THE PISCES GIRL

A few months ago, Schwabs, the in-laws and I went on a road trip to Huntsville, TX with many stops along the way. Located off IH-10 about an hour and a half outside of San Antonio, the quaint railroad town of Flatonia was first.

The History

Flatonia was established in 1873 on land acquired by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway and it was named after pioneer merchant F. W. Flato.

Previously, the original Flatonia settlement was located one mile southeast while another community, Oso, was located about 3 northeast. The settlers of these two communities loaded everything into their wagons and moved to the tracks to form what is modern day Flatonia. In 1875, the town was incorporated and the following year had it’s first election. By 1878, the population had grown to nearly 800 with an economy dependent equally on cotton and cattle.

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Lockhart is known as “the Barbecue Capital of Texas” with good reason. It’s home to some of the most decorated barbecue joints in the state. There are four barbecue restaurants vying for stomach space: Smitty’s Market, Kruez Market, Chisholm Trail Bar-B-Que, and Black’s Barbecue. If you want to truly savor all that is Lockhart BBQ, two days would be recommended. Otherwise, you’ll end the day exploding meat!

On our visit, we sampled two of the four: Smitty’s Market and Chisholm Trail. Below is some information on each of the four places.

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After passing through Martindale and Maxwell, we eventually arrived to our destination of Lockhart, otherwise known as “the Barbecue Capital of Texas.”

The History

While few may recognize Lockhart for it’s barbecue, make no mistake, this town is no one-hit wonder. With indian battles, the development of a brand new county, the Chisholm Trail, cotton farming, oil drilling, railroads, movies AND barbecue, the story of Lockhart is one that this history-loving Pisces Girl can really sink her teeth into.

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Another small community we passed during our BBQ roadtrip to Lockhart was Maxwell, TX. Located just 8 miles west of our destination, off the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (also known as “The Katy”.)

The History

In 1887, the Katy built through the town of New Martindale and it’s name was changed to Maxwell, in honor of Thomas Maxwell, who obtained the original land grant for the community in 1845.

Maxwell’s earliest inhabitants came from Alabama, but  the 1880′s saw an influx of German groups, whose influence is still apparent in the community. As was traditional to German communities of the day, social life in early Maxwell included singing, dancing, and shooting clubs. Mexican farm workers added a second group to the local population.

Leading up and through the early 1900′s, Maxwell showed it’s resilience as fire threatened to destroy the town three times. First in 1887, then again in 1910 and a third time in 1922!

In 1980, the town became the location for the movie Raggedy Man, where locals took small roles in the film.

Union Pacific purchased the Katy and opened new routes to San Marcos in 1989. By 2000, the town’s population had grown to 500 people.

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Last month, Schwabs, the in-laws and I went on a BBQ Roadtrip to Lockhart, TX. In typical fashion, we took the scenic route and stopped to explore some of the smaller communities we passed along the way. One of which was Martindale.

The History

Sitting on the banks of the San Marcos River, Martindale was founded in 1855 by George and Nancy Martindale. Four other families joined them from Mississippi and a town was born.

It developed into an agricultural community and by 1949, two of the town’s most prominent families were supplying over 65% of the hybrid corn seed and a large percentage of the pedigreed cottonseed produced in Texas.

In more recent years, the city’s historic charm has attracted several film scouts. Television shows, music videos and movies have been filmed in town: A Perfect World, starring Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner, The Newton Boys, starring Matthew McConaughey and Ethan Hawke, and the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Not bad for a sleepy little town!

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A few months back we went on a mini-vacation to visit the Schwabs’ college day stomping grounds of Bryan-College Station, TX.  Lying in the heart of the Brazos Valley, Bryan-College Station is typically regarded as a college town and not much else. While there is no disputing the ‘college town feel’ of the area, we discovered that Bryan-College Station is a town steeped in history, tradition, culture and plenty of adventure for the Texas Traveler.

I hope that the following list of activities will encourage you to take your own trip to Bryan-College Station and discover all that lies beyond the beer bongs and shooters.

1. Eat BBQ in a Historical Landmark


Martin’s Place
3403 S. College Ave, Bryan, TX
(979) 822-2031

Martin’s Place has been serving up barbque to locals and road travelers the good old fashioned way since 1925. Come enjoy Texas smoked barbque in a homey, old-time atmosphere.











2. Check out the Exhibits, Discovery Room, and  Taxidermy of the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History


Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History
3232 Briarcrest Drive, Bryan, TX 77802
(979) 776-2195



The museum boasts a gallery with exhibits of fossils, sculptures, antique farming and survey equipment; a discovery room with fifteen plus varieties of live animals, and an active, glass-front behive; an extensive collection of taxidermy mounts and several rotating exhibits. Admission Fee.

Personally, my favorite was the discovery room with snakes, turtles, a scorpion and all other sorts of creepy crawlies. The taxidermy was interesting too, can you say holy animal hide!? On our trip, the museum was featuring over 10 additional exhibits, some notable ones being Ice Age Mammals, Lee and Grant, Frithiof Fossil Collection and The Republic of Texas.

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I was on my way to work this morning,  when road construction forced my lane to end and I immediately prepared to finagle my way into the neighboring lane.  As luck would have it, I didn’t have to go through the hassle because the kind soul next to me waved me in with a smile. Making my way over, I did what I’ve always done. I threw my non-driving hand in the air and waved it back and forth like a crazy woman, giving him the friendly Texas road gesture of  “hey, thanks buddy!”

The rest of my drive to work got me to thinking. Lately when I’ve let someone in, I haven’t been getting the thanks wave (and you better believe I’m looking for it.) What gives?

Back in my high school days as a highway rookie, the thanks wave was standard fare. Now days, it’s rare that a driver bothers to do this anymore.  When did this little act of road manners no longer become applicable?  Admittedly, I’m not always the most gracious driver on the road but so long as I have a free hand, I’ll make it point to acknowledge the thoughtfulness of my fellow travel mates (I’ve also been known to acknowledge the not-so-thoughtful actions with other sorts of gestures, but perhaps those stories are better saved for another day.)

I wonder, am I letting in all the jerks or am I simply part of a dying breed who still believe in the good old fashioned thanks wave?