Austin, TX

Before leaving for the city of Austin, I took a tour of the home of Austin - Miles Austin is a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. As much as I dislike the Cowboys & their owner Jerry Jones, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a tour of the new stadium.

More than anything else, I needed to see this SuperDuperJumboTron. The screen stretches from 24 yard line to 24 yard line, which makes it 52 yards wide or 156 feet or almost 1/3 of mile!

In case you're stuck with one of these seats behind the end zone...

...don't worry - there's a "small" screen that you'll be able to watch. But not all of the seats are that comfy....

Jerry spent so much on the big screen that most of the seats look pretty cheap.

After reviewing so many baseball stadiums, I'm not sure how to evaluate a football stadium. All football fields - except for the CFL and that wacky indoor football league - have the same dimensions.

One thing that was pretty cool with the tour is you can run around on the field. People were catching passes in the endzone and spiking the ball with no fear of an "excessive celebration" flag being thrown.

Also included in the $17.50 self-guided tour was both the Cowboys and the Cheerleaders locker rooms. I didn't see the Cheerleaders' room, but in the players' room you could try on shoulder pads, jersey, and helmet of a few players.

I wonder if you'd be able to slip into a Cheerleader's outfit???

Despite being a casual Giants fan, I still needed a hazmat team to hose me down after I left the stadium. I felt very dirty.

Now on to Austin, TX - a 200 mile drive from Arlington down I-35. Although it was a relatively short trip, the amount of traffic on the highway made it more stressful. But not too bad that I couldn't call my mom to wish her a Happy 29th Birthday!

I only had an egg sandwich on Sunday, so I decided to grab an early dinner. A place called the Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX (about 20 miles SW of Austin). They had the best billboards along the highway "You can smell our pits for miles!" BBQ pits of course.

I was lucky on Wednesday in Kansas City that it was "Burnt Ends Day" and this Sunday the sun was still shining on me. It was "Baby Back Ribs Day!"

The Salt Lick opened in 1967 by Hisako and Thurman Roberts. They named it this because the salt lick was where all the animals congregated. This was certainly the case. The waitress informed me that on most weekends, they seat 3000 people a day! The parking lot looked big enough to support a large carnival.

Since it was Ribs Day, I opted for the full rack (only $3 more).

It came with slaw, potatoes, beans, and of course bread & pickles. After the first few ribs, I realized I had to cut out the potatoes, beans, and bread to save room for the ribs! Although I did eat the slaw - needed some veggies. I drizzled some of their spicy BBQ Sauce on top too! Excellent!!!

If you visit Austin or just want to order online, visit saltlickbbq.com. They also have locations in Round Rock and at the Austin Airport.

I spent the night in downtown Austin at the InterContinental Hotel at 7th & Congress. I found a rate about $50-60 lower than all the other hotels in the area. It's a nice place with a king size bed. Good thing, because for some reason they put 8 pillows on the bed!

Seven will be pushed aside and take up half of the king size bed.

Austin is a great music town and the Continental Club is one of the premiere clubs to hear live music.

It opened in 1957 and has hosted many great musicians. Tonight there were a couple of Rockabilly bands - Junior Brown and Heybale!.

Junior Brown is an excellent guitarist. He invented his own guitar - one that combines a standard six string with a steel guitar. He calls it the "guit-steel" and he knows how to use it!

Heybale! had the whole crowd dancing (ok, most of the crowd).

There was an old man who was working the room asking all the women to dance. But my favorite of the night was a guy wearing a t-shirt that read "Corn-fed, Inbred, and Brain Dead." Add a dirty ballcap to that and this guy was a smooth mover on the floor!

Next up, Houston for an Astros/Cubs game.