The Daytripper with Chet Garner



Have you ever wanted to take a vacation, but felt like you could not afford it nor had enough time to take off from work?  In the great state of Texas, there are so many incredible opportunities and locations that allow for weekend and even day trips.  If you have no idea where to start, you need to check out "The Daytripper" to help guide you to your next adventure.

Chet Garner and his Daytripper crew have set out to conquer the great adventures of Texas, one day trip at a time.  Chet hosts the television show "The Daytripper" which airs in most major markets in Texas and of course on the internet.

On their website, the About Us page states:

It’s no secret that Texas is big.  Alright, more than big.  Texas is HUGE!!  And exploring Texas ain’t no small vacation, it’s a lifetime endeavor.  But what if you only have one day?  Well that’s where we come in.  From the well-known landmarks to the completely obscure dives and hideaways – and all within a day’s reach.

We created The Daytripper to inspire folks to get out and explore the Lone Star State.  Sure, national travel shows are entertaining, but that’s where they stop.  The Daytripper is all about destinations in Texas for Texans, which means you can visit whenever you want.  So, I’ll see you on the road.
This is THE DAYTRIPPER!

You need to check out all of their episodes at thedaytripper.com/episodes
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Our Trip To The Viva Big Bend Music Festival! Daily Agenda

Big Bend Brewing Co.

Museum of Electronic Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour

Planet Marfa's Teepee

My grilled cheese from Museum of Electronic Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour

Hanging with Drew Kennedy before the show

The Hangover at Cow Dog in Alpine, Texas

Thunderbird Motel sign

Marfa water tower

Seryn at Planet Marfa

El Cosmico

El Cosmico Trailers

Bob Schneider at the Granada

Railroad Blues

The O's

Amanda Shires with Colt Miller on steel

Terri Hendrix with Lloyd Maines

I met a girl wearing one of our shirts in the hotel lobby!

Cobra Rock Boot Co.

Colt and Logan making boots

Museum of Electronic Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour

Well, I know it's a little late but I wanted to make sure and share a little bit about our trip down to the Big Bend region a few weeks ago.  Brian and I headed down to Marfa and Alpine during the last weekend in July for the Viva Big Bend Music Festival sponsored by Texas Music Magazine.  It was an awesome time!  We were basically there for two full days and we squeezed in as much music and fun as we could.

Day One:
-Arrive in Alpine 1 PM
 Lunch at the Reata - Outstanding green chile sandwich and jalapeno cream soup.

 Tour at the brand new Big Bend Brewing Co. - We met the head brew master, Steve Anderson.We talked beer, and west Texas. He gave us both a sweet trucker hat and we gave him a Drink Texas Beer tee.

 Checked in at the hotel in Marfa and in the lobby met a woman wearing one of our "I've Been Everywhere" tees!!!  I got a pic with her.  It was the first stranger I had ever seen wearing one of our shirts.....crazy!

 Stopped by Cobra Rock Boot Co. to visit with Colt and Logan.  We dropped off some shirts for their shop.  It was awesome to see them making boots in the shop.  They punch out 12 pair a month!!  Check them out!!

Off to Padre's we went to see Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines followed up by Amanda Shires.

 Marfa Lights Viewing Area for 30 minutes - no lights, then we left for Alpine to catch Bob Schneider at the Granada.  Awesome show!!

Walked down the street to watch The O's at Railroad Blues.  The O's are one of our favorite Dallas bands.They rocked as usual!

Day Two:
Walked around downtown Marfa - Took Photos

Went out to the hip El Cosmico to check out he trailers.  Apparently we missed Ali Fedotowsky from The Bachelorette by a day and Beyonce by a few weeks. Ali was in town doing a spot on Marfa for 1st Look Look for it to air in the upcoming weeks!

 We drove to Fort Davis for a delicious Tex-Mex lunch at Cueva De Leon

 After lunch we parked ourselves at the Planet Marfa outside bar and enjoyed the sunny 83 degree day by drinking our fill of Dos Equis for about 3 hours.

 We got all cleaned up drove to Alpine to catch the Drew Kennedy show at the Reata.  Drew traded us his new CD for a River Weed shirt.  What a deal!  Drew put on a great show. He has crazy songwriting skills and just happens to live down the street from my folks in New Braunfels. Check him out!

After Drew's gig, we headed over to Railroad Blues to get some grub at Cow Dog.  I had the Hangover dog.  Picture above.  Delicious!

We then drove back to Marfa, stopped to see lights again....no dice.

Planet Marfa was the next spot as if we didn't get enough in the afternoon.  We watched Denton band Seryn play a short set and then headed to Padre's for the Uncle Lucius show.

We finished the night at the Museum of Electronic Wonders and Grilled Cheese Parlour. It was one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I had ever had.  Super cool place and really nice folks!

We have already begun to plan for next year's trip for the festival!  Y'all should join us next year!





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Texas Mixed Media at Its' Best - Junky Trinkets

I would like to begin by saying that this is me, Brian, writing this blog post.  Jeb has not put me up to this, nor has any idea about the topic of this blog post.  Sorry Jeb, I had to give your sweet artwork a shout out.

Jeb is not just a shirt designer or even a high school art teacher.  He is also a very talented and skilled artist in various mediums.  When it comes to Texas art, I personally feel like Jeb's pieces are some of the best out there.  If you read his bio on his personal Etsy Shop, you can see that his artwork is inspired by all things Texana.

His artwork and photography has been featured and purchased by organizations and people from all around the world.  If you have not done so, I would highly recommend that you check out his website.

His Website - Junky Trinkets

A few samples of his work:











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Viva Big Bend Music Festival


The O's

The Texas Tornados

The Tumbleweed TexStyles crew is going to take a little road trip this weekend down to the Big Bend region of Texas.  Texas Music Magazine is hosting its first annual Viva Big Bend Music Festival in Marfa and Alpine.  There is a lineup of over 50 artists playing the event for 4 consecutive days. We can't wait to get to some cooler weather (highs in the 80's), eat some great food - Food Shark, and try on some handmade boots - Cobra Rock Boot Co. We are most excited about seeing the following acts:

The O's
The Texas Tornados
Drew Kennedy
Amanda Shires

The Josh Abbott Band plays Thursday night and it looks like we will have to miss out on that one but hopefully one of the band members will be sporting one of our shirts!

This looks to be a great Texas Music festival!  We will take a bunch of pictures and let you know what goes down in west Texas next week.
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Spice Village in Waco - Sweet Finds

Located off of 2nd and Franklin in downtown Waco, Spice Village is a great location for locals, Baylor Bears, tourists and those needing a pit stop from traveling I35 to visit.
Spice Village is more than a normal retail shop.  Founded in 1997 by Jennifer Wilson as The Shops of River Square Center in downtown Waco, Spice Village was created for entrepreneurs and shoppers with a passion for unique home décor and gifts.  Entrepreneurs lease retail space from Spice Village offering shoppers wide variety of styles and tastes.  In 2003, Wilson became sole owner fulfilling her dream of a village-like shopping experience of specialty shops with something new around every corner.

Shopacrosstexas.com highlights Spice Village as a genuine shopping haven, housing over 70 individually owned shops under one spacious roof. Spread out over 30,000 square feet are an incredible selection of home goods, gifts, furniture, clothing and beauty items.

Sounds like even President, George W Bush was a fan of Spice Village.  Check out Wacotrib.com's story...


Here are a few of the sweet finds and vendors at Spice Village.

 Tumbleweed TexStyles

Spice Village Souvenirs Shop


Congress Clothing:

http://www.congressclothing.com


Jute:

Jute in Spice Village


Twisted Simplicity:

http://www.twistedsimplicity.com/

The Liberty Brand:
The Liberty Brand
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Texas BBQ - Part 2 of 2

The blog entry below is a follow up from our last write up on Texas BBQ.  Our Part 1 gave the rankings from the Texas Monthly magazine.  Check out "Texas BBQ - Part 1 of 2"

The entry below is from a Tumbleweed TexStyles' loyal fan that took the ultimate man's trip around Texas.   He along with a group of buddies were able to try some of the best BBQ hot spots.  He wanted to share his experience and opinions.  Enjoy his write up!


Experiencing Texas Barbeque Greatness
by Chase Stewart
FB Page | FB Fan Page | Day Job

One pound of moist brisket, one large beef rib, a link of sausage, and an RC cola.  Enough for any man, or woman, this order slammed our taste buds time after time on our trip.  Our barbeque journey began in Cowtown and trickled down I-35 making stops in Waco and Taylor until finally reaching what most consider the barbeque capital of Texas, Lockhart. 
            
In Waco, Vitek’s wetted our barbeque appetites with their famous Gut Pak, a masterful compilation of brisket, sausage, fritos, beans, and sauce.  A favorite among Baylor Bears, Vitek’s will probably never crack the top ten, but it is well worth your time.  However, the next places we visited are undoubtedly among the best in the state.  In fact, we pounded through four of the top five rated places in three days.  We rolled into Taylor’s Louie Mueller’s after the lunch crowd to find this smoky ole gem right off the main drag.  The inside was as if you stepped into an antique photo with walls so covered in soot; you could barely make out the signs on the walls.  We missed the boat for their award winning sausage and beef ribs, so we “settled” for their brisket and pork ribs.  As expected, the meat fell off the bone of the ribs and the brisket had a nice crust to bite into.  As good as the food was at Mueller’s, we pressed onto what I knew would give my taste buds the ride of a lifetime.
  
We traveled on down the Texas highways town by town, each one reminding us why we love the Lone Star State.   We arrived in Gonzales late that night and got settled at our buddy’s family home that had been in his family since before the depression.  A lot of this trip was about the simple things in life that are often raced by in our busy lifestyles.  This was a weekend to enjoy friends, barbeque and Texas. 
The next morning we headed to Lockhart to try and beat the crowds to Kreuz Market.  Not to our surprise, the line was already backed up to the door.  With the smell of smoky goodness and the smiles of satisfied patrons, we were ready for everything this renowned establishment had to offer.  As we finally made it into the pit room, we placed our order and they lifted the pit doors to unveil all that was hiding inside.  From there they moved it to the butcher’s block and made our cuts.  From there, the meat was slapped on a sheet of plain ole butcher paper.  The meat was just the first stopping point in this long line.  After the meat, you get to the market where you can request a number of sides to accompany your meat.  I went with a couple slices of cheddar cheese, an avocado, crackers, and a nice RC cola.  After our order, we saddled up at a picnic bench and ate like we were getting the chair in the morning.  Each bite was enjoyed to its fullest leaving nothing but the greasy piece of butcher paper as evidence.
  
After a well-deserved rest in town, we made our way to Luling City Market.  Again we took our place in line, waiting to enter the smoke room and make our well thought out selection.  I decided to go with my customary order and was not disappointed.  As I snapped into the smoked sausage, my shirt was baptized in the greasy juices of barbeque heaven.  There was a reason City Market was labeled as a top barbeque joint in Texas, and we just experienced why.  From the people to the food, each of these places represents all that is good in the state of Texas.
  
On our last day, we saved what we still believe to be our favorite barbeque place in our lovely state.  The smell of smoked meat filled our truck as we drove up to Smitty’s Market.   The old brick building is simple but filled to the brim in character.  As we walked into pit room, we were greeted with an open fire to the side of our feet that was slowly breathing into the seasoned smoke pits.  The red brick walls were covered with aged soot, each layer representing the brilliant history of this market.  My order was placed and my stomach had been primed.  We sat down at the family style benches and began to work our way through our piles of meat.  Smitty’s and Kreuz enforce the simple culture of no forks and no sauce.  So with our hands as our utensils, we completed the job set before us and loved every minute of it.
  
This was a trip not meant for sissy’s or lite weight eaters.  Your goal when visiting these barbeque gems is eat to your fullest and then eat some more, or I promise you will have food left on the table.  If you haven’t tried these legendary Texas barbeque joints, go out and experience it for yourself.  I can only attest for what tickles my barbeque fancy, but there is a story waiting to be told from each of you.  So travel down those Texas highways and taste God’s goodness through the medium of barbeque.  Enjoy!

Chase sporting a "Texas Cities - I've Been Everywhere" shirt.








Chase sporting a "Texas Cities - I've Been Everywhere" shirt.
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Texas BBQ - Part 1 of 2

Are you taking to the Texas highways this summer?  These are some BBQ joints that you might want to keep in mind on the way to your destination.

We wanted to present to you some of the best Texas BBQ spots around the state.  These rankings come from the Texas Monthly's BBQ Special Edition.  We will also share with you feedback from a Tumbleweed TexStyles' fan, Chase Stewart who took part in the ultimate man's trip across the BBQ belt of Texas this year.  His write up will be posted soon!
Top 50 list comes from Texas Monthly's BBQ Special Edition.

TM's Top 5:
TM's Next 45:



Hillary, Loyal fan and wife of Co-Owner Brian enjoying Smitty's Market in Lockart
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