Lockhart, Texas: Home of Barbecue

by Iva Skoch on

I don’t know what it is about this year, but I have been craving meat. Which makes me think about Smitty’s.

Smitty’s Market in Lockhart, TX, is the home of the eternal flame. Well, not eternal, exactly, but the seasoned oak wood fire has been burning there since 1924. And it’s there only to commemorate one thing: barbecued meat.

Lockhart (a mere 30 minutes drive south of Austin) is considered THE place to get BBQ. It’s host to the finest Texas joints, like Black’s and Kreuz Market.

But even there, Smitty’s is special. The old dining benches still have the chains in place where communal knives were hung for the patrons. Old cuts are scored deep into the wood of the tables. Smoke and soot form a heavy coating all the way up the walls near the pits.

Dining consists of going up to the counter, asking for sausage, roast pork, or beef brisket, and having it sliced and handed to you on big red sheets of butcher paper. You take your seat and eat with your hands. No plates, no forks. The communal knives have been replaced with plastic ones.

Now you know where the beef is. Yum.

Danny Boy banned because it’s too depressing

by Jamie Rhein on

When we were in India we went to some Irish festival for St. Patrick’s Day. I remember the soda bread, the corned beef, the beer and my husband belting out “Danny Boy” to the band that provided the accompaniment. Then there was the karaoke bar we went to in Hsinchu, Taiwan. A friend who was visiting us from the U.S. could hardly sit up straight she was laughing so hard. Let’s just say my husband has a way with “Danny Boy,” particularly in Taiwan where the video background doesn’t exactly go along with the lyrics. You could be singing “California Dreaming” to images of people on bicycles in Vietnam. No joke.

If my husband had the urge to belt out “Danny Boy” at Foley’s Pub and Restaurant in New York City, he’d be stopped in his tracks. The bar owner has banned it from being sung in the pub for the month of March.

The owner Shaun Clancy thinks “Danny Boy” fits a funeral more than a celebration, and that it has been over done. He may change his mind if he heard my husband’s version. All it requires is a few Guinness. He’s loud enough a microphone isn’t necessary. I wonder how Shawn Clancy feels about “Proud Mary?” It’s not an Irish tune, but my husband and I do this one as a duet. The last time we sang this one was at a wedding reception in Vietnam. Those were the days. [see article about the reaction to the ban]

New York City water and David Letterman’s Eliot Spitzer joke

by Jamie Rhein on

Recently, an AP news story came out about the traces of pharmaceuticals, including sex hormones and antibiotics, found in 41 million people’s drinking water in the U.S. The traces are teeny tiny and probably aren’t much to worry about. It’s not that people are dumping medicine directly into the water in large amounts, but a body absorbs only so much. What isn’t absorbed goes into the toilet and on out into the water supply. That’s the watered down version of what occurs. All those hormones and antibiotics animals are given are also part of the mixture.

The pharmaceuticals could become more of a concern because there aren’t regulations about how water is treated in order to get rid of the traces of such ingredients. It seems to me that if people are taking more and more medicine for whatever ails them so wouldn’t that have an increase? On the other hand, if what people are taking more of is anti-anxiety medication, maybe we’ll all be a little more relaxed and problems like road rage with go down. If it’s sleeping pills though, accidents could go up. (I’m just musing here. Don’t take me seriously.)

New York City is one of the places where the traces have been found. Leave it to David Letterman to come up with a funny combination of two New York stories. Last night, pairing Eliot Spitzer’s recent woes which have caused him to resign as governor of New York with New York City water quality, Letterman talked about what has showed up in the water and showed a picture of Elliot Spitzer with an announcer’s voice over that said, in reference to the water, “The fuel that keeps the Spitzer Spitzin.” Letterman was pretty pleased with himself.

Swedish Parliament wants less booze at meetings

by Anna Brones on

In Sweden, alcohol sales are controlled by the government. Although the government would like to discourage drinking amongst the Swedish population with high taxes and state-run liquor stores, actual government leaders don’t frown upon drinking on the job. Until now.

A group of Swedish politicians are pushing for an alcohol free policy in the Swedish Parliament, on the grounds that the beer and wine that is so often served at official lunches and meetings can inhibit some members of parliament from fulfilling their functions. “We want (official functions in parliament) to be alcohol-free by default,” said Egon Frid, a member of the opposition Left Party.

In January, Svenska Dagbladet, one of Sweden’s primary newspapers, published an article on the realities of alcohol consumption in the parliament. “I reacted at an official dinner last week when the only thing on the table was beer and a bottle of Schnapps,” said Per Lodenius, a member of the group pushing for the alcohol-free policy.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the Parliament’s internal policy on alcohol consumption will be. Until then, skål!

European river cruises: AAA travel show tidbit

by Jamie Rhein on

The one presentation I was able to attend at my cyberspace AAA travel trade show, “Europe is Closer Than You Think” was the one by Uniworld Grand River Cruises. As I watched a slide show from the comfort of my home-based office, the presenters talked about what the cruise ship company offers and then answered participants’ questions.

For people who would like to tour Europe, but are afraid of the costs, a river cruise has some advantages. Since you sleep on the ship and meals are covered, that takes care of worrying that you could end up spending much more money than you had planned. Wine comes with dinner and is included in the price. The ship also is your transportation. That cuts down on the wondering about how much getting from place to place will cost you. Since at each stop, local entertainment comes on board, you won’t have to spring for entertainment tickets either.

One of the things the presenter mentioned is that such a trip also cuts down on the hassle of needing to pack and unpack at each destination. There are 5 to 8 hours at each port, but you could stay longer at the city where the cruise starts or ends. Just arrange for your flight to arrive a few days early or leave a few days late.

Another feature I like about Uniworld Grand River Cruises is that there are experts who give tours of the places on the shore excursions and the admission to the places on the tour are included in the cruise price. You won’t be dinged over and over again when you want to maximize your experience. On board the ship, there are programs as well, or you can chill out.

Another plus about these cruises is that the ships are not big so you’re not traveling with huge crowds of people, and because the ships are small they can travel where large ships can’t. Cities are not the only stops–so are small towns and villages.

There are several itinerary options. Here is a link that leads to the page of European river trips. The company also offers trips in Egypt, China , and Russia. There’s a trip that cruises the Black Sea and takes in Ukraine and Turkey.