot my wife's half-eaten meal."
"The ribs were fantastic, brisket was good, potato salad was a little different but ok, slaw was good, and the bread was great. If you haven't been up there yet and are in the area, go for it."
"Also, you need to get over here to Harmon's in Cibolo. We still prefer it over all others. Hopefully when you do come it won't be an off day for them."
Yea, I'd say that Harmon's is a must visit. Easily, we get more suggestions to try it out than any other place. We'll have to get out there soon. 
"Last, Cooper's BBQ from Llano is putting in a new restaurant in New Braunfels on hwy 46...photo included. Hopefully it will be as good as the Cooper's in Lllano."
"
Keep up the great blog work."
Thanks, Rich. We love to get recommendations form folks, and especially when they come complete with pictures! Have you been someplace we need to go to? Tell me about it, or leave a comment.
I think in the grand scheme of things, flea markets take us back to the roots of our ancestors, regardless from what continent we might originate. Certainly in Europe, Asia, The Middle East and Africa, you see people doing their shopping at markets, and not just for vegetables or fish, but for stuff too.
And there is a culture of sorts for people who make the flea market a weekend commitment, the people who have the same booth each week, selling crafts or things they make with their own hands, as well as for the people who visit every weekend, hoping to find the right thing to hang on the wall in the garage. You also have family who decides to load up the contents of their attic and see if they can make a little more than had they just opened the garage door and held a yard sale.
My wife and I don't go nearly as often as we did years ago, but we still like to make several trips a year to Bussey's Flea Market on IH-35 North in Schertz. We went Saturday, just for a quick stroll around the grounds and I took a few pictures that might motivate you to visit the next time you get a chance.
Probably the most important thing you should know, and quite frankly, the thumbs up versus thumbs down on any flea market attempt is the status of cold adult beverages and whether or not they are served. In the case of Bussey's, we do have a thumbs up, and it is therefore safe to proceed.
Now I have been to flea markets where the majority of vendors are people that want to open there own version of The Dollar Store, but don't want to have to pay the price of rent in a strip mall. It helps to take a crash course in Korean when visiting these flea markets. The one on Highway 16 South, between San Antonio and Poteet is a perfect example. You will often find vendors at these locations who also double as circus freaks for other sources of income. I say this with the utmost respect to full-time employed circus freaks, who are an important part of our nations economy.
At the Highway 16 flea market, there used to be an old guy that ran a merry go round. Probably 10 years ago or more, he made the mistake of yelling at my niece for probably a valid reason, but my brother-in-law, Junior, was none to pleased with this display of rude behavior and threatened no less than to physically assault the man for cause. Since that time, including the last time we went, over a year and a half ago, Junior would see the old man at the merry go round ride and stare him down. Because our visits had become so sporadic over the years, it is very likely that this poor man had long ago lost any recollection of the reason why my brother-in-law gives him the evil eye for a minute, then calmly moves on. Ah, the pitfalls of life as a carny.
But back to more pleasant things at Bussey's. If you are looking for the latest CD's of your favorite artist, you can get them here for a reasonable price. I'm sure these are all original copies and the artists receive due compensation.
At Bussey's you will find a full range of country folk, and friendly people like this one seemingly Native American fellow who sells incense and relics and knives and secret spiritual products and stuff. 
I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but the secret product that his incense has strangely seems to smell a bit like reefer, but I could be wrong. I'm sure the ladies visiting his booth have come for the ancient Native American cure for glaucoma.
Many of the best things to look through are what I like to call other people's junk. If you dare to brave the heat of South Central Texas, you will find tables out in the open air. This is where the good deals are found. I once bought a really nice antique chair from a lady who was selling all of her husbands stuff before the divorce papers could stop her. 
I asked her how much she wanted for the chair. She said $50.00. I turned and started to walk away as such a substantial investment might cut into my funds needed for the aforementioned cold beverages. She then stopped me and asked how much I would give her for the chair. I didn't want to offend her because the chair was clearly worth way more than the $50.00 she was asking. Her helpful best freind advised me that it was a divorce sale and she suggested I offer up $15.00. I did and the two ladies high-fived one another, convinced the soon to be ex-husband would be boiling mad over my good deal.
You can't go wrong with used books or magazines from a flea market. I mean, aside from the worries of somebody else's germs and such, why buy new? And as soon as you finish reading those old copies of Life, you can sell them at your garage sale as "collectors editions" and nobody will know you got them at Bussey's for a dime.
Ready to get back to school, or you have a bunch of ankle biters that need some Shakespeare in their lives? For fifty cents, they'll be on the street corner reciting The Bard as if they had paid attention in Alternative School.
Okay, I'm no trophy hunter, but let's be honest - it would be cool to tell everyone that you went on a big safari to Hondo or some place exotic like Cotulla. Why not spring for a few stuffed Bambi's and make your family dining room look like dinner at the Water Buffalo Lodge?
Don't tell me you didn't have a Snoopy suitcase the first time you took a trip on the aeroplane. Oh sure, they poked fun at you all the way through Basic Training, but you know your Military Training Instructor was just jealous that he didn't have one. If he had shopped at Bussey's he'd have had his own too.
My wife and I once took visiting family to a night of dancing at the club. One of her cousins was pretty enthusiastic about the fact that for 50 cents, you could get shots of various men's cologne sprayed upon your body like one of those machines at the car wash dispensing NuCar smell on a beat-up Chevy backseat. And he spared no expense trying all the available brands.
My friends, why empty your pockets of lose change one spray at a time when you can get the entire bottle (less any that Grandpa may have used during WWII) for a buck?
Finally, I ask you, where can you get fine Mexican dinnerware and a handsome Seeing Eye Dog all in one location? Of course, Bussey's Flea Market.
Do you have a flea market that I should know about? Tell me about your favorite circus freak stories.
Let me just get right to the point. My wife has gone crazy and has forced me to drive all over creation looking for fake daisies.
As such, we went to the Garden Ridge on Loop 410 in between Culebra and Ingram, then we went to the original Garden Ridge out on IH-35 near Schertz (and as you might imagine, the small town of Garden Ridge). If you aren't from San Antonio, think Michaels or Hobby Lobby, but with assloads of pottery.
We can review this daisy craziness later, but the important point of this post is that, you simply cannot go into Garden Ridge anytime after mid-August because they bust out all things Cinnamon and the smell is simply overpowering to anyone with a near-normal ability to smell. 
I don't suffer from allergies, but standing within 200 feet of the entry way to Garden Ridge after they have started putting the "Fall Holiday" and "Winter Celebration" collections out, my eyes begin to tear up and I begin having flashbacks of the first time I had to go through gas mask training in the military. No wonder women who do crafts always seem a bit crazy. I mean, just look at Christopher Lowell.
Okay, so aside from the smell, and thankfully, they were only getting ready for the big transition, there are often very interesting people who shop at these places. One time for example, we made the journey and as we shopped around, I encountered a no-kidding, certifiable crazy lady, complete with talking to herself, lashing out at others, and purchasing two shopping carts full of crazy things.
I could fill three pages of the antics that occurred during this event, but I have been trying to ween myself from writing the "F" word, I never use the "C" word to describe private female parts, the suggested sexual actions this woman proposed might be illegal in several states, and without those descriptions, the story just isn't that interesting. But take my word for it, we live among the shoppers of arts and crafts places and I for one am glad in Texas, we can carry concealed weapons, and it isn't illegal to take pictures of weird people.
Which gets me to my point. I have on occasion provided you with photographic examples of "What not to wear", and I'm not quite sure this one falls into that category. 
This is Texas, and everything in Texas is big. Including our people. Also, Cowboy boots are popular in Texas, so, giddy-up and wear them to church if you care to. Finally, with our close proximity to Mexico and the NAFTA and all that, many women including the hueras find the moo moo house dress to be a comfortable and fashionable design for a day of shopping; but in fairness, this is usually limited to Wal-Mart or perhaps the corner liquor store.
So, as we wandered through our second store in as many hours hoping to find all things Daisy, I tried to avoid looking at anything that would distract me from the main task of getting in and getting the hell out! 
Sadly, as we were approaching the front of the store in a near attempt to find a spot in line at the cash registers, we nearly bumped into a very arts and crafts oriented lady. In fact, our carts nearly collided because I was suddenly preoccupied with trying to mentally evaluate how I would discreetly get a picture of this without being so obvious as to warrant investigation by store security.
My wife is no stranger to my antics, so she immediately found cause to find the ladies' and left me to maneuver in and out of aisles of various housewares, table cloths, cloth napkins and the like, as I tried to appear as normal a shopper as one can be in one of these freak-farms, while not losing sight of the lady in the blue-Mexican moo moo and pointy shit kicker-like cowboy boots. 
The only thing that could have been better would if she was wearing a small hat. Not necessarily a cowboy hat to match the boots or a sombrero to match the dress; it could have been a fancy party hat or even a top-hat - she could not have looked any goofier to start with, but it would have really been a gem in my eyes.
So after the brief game of cat & mouse and several sets of cloth napkins that wouldn't possibly match our dining room table, I made a few valiant attempts at capturing this fine specimen on the camera, purely for instructional purposes. Just then, my wife caught up to me and said that she could not find me, what with my stealth techniques of blending in, and covert ways of seeking out three crappy pictures with my blurry, unfocused camera, so she simply looked for the oddly dressed lady in the blue moo moo, and there I was.
We did end up buying some daisies, some glasses and a bag of M&M's, and then we got out!
If you aren't familiar with the Universal City - Shertz - Cibolo metroplex area, you'll want to make sure you have good directions, or just use the Garmin like we do.
We rolled into town just after 2 in the afternoon, and saw the place, but with no cars parked out front, thought maybe it was closed. But turns out, there is parking in the back, along with the awesome smokey smell of the barbecue pit. 
When we walked in, we were the only customers and the staff was cleaning up from what was probably a pretty busy lunch. Important note: Harmon's is not midget freindly.* The counter and especially the soda fountain seem as though they were designed for tall people and no kids! Good move, I say.
The restaraunt has three areas; a game room with a pool table and arcade games, the regular dining area,
and then a larger dining area that can be used for parties and such. The owner told me that they have live music including a Blues night.
Eager to eat becasue we were starving, my wife ordered the chicken and brisket combo. The first test for her is always, "Does the meat stand on its own without sauce." Yes and yes. This chicken is wonderful with or without the sauce. But go ahead and try the sauce. Between the two of us, we probably went through half of the squeeze bottle at our table.
The brisket had an excellent flavor and again, I could easily eat it without the sauce, but didn't, just becasue Harmon's sauce was so delicious. And yea, we bought some to go.
I paid $2.00 more and ordered the pork ribs and chicken for my combo. If you think that the chicken looks totally blackened, it is. But it was not burnt by any stretch. The chicken simply falls off the bones and seriously, between the two of us, a buzzard couldn't have licked a DNA sized morsel of chicken from the bones when we were done.
In addition to the bread, pickles & onions that came with our combos, we ordered two sides each. Between the two of us, we ordered potato salad, green beans, ranch style beans and cole slaw.
The potatoe salad is interesting - it has a nice mustardy taste to it and if I'm not mistaken, there were bits of green olives in it. The green beans were spiced up just a bit with onions. Certainly better than straight from the can like many places try to pass off. The Cole slaw was nice and creamy, and the beans were actually really good. I don't know if they were specially made by Harmon's or just some quality brand from a can being used. My wife was slightly disappointed that there was no creamed corn available, but we did hit the place just after lunch.
To seal the deal, we ordered a cup of peach cobbler which my wife enjoyed.
If you visit for lunch but only want to try one thing, go for the chicken and by all means, enjoy the sauce. That above all else warrants a big Tasty Treat for Harmon's in Cibolo.
