My Thanksgiving Report Live from Texas: "You're going to need to put a sniper here and here."

My Thanksgiving bliss didn't end last night. You unlucky stiffs may be sitting around filing your TPS reports, but I'm still out in the Lone Star State preparing for a whole day of relaxing. Why don't you take a coffee break and review the highlights of the Texas trip thus far?

1. There was a minor skirmish in the comments on my Thanksgiving Day post, regarding where one might purchase the best barbecue in the country. Significant Other & Co. say Luling Barbecue, where we ventured last week. And while I'll leave the answer to the carnivores, I have to say that unless these other places display the sign at left they're probably not the coolest barbecue joint in the country. Also, in addition to the honest-to-God cowboys lining up for piles of meat served on paper, there was a friar in full brown robe and Frangelico bottle bowl haircut eating there.

2. After finishing up at Luling, S.O. and his brother and I meandered up the road to Lockhart--Pop. 3,707 and home of this grand court house. Recognize it? What if I said "Well, I just hate you and I hate your ass face," or "You're going to need a sniper here and here." That's right, the tiny town of Lockhart is Stool Capital of the World Blaine, Missouri, in Waiting for Guffman. I of course insisted the guys stop the car so I could get out and take a picture of the stairs outside of Corky St. Claire's apartment. It was like seeing the Shroud of Turin. Or getting a Remains of the Day lunchbox.




3. There are certain things that can't be explained and you just have to see it for yourself. Pretty much everything to do with Texas A&M University could be filed in this particular drawer. Take Midnight Yell Practice. Before every football game, nearly 40,000 students and fans pack A&M's stadium at Kyle Field at midnight to practice their "yells." (For heaven's sake, don't call them cheers and don't call it a pep rally.) Well, even on the road the Aggies gather at some spot in whatever city they're in for Midnight Yell. When it's A&M-UT rivalry weekend and the game is at UT, yell practice takes place on the lawn of the statehouse in Austin. They get thousands of A&M fans out for this. It's unbelievable. And this year it worked, because the Aggies gigged the Teasips in a 12-7 win the next morning--whoop! (Put that previous sentence into Babelfish.com and select "From Texas to English" and it should clear things up for you.)

4. S.O. and I spent what was easily one of my favorite days in recent memory Saturday driving from Austin to College Station for an Aggie basketball game. The weather was perfect, the drive through the Texas countryside was sublime, and taking in the game and having him drive me around campus to point out the pivotal landmarks of his collegiate career was a wonderful way to pass an afternoon. That his collegiate career involved membership in A&M's Corps of Cadets always makes the accompanying stories induce either side-splitting laughter or looks of sheer bemusement.

So food, football, and family. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Here's one final photo for you. It's taken from the living room of the Rancho S.O. I'm not using the zoom feature; they come that close.