Sunday morning after breakfast with my daughter, we made the trip back to San Antonio from Wichita Falls. I had planned all along to take IH-35 back to SA so we could see how the traffic flows now that a lot of the construction has been completed. Let me just say that traffic wise, the trip up 281 was a lot more efficient and far more visually stimulating. We hit a lot of rain on and off, especially leading into Ft Worth. It did not surprise me one bit to learn of the devastating flooding up in Gainesville. Aside the from the weather, we got to enjoy quite a bit of bumper to bumper assholishness which proved both entertaining and frustrating, depending upon where I was in relation to the perpetrators. Call me immature, but I enjoy seeing a good case of road-rage between two other drivers when I can observe from a safe distance. It’s a little different when I’m the guy stuck behind an old man in a hat, driving 2 miles under the speed limit and refusing to get the hell out of the passing only lane. But don’t get me started.
We made three stops worth reporting on the way back, in West, Waco and Austin. We first learned about the Czech Stop in West, probably 10 or more years ago on a trip to north Georgia. Our kids were, well about 10 years younger, and we left SA extremely early in the AM. By the time we hit West, I was ready for some coffee and the kids were ready for some vittles. We had never experienced Kolaches before, and raved about them the entire way to Georgia.
Anyway, south bound on IH-35 we had just passed some rain and construction and when we saw the sign for West, I tapped a few clicks into the Garmin and got directions to the front door of Czech Stop. You can smell the fresh baked goods in the parking lot, if you can find a place to park. Even in the afternoon, the place is still crowded with travelers all having the same idea.
We didn’t even eat any of the $16.00 worth of heaven that we bought, still full from IHOP, but I can assure you that lunch for the next three days was pretty good!
Not a lot further down the road, we decided that we needed to make a quick stop into the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco. We’ve seen it and I’m sure it would make a good refresher tour, but my wife just wanted to slip into the gift shop to purchase a few shirts and a shot glass. The gal behind the counter was trying to be friendly, but she was an idiot. Something about a pen that my wife wanted to buy but preferring to let my wife use it to sign the credit card receipt, but not putting the pen in our bag when we were done. It got resolved and we moved on.
If you haven’t ever visited the DP Museum, don’t think that it is a waste of time just because you don’t drink Dr. Pepper. They have on display a really rich history of items about, well, DP but also about the people who made it. I wouldn’t make a trip to Waco just to see it, but if you are going up to join in the Branch Davidians, you wouldn’t be wasting your time by stopping by.
Have you noticed how crowded and crappy Austin is? Actually, now that they seem to have a handle on the road construction, we only had to come to a complete stop once. And the drive from south of Austin to San Antonio is a breeze.
We are huge fans of Steak n’ Shake so I knew from the word Go that we would be doing lunch/dinner there. I can’t wait for SA to get a Steak n’ Shake so we can have yet another place to make ourselves even more obese.
At any rate, my wife and I both ordered the steakburger and fries and a tea. Other than the lady didn’t give us any napkins or forks or anything, it wasn’t a big deal. The burgers are so good and the texture of the bread is so fresh and yummy. Geeze I’m hungry.
Anyway, on our way out, we ordered up some shakes to go. I paid at the counter and was waiting for the order when another customer came up and asked to speak to the Chef. The manager corrected him by suggesting that perhaps he’d like to speak to the “grillman”. Very nice.
So the guy at the grill looks up and I could tell that he was sort of nervous, perhaps a customer was not happy with a booger on his bun or some other minor infraction. Instead, the man told the “grillman” that he had driven all the way from Houston just to eat at Steak n’ Shake, and that his burger made the trip worth it. He then handed the guy a tip of at least several dollars.
You should have seen the look on the young Grillman’s face. He was happy about the tip but easily more pleased that someone took the time to pay him a compliment. And that’s the kind of thing that makes everybody happy to be at a restaurant. Good food and happy customers.
I would have stood up and reported that we were from San Antonio, but it seemed a bit done by then. Regardless, we hit 1604 just in time to see cars backing up in both directions for some big concert out at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. We were pretty pleased to be home and our dogs were pretty happy to see us.
*PETA: Of course we had someone take care of the dogs while we were gone.
And since we had to eat anyway, we stopped into the new Freddy's Frozen Custard over on Potranco at 151, in spite of well intended warnings. Oh, and this time it was actually open for business.
We had sort of an inkling that Freddy's might be a little like a Steak 'n' Shake, and sure enough, the burgers and the fries were along the same design. The place was clean, staff was plentiful, and in spite of going in during the lunch hour, we ordered and got the vittles lickity split.
As we were sitting in there, it was pretty obvious how the owners came up with the location for this place. There were students from both Warren High School and John Paul Stevens High School which are really only a mile apart as the crow flies, with Freddy's in the middle. I predict this place will be packed with pimply faced teenagers all the time.
I ordered the #4, Freddy's Single Steakburger and a Hot Dog with regular fries. Let's talk about these fries. They are really skinny. Even if they taste good, chances are, they won't stay hot very long, just because they are so skinny. And they were way too salty. Some cook back in the kitchen is going to get high blood pressure if he eats his food anywhere close to the way he serves his fries. But I know some people like them that way.
The hot dog was okay. I liked the way that they toast the hot dog bun, and I also liked that the bun was not like the regular one you buy at HEB. It was cut short, and it was sort of square on the sides. The hot dog itself was okay, but if it was me, I would have boiled it for several minutes longer. I know, hot dogs are already cooked when you buy the package, but really, considering what they are made of, I feel a little more comfortable when they boil the animal piss, lips, gizzards and fecal matter out of them before serving. I guess I'm sort of weird like that. 
Finally, the steakburger. If you are going to a place like this or Sonic or McDonald's for a quality beef patty that you would enjoy eating without the bread and condiments, then I suppose you'd be happy with anything. I don't expect much from the burger itself, I look for what is good about the presentation and how the whole package tastes. I'd say this was as expected, very acceptable for what it is. I didn't have any complaints about the quality, size, or the condiments. But both my wife and I found ourselves repeatedly wiping our faces because it just seemed like a fog of grease was floating in the air. Maybe it was just all the high school kids.
My wife ordered the regular steakburger and got the onion rings instead of fries. We already know how I feel about the burger - take it or leave it, it is what it is. But the onion rings deserve mentioning here. I know many people do not like this particular style, where they are batter dipped rings, fried to a golden brown. Well pass me yours because this is the exact style I love. Not crunchy at all! And, they were not over salted. Kudos.
We were pretty much done with eating when my wife started to ask the question, what exactly frozen custard is. So we tried some. She got some sort of Hawaiian Delight which she was extremely pleased with. The macadamia nuts are not chopped into tiny little sawdust sized portions, but are actually full-sized nuts. I just had a cone with some chocolate custard on it. Sort of soft for my liking, but I'm not really an ice cream - or frozen custard eater. Course, I didn't want to be rude, so I ate it all.
I think the place is worth a visit. Certainly not a special trip or anything like that, but if you happen to be driving by and need an onion ring fix, why not stop in and get some? Price was reasonable, the place was clean and service was quick. Not bad at all.
