Took me 2 days to drive from Saint Louis Missouri to Houston Texas, driving over 10 hours each day. It is one big state. 1270 kilometers east-west and 1244 kilometers north-south. Elevation from sea level to 2677 meters (8750 feet at Guadalupe Peak). And the language, they all call it English, is almost unintelligible from the East Texas to far West Texas. East Texas has the Cajun influence, West Texas is influenced by the Tex-Mex dialect of Spanish. And then you have all them damn liberal northerners retiring to areas like Houston, Dallas, and especially the Hill Country north of San Antonio. Almost enough northerners to make those areas vote Blue. Almost, but not quite, at least as of 2016.
I love the food, Houston was a culinary delight, much like dining in New Orleans, except when we hit a Mexican restaurant, the quality was better than the Mexican restaurants I encountered in New Orleans. The seafood restaurants really were fantastic. BBQ was heavy on the sauce. Great flavor, but reminded me a little of Memphis BBQ. Then a little 400 mile jaunt to Hill Country, to visit one of them damn northerners most Texans like to disparage. There the BBQ was based mostly on the famous Texas style dry rub. No need for heavy sauces. Melt in your mouth beef brisket. Outstanding. Canyon Lake and New Braunfels were my Hill Country destinations. One end to the other, Texas is an impressive, varied place. As crowded as Houston is, the Guadalupe Mountains in south Texas, Big Bend country, has the lowest human population per square mile of anywhere in the USA. Unfortunately, I did not explore Big Bend when I was young, now as a fat, old, retired northerner, I can no longer do the 2 weeks of hiking I would need to do to explore the largely roadless areas of Big Bend.
But don't worry, as much as I like Texas, I'll never retire there. If I end up anywhere it will either be the farm in Michigan, or somewhere in New Mexico.
Everywhere I travel in USA, I sample the local BBQ, and it has been a delight. Every region has its own unique twist on the theme of BBQ. North Carolina, South Carolina are surprisingly different from each other. Memphis and Kansas City and San Antonio are my "reference points" for some of the major differences in BBQ. Now you all, just need to get out there and travel and sample a for yourselves.
I am off topic. Oh well.
