Texas Bucket List

Texas Bucket List

The Texas Bucket List – Fort Leaton in Presidio

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Presidio – Here in the Lone Star State, the Big Bend region is beyond beautiful, and if you’ve never traveled through the Big Bend Ranch State Park, it too is breathtaking.

FM170 borders the southern end of the park, between Lajitas and Presidio and it’s one of my favorite roads in Texas. And as you make your way into Presidio, you’ll come across Fort Leaton, an adobe refuge that’s been sitting here since 1848.  “It’s unique to Texas, and I really dig that about it,” said Park Superintendent Tom Forwood.

Tom is a Philly born history fanatic who worked in Montana for 23 years before taking a job in Texas. “Just the landscape was my first impression of the place,” said Forwood. “I got out and I was like, ‘Wow’.”

No trees, no grass, lots of sun, and even more history. “This is a really cool spot from a historic perspective because this is what’s called the La Junta, which is kind of the joining or the coming together, and that is referring to the Rio Conchos coming out of Mexico and the Rio Grande coming down out of New Mexico into Texas, along the border,” Said Forwood. “And it’s really important because this is the two major river drainages of the Chihuahuan Desert meeting right here at Presidio. So, this is a place that humans have settled for probably thousands of years.”

Ben Leaton and his wife Juana Pedraza are credited with creating Fort Leaton in order to establish a trading post in the area. How they went about doing it is definitely a story out of the lawless Wild West.

“So, in 1848, he kind of established this,” said Forwood. “And a lot of it was pretty crooked, to be really honest. With a lot of these frontier folks that did well, they didn’t do well by being nice people. They did well by kind of rooking folks over wherever they could. He worked with kind of a corrupt official in the area, a local governor, to create some false land claims. And they actually kicked local, little small farmers out and such to build his property up. And then he built this fort on this kind of prominence that overlooked the river plain here. You have to think of it more like a fortified trading post than as an actual military fort. But with that said, because the military didn’t have a set fort in this region, this was a major place that they’d utilize. They basically paid a kind of station here for long periods of time, in some cases throughout.”

Sitting right across the river from Ojinaga, Mexico, the biggest town in this part of the world until you get to Odessa, the fort supported locals living on both sides of the border for several decades. “It’s really important to understand some of our connections to our southern neighbors,” said Forwood. “I mean, this is a real representation of how intertwined a lot of this border country is between Texas and Mexico. And there’s a lot of animosity now between some of that, which is kind of a bummer because this is a rich country with a lot of shared history, and people should understand there’s more to that story. There’s a lot of history between our two countries, and this is a really cool tie-in point where that culture still is infused on both sides of the border.”

The fort closed in 1884 and was abandoned in 1925.  The state acquired it in 1967 and rebuilt most of this massive adobe complex. “This is one of the older parts of the fort that’s intact,” said Forwood. “This is the servant’s quarters. There’s not a lot of creature comforts. The walls aren’t plastered. They aren’t painted or whitewashed as they would’ve done. It’s really trimmed down,” said Tom as we toured the fort.

Other parts of the fort were a little more extravagant. “As we come in here, you’re going to get a really different impression,” said Forwood. “This is actually probably one of the nicer rooms in the whole fort because this is the formal parlor. And the formal parlor is where you’re going to basically have your greeting dignitaries, business associates, less intimate folks. So, people that aren’t like part of your family are good friends. And it’s kind of meant to impress. So, you walk in, you’ve got chandeliers, you’ve got the only working fireplace left in the fort, too, by the way. And they would’ve kept the whitewash up a lot better than most of the fort. So, it’s to give you, for lack of a better term, opulence in that day and age, especially in a frontier area.”

In order to get goods all the way to west Texas back in 1848, you couldn’t just load up the truck to take things to the fort, instead they used something much, much bigger. “When the fort first started, a lot of the stagecoach operation wasn’t really set up in this part of the West,” said Forwood.” So, how people got things around were on these huge oxcarts that the Spanish had brought in the 1500s called carreta, and this is actually a small one. The wheels would go anywhere from like this one, at about six feet, to nine feet high.”

Being able to see what it took to establish and survive in this part of the Lone Star State really makes you appreciate the modern conveniences we have today.  The folks that made life work back then and even today truly are one of kind. “I think it’s an important stop on this part of the state,” said Forwood.  “And it’s part of the country too, to be honest. People, not just Texans and beyond, because this is a part of the state everybody should see at least once,” said Tom.

 

The Texas Bucket List – Jay’s BBQ Shack in Abilene

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Abilene – Jay Stearns is a man of Irish decent in Abilene and his proverbial pot of gold can be found in his BBQ pits.  The owner of Jay’s BBQ Shack, Jay loves being able to feed a crowd of eager customers daily. “My favorite part every day is opening that window and seeing the line of people ready to eat food that I made,” said Jay. “That’s a pretty good feeling.”

Jay was born and raised on the Friendly Frontier, where he graduated from Cooper High School in 1992. “Schools were great. Sports were great. Great friends, great people, great church. I liked it,” said Jay. “Typical Abilene lifestyle.”

After graduating college, Jay worked for Dell in Round Rock as a computer technician for 10 years before returning to Abilene, initially to work in the oil field. Finally, he got himself into the barbeque business, first by building offset smokers with his welding skills. “I started building these smokers and cooking on them, and over time I realized I like cooking better than welding,” said Jay. “So it kind of transitioned into more of that. Less sleep, but less labor.”

Despite the fact he’s only open for lunch Wednesday through Saturday, Jay stays busy seven days a week, because he does almost everything completely from scratch. “If we can make it, be at a table, a smoker, a pickle, we make it,” said Jay. “And sausage was no different.”

Yes, Jay even makes his own links. “We always have a house sausage, which is a mild German-style sausage, and then we mix up the other, the second sausage, and it could be anything from pepperoni pizza sausage to jalapeno cheese or chili relleno. Anything goes,” said Jay. “Whatever we think we can get away with.”

As the 11 o’clock hour approaches in Abilene, hungry barbeque lovers wait with great anticipation for the call to come and get it. If you really wanted to you could count how many people come through the shack on a business day, but it’s probably easier to just count the brisket that goes out. “We go through about a thousand pounds of brisket in 12 hours,” said Jay.

Before all the good grub is gone, Jay presented a smorgasbord of smoked meats that he likes to call his Texas Trinity plate. The tray featured a hefty helping of beautifully crusted smoked brisket, a few pork ribs and a selection of Jay’s specialty sausages. The brisket isn’t entirely traditional, but it’s smoked to perfection and comes out of the smoker with some fantastic bark. “We do a little brown sugar. You don’t taste it, but it adds richness,” said Jay. “Chili powders, garlic. To me, the mixture of those spices with the mesquite wood adds a really rich, almost chocolatey type flavor. It’s a flavor that you kind of want more of.”

If you can manage to save room after the brisket, you’re drawn to the quartet of sausages, which include the house German sausage, a Tejas-inspired chili relleno sausage, a traditional jalapeno cheese and a chipotle Oaxaca. The traditional German is a wonderful mild sausage that really allows the smokey flavor to present itself. The jalapeno and cheese sausage features Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, which create a fantastic flavor profile with the spicy kick. The chipotle Oaxaca is double smoky from the chipotles and the grill, and the chili relleno sausage just solidifies Jay as a sausage master.

A second tray makes an appearance alongside the main course, and this one is loaded with sides including potato salad, hatch mac & cheese, pinto beans and house made pickles. The beans are full of flavor, the potato salad is fresh and creamy, the mac is rich and flavorful, and the pickle is just as fantastic as all the other offerings from Jay’s.

So next time you’re rolling through the Key City, make sure to spare some time for Jay’s BBQ Shack, well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!

The Texas Bucket List – Rios of Mercedes Boot Company in Mercedes

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Mercedes – Nowadays, you can get all sorts of boots made with all sorts of things and in all sorts of colors. Here in Texas, there are manufacturers in every section of the state, but down in the Valley over in Mercedes, just a few miles from the border to Mexico, you’ll find the Rios of Mercedes Boot Company.

“There’s people that want to know where their products come from and want to know the story. And we’ve got a pretty good one here,” said CEO of Rios of Mercedes Boot Company Ryan Vaughn.

Since 1999, Vaughn has been working at Rios of Mercedes. His family is fifth generation of Rio Grande Valleyites. Together with his wife, Jodi, they lead a team of craftsmen and artisans that help build their brands of boots, including Anderson Bean and Olathe Boots. “I have a hard-working team that really cares. They love building stuff and really take a lot of pride in what they do.”

Rios of Mercedes started in Mexico back in 1853 by the Rios family as a manufacturer of cavalry boots for the Mexican military. In 1908, they moved operations to the Valley and opened a boot shop in 1928. In 1975, Joe and Trainor Evans, Ryan’s in-laws, bought the business and kicked into high gear.

I got to take a walk around the leather warehouse and the variety was amazing! Lots of colors, lots of different animals. While the majority of leather is cow hide and goats, there’s some fun ones too like Texas rattlesnakes, American alligator, and even stingray. One of the unique ones in the last seven or eight years, according to Ryan, is the arapaima which is a fish down out of the Amazon. “It’s fun to be creative and to be unique. I never thought I had that in me as I never was artistic and I’m still not,” Ryan said. But their designing of boots is limitless. The shaft of the boot is usually the most embellished part of the footwear. The only problem is most people wear their jeans over the boots, making it sort of a mystery and hiding some of the amazing designs.

“So one of the things about buying a handmade boot is that you can re-craft them and you’re going to spend a little bit more money on the front end but whenever you see these guys that are yearly using these boots as a tool, when they burn through their soles, they send them back and we do a complete re-craft job,” Ryan said.

How many repairs do you guys get a day or a week, a year? “We do about 15 or 20 pair a day.” Really? “Yeah.” Wow. That’s something else. “Yeah. It’s also a pain in the butt.” That’s very, very noble of you guys to keep up with it. “We wish there was enough small boot guys left around still to do this because it used to not be that big of a business. But when you do repair work and there’s nothing else to repair because everything’s throwaway society. Not a whole lot to do anymore. And so a lot of those guys have shut down and so people are sending their stuff back to us.”

The boots differ more than the diverse population of Texas. But it’s the people that make the boots that make the difference at Rios of Mercedes. They’ve got a lot of seasoned veterans, but some young ones too. “We’ve been doing it for a long time and doing it the right way and I think people appreciate that,” Ryan said.

Taking a tour of a big boot manufacturing facility in the far south part of our state is a fascinating stop on The Texas Bucket List. “I mean, what better way to be Texan than to wear boots that are made in South Texas?”

The Texas Bucket List – Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch in San Antonio

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In the sprawling hills of Central Texas, you never know what you might happen upon. Especially if you find your way into the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch just west of New Braunfels. Chances are you’ll have a giraffe get in your way. “Giraffes are my favorite, well, one of my favorites,” said Tiffany Soechting.

Tiffany has been a part of this wildlife ranch since its early days, when she first started working here in 1985. “Growing up, I always wanted to be a veterinarian,” Tiffany said.

Today she’s part of the family that’s owned this piece of land since 1884. “The ranch is established on Texas land heritage property. At the time of its designation, was used by the same family for over a hundred years for agriculture and now we’re at a right at 138 years,” Tiffany explained.

But the days of grazing by typical Texas animals are long gone.  “They wanted to use the land for something more than just a cattle and goat operation,” Tiffany said.

Situated on 450 acres, you’ll find one heck of herd roaming these hills and none of it is domestic. “The perfect combination to take that ranch and develop something that you could do conservation minded things and have animals from all over the world,” Tiffany explained. “When you come to the wildlife ranch, you’re basically the one in the cage as you drive through in your vehicle.”

With 500 animals on hand, you’ll never know what kind of curious creature you’ll find lounging in these lush landscapes.  “Some of the species, like scimitar horned oryx, totally extinct in the wild. And most people would never interact with them, but by coming and driving through and seeing them, and then they hear a story about how endangered they are, they can make a connection,” Tiffany said. “Half of our species have some level of endangerment, so it’s kind of a win-win.”

Even the Rhinos seem right at home. Originally from South Africa but they did not come from the wild setting in South Africa due to illegal hunting. There are a lot of facilities in Africa that are trying to help save those that are left because they’re highly endangered and being poached. “[The] largest expense from those facilities in Africa is security, spend thousands and thousands of dollars just on security keeping poachers away,” Tiffany said. “We’re proud that we have the space and we’re able to build the facilities that we could help in that program. There’s five different kinds of rhinos, two of them are African, blacks and whites. They got their name because somebody misunderstood somebody else,” Tiffany explained. “So, because obviously they’re not white, [they are] little grayish. So, when the Dutch came to Africa, they called them Went Rhinos, which means square. Their lips are square. And then the English came, thought the Dutch were saying white, and they were like, well, I guess they call him white.” The rhinos were unbelievably soft!

If you prefer longer and leaner animals, getting to know the giraffes is a great way to spend your day.   While feeding the giraffes, I learned that they have the longest tongue I’ve ever seen. “The pigment of their tongue being that dark, in the wild, they spend a lot of times—and they’ll eat acacia trees that have these huge lung thorns. Because their tongue is prehensile and they can use it to grab the leaves off of the trees and the coloration, the pigment of it that darker is because their tongue is out of their mouth so much in the wild that it helps with sunburn,” Tiffany explained.

Sticking your neck out to feed this big fella can be quite entertaining. If this hands-on approach isn’t on your level, you can always see a tower of them in the park. “Right now we have 17,” Tiffany said. “It’s a lot of giraffes. I think one of the largest herds in the nation.”

You will also come across some ostriches, and they don’t like to be ostracized. They’re not shy animals when it comes to food.  “We like to say they’re Texas friendly,” Tiffany said.

These awkward yet awe inspiring moments is what the Natural Bridge Wildlife Refuge wants people to experience.  A chance to get close to a few crazy looking critters and get to know them a little better. “It creates more of a bond. All those species have a high level of endangerment and you can read it in a book, you can read it in a magazine, and know that there’s a problem, but when you come and you have a personal experience with one of them, it creates a higher level of concern. All those species are better off when more people have that personal bond with them.”

The Texas Bucket List – Home Run Dugout in Round Rock

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On most summer nights in Round Rock, you can head to Dell Diamond to catch an Express game.  The Express is the Triple AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers, and these players are just a phone call away from getting to the big show. “Not everybody here makes a lot of money. A lot of these guys are still in for the passion of the sport, really just pursuing what we all pursued as kids, to play in the big leagues at some point,” said Tim Jackson, the General Manager of the Round Rock Express .

Tim played for the Baylor Bears baseball team in 2006 but he never had a chance to test his talent at the next level. Being out on the diamond is something he still dreams about, but those days are long gone. However, he’s still involved in baseball and being the GM of a baseball team that Nolan Ryan has a hand in, well that’s still pretty cool.  “I didn’t know I’d love minor league baseball from a front office perspective as much as I do because it is, it’s more about creating experiences,” Tim said.

Creating experiences at the ballpark means Tim has a hand in everything around here, including a pool in the outfield. Today the entertainment aspect of a minor league game goes above and beyond and that’s why you’ll find the newest form of baseball fun here, the Home Run Dugout.  “Whether you’re a big league, somebody knocking on the door to the big league game or you’re little Johnny’s 10U baseball team. It’s really fun for everybody,” Tim said.

“Makes you miss high school baseball. It’s good to see it, good to play with it,” said participant Garrett Guilianelle.

“We just see this as something that we just kind of add on top of a baseball experience,” Tim said.

The Home Run Dugout is an interactive batting experience where you have one goal. To hit homeruns. “It’s the hardest thing to do in all of sports. Hitting a home run, the feeling of that, having done that a number of times, there’s nothing like it,” Tim said.

“It makes you feel like you’re one of them. One of the players,” said participant Garrett Guilianelle.

“This is pretty cool. They don’t got this at Minute Maid,” said participant Andres Alva.

The Homerun Dugout experience begins with selecting your skill level, displayed on the touchscreen in front of the batting area. You can choose between little league, softball, or professional, which essentially moves the fences in and out. The technology also features a boost function to help you drive a homerun with every hit. And the coolest part about it all is that you can choose between all 30 major league baseball stadiums to hit. I chose Minute Maid Park.  “So, you walk up here,” Tim explained while approaching the plate. “We mentioned kind of similar to a top golf method here. You get five swings, alright? And so, you’re going to take your bat, you’re going to wave it over the plate. It’s going to light up green, it’s going to count you down here. You get 10 seconds to start. It starts to blink at you with three seconds left. Boom. And then you hit the rooftop.”

“It’s definitely a close one way interactive to get closer to the game or at least try get to feel what it’s like to be as a player on the field,” said participant Garrett Guilianelle.

“I think it’s your turn now. You want to hit Minute Maid. So, let’s see the professional do it here,” Tim prompted.  Taking my first swing at it, at least I made contact, but after a couple swings, I got the hang of it. Man, Tim was not kidding. It feels great when you hit a home run.

“To hit home runs is something that is so iconic. You know, it’s America’s pastime and so, to be able to do that really at any skill level, I think it’s special,” Tim said.

“I thought I’d be hitting real home runs at Minute Maid at some point, and that obviously wasn’t in the cards for but to be able to do it here is something really cool,” another participant said.

“You do all the things your coach tells you not to do here. You know, you bend your back shoulder, you try to hit the ball as far as you possibly can,” Tim explained.

“The ball pops out of the bottom of the ground and you hit the ball. Hope it’s a home run, said participant Cameron Ingram.

So, if hitting a moon-shot matters to you, if you desire to drive that dinger, to see what a four-bagger feels like or if you just want to have a blast.  A trip to the Home Run Dugout is a homerun on The Texas Bucket List. “You get a demographic of young professionals or people that could take or leave baseball and they come out here and they start hitting some home runs and go, ‘man, this is kind of neat,’” Tim said. “Being able to hit a home run is something special, want everybody to be able to do that.”

The Texas Bucket List – Elotes Bravos in Hempstead

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Hempstead might be nicknamed the Watermelon Capital of Texas but there’s a new colonel in town when it comes to something to snack on. It’s corn!

“Fun, easy, quick. It’s so easy to grab. I mean, it is good,” said customer Geovanni Sernn.

“The corn is soft and full and it’s fresh and we don’t see anywhere else, so this is the spot to come and buy some,” said customer Maria Medina.

Robert Mandujano and his family started shucking out elote back in 2018 when they created Elotes Bravos. Situated in Cielo Plaza, right across from the Waller County Courthouse, Robert stalked out the perfect location for this trailer when his family started cooking corn. “We’ve been pretty successful here. The town’s been able to take us in,” said Robert.

Before Robert and his band of brothers helped their parents start the elote endeavor, they grew up rocking out in of all places, churches! “We helped churches build their bands,” said Robert. “So, it was me and my three brothers. I played drums, my brother played piano and my other brother played the guitar. So, it’s like a little trio. We would go in there and teach the upcoming churches to get the youth together and try to come up with a little band, a worship team.”

Eventually, the boy band broke up but in a good way. Robert’s brothers William and Johnny went on to become aviation mechanics, Robert, a data analyst. But when dear old Mom and Dad needed some help with their little corn stand, the boys were back in town. “I always say it’s easy to get by when you have parents like mine, who are loving and supportive. So, it was a no-brainer for us to just kind of push and work hard and elevate the business to however big we can get it,” said Robert.

Since getting involved, Elotes Bravos has blossomed and now you can even find it at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston during Dynamo and Dash games. “It took a while and a lot of hard work, but we got in,” said Robert.

“I like how they’re like persistent, they’re out here every day working hard,” said customer Gianna Rogel.

“Elote’s easy. I mean, it’s at a soccer stadium, so we hope it’s going to be a big hit and a fan favorite,” said Robert.

“It just shows you a lot, how you can come from a small town to somewhere big, too,” said customer Geovanni Sernn.

Well, I needed to get a piece of that corn, so we joined Robert’s Mom Rosalia next to the roaster. “She’s a chef. Think of me as a sous chef,” joked Robert.

Sous chef Robert started things off by grabbing an ear of corn off the roaster after about 45 minutes of getting nice and toasty. Then proceeded to make elote en vaso.  “First thing we do is we make sure it’s nice and cooked,” said Robert. “Go ahead and peel it. Rather hot, so just got to be careful. We’re used to this. So we shave it and then we’ll go ahead and dress it with the typical ingredients,” said Robert.

Mayo makes its way into the cup after the corn. Next, Robert adds some butter, cotija cheese, and then a squeeze of lime.  “We always recommend a little bit of lemon pepper,” explains Robert. “Little bit of some cayenne pepper, just a little bit. And then some of our salsa, homemade sauce, got a little kick to it.” That’s corn in a cup. Perfect. And now we have to make corn on the cob.

Once again, Mom shows off her moves. “So, my mom’s been doing this for so long, it’s like muscle memory at this point,” said Robert. “We add some cotija, mayonnaise, some lime juice.” Rosalia is not shy with that cheese, putting it all over the corn.

So, we’re going to start off with the vaso, and in case you don’t know your español, vaso obviously means cup. So, we’re going to try the corn in the cup first.  After popping it in, it was the unicorn of corn. Holy moly, that’s one heck of an elote. The subtle roasted flavor of that corn, combined with that mayonnaise and then that lime juice, is fantastic. But then the cotija cheese mixed in with that spicy sauce, so many different layers of flavor in this elote that it is worth coming all the way to Hempstead for.

“Very good. For me, the flavor, the taste, is very good,” said customer Jose Sanchez.

When it comes to the corn on the cob, what’s amazing is every time you take a bite of it, it just pops in your mouth and releases all that roasted flavor. With a bit spicier sauce on the cob, this elote had a bit more kick.  Just a whole different food experience than eating it out of a cup. “I’ve tasted a whole bunch of variety of corn and this is my favorite,” said customer Maria Medina.

Well, if you’ve got a hankering for some elote, coming all the way to Hempstead to visit Elotes Bravos is definitely well worth a stop on The Texas bucket list. Or just go see a soccer game in Houston. “Working with family is always dynamic, there’s ups and downs. But there’s no one better to do it with, you know what I mean? Because at the end of the day, you go home, and you know what you did is well worth it. So that’s why we do it. That’s why we’ve all done it. It’s not about vain or glory or anything like that. No, it’s really just about them,” said Robert.

The Texas Bucket List – Overfly (Powerbull) Bats in El Paso

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El Paso – When it comes to the game of baseball, there’s nothing like the smell of the grass and leather, or the sound of bat when it hits a ball or a ball hitting the back of the catcher’s mitt. Here in Texas, you can find some of the finest gloves in the game being made in Nacona. But you can also head out West to find bats being produced in El Paso, of all places.

Kurt Gross runs the Overfly bat manufacturing facility in El Paso. He only recently got into the bat business, while shopping for a bat for his son. “I actually met my business partner, Raul Salazar, when my son needed a bat and when he was just starting his career in high school,” said Gross. “So Raul was making Powerbull bats at the time, and so that was the very first Powerbull bat that I bought was for my son. Then it led to Raul and I becoming business partners in 2018, and then eventually getting our MLB license for the 2019 season.”

Powerbull bats had been in business in Mexico long before Gross became involved, and Salazar’s bat making know-how quickly meshed with Gross’s business prowess. “Raul’s vision was to bring it to the United States and to get our MLB license,” said Gross. “He wanted his bats used in Major League Baseball. He just didn’t have the business sense or know how to do it in the United States.”

The duo’s ability to produce high quality, MLB-ready bats quickly produced into opportunities with major and minor league teams, including the hometown El Paso Chihuahuas. “Being located here in El Paso, we do a lot of work with minor league players,” said Gross. “Obviously we have a great relationship with the El Paso Chihuahuas and the great team that they have there, but those minor league players that come through, not all of them will make it to Major League Baseball, but there’s a lot that will play professionally around the world.”

You may be asking yourself why Gross would decide to open up his bat business in El Paso, and his main reason is the same reason that many avoid the desert city. “El Paso’s a great place to make bats because it’s so dry,” said Gross. “A lot of bat manufacturers have a problem with humidity. They have to extract the moisture out of the air. There are times in El Paso where we have to bring moisture into the shop to maintain our moisture levels here, humidity levels in the shop.”

So the weather makes for great bat making conditions, but El Paso is also lacking in one seemingly important resource for wooden bat manufacturing; wood. “The number one question we get is ‘where do you get your wood?’” said Gross. “Because in El Paso there’s not that many trees. But all of our wood, and a little known secret in the bat business is that all of the bat manufacturers, with the exception of one, get either all their wood or the majority of their wood from the same mill we do in upstate New York, because that’s where it’s a cold, wet, damp winter, which makes a very dense, hard tree.”

Gross makes all the bats himself using a computer-controlled machine called a lathe. The lathe spins the bats at a rate of around 3000 revolutions per minute, and the machine can quickly and precisely shave down cylinders of wood called billets into a bat of any shape or size a player could want. “It goes from billet to bat in about 3 minutes,” said Gross. “Major League Baseball says that the minimum weight that you can use requirement is 88 ounces,” said Gross. “Anything under 88 ounces will be either a youth bat or a fungo for coaches. 88 to 89 ounces is the absolute sweet spot to make a major league bat.”

After handling so many bats during his time in El Paso, Gross is now able to recognize the smallest differences in bat sizes without any need for a machine. “It’s funny, you get to the point where you’re making bats, and I can just grab it and say that’s 24.2 or 22.3. I can be within a 10th of a millimeter, no doubt,” said Gross. “I can honestly say I’ve had my hands on every bat that’s been used at the major league level and to see the players and to know their stories behind the scenes and then have them use our bats at the highest level in Major League Baseball, hit home runs, win ball games, that kind of stuff is incredibly rewarding.”

Gross’ passion for making bats is fueled by his love of the game, and he feels a sense of pride that he’s able to help today’s players succeed on the biggest stage. “I mean, it’s just a cool feeling that we created something here that not just won ball games but made that player successful, made those fans cheer in the crowd and those kinds of things,” said Gross. “It’s a great feeling.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Texas Bucket List – The Globe Theater in Odessa

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Despite its rowdy roughneck persona, Odessa has been expanding its horizons in many ways over the past few years.  We’ve experienced the recent culinary creations this town has to offer but one thing we’ve never checked off the list is a cultural hot spot on this side of the petroplex.  That was until we headed to Odessa College and came across The Globe Theater.

“OC has a really good fine arts department just all around, and the theater is a big part of that,” said Randy Ham, the Executive Director of Odessa Arts, an organization that promotes the arts in Ector County. “It is by far the best job I’ve ever had, and I like to brag that I have the best job in Odessa because I get to dream about things, and I get to make them happen,” said Randy.

When it comes to facilities that galvanize the creation of expression, The Globe Theater is their crown jewel.  “We have Stonehenge, and we have the Globe,” said Randy. “I like to say that the two colleges are competing for the award of best Anglophile in Odessa.”

Now if you aren’t into the Renaissance, poets, plays, or just history in general, The Globe is a reproduction of William Shakespeare’s famous theater in London, England that was first built in 1599.  The Globe in Odessa was completed in 1968.

The original Globe Theater could fit around 3000 folks, the one in west Texas fits a tad under 400 but the layout is so close to the original that when the Globe was rebuilt in London in 1997, they came to Odessa to see how us Texans totally nailed it.  “When Shakespeare’s Globe burned down and they were rebuilding it, one of the things that the architects did was fly to Odessa, Texas and spend a week in our theater taking measurements, taking photos, looking at the blueprints, because, while it’s not to scale, is one of the most accurate replicas of the Globe that’s been constructed,” explained Randy.

There’s even a replica of Shakespeare’s wife’s home here. “So, this is the Anne Hathaway Cottage. It was built in 1988, so it was in addition. And that’s also when they added the courtyard here,” said Randy.

This whole Shakespearian complex all started with a local teacher, Marjorie Morris. Her west Texas tenacity got this crazy idea done. “Marjorie Morris was an English teacher at Odessa High School in the 1960s and basically woke up one morning, deciding that what West Texas needed, more than anything else, was a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe,” explained Randy. “And she went out and made that happen. Marjorie came to every opening night until the day that she passed away. And she sat front row center in a gold lame gown and a tiara on her head and just basked in the glow of her success,” said Randy. “She was the Renaissance woman of West Texas for sure.”

Twice a year, Odessa College puts on a production here, but the biggest bash is the Shakespeare Festival held every November.  “When you see 3000 students come through the doors of the Globe for the Shakespeare Festival, and they see professional Shakespeare performed in a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe, you see how theater and the arts can really impact a life in a positive manner,” said Randy. “For me, it’s a really good way to reintroduce Shakespeare to the masses.”

For whom would not enjoy such a display?  With such a wide wealth of range you’ll find here. Tis impossible not to enjoy it. “It’s hard to decipher iambic pentameter on the page. But if you see it in the context which it was written, which is on a stage with actors and costumes and sets and things, you would be surprised at, number one, how much of it you understand, how funny some of it is, how tragic some of it is, and how relevant it is still today,” said Randy.

While not everyone is into Shakespeare, there’s no doubt you’ve used one his phrases. Some say Shakespeare contributed more phrases to the English language than anyone else and chances are you’ve heard some of them on this show. Like, ‘a forgone conclusion,’ ‘all of a sudden,’ ‘all that glitters is not gold,’ ‘bated breath,’ ‘in a pickle,’ and ‘Et tu, Brute.’ Alright I don’t think I’ve uttered that phrase before. Either way seeing this incredible stage dedicated to one of the great storytellers of all time is well worth broadening your horizons for on The Texas Bucket List.

“Theater teaches us something about ourselves. We see something that we relate to, or we see a situation, and we see how the characters respond to different situations, and we can collectively experience something that nobody else will experience. No matter how many times you come to the Globe, each theatrical experience is unique because the audience is different, the cast is different. That group of people will never be the same again,” said Randy.

The Texas Bucket List – Davy Crockett National Forest

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Whenever you find yourself in East Texas, you never really want to peel back the preverbal pine curtain.  Instead, you want to get lost in it.

Texas is home to four National Forests and in between Crockett and Lufkin, you’ll find the Davy Crockett National Forest.  “This area serves the public I think in so many different ways,” said Jimmy Tyree.

Jimmy is the District Ranger for the Davy Crockett Davy Crockett National Forest and doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to his favorite forest in Texas. “Oh, it’s Davy Crockett. A little bit small, 160,000 acres, but does a lot of work,” said Jimmy.

At the center point of the Davy Crockett National Forest, you’ll find the Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area.  Built by the Civilian Conversation Corps in 1936, it’s a great place to set up camp. “[There] really is not a bad campsite in the whole place,” said Jimmy.

The sights, the smells, and the sounds are what set this park apart. “A lot of people enjoy the quietness and the birds,” said Jimmy.

Simply sitting back and letting the songbirds serenade you is something that’s good for the soul. “Well, nobody gets a chance to be quiet anymore. Not enough people are quiet. There’s something to be said about that,” said Jimmy.

This place is so peaceful that no matter what the season, people like to come here. “We are full almost year-round, even in the summertime when it can be brutal. People are still coming out here enjoying it and that says a lot,” said Jimmy.

Before this park of the National Park became such a safe haven for trees that can touch the top of the Texas sky, it was surprisingly home to a sawmill.  “1902 to about 1920, the Central Coal and Coke Company logged here. And then in 1930, the Texas legislature at that time identified this area as something they wanted to go ahead and put into the National Forest system. And then in 1936 is when Roosevelt actually designated the Davy Crockett National Forest,” said Jimmy.

“So, these are the ruins from the old sawmill from 1902 to 1920 and this whole area had at that time, up to 30,000 people. You wouldn’t know it now,” explained Jimmy while walking around the ruins that have forest surrounding them now. “Nowadays the population’s probably less than 500 for both areas. The amount of timber that was produced from this mill back then is just amazing. And one of the biggest, at that time, this mill was one of the biggest in the nation,” said Jimmy.

I can’t get over the fact that so much of the old factory is still there, from formed foundations to massive metal pieces sticking out of stone columns.  “Artifacts are always being discovered, different things. It isn’t a very active site as far as anytime anything happens here, anytime any work is done, we always have an archeologist on site monitoring it, because something is usually always dug up,” explained Jimmy. “A lot of folks look at the pictures from the 19 hundreds, 1920s, 1930s, and they don’t recognize that this is the same place because back then you could see miles, there were zero trees. They had cut everything down.”

It’s amazing to see what can grow in a hundred years. To this day, logging is still a vital part of the national park.  “We’re still able to provide a tremendous amount of timber. In fact, the output here in the southeast region, we’re one of the tops of the nation even though we’re down in the southeast. A lot of folks think of the big timber production being up in the northwest, Pacific Northwest, but we actually compete with them down here very strongly,” said Jimmy. “The quickness that the timber grows here is nothing like I’ve experienced in other places. This area is very unique in that respect.”

American poet Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”  Well what tall Texan doesn’t want to be just a little bit taller. So, take a little time to breathe in the pine or maybe search for the hide and seek champion of the world, because I don’t have to go out on a limb to say that this is well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. “It’s a little jewel for this area. It absolutely is,” said Jimmy.

The Texas Bucket List – Fragola’s in Del Rio

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DEL RIO – Inside this tiny kitchen in Central Del Rio, Tirzah Starnes is creating some incredible culinary cuisine with her sister, Kendall. “All of our lives, I’ve been bossing her around,” said Tirzah with a laugh while acknowledging her sister. “She loves it,” she finished.

Don’t let Tirzah’s tomfoolery take you for a loop, because these two get along great. “Honestly, I couldn’t do this without her,” said Tirzah. “She’s my right hand girl.” Always hip to hip in the kitchen, these two sisters have to be close because they don’t have a whole lot of room to work with. Basically a small room with a kitchen, a counter, and a lone table for customers. “It’s a little space,” said Tirzah. “We use every single nook and cranny of it. So many times, you are curious what goes on behind those closed doors, and when they swing open, you want to peek in and see what’s going on back there,” said Tirzah. “But I wanted to create a space where you could see what we were doing. I thought that was fun.”

Being in such close quarters, one must always respect the cooks and give them a little bit of space. “They’ll come over behind the line and ask you something,” said Tirzah. “I’m like, ‘Can I help you with something? It’s really hot over here. Please don’t touch anything,” joked Tirzah.

Fragola’s may be a very small venue, but they crank out some incredible food creations thanks to Tirzah’s tenacity. She had a dream of opening her own restaurant and she made it happen. “I knew that I loved food,” said Tirzah. “I knew that I loved food, and I knew that I was a damn good cook. I knew that if I was going to do it, I was going to go big or not do it at all.”

In 2018, Tirzah went big with her bites, but not so much with her space. But business is still good, and just being able to do what she loves has been as divine as her dishes. “It is a blessing,” said Tirzah. “I will say that this is a fruition of what I have prayed for. This is an answered prayer, and God is just continuing to answer prayers for me.”

With a constantly changing menu, you never know what will be on the board when it comes time for lunch. “We’re trying to get people out of their box,” Tirzah said. “They live in a little box, and we’re trying to slowly take them outside of their flavor boxes. It’s working! It’s working.”

But there is one specific sandwich that can’t fly the coop, because it’s way too popular. “Jalapeño honey-drenched crispy chicken sandwich. It’s a mouthful in more ways than one,” said Tirzah. “We have to do it every other week, or we’ll have some upset customers. We came up with this jalapeño infused honey that we make fresh in-house. We put some hickory smoked bacon on it, on a piece of buttermilk fried chicken and called it a day. It is all of the delicious things that you want in a fried chicken sandwich. It’s crunchy, it’s sweet, it’s salty, it has the creaminess from the mayonnaise. It’s the perfect chicken sandwich,” said Tirzah confidently.

Tirzah starts the sandwich off by frying up some magnificently marinated chicken in her tiny air fryer. “As soon as it comes out of that hot oil, we’re going to give it a little dunk in this,” said Tirzah. “This is our jalapeño infused honey. It’s so good. It’s not too spicy. The sweet kind of balances the heat, but we make this fresh in-house. It’s awesome.”

Then the chicken is ready to get baptized in the hot, sticky sauce. While the chicken sits in the honey and jalapeño spa, a toasted brioche bun gets covered with may, a gargantuan piece of lettuce, vine ripened tomatoes, and then comes the chicken with a few extra jalapeños on there. “The first day that we did it, we literally sold out. We were looking at each other like,’oh my gosh, I think they like it,” said Tirzah.

“Substantial piece of chicken. It’s hard to get your hands around it but harder to get your mouth around it. But yeah, once you get it in, it’s awesome,” said customer Quinn Chandler.

A lot of times when you think of fried chicken sandwich, it’s kind of a heavier chicken sandwich, but this is nice and light and it’s all about that jalapeño honey dressing that just goes throughout the breading. Sweet, savory, absolutely perfect. Once again, the chicken sandwich wars did not make their way to Del Rio, because this would have reigned supreme. “I’ve had it I can’t tell you how many times since I’ve been here, since I’ve discovered this place, and every time, I love it,” said Quinn.

Well, if you happen to be down in Del Rio looking for a great place to dine, come into Fragola’s for this incredible jalapeño honey-drenched crispy chicken sandwich. It’s definitely well-worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List.

“Let my cup overflow, and because my cup overflows, let it fill up other people’s cups,” said Tirzah. “That is exactly what it has done and it continues to do.”