After waiting waaaayyyyy too long, our mail caught up with us and we were able to leave Mission and head north. We enjoyed a day of good weather for traveling and arrived in San Antonio. Until today, we've had blue skies and warm weather. It's been so nice to be able to have the windows open, both day AND night!
We had wanted to visit with some good friends Scott and Jodi, but unfortunately we arrived on the day they were leaving to visit their families for Christmas. Next winter, God willing, we plan to just explore Texas so we'll get another chance to visit
We made sure to take some time to visit the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. We spent a few hours and really only saw a small part of it. The place is a street photographer's paradise with all the cool architecture, flora and fountains. Next time we'll spend more time.
I'd been craving some proper barbacoa, (not the stuff Chipotle passes off as barbacoa,) and at a local taqueria just outside of San Antonio, by golly I got some. If you've never had authentic barbacoa, and you're a carnivore, you owe it to yourself to try some. First you gotta find a real Mexican place. Not the Anglo places you're used to, with the fancy margaritas and combination plates, but the little diner style places, where the patrons are mostly Mexicans hunkered over big bowls of steaming hot menudo (tripe soup) and drinking beer out of long neck bottles. If they don't sell Agua Fresca and Horchata, head for the door. Barbacoa means barbecue, but really it started out as meat cooked for a long time in pits in the ground filled with hot coals. Today it is generally steamed until it's tender. Most often the barbacoa you'll find is beef, although I've had lamb as well. The source is the cheek meat, and the flavor is to die for. Think of the most tender, juiciest, fatty pot roast without any stringiness that you can imagine and you'll begin to get the picture. Darn it, I made myself hungry again. Good thing we're still in Texas!
Next stop is the Lone Star Coral, an Escapees Co-op in Hondo, about 50 miles west of San Antonio. Until then...
We made sure to take some time to visit the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. We spent a few hours and really only saw a small part of it. The place is a street photographer's paradise with all the cool architecture, flora and fountains. Next time we'll spend more time.
Never heard of barbacoa but will certainly look forward to trying some in the future. Do they sell it anywhere around Algonquin? Have A healthy and safe New Year!
ReplyDeleteBruce
Since moving out of Chicago, the only time I had barbacoa was in Texas and Mexico, but try Buena Vista. It's across from the river, down the block from Port Edwards and Tyvek Towers.
Delete