Texas Bucket List

Texas Bucket List

The Texas Bucket List – Anthonie’s Market Grill in Simonton

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Simonton – On the outskirts of Houston in the small town of Simonton, you’ll find a fine restaurant sitting in the middle of some wide-open spaces. “It’s my living room,” said Anthonie Dekker. “I live here most of the time.”

Anthonie is the proprietor of Anthonie’s Market Grill, a sort of a city comes to the country kind of restaurant with a down home, classy feel to it. It’s very hard to explain unless you see it for yourself. “Literally, people come out on horseback here,” said Anthonie. “They park them right here.”

Anthonie isn’t from these parts, but he still fits in perfectly. “I still have an accent,” said Anthonie. “I think personally, I speak like John Wayne, but I don’t.”

He hails from Holland where he had an infatuation with the Lone Star State as a boy. “Me sitting between my brothers on the couch watching all the gunslinger movies,” said Anthonie. “So it was for me like, you know what? I’m going to go to Texas, and I just did what Davy Crockett did. I came as soon as I could. I came here in 1990. January 11th of 1990. It’s the best thing I ever did.”

When he came to the states, Anthonie didn’t exactly have a plan, but some things will take you further in life than a plan. “I remember I wanted to work,” said Anthonie. “I wanted to work hard because hard work pays off.”

Anthonie started at a country club, made his way to major culinary positions in Houston and Kemah, and was even the Executive Chef for the Houston Texans before becoming a private chef at a South Texas ranch where he fed folks like George HW Bush and George Strait. “Texas has done so much for me,” said Anthonie. “It’s an amazing state. If you cannot make it in Texas, then forget it.”

Anthonie’s Market Grill is known as a steakhouse, but the menu has much more than that. “A lot of the dishes that we create are comfort dishes,” said Anthonie. “Dishes that most Texans are used to.”

That includes a down-home favorite that’s done with a twist here, meat loaf. “When I said, ‘Guys, we’re going to do a meatloaf,’ everybody’s looking at me,” said Anthonie. “’Meatloaf?’ I said, ‘yeah, because everybody in America grew up on meatloaf. Everybody likes meatloaf.’”

The biggest difference here is that instead of using regular old ground beef, Anthonie’s showcases livestock that happens to live nearby. “We have our own herd with cattle, Wagyu, and the hamburger meat of it we use for our meatloaf,” said Anthonie. “Always make sure it’s fresh and the best quality.”

They say don’t knock it till you try it and if it’s Wagyu, I have no problem trying it. “We serve it with collard greens, mashed potatoes, and then we put a little gravy on it and it’s just delicious,” said Anthonie. “In order to make a meatloaf right you got to have onions and bell peppers. Green bell peppers and garlic.”

Anthonie makes massive meat loafs to feed the masses and it all starts with cooking up the veggies that make their way into the meal. “We got fresh ground Wagyu, akaushi beef,” said Anthonie. “Amazing meat. So we’re going to transfer this nicely into the bowl. We’re going to take the milk with the egg wash, fresh eggs and milk. We dump it in there. We put some black pepper in there. We get it going real slowly. We are massaging the beef. We are making the meat real happy here. We’re making the beef great again.”

Once all mixed up, the mixture is mashed into meatloaf pans and Anthonie makes sure there aren’t any air pockets, or one other ingredient. “A lot of us have grown up with it where we put a red sauce or ketchup,” said Anthonie. “We don’t do that. We just put brown gravy and mashed potatoes, and then our famous collard greens.”

After being baked, the meatloaf is sliced. “Some beautiful slices right there,” said Anthonie. “Almost looks like a pate.”

And sent to the flat top to finish it off. “We let it get happy for two minutes on each side,” said Anthonie. “Happy. It’s all about happiness. We’re in Texas.”

Add collard greens, mashed potatoes and brown gravy and good gravy we’re almost ready. All that’s left is a side of the crab ranchero dip. A mixture of avocado, roasted corn, pico, ranch, and of course, fresh crab. “Voila,” said Anthonie. ““Wagyu akaushi beef meatloaf.”

Now that this marvelous meatloaf is completed, it’s time to try that crab ranchero first. The freshness of the pico, the smokiness of that corn and that fresh crab, that’s amazing. From there, we move on to the main attraction, the meatloaf. That is not meatloaf like mom used to make. Never thought I’d say meatloaf is decadent, but that meatloaf is decadent. “The meat, it’s Wagyu and that gives it a special flavor,” said customer Tim Kelly.

“The meatloaf is fantastic,” said customer Moses Rangel. “The Wagyu in the meatloaf makes it just right.”

Of course, we got to try these potatoes. When an Irishman says, ‘Oh my gosh, the potatoes,’ you know they’re good. Those are the creamiest potatoes I’ve ever had. “Everything that they make here is awesome,” said customer Jeff Cook.

And finally, we got to get into these collard greens because they look beautiful and amazing. Don’t even taste like collard greens. Just tastes like a fantastic vegetable dish with a little kick. I mean, you do eventually get the earthiness of those collard greens, but those bell peppers and that spice come through real nice. “He’s always bringing in something fresh, something new, being creative about the way he does it,” said Tim.

Well, if you happen to have a hankering for a home-cooked meal with some serious Texas roots that happens to be cooked by a guy from Holland, coming here to Anthonie’s Market is definitely well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List. “I get very emotional about Texas because I love Texas that much,” said Anthonie. “It gave me the American dream. It made me the man I am today.”

The Texas Bucket List – JewBoy Sub Shop in Austin

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Austin – It’s hard to find the words to describe Mo Pittle. We first met Mo a few years back and awarded his Austin eatery, JewBoy Burgers, the Bite of the Season. “My philosophy is always, if it tastes good, let’s do it,” said Mo. “This one guy’s like, ‘I know who you are.’ I said, ‘Are you sure?’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no. I saw you on the Texas Bucket List. You’re the JewBoy.’ And I was like, ‘Well, yes I am.’”

His combinations of Jewish, Texan, and Mexican comida are so good that it was a no brainer to hightail it to the capital city after he opened his sub shop. “This is by far my most creative outlet and making sandwiches is a lot of fun,” said Mo.

Like his picadillo burrito with a latke in it, you never know what Mo has in store. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Why would I never have eaten it this way before?’” said Mo.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this isn’t a regular sub shop. While you can find some classics, trying the incredible combination of culinary creations is what you want to order up here. “This is my tribute to those bodegas of sandwich counters where you go in and they’re making kind of randomness,” said Mo. “They may do a Philly, they may do, Cubans are always something you’ll find in the strangest places, but they’re so good.”

“It’s really great to see the innovation that comes at the local level with local folks answering to our local community,” said customer Nell Newton.

“It’s not that expensive, but the quality of the sandwiches, the size of the sandwiches, the taste, everything is just beyond,” said customer Josh Little.

Having crazy ideas is one part of the equation, but you also gotta have some serious skill to pull off some of these sandwiches. “So we smoke our own turkey here, brine it, smoke it,” said Mo. “We’re making our own beef here. We smoke it and then roast it to finish. Pastrami is a big one. Pastrami is a labor of love. Pastrami is traditionally smoked and steamed here. Because we are in Texas, we lean into the smoking a little bit more. The steaming effectively comes during the preparation, so it’s a long process. Takes about a two and a half to three-week brine, and then you want to smoke it and steam it for anywhere between 10 and 13 hours.”

The only dilemma here is picking which sandwiches to snack on, so Mo did the honors and we started with the Carne Asada Philly, Border Style. “Carne asada just sounds good, right?” said Mo.

Josh Sanchez got things started by grilling up the carne asada mixed with beef tallow, salt,  onions and some kickers. “Hatch green chilies and peppered red cheese,” said Josh. “Yes, sir.”

Then it’s time to throw on some pepper jack cheese and get to melting. “Oh yeah, all the steaming,” said Josh. “It’s good.”

All this goodness goes onto one particular roll. “If you’re a purist, using one roll and one roll only, Amoroso,” said Mo.

Top it with schmutz and we’re moving on to the OG, which starts with a tri tip mixed again with beef tallow, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. This one gets topped with provolone and steamed up again. Throw that on a bun and move on to Puff’s Pastrami for a chance to try this beef that’s been brined for nearly two weeks and smoked on a pit. It gets warmed up on the grill with onions and sauerkraut on the side. “I’ll be fixing my hat mid-shift with all this steam,” said Josh. “I’ll just be like, ‘Man, think my bill’s a little too flat right now.’ Exfoliate the pores a little. Just kind of stand over, you know?”

Top it with Swiss cheese, add the kraut, and finally some thousand island dressing. With that, you have three incredible subs from JewBoys ,and we’re going to start off with the OG Philly. It’s cheesy, it’s full of onions, full of mushrooms, full of red peppers, and it looks like it’s full of flavor. One bite in and it’s like you can hear the horns of Rocky blaring in your head. The tri-tip is bold and full of flavor. The cheese melting within the tri-tip is so incredibly gooey, and then those mushrooms, onions, and peppers are really taking this Philly to a whole new place. “Everything about it, everything, all their meats are just superb and you can’t go wrong,” said customer Josh.

Onto the carne Asada Philly, which has got the carne asada on it, of course, some schmutz, and those hatch peppers. Just a different take on the Philly because if you know Mo, you know he likes different takes on things. This combines the Rocky theme with mariachi music and in a good way. “Every bite is full of love and flavor,” said Nell. “It’s good.”

There’s a lot going on here and it’s definitely worth it because you got that schmutz, which has got that garlicky bold flavor, but then the carne asada is incredible, and those hatch peppers just add of level of spice along with the pepper jack cheese that just take this one through the roof. It’s like a Philly for Texans. “You’re not going to get a better sandwich somewhere else,” Said customer Matt Roland.

Finally, I found my way to Puff’s Pastrami. Right off the bat, the smoky pastrami is unreal. Such a wonderful, bold flavor coming off that pastrami. Then you mix into the sauerkraut cheese and that Thousand Island, and it is just sinful. “Well, it’s poetry sliced on a bun,” said Nell.

Once again, Mo and his crew at JewBoy did not disappoint, this time with a sub shop. Another sensational stop on The Texas Bucket List. “These sandwiches are by far the best in Austin,” said customer Josh. “I declare it, I’ve had every one. By far, best in Austin, so come check it out.”

The Texas Bucket List – 5 Cousins Strawberry Patch in Poteet

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Poteet – In the early spring here in the Lone Star State, there’s a cash crop that’s already blossoming in the fields of Poteet, and that is the Strawberry. Considering this section of our state is called the Strawberry Capital of Texas, you’d expect to see strawberry fields forever but if you want to pick your own, 5 Cousins Strawberries is a good place to pluck out of the crowd. “You want to come look at this situation right here,” said Will Bates. “You may not ever see another one just like it.”

Will and his wife Ann have lived in Poteet since 1972 and they own the Five Cousins Strawberry Patch. “We made a career teaching school here in Poteet, and we both retired here,” said Will. “I don’t know that we started out to stay here, but we just got stuck.”

When you plant roots, that’s usually what happens. For Will, the seeds he sowed weren’t just strawberries, but also a family that turned him into a grandfather. “We have five grandchildren, hence the name, five cousins,” said Will.

Turns out this name defines Will’s Strawberry patch to a T, because it’s his grandkids that run it. “My wife and I are the landlords, we’re the heavy equipment operators, we’re the managers, we’re the bankers, and we do this in order to encourage them to do some physical work and to take responsibility for what they do and make some decisions and stand by those decisions,” said Will.

Running this strawberry patch isn’t just a chore for his grandkids either, it’s much sweeter than that. “The money that’s generated from this patch goes into their college fund,” said Will. “That’s what we do with that money.”

“We love the fact that we have this opportunity,” said Josh Bates.

Josh is Will’s son, and all this started when his daughter Hallie joined 4-H. “The crazy story about that is my dad and her came together on that,” said Josh. “That’s the beauty behind it, is it’s not based upon, ‘Man, we got to make this amount of money.’ It’s nice that it pays for itself, but more than that, giving them the opportunity to learn what it’s like to work on something together and come together and opportunity for people to come out and experience this outdoors and be part of nature. It’s cool.”

And with a strawberry patch of this size, it’s no surprise that these kids are putting in some serious work. “When the plants come in, they get out here and they plant them, and they put 20,000 plants in the ground in three days,” said Will. “Old hardened field hands can do it pretty fast, but when you got a bunch of kids out here, they’re having a blast.”

The work doesn’t stop there. “Then comes picking time, at which point they’ll pick if we need them to pick and they take care of the barn, they fold the boxes,” said Will. “They’ll go out and take people out and direct them on how to cut the strawberries, what to look for, that type of thing. They do a lot of the work around here.”

Family is forever, and this family is putting together a whole lot of fond memories out here in the strawberry fields. “That’s the blessing of it all, and honestly, that’s the beauty of this whole thing is them getting to spend time with their grandfather and their grandmother and be out here together and it’s brought everybody together,” said Josh. “It’s built so much unity within our family. It’s just a complete blessing.”

As for the strawberries themselves, there as sweet as you can find. “These are a Ruby June variety,” explained Josh. “They’re characteristically a little smaller than other varieties, but they have a higher sugar content than probably any of the other varieties that we have out here. You pull it off and it’s ready to eat. We don’t have any pesticides or anything else that’s out here.”

Of course you could go into any grocery store and grab a box of berries, but there’s just something special about picking them for yourself. “The difference between our berries and the berries that you get at the store, the only difference is because the same varieties and everything like that, the difference is that these berries are really ripe,” said Will. “They’re vine ripe, which means that when you take them, you want to eat them or you want to process them, but don’t expect them to be around for very long.”

Having created a place where people want to come and pick is only part of this whole experience for the Bates. It’s creating joy and memories for them and for those who venture to this small strawberry patch in Poteet. “Never thought I’d be the guy growing strawberries in Poteet,” said Josh. “That’s not where I thought my life was headed, and I’m extremely thankful for it.”

“It means a lot to me,” said Will. “I think it means a lot to the kids too. They appreciate it, and at least they say they do.”

The Texas Bucket List – Mi Cocinita in Odessa

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Odessa – Over the years of The Texas Bucket List, the food scene in Odessa has grown leaps and bounds. Adding to that list is a little food trailer called Mi Cocinita, thanks to their birria balls that have a big following. “Oh my gosh, this is like a flavor bomb,” said Yvette Hernandez. “Just burst in your mouth. This is amazing.”

Yvette created these big balls that are bountiful with birria, rice, and cheese. “My birria is different from anybody’s I could say in this town,” said Yvette.

But it’s the incredibly complex layers of her life that got her to this point. “Because of the way my life was, I didn’t think I would see my kids get big,” said Yvette.

Growing up in Odessa wasn’t easy for this single Mom of seven and she took the wrong path at an early age. “13, 14 years old I was already in the streets hanging around with people I shouldn’t be hanging around with, doing drugs and I was horrible,” said Yvette. “I think I was horrible up until I had my first kid.”

Despite having children, Yvette’s troubles continued over the years. “I battled and I mean, it got to a point to where my car got stolen and all these things were happening, and I was like, ‘all right, God, I’ll stop,’” said Yvette. “And then I hung around in a trap house down the street and I didn’t ever, ever pay for it. I would just sit there and people would come in and buy it. ‘Hey, you want to smoke?’ So I would smoke and I would all over again and all over again. I mean, I would come home and my mom would be in my driveway at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning and I was like, ‘What are you doing here?’ And she’s like, ‘You left the kids home alone.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m getting high.’ I didn’t care. My brother was like, ‘Yo, what is wrong with you? You got all these kids and you’re still acting a fool.’ And I was like, ‘I know.’”

Yvette’s family tried to help but Yvette couldn’t break her habit. Then, she decided to give faith a fair shot and attended church with a friend. “Man, I felt like the pastor was talking to me and he just literally said, somebody in this room is involved in something so dark that it stops today, that it ends today. I knew it was me,” said Yvette. “So when I went to the front, he literally pinpointed everything. And when I walked out that church I remember the sun being so bright and I was just like, okay, it’s a new day”

Connecting with her faith and her brother Gilbert were both big inspirations in helping Yvette turn the page and start her food truck but before she could get clean, a brain aneurysm took her brother from this world. “I just got really involved in church and my food,” said Yvette. “And so I was like, okay. And then not even a couple of weeks later, my brother passes away. So after that I really was like, you know what? Enough is enough.”

Yvette has now been clean and sober for six years, and people in her community have noticed the positive changes in her life. “I’ve seen her out in the streets just struggling and trying to survive to being so successful and growing into a greater business,” said Leanna Brito. “I mean, it’s just amazing to see her. It’s a blessing.”

Yvette’s birria tacos were the talk of the town, and she feels like she was divinely pointed to a new recipe that would take her business to the next level.  “So I’m laying in bed one day and I’m struggling,” said Yvette. “So these birria balls come across my screen and I’m like, oh, that’s cool. Well, then I see it cross my screen again, and I’m like, okay. I had just made birria tacos the night before, so I had birria meat in my fridge and then I made the boudin and cheese balls before. So when they came across my screen the third time, I really felt like God said, ‘Get up. I’m giving you something new.’ So I went home, put it together, turned the fryer on and got to frying and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is it. This is it.’”

These balls are filled to the brim with some of the most flavorful things you can think of. “So it’s birria, our amazing, delicious birria and cheese and rice,” said Yvette. “So everything has to be cooled down because if not, it’ll melt the cheese. Because you want the cheese to melt in the fryer.”

Yvette took a few birria balls, battered them up, and covered them in hot Cheetos. After they get fried up, they get another layer of hot Cheetos. Throw on some onions, some cilantro, and some consume and we’re good to go.

So here we have the famous birria balls of Odessa, Texas. You may have seen pictures or videos, but tasting these is the only way to get the real experience. If that doesn’t look ridiculous, I don’t know what does. “So much flavor,” said customer Tania. “She seasoned the meat so good that you can still taste it and it doesn’t get lost.”

Well, the birria and the cheese is a fantastic mixture. The rice you don’t really get too much of, and then you get into those hot Cheetos, which provide the crunch and a little bit of an extra spice from that Cheetos flavor that everybody loves. “Tasty, birria of flavor, that juicy meat, cheese,” said customer Alan. “It’s like it’s happening right there.”

Well, if you’re into Birria and cheese bound together by hot Cheetos in a big ball, coming to Mi Cocinita in Odessa, Texas, it’s definitely well worth a stop on the Texas Bucket List. “I just want people to know that she really has come up from nothing to this and God is blessing her tenfold,” said Tania. “She’s doing amazing.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – Burned Hat Co. in Frisco

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Frisco – In the not so far reaches of Frisco, you’ll find a quiet street in your typical North Texas neighborhood.  At one of those homes, Elizabeth Brady quietly works away at her art, while dodging smoke from her searing sketching. “I’ve always been artsy, I mean, but I have drawn and done a few things like that, but not at this level,” said Elizabeth.

Elizabeth owns the Burned Hat Co., a business she started in 2023 after discovering she had a knack for burning designs into the brims of colorful cowboy hats. “I love putting the tool to the hat and watching it burn and making the design in the hat is so gratifying to me,” said Elizabeth.

Elizabeth moved to Texas in 1989 and had a career in cosmetics when one day, everything changed. “So two and a half years ago, I was in a car accident,” said Elizabeth. “I had a young girl, 16 years old and had her driver’s license for two weeks, and she was busy on her phone and she hit me at about 45 miles an hour when I was almost at a stop in my car. Resulted in numerous herniated vertebrae and broken ribs and concussion that lasted for over seven months and still to this day still have concussion issues. If you have a concussion, anybody will tell you sound, lights, certain things just don’t do good when you’re around it. And so one of the things that the neurologist recommended was trying to find something I could kind of focus on, and that’s how Burned Hat Co. started. I started burning the hats, and I just never stopped.”

Carefully creating her designs, Elizabeth hand draws everything on her hats. “I don’t trace,” explained Elizabeth. “I just sit down with a hat and whatever comes out, comes out. I don’t really think about it. So sometimes you’ll see the same kind of design, but it’ll be a little bit different because I normally never do two hats the same.” 

This painstaking work has worked miracles for Elizabeth’s recovery. “To this day, it’s like a form of therapy for me,” said Elizabeth. “I’ll sit down. Sometimes I’ll start burning at six in the morning and it’ll look up, and we’ll have burned all day long and it will feel like I just sat down. So for me, it’s a therapy. I’ve come a long way, long, long way. For the first seven months, I didn’t drive. It was difficult to walk. It was difficult to do a lot. So my son moved back in because I needed help. So it’s been a road. It’s been a road.”

The detail in Elizabeth’s work almost seems to come naturally as she progresses through a piece. “And what I do when I’m burning them is I’ll start with an initial burn, and you’ll see where it gets lighter here,” said Elizabeth. “So what’s happening is the hat’s almost, I don’t know the proper word for it, but they’ll get lighter. This is me losing my train of thought. What’s the word?”

While working on the art alleviates some of the pain and anxiety from the accident, Elizabeth still has moments where things don’t connect. “A lot of memory issues,” explained Elizabeth. “I can easily forget people. Don’t mean to. Forget names. Forget my address. My son, I’m constantly saying to him, ‘I know I’ve asked you this, but let me ask you one more time.’ And he’s good about it. He knows. He’ll be like, ‘I told you that already, mom, like 10 minutes ago. You already asked me that.’ ‘Oh, okay.’”

Despite her cognitive conundrum, creating has created an outlet that’s more than just something to do, it’s actually turned into a big business. “I can honestly say if I hadn’t gotten into a car accident and gotten brain damage, I would not have started burning,” said Elizabeth. “It’s like a superpower. Yeah, and it’s amazing because even though the accidents been so long, a lot of the concussion is still… A lot of the effects are still there. They just never cleared up. And so it really calms me. It just really makes me, when I’m focused on it’s really gratifying. Makes me feel better. I kind of found where I needed to land in a tragic way, but I found where I need to be. It’s such a good outlet. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.”

When you can get an amazing hat with an amazing story, it just feels different than anything you’d pull off of a rack. “One of the things I always do too, that a lot of people don’t is I always burn the bottom,” said Elizabeth. “Because when you’re wearing a hat, then you see it and then I always sign each piece.”

So if you’re in the market for a special piece of headwear that doubles as a work of art, look no further than this stop on The Texas Bucket List. “I think every single hat in here has a little bit of me in it because I put a lot of love into them,” said Elizabeth. “I really want people when they get them to realize that there was a lot of time put into them. The ones I do, I’m going to make sure the best ones I make and people really get something special that they can enjoy. That’s really important to me.”

The Texas Bucket List – San Felipe de Austin

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San Felipe – Texas history is something we hold near and dear to our hearts. Sacred sites like the Alamo, San Jacinto, Gonzales and Washington on The Brazos all played major roles in Texas gaining its independence from Mexico, but none of it would have happened without San Felipe de Austin. “A lot of what triggers the Texas Revolution is involved in this story here,” said Jordan Anderson.

Jordan grew up in Austin, which has been the capital of Texas since 1839, but today he works at the San Felipe de Austin State Historic site, which happened to be the first capital of Austin’s Colony from 1823 to 1836. “I thoroughly enjoy being here because it’s a story that’s not as well known,” said Jordan.

Now before Texas was Texas, it was a part of Mexico, and in order to populate this part of the country, Stephen Fuller Austin was commissioned to colonize it. “Mexico is looking to populate Texas and rebuild the economy, so they do have some stipulations,” said Jordan. “They’re looking for people who are going to be industrious and they’re looking for people who are going to bring their families. Texas in general lost about half its population in the 20 years from 1800 to 1820. They’re looking for families, people who are willing to convert to the Catholic Church, because they are a Catholic nation. There’s this whole story out there that people had to learn how to read and write and speak Spanish. That’s absolutely not the case. They didn’t care what language you spoke in, as long as if you’re communicating with them, it was in Spanish. Stephen F. Austin did most of the communication for you as a colonist, so that was taken care of. And of course, you’re going to be a good Mexican citizen.”

With 1.5 million acres to hash out in Austin’s Colony, he had to set up a center of operations, so San Felipe was established. “San Felipe is the administrative center of Stephen F. Austin’s colony,” said Jordan. “So, any of the colonists or prospective colonists who want to receive land in Mexican Texas, they’ve got to come here and receive approval from Austin himself, or one of his secretaries. And then they start the process of working with the surveyors to issue them lands on behalf of the Mexican government.”

An acre of land cost around $1.25 in the United States back then but in Mexican Texas, it was much more affordable. “You, the colonists, just have to pay the surveyor, the paper, the seal to make it official, and the land commissioner’s time,” said Jordan. “So you’re paying about 47 cents an acre. It’s a really screamingly good deal here.”

Of course, the land was divided up according to what your trade was. “There are two different types of land allotments that you could receive,” said Jordan. “First is going to be a league. So, that’s 4,428 acres, and that’s if you’re going to be a livestock raiser. The other is a labor, 177 acres, and that’s if you’re a farmer. So, the question was pretty much up to you, what of these two things do you want to do? The fee’s dirt cheap, as I mentioned earlier. Most people said they’re going to raise livestock. Some people said, ‘Actually, I plan on doing both. Can I get both allotments of land?’ It’s one of those that never hurts to ask. Worse you can be told is no, because they were told yes.”

Over time, Austin settled over 1,200 families and San Felipe became one of the biggest towns in Texas. “In the run-up to the Texas Revolution, San Felipe grows to become the second largest town in Texas behind San Antonio de Béxar,” said Jordan. “It’s the political hub of Anglo Texas. So, whenever the Anglo colonists have an issue with the Mexican government, they’re gathering here to talk about those issues and sending petitions to the Mexican government. But most of the business that is here has to do with the land business associated with Stephen F. Austin’s empresario grants.”

As Texans started to gain their fierce independent spirit, several attempts to separate from Mexico fell flat here. “San Felipe is where we passed on declaring independence from Mexico,” said Jordan. “We were declaring support for the Mexican Constitution of 1824. We wanted Santa Anna and his friends out, which in 1832 and ’33, we were in support of Santa Anna at the time. So, we liked him for a period of time. There’s even a ball we know of that was thrown in honor of him being elected president here in San Felipe.”

In 1836 everything changed. Texas battled with Mexico and while the Alamo is under siege, San Felipe receives a letter declaring Victory or Death from William Barret Travis and promptly starts printing it. “There’s a printing press in San Felipe, which is printing up all the government documents for them,” said Jordan. “And then later when the government moves and declares independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, that printing press here is still printing all those documents. So, the Travis letter calling for help from the Alamo, that comes here to San Felipe. It’s then forwarded to Washington-on-the-Brazos.”

At the historical site, there are artifacts that take you back to these historic days of Texas’ past.“This represents the print shop run by Godwin Cotten, who came here with this style press, the Ramage press,” said Jordan. “And he ran the first newspaper, the Texas Gazette, in San Felipe. We actually use everything in this shop. Mark and a number of other volunteers have created some of these form documents, letter by letter. And first, they have to create a mirror image.”

It was from here that the citizens of Texas spread the word about the siege that was already underway. A few days later, Texas declared its independence and the declaration was sent here to once again spread the word. “They declare independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos,” said Jordan. “They send the copy of it down to San Felipe to print overnight, and the printers worked overnight and prints 1,000 copies.”

That same month, San Felipe burned to the ground in the Runaway Scrape as General Sam Houston pushed his forces back to San Jacinto. “It’s a strategic choice, which oftentimes is not a popular choice,” said Jordan.

According to Texas lore, Austin’s nephew, Moses Austin Bryan, refused to start the fire. “So, there’s stories of Moses Austin Bryan having split feelings about what they’re doing to their town, their friends’ businesses, their own homes,” said Jordan. “Moses Austin Bryan actually asked to be excused from service saying, ‘I refuse to burn the town that my uncle first laid off in the wilds of Texas.’”

On April 21st, 1836 Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas became a country. Stephen F. Austin would pass away in December of that same year from pneumonia. “When Stephen F. Austin dies, Sam Houston even writes in his letters, ‘The Father of Texas has died,’ because Stephen F. Austin spends a lot of his effort trying to guide Texas and the people living here in a positive direction,” said Jordan.

While San Felipe de Austin wasn’t a pivotal point in Texas’ Battle of Independence, it was crucial to the story of Texas, making it well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. “To fully understand the story of the Texas Revolution, this place is important and its stories, that aren’t as well-known at the moment, give you the full picture,” said Jordan.

The Texas Bucket List – Magic’s Theater in Dripping Springs

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Dripping Springs – Magic, the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. At least, that’s what the dictionary says it means. But for magician John Magic, it means so much more. “This place here came out of my sweat and blood, this place,” said Magic. “This place almost cost me my family.”

John was born and raised in LA but moved to Dripping Springs in 2005 after a magical career in Hollywood. “I started when I was 19,” said Magic. “I worked in film shipping at Disney when I first got started, and I worked on huge $200 million movies. And it was successful for me, very.”

Having the name Magic didn’t hurt. “If you’re in the movie business, if you got any kind of hook, it helps,” said Magic. “And I had the perfect one.”

Towards the end of his time in Hollywood, John wasn’t as enchanted with the business as he once was, but he still had a soft spot for sleight of hand. So he decided his retirement plan would be to open his own theater and museum on the backroads of Dripping Springs. “God, with his grace and mercy blessed us. You’re sitting in it, you see the outcome of it,” said Magic. “We just finished performing 11 straight years here at Magic’s Theater. So that’s a big deal. I mean, no one works that long and that steady, even in magic.”

So what exactly led Magic to love magic so much? “I was in the business already in the studio,” said  Magic. “I couldn’t sing. I couldn’t dance. I was the first generation to grow up on television. I was born in 1953, so television was a big deal. I saw Jack Goldfinger. Goldfinger, the first Afro-American magician I had ever seen, and I saw Walter Zaney Blaney from Kingwood, Texas. Walter had created the greatest levitation trick in magic. He fooled every magician. No one knew how to do that trick but Walter. No one knew how it worked but Walter and I saw him do it. And then I saw Jack perform and it was kind of hip. It was Motown music, doing card tricks and stuff. And so for some reason, I had never seen the moment in a trick before until I saw Jack, and then I saw magic for the first time. It left an impression on me that I had to know how that worked.”

John was persistent in his pursuit of magic and would hone his skills right when he got off of set. “I practiced 12 hours a day for a long time and then I worked at the Magic Castle, which was rare,” said Magic. “I was probably the third Afro-American to perform there ever. And I remember before I performed there, I practiced 12 hours a day for about 30 days on the same 20 minutes. Just 20 minutes. Because you couldn’t make a mistake. You had to be perfect. I would invite the crew and the actors and everybody to the Magic Castle and it blew their mind because they’d go, ‘We didn’t know you were a real magician. We just thought your name was John Magic.’ It’s a moment where you go ‘ta-da.’“

Cards aren’t the only thing John has stacked, he also has an ensemble of artifacts dedicated to magic. From torture chambers to tributes to the past, you’ll find all sorts of fascinating props that lead to his big theater. Unfortunately the big theater doesn’t fill up as frequently as it used to. In his time of being a magician, John has seen spectators go from being enamored with his abilities to focused on other things during the performance. “It gets hard. Kids shows are hard,” said Magic. “Kids today, their attention span is short. They’re rude. They talk during the show. Their parents don’t tell them to be quiet. I remember my wife being floating in the air in the most beautiful levitation you’d ever see, and her head is laying here and her ear is here, and this whole row of kids are talking the whole time we’re doing the illusion about just anything but our show. I felt like they don’t deserve it. And it’s sad for the kids that did deserve it, but there’s a lot that they’re on their phone or whatever, and I’m thinking, ‘wow.’”

Turns out the audience can make all the difference. “When it’s good, it’s good,” said Magic. “When you got the right audience and all the props are working. I always kid at the end of a show, I got through another one. I think the most important part is the right audience.”

These days, Magic has adjusted the show to be a bit more intimate. “Up close and personal, and it’s not a kid family show,” said Magic. “It’s adults. I put in a lot of energy finding the best material, and I’ve accumulated a show from all over the world. Here, you’re two feet away from the magic. So the only way to see it is up close.”

In magic, it’s always what’s in the background that you miss. The little touch or extra something that sometimes seems so minute, yet plays such a huge role in the performance. For John, that something is his son Adam. Who unbeknownst to me was playing a bigger role in all of this. “Adam’s the best,” said Magic. “He’s the greatest son. He’s helped me every show. He was backstage every show. I owe him so much. I do. I’m sorry. He was a little kid. He’d be carrying the light and he was always… this Magic’s Theater is as much Adam’s as it is mine.”

Being able to get lost in a little magic always seems to make smiles appear. It’s fun to let go of notions of logic and just be amazed at how a quick sleight of hand or even something harder to explain can bring so much joy into so many people’s lives. “Thank you for coming to Magic’s,” said Magic. “Thank you very much.”

The Texas Bucket List – The Yardarm in Corpus Christi

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Corpus Christi – The sparkling city by the sea is a no nonsense stop for seafood in the Lone Star State, and finding fried shrimp is as easy as can be. But if you’re looking for something different, something with a little French pizzazz, the Yardarm measures up. “We’ve met some terrific people over the years, and still,” said owner Diane Tsaousis.

Diane and her husband Constantine opened the Yardarm back in 1975. “I would say we have not changed very much,” said Constantine. Constantine is the consummate host.  Originally from Greece, he’s known for his friendly banter and signature hat. “He’s never without the hat,” said Diane. “That is his signature hat. He hasn’t taken it off in 50 years.” “I need to protect my sensitive instruments, and I put this hat on, then and it stays with me ever since,” said Constantine. Secretly, Diane is fond of it. “I like that hat,” said Diane. “He wouldn’t be that person without that hat.”

“I guess you can say I am a person of habit,” said Constantine. “If I find a hat that I like, I keep it. If I find the food that I like, I do the same policy too.”

Well Constantine has liked the food since 1975 and so have the customers. While the menu changes, there are a couple of constants that have stood the test of time while still being a blast from the past. And it’s all thanks to their original chef. “In walked the second day this old crusty guy, a chef, who was fabulous,” said Diane. “And nobody could get along with him, but he was wonderful. So, he was a Master Chef, and he took over and set up the kitchen and set up the menu. A lot of his original recipes are still with us.”

The recipes themselves have stayed the same this whole time as well, and that comes from consistency in the kitchen. “They’ve been the same since I’ve been around and before, and I think we’ve only had four or five chefs since we started in 1975,” said Chris Owen.

Chris has been the head chef here since 2012, but he’s been working here longer than that! “He’s been the heart of this place,” said Diane. “He’s an interesting character. He’s very good with people. Chris is a very kind, very gentle fellow everywhere, inside the kitchen and out here. And he has a great interest in the restaurant.”

“Started as a busboy,” said Chris. “I slowly worked my way up to head chef.”

Chris wanted to showcase three dishes at the Yardarm, some old, some new, so we started with Oysters Rockefeller. Fresh gulf oysters are topped with bacon, spinach, onion and garlic and placed in the oven. Then comes the fresh flounder. “This was probably right around yesterday, or the night before,” said Chris. “Been gigged right here, you can tell.”

Fresh fish is a big deal here, especially when your patio sits on Corpus Christi Bay. “We have one fish fellow that we get all the fish from,” said Diane.

Chris shows off what a tenured chef can do deboning a flounder. “Probably do a few thousand of these a year,” said Chris.

Chris stuffs with the flounder with crab stuffing and tops it for baking. “A little butter, a little white wine,” said Chris. “Nice in-house seasoning we make.  Put that right there. Give that about 10 to 12, 14 minutes.”

Up next is the papillote. “We use an orange, a bay leaf, nice piece of black drum,” said Chris. “I’m going to season that up. We’re going to put another scoop of the crab stuffing right on top. You can’t go wrong with crab stuffing. We’re going to top it with a piece of saffron butter. Shallots. We dip it in oil so it doesn’t burn. We’re going to pop it on in a pan with butter.”

And just like that, the feast is ready for plating. Oysters are up first. “Top it with Hollandaise, paprika, and, of course, some parsley,” said Chris. “Serve that with a lime. Now, it’s ready to go. One down.”

Now the flounder. “So, what I do now is I douse it with some fresh lime juice, a ladle of some butter,” said Chris. “Drowned it in that a little. Top that with some fresh parsley, and she is good to go.” Beautiful.

And the papillote remains a mystery as it’s opened table side! This recipe can be traced back to Antoine’s in New Orleans back in 1840 and here it is in Texas all these years later.

It’s always good to get out of your shell when you try a new restaurant, so why not start with oysters. The elements of the Rockefeller fit together perfectly but there was an added bonus of some sherry, giving it a more traditional taste. These are true to form, with a fantastic old-school taste.

Onto the giant stuffed flounder which looks absolutely beautiful. It smells incredible, and the flavors are fantastic. “I think the crab-stuffed flounder is a signature, remarkable dish,” said customer Daryl. “Really, really delicious.”

Well, the fish is fine. It’s fresh. You pair it up with that crab stuffing, and even the butter and lime are playing a big part in bringing out all the flavors of the fish. It’s fantastic. “I haven’t found anything I really don’t like here,” said customer Robin.

From here, we move on to the Papillote, a unique take on a dish that you don’t see too often, an old-school thing with a fresh drum. Once again, straight off the boat. It, too, is beautiful. “It’s really fun to bring your kids and get that bag and get to cut it open, and the aromas escape,” said Daryl. “It’s a process and it’s a presentation, and I think that’s a fun thing.”

I never knew you could get fish more tender than baking it in the oven, but cooking it in that bag made that drum tender. Such an old-school flavor with that bay leaf and orange soaking into the bottom of the fish, and then all that crab stuffing on top. Every layer of this thing has got something to really pique your taste buds. “You can’t get fresher drum than here,” said customer Dean. “It’s right in Corpus Christi right here on the bay. It’s fantastic.”

Getting seafood down on the coastal bend is a no-brainer, but if you want some traditional dishes that have stood the test of time, coming to the Yardarm in Corpus Christi is well worth the stop on The Texas Bucket List. “We enjoy all the people that we know, the people that come here,” said Diane. “We love our staff. It’s been a way of life. What would we do? Sit at home and look at each other? What would we do?”

The Texas Bucket List – The Poppy House in Castroville

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Castroville – Springtime in the Lone Star State is synonymous with bluebonnets, as it should be. These bountiful blooms are the first sign of spring’s arrival, and from Brenham to Fredericksburg you can find fields full of our state’s flower. That is unless you head to Castroville, where the poppy seems to reign supreme. “It’s a good time of year for us, this time when we have the poppies blooming like this, in this full,” said Lloyd Ross.

Lloyd is by no means a horticulturist, but he sure seems to be good at gardening. “Just seeing them like this, it’s something I never imagined I’d be doing,” said Llloyd. “I mean, I don’t have a green thumb, per se, but they grow very well in this yard here. And the thing I like when it’s this time of year is visiting with the people that come.”

Lloyd is the proprietor of the poppy house. The two things he hears the most, “man, you have a beautiful garden,” and “Everybody says I looked like Willie Nelson,” said Llloyd. “I don’t think so, but who knows.”

While Willie likes a different kind of flower, Lloyd loves his poppies and despite the fact he’s been maintaining this field full of them for over 15 years, he still doesn’t understand them. “They’re very particular to the ground, the soil that they are planted in, and grow in,” said Llloyd. “But I can’t tell you any rhyme or reason why they grow in a certain area and why they do not. I am totally confused on them.”

In fact, it almost seems as if these flowers have a mind of their own, growing wherever they see fit. “They can grow in rocky areas, and they can grow in especially well-drained areas. That’s what they like,” said Lloyd. “But I’ve seen them in other areas too, that they’ve grown where they shouldn’t be growing. Of course, they grow in between sidewalks, cracks. You’ll see them on the highway, one or two sitting there just by their lonesome. They can grow just about anywhere. But as far as what they like, I’m really dumbfounded on that. I really don’t know anymore. I thought I did.”

It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention and for Lloyd it was a drought that made him give up on maintaining a yard full of grass. Or in his case, dirt. “The reason I did it was, obviously, to cut down on maintenance, because all I was doing is just creating dust when I mowed the weeds,” said Lloyd. “And this was a sure-fire way to cut back on the work. I’d have these weeds growing up that looked very nice, very colorful, and I wouldn’t have to do anything for two or three months. Unfortunately, that backfired on me, because people started taking pictures, putting them on Facebook. It just, pardon the pun, but blossomed from that point on.”

After serving in the Air Force for 18 years and living a quiet life, Lloyd, his fiancé Sally, and his dog Jack started to become the talk of the town. “Sally and I were sitting out here relaxing on a Saturday morning one time, years ago, and we see this procession of cars coming up past the funeral parlor,” said Lloyd. “We’re thinking, okay, there was a funeral early in the morning. And they all started pulling in here.”

Folks from across the state would come to Castroville to take pictures of the poppies, and who wouldn’t want to include a pup in that pic. “He was the main attraction out here,” said Lloyd.

With the Poppy House becoming such a popular place, Lloyd eventually started charging a small fee for folks to come and take professional pictures.  While some of those funds do help maintain the property, the majority of them are donated to the American Legion and the local VFW post. “Well, I’m a veteran myself,” said Lloyd. “And of course, I support our military a hundred percent. Always have, always will, even if I wasn’t in the military. They’re a big important part of our history, and also our community, and our nation itself. So they sacrifice quite a bit through the number of years that they’ve served, and this is a good way for us to go ahead and help those people out.”

While Lloyd’s garden continues to blossom, Lloyd himself hit a rough patch over the past few years with the loss of his fiancé and his best friend. “It’s rough. It’s rough. It’s… Sorry,” said Lloyd. “It’s hard doing it without both Sally and Jack, because Jack was a big part of it too. And we enjoyed being with Jack out here and watching him enjoy himself, which is our big king poodle. But being without Sally, it’s different. It’s a little tough. And I just wish she was out here, because she would really, really enjoy being out here. She always did. And the people enjoyed coming here, seeing her.”

Lloyd’s passion for this place burns as bright red as these poppies, fueled by memories of the ones he loves and by the joy he brings to others. “So I’m going to be officially old next month. Medicare, so 65. So hopefully I’ll have another good 10 years under my belt to go ahead and continue on this tradition. May need some help later on in the upcoming years, but I do plan on carrying this on. Not just for the people, but in memory of Sally and Jack also.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – The George Ranch in Richmond

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Richmond – In a town known as the Space City, you’d expect to find nothing but modern conveniences and the big city way of life. But just a few miles from the hustle and bustle of Houston, you’ll find the George Ranch in Richmond. Here, life is like it was when Texas was a Republic. “Texans feel it’s important for them to know of their heritage, and we are excited to be able to show them that history in a different setting,” said Adrienne Barker.

Adrienne is the Executive Director of the Historic George Ranch Association and she’s in charge of running this 20,000-acre ranch that’s only 30 miles from Downtown Houston. However, many Texans haven’t heard of it. “We’ve kind of flown under the radar for 200 years,” said Adrienne. “We are older than the King Ranch. We were founded 200 years ago in 1824, and we like to say we were here before Texas, because this was part of Mexico when the ranch was founded.”

Just seeing fields of green not far from the concrete jungle is a refreshing way to spend the day, but then, there’s the history. “We teach 100 years of Texas history starting at about 1830 and running through 1930,” said Adrienne. “We like to bring that history to life for the kids who read about it in their classrooms, then they can come here and actually see people who teach the history live in a setting that’s appropriate to that time.”

Considering this was a cattle ranch for so long, you’ll still find steers soaking up the Texas sun and avoiding the cowboys any way they can. It’s part of the demonstration to show what life was like, and how it still is, for those who work the ranch. “They actually work the cattle, the kids get to see the cattle and the cowboys and the horses up close, and they get to really get into that golden age of the cattle drive period that is taught in their Texas history courses,” said Adrienne.

Turns out the cattle are really just trying to avoid bath time even though they seem to enjoy it as much as the onlookers do. “There’s a little bit of splashing when a cow goes into the dipping vat, and that’s always fun,” said Adrienne. “We tell them to step back and they look at us rather skeptically, and then the first cow jumps in and they move back, and it always brings a smile and a cheer. Just a lot of fun to get to see that up close.”

The George Ranch was established by Henry and Nancy Jones who were some of the first settlers under Stephen F. Austin’s first colonial contract in Mexican Texas. “Henry and Nancy Jones came here a little over 200 years ago, and they were the first English-speaking settlers in the area,” said Adrienne. “Obviously, there were indigenous folks here, and they established the ranch as one of Austin’s first 300 families.”

The association has preserved the memory of that very early way of life here at the ranch. “This is the second cabin of Henry and Nancy Jones,” said Adrienne. “It’s a replica of the original that was here on the ranch. And they lived here with their 11 children. This is actually a pretty upscale cabin, and it’s one of our most popular sites with all of the students and the people who visit because it’s so different from how they live now.”

Seeing what life was like back in the 1830’s is one thing, but here kids can actually experience it. “We put them to work doing some chores and they get to do a lot of hands-on things so that they can really see what it was like to live back then,” said Adrienne. “Our interpreter here, J.R. Thomas is very good at getting the kids involved and getting them to do lots of different things for him, helping with his work.”

From there the Jones’ moved to this prairie home in the 1860s. “This was actually the third home of Henry Jones, and he built it very near the end of his life,” said Adrienne. “Oddly, he never really liked this house. He really wanted his cabin. He was most comfortable there, but he built this house and then wasn’t really that happy here.”

The third home on the property is a Victorian complex built in the 1890’s by the third generation of Jones’ family. “We have now moved into the 1890s, the Victorian age, so you’ll see a much higher level of wealth shown, many more items on display,” said Adrienne. “That was the Victorian way.”

And the final home on the ranch was built by the 4th generation of Jones’ Mary Elizabeth, who was also known as Mamie. “This house is set in the 1930s,” said Adrienne. “It was the home of AP and Mamie George. Mamie was the final generation of the family story, and this was the house they built together for their married life.”

With no living heirs, it was the George’s who established the Foundation that continues to this day providing Texans with a glimpse back in time while giving back to the community. “We wonder if they knew what they were creating,” said Adrienne. “It’s a pretty amazing legacy. You always think that yes, they had in mind charitable good and supporting the community, but they really think it would ever become this big, and we just have to be the best stewards we can of that legacy. Just seeing this land and heritage kept in place, it’s really, really nice to know that there are some pockets like this that will remain and we’ll continue to tell our Texas history, and for people to enjoy the outdoors and agriculture and cattle and cowboys, all those things that are very Texas.”