July 27, 2009 by Misty.

What can be said about the Frisco Shop’s breakfast that hasn’t already been stated a million times before? It truly is the best place for breakfast in Austin, at least in my opinion. The Frisco Shop has been open since 1953 and you can tell, many of their customers are regulars. Those customers have probably been going to Frisco Shop for many years! That’s a true statement to the quality and yummy-ness of their food!

This past weekend, the hubby and I ventured out around 8am on Saturday. I wanted to beat the crowd and get to the Frisco Shop before it got too busy. We got there at the perfect time! We seem to be accomplishing this quite a bit lately; lucky for us!

I had the #6 from the Frisco Shop menu. This includes two eggs, chicken fried steak with cream gravy, hash-browns or grits, hot biscuits or buttered toast and coffee…..$10.70. I had 2 scrambled eggs, hash-browns, and biscuits, with a side of gravy (extra for those delightful biscuits!).

First off, let me start off by saying that I’m not normally an “egg” person. The thought of what an egg is, exactly, freaks me out! But occasionally I do get a hankering for some eggs. The scrambled eggs I had this past Saturday were cooked to perfection! They weren’t too runny and they weren’t browned; they were a very yummy in between!

The chicken fried steak is some of the best that can be found in town. Again, just my opinion, but I think it’s an opinion worth looking into! You can tell their chicken fried steak isn’t one of those already breaded, frozen “chicken fried steaks” that lots of other places offer. This chicken fried steak is the real deal and I wanted to enjoy it and completely tuned out my hubby. No offense to him, but I was in chicken fried steak heaven!

The cream gravy is pretty good, as far as restaurant cream gravy goes. Of course it’s not as good as the stuff that I lovingly make at home, but it’s still mighty tasty. I can’t tell if it’s a package gravy or not; but it’s got to be. I don’t know of any restaurant that makes their own gravy from scratch (apart from maybe Hoover’s or Dot’s.). Frisco Shop’s cream gravy is wonderful on the chicken fried steak and those beautiful little biscuits.

Out the biscuits come, in a little basket all wrapped up in napkins. It’s like they are just laying there, tucked in their warm little bed until you’re ready to devour them; and devour them we did! I usually have a hard time deciding how I want to enjoy the biscuits on any given visit to the Frisco Shop. This past Saturday, I opted to have 1 with gravy and then a top half with some of their scrumptious grape jelly. Reminds me of mustang grape jelly like my great-grandmother used to make.

The only thing that I didn’t love was the hash-browns. Growing up, I don’t ever recall having potatoes with breakfast, so the idea is a little foreign to me. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy home fries, hash-browns, whatever you so lovingly call them, but these were not what I usually like. They were a little bland, which I believe is intentionally so it doesn’t overpower the other flavors and they were cold.

I blame their chilly temperature on myself, though. I was so incredibly fixated on those scrambled eggs and chicken fried steak, I showed absolutely no love to the hash-browns. By the time I was ready to sample the potatoes, they had lost their oomph! My husband loved his though! Every last piece of breakfast beautiful-ness was gone from him plate. Good for him.

Not only does the Frisco Shop offer up very yummy grub, they’ve got a great history! Want to see what other delicious selections they offer and read about their past?  Check out their website:

Frisco Shop!

If you haven’t been to Frisco Shop for breakfast, or ever, I definitely recommend trying it as soon as possible. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll catch the hubby and I enjoying the most wonderful breakfast in all of Austin!

Posted in Restaurants, Reviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »

July 13, 2009 by Misty.

This weekend, the hubby and I decided we would get to Lake Travis early to try and beat the crowds. It worked! We’ve gone to the same location on Lake Travis for the past few weeks and every time we go the water is quite a bit lower than the time before.

The first time we went to Bob Wentz Park, on the drive there, you could see a couple of big islands in the middle of the lake. You park your car on this big jetty type thing that used to be well under water (years past). And from there you had to walk about 50 feet (or so) to get to the water’s edge.

We were standing in the water (about shoulder deep) and noticed people swimming out to this small island not too far from the swimming area. There were children on the island, so I was certain it wasn’t terribly deep to begin with.

Two weeks later, we go to the same exact spot. We park in roughly the same location. I didn’t notice if the walk to the water’s edge was longer, but I did notice the water between that small little island and the “mainland”was MUCH shallower. Now I witnessed people walking over and it was merely up to their ankles/calves.

How much worse could it possibly get?! This weekend that little island no longer exists. And the parking is now at least 150 feet from the water. The lake is so beautiful and it’s a great way to relax on these hot summer days, but how much lower is it going to get before we can no longer enjoy it?

Check out the current conditions at Lake Travis: Lower Colorado River Authority

I’ve been going to Lake Travis for as long as I can remember. We’d pack a lunch and get to the lake early in the morning and wouldn’t leave until late in the day. I would get so sunburned! That was also back when you still drove across Mansfield dam. Those were some happy times.

I can’t recall ever seeing Lake Travis this low. I’ve had the chance to experience it when it was at a much higher level. Even though it’s not as nice as I remember from my childhood, I’m glad that I get to experience Lake Travis all over again with my Yankee husband;-)

Posted in Sights, Diversions, Goats, etc. | No Comments »

July 4, 2009 by Misty.

Although most of my travels in recent times are in and around central Texas, there was a time when I saw new places, exotic lands, and fantastic destinations. The very first trip I ever made on an airliner was to British Columbia, Canada. I was 22 and I loved it! Seeing as how BC is far from exotic, I might save details of my travels to Canada for another time.

I was fortunate enough to spend roughly a month in Malaysia when I was in my early 20s. Most of my time in Malaysia was spent in Kuala Lumpar (“KL”), but I also got to visit Ipoh and Pinang. The Malaysia in my mind and the real country were nothing alike.

When told I had the opportunity to go to Malaysia, I was excited, but scared. I had never been out of North America. My thoughts raced as to what medical vaccinations I would need for my trip; luckily, I didn’t have to get any shots before I left the states.

Seeing as how I was there for a decent amount of time, I won’t go into detail about all the things I saw, felt and experienced. Some of the interesting things I experienced, was eating at US restaurants while there. Schlotzsky’s, A&W, TGIFridays, and KFC were some of the American chains that I had the opportunity to try.

You may be wondering why I ate at American chain restaurants while in a foreign country, let me say that some of the sights and smells of the cities weren’t really conducive to building an appetite for wanting to try something new. The piles of rotting vegetation outside some of the street vendors were awful! Nothing like smelling rotting vegetation outside a restaurant you’re about to eat in. No thank you!

So, this is why I stuck to American chains, at least initially. The first chain from the states that I tried was Schlotzsky’s. The regular size original was about the size of the smallest sandwich Schlotzsky’s offers. It didn’t have the usual ingredients as the original here in the states. It didn’t contain the cheese or black olive goodness that I’m accustomed to. They didn’t have ham on the menu, at least what I recall. So, overall, the food was similar, but no where near as good as the original here.

An issue that they have in many Asian cultures is timing food correctly for parties of several. When a dish is prepared, it is served whether all the other dishes are complete or not. Of all the American chain restaurants I experienced while there, TGIFriday’s was the worst.

The overall food quality was about the same…..mediocre at best, but the waiters/waitresses looked very excited to be serving this fat American. Another chain I visited was KFC. Normally, I’m not a KFC fan, but the one I tried in Malaysia was terrible. The chicken pieces were very small and looked like reject chicken parts. I don’t recall the taste of the food. I almost think I threw it away it was so repulsive looking.

The food I had at one of the local restaurants in Pinang was very yummy. They had both traditional Asian dishes, as well as some of my favorites from home. I ordered sesame chicken and Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce (YUM!). The food was very flavorful and I regretted not having eaten more traditional and local dishes.

After getting, roughly, ¾ of the way done with my meal, I found some surprises in my food! I won’t be too graphic, but let’s say that I found bugs in both of the dishes I had been so enthusiastically enjoying about 10 minutes previous. That was the end of my meal and that, my friends, is exactly why I ate at American chain restaurants while in Malaysia.

Posted in Not necessarily "road" trips | 2 Comments »