Victoria was able to score some free tickets to the Texas A&M Aggies vs New Mexico Lobos game at Kyle Field in College Station. She went to Texas A&M for college so she was pumped to be able to see a game in person. This would actually be the second game we both went to, with the first one being NRG Stadium in Houston. After going to the game, we also were going to visit with her grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousin before heading back to Austin.
As a note, you might see me reference places and not have any links to it or talk much about it. What I am doing is talking about the general trip first and will then start posting about each individual place after that. You'll have to stay tuned to get a more in depth overview of each place.
Just like the wedding we went to last year I was actually not going to drive on this trip and was able to just ride shotgun. We started our journey first by getting gas at 7-11 and then breakfast\lunch that we could eat along the way. I got a double cheeseburger and some pizza. I was surprised that the gas station had Julio's chips, so we bought them to munch on for a snack.
After getting what we needed at 7-11 we hit the road.
Victoria wanted to take the back way so she didn't have to deal with Highway 290. We took the Highway 79 route that took us through a bunch of small little towns along the way. First we went through Hutto.
Next was good ole Taylor and into the direction of Rockdale.
You can't forget about Thrall
We then hit Milam County, who is actively bidding for Amazon to put their second headquarters there. Thorndale seems like a happening place with the grain storage silos.
After a quick pass through of Thorndale, we hit Rockdale. This seemed like a more happening place than Thorndale. There was a Walmart and a Dollar General.
In all seriousness, one thing I will give Rockdale is their downtown had a classic small town feel to it and it appeared to be well kept up.
Eventually, we got out of Rockdale and hit more desolate roads where cattle reigned supreme and hotels literally had holes in the wall.
Soon, we made it to Caldwell where you could tell we were getting close to our destination judging by the Texas A&M flags. It was still pretty desolate in those areas, but at least the speed limit was 75 and you could tell they had some decent economic activity going judging the the oil well I saw along the way.
We finally made it to Bryan and civilization. I'm sure all the small towns we drove through have a few things that are unique and worth exploring when I have time, but we decided to explore Bryan a bit with the extra time we had to kill.
While driving, I got to see that building where the TABC offices are that I have made many trips to.
After driving around a bit, we made it to the parking lot where there was free parking and a bus to campus. After arriving on campus, we took a walk around and Victoria showed me around and gave me a bunch of background information on Texas A&M. One thing you will find is Texas A&M is deeply rooted in its traditions. It is so deeply rooted, that I will actually dedicate another blog entry to it.
While learning about the campus, the school's traditions, and all the places Victoria held dear, we made our way across the street from campus to Northgate. Northgate is the area of bars where college students tend to congregate like 6th Street in Austin or State Street in Madison.
Our first stop was Bottle Cap Alley.
We took a walk through there and since it was next to the Dixie Chicken, we ventured inside there.
We were planning to get a drink at the Dixie Chicken, but it was so packed that we decided against it when we walked in. Instead, we headed over to Antonio's Pizza. This was a good decision because I was hungry.
Hindsight is 20/20, but I really shouldn't have gotten two pieces of pizza. I was absolutely stuffed afterwards. The pizza was so good I really couldn't stop eating it until my body started saying no more. It definitely was an interesting walk so full, but we made it to a tailgate where I got to meet Victoria's old bosses from a law firm she worked at.
We had a drink there, and then hopped on another bus to get to the front of Kyle Field.
Since the game was going to start soon, we did a little exploring, but quickly got in line and took our seats for the game.
It was fun watching Texas A&M totally kick the crap out of New Mexico. I always like blowout games where the team you're cheering for is the one blowing them out. After seeing this great game, it was time to hit the bus back to the parking lot and then go to the hotel for a good night's rest.
We were pretty tired, so we went to sleep right away. The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and then went to Victoria's grandparents' house. We visited with them for a while and then her aunt, uncle, and cousin showed up. It was planned that we would go to the Chicken Oil Company for lunch so we all packed into Victoria's uncle Craig's vehicle and headed over there.
Now I thought we were just getting lunch, but Craig surprised me. Since he knew I had this blog, he took it upon himself to give me a tour of the Bryan area. We drove around a bit and our first stop was their house. I got to see his Houston Astros chairs next to a drum set.
We visited there for a while and then headed to the Messina Hof Winery. He knew I liked local products, so this was something that Bryan had to offer.
We all had a glass of wine and headed back to Victoria's grandparent's house where we visited for a while. Eventually, it was starting to get late, so we said our goodbyes and hit the road for Austin. We stopped at a gas station and I was surprised that I saw some more local products there.
When we got home, I took out the local products we bought. We got a bottle of wine and a jar of salsa.
It was awesome getting to go to the game and see the Aggies completely spank New Mexico. I also want to thank Victoria's uncle Craig and aunt Kathy for showing me around Bryan. I do really like the area and a lot of it has to do with you guys showing me around and pointing out the many cool things of Bryan.
I have found that I do like the medium-sized cities the most. In many ways it seems to balance out the small town vs big city claustrophobia. Whether it be Thunder Bay, Madison, or now Bryan\College Station, I definitely love to visit these cities and see what they have to offer. I have a feeling I'll be back in the near future to explore the many wonderful things about this area.