PTR: Southwest US parks and brisket

[larrygator]

Boulder Dash is in its own tier for CCIs, with Shivering Timbers just below

 

I would put Timber Terror, Tremors, New Mexico Rattler, Tonnere de Zues, Silver Comet and Cornball Express in the next tier.

 

Although I have not ridden some of these in years and have heard some don't give the same ride as when I rode.

[DirkFunk]

That ain't bad. A lot of these off the grid rides turn out to be boring or terrible, so for it to even be in the same breath as some of what you listed makes me pretty happy to hear. They're also an arid desert climate at high altitude; if they can keep their coaster running well, there isn't any excuse for parks like Busch Gardens, Magic Mountain, or Knotts to do the same with much larger overall budgets.

[larrygator]

I completely last track of time and was over an hour behind schedule leaving Albuquerque. My motel was a 3.5 hour drive after Western Playland and I really wanted to arrive prior to 1AM. I was also concerned about what time Western Playland would close their ticket booth. Luckily, the drive was a breeze with little traffic or construction until right before arriving in the El Paso area. In the end, I arrived at Western Playland right at 7PM and the gates were still open. It was still sunny and in the 90s when I arrived and I quickly got all 4 credits out of the way in 30 minutes. Around this time the sun was going down along with the temperature so I decided to stick around and ride some flats, since I don't ride many on this trip. By 8:30 I got a little windy and all the flats were lit up and the park looked great with the lights. I'm realy glad I got to experience this park late in the day.

 

For those that don't know the park is pretty much a big circle, but the only ride in the middle is the park train. And quite frankly this is the second place I located on my trip that would be a PERFECT place for an Intamin Mega Lite.

OK I made it 2 hours before closing, quite a few cars in the lot, hoping there are not lines.

I rode this at SCBB, so I wait til last to ride this. I have always enjoyed Windstorms.

El Bandido was the first coaster I rode, although I felt like I had already ridden it.

Is the cupola supposed to resemble a sombrero, or is it just me.

The is the 3rd SBF Spinning Coaster I've ridden in the past month, I love the amount of spinning you can get especially when unbalanced.

KaChing

Drop Zone was fun

The place came alive at night

Love the RockStar but not a fan of the OTSR and hard plastic seats.

The rides appear more majestic at dusk

It was fun riding the YoYo as the wind picked up.

But unfortunately this opens happens if it gets too windy.

Now look at that big empty area behind the WP Express

You can see the empty space here all the way to the Sky Glider.

It is just screaming for a Mega-Lite

I asked the Dippin Dots girl. She agreed it would be awesome, but she would not confirm a future Mega-Lite. I asked her to bring it up with management.

Edited December 14, 2015 by larrygator

[larrygator]

The last day of my trip started at SFFT, home of two coasters that I was highly anticipating, Batman: The Ride and Iron Rattler. Both coasters delivered. I was not planning to spend a lot of time at the park since this was my fourth trip to SFFT. I have always enjoyed this park, but the oppressive heat, crowds and 6 days on the road had me a lot worn down. Also, I had a little more eating to do.

 

Not too far from San Antonio is Lockhart, a small town that holds the nickname of "The Barbecue Capital of Texas". Of course I had to detour to Lockhart to sample some brisket. Smittys, Black's and Kreuz Market compete for for the title of BBQ king. I knew I would only be able to sample two places (without exploding) and Smitty's happened to be closed

 

My apologies for the SFFT portion of this update being short on photos as my battery drained really quick on this day.

I do really like seeing Batman, I mean Goliath at the front of a park.

Speaking of Batman, one of the reasons I'm here.

It was about a 30 minute wait, even heading right there right after opening.

I really loved the ride and wish I could have ridden more than one time.

Luckily these things all over the park really helped with the sun, Unfortunately, SFGAdv removed made of the shades from their queues.

And it was nice to see one of the best themed flats still around.

Themed ice cream at Cold Stone.

It is nice to see some uniqueness at parks within a big chain like these souvenir drink bottles.

Cool, I arrived in Crackaxle Canyon, now where is that dang Iron Rattler.

Oh there it is, ain't it purdy.

It was projected to be a 20-30 minute wait, but they had to remove one of the trains right after I got in line and it turned into almost an hour wait, and that hour wait would exist until I left the park. I got two rides and liked the Iron Rattler better than New Texas Giant and slightly more than Wicked Cyclone. Outlaw Law is my favorite of the 4 RMCs I have ridden.

I left the park for lunch at a highly recommended hole in the wall Mexican place.

My name is not Adam Roth, but I had to take a picture a what a bathroom looks like at a no frills eatery. That shower curtain is for the stall.

Extremely bland, but clean interior.

However, the food blew me away. 32 ounce Mexican coke, 3 Carne Asada tacos (only two pictured), rice, beans and complimentary chips/salsa. All for less than $8. I would eat here all the time if I lived in the area. However, I had to back to the park for one more ride on Iron Rattler.

After my second ride on Iron Rattler I stopped in the games area because it felt 20 degrees cooler under those shades.

Then I bought a bucket of balls of rescued Wile Coyote who was hanging from the roof. Now I had to get on the road to make in to Lockhart before the BBQ joints closed.

This is Black's

Big menu boards with many items were a little overwhelming but a friendly worker was walking through the line offering help and suggestions.

Another menu board. Black's and Kreuz are both known for their homemade sausage so I knew was going to get sausage in addition to brisket at both places.

This is Black's carving station where they cut my awesome brisket (lean tender juicy, flavorful) and garlic sausage.

Here is my brisket

This is Kreuz Market and unfortunately I was not impressed. Kreuz follows some strict traditions which I forgot about and ordered improperly. The workers get upset if you don't know the traditions and I screwed up. They did not find that endearing.

Here is the cooking area, which you are supposed to enter first to get your meat. I mucked things up walking around in the wrong order, I went to sides and drinks first. I was gruffly corrected but unfortunately there were out of brisket, so I tried their sausage and german potato salad.

My sausage is grilling on that stone top.

Then I made the mistake of asking for a fork, and I was laughed at. Then I remembered they expect you to eat everything but the sides with your hands. The sausage was extremely flavorful but I was really disappointed in the German Potato Salad, maybe it was because it was really late in the day, but it tasted liked something was missing.

And here's the piece of junk Chevy Spark that served as my ride for this 2,985 mile journey.

Edited January 2, 2017 by larrygator

[ArizonaGuy]

Great BBQ and Trip report. I really enjoyed it. I've never seen anyone eat that much BBQ in such on a coaster trip, or anytime for that matter. That Mexican food you had in San Antonio looks good too. I'm gonna have to look that up the next time I go down there.

[Superbatboy]

I'm looking at the potato salad and I don't see any mayonnaise, maybe that's what was missing J/K

[cfc]

So, Seinfeld had the Soup Nazi while Lockhart has the BBQ Nazi?

[PKI Jizzman]

Great finale, Larry! I believe on the TPR Texas trip in '09 they gave us the "Texan lunch/dinner" at every park we went to, and my un-experienced taste buds thought that was some damn good BBQ. I'd love to visit these parks and try out some of the places you've gone to.

 

Doing my own mini BBQ/theme park trip on Friday (St. Louis BBQ & Silver Dollar) so thanks for posting!

-Zach

[larrygator]

I'm looking at the potato salad and I don't see any mayonnaise, maybe that's what was missing J/K

 

Since I see the J/K I'm assuming you realize German Potato Salad doesn't have mayo (some people don't know this)

 

So, Seinfeld had the Soup Nazi while Lockhart has the BBQ Nazi?

 

Yes, Kreuz Market was very Soup Nazi-esque. But they didn't ban me. They couldn't send me to the back of the line, since I was the only on the line 10 minutes before closing. But I loved this place. The stench of BBQ smoke oozes from the walls.

 

Great finale, Larry! I believe on the TPR Texas trip in '09 they gave us the "Texan lunch/dinner" at every park we went to, and my un-experienced taste buds thought that was some damn good BBQ. I'd love to visit these parks and try out some of the places you've gone to.

 

Doing my own mini BBQ/theme park trip on Friday (St. Louis BBQ & Silver Dollar) so thanks for posting!

-Zach

 

I used to think BBQ just meant cooking something on a grill, unfortunately that is BBQ to some people.

 

Great BBQ and Trip report. I really enjoyed it. I've never seen anyone eat that much BBQ in such on a coaster trip, or anytime for that matter. That Mexican food you had in San Antonio looks good too. I'm gonna have to look that up the next time I go down there.

 

I like BBQ/brisket but there were times I though I would be ill. I started cutting out the sides, the bread, the sweet tea, breakfast just so I would have room and not be sick. I actually saved the sausage from Black's for breakfast the next morning. If I ever do a trip like this again in the also, it will be strictly Mexican, since you can't get the stuff in New York either.

Edited September 2, 2015 by larrygator

[cfc]

So, Seinfeld had the Soup Nazi while Lockhart has the BBQ Nazi?

 

Yes, Kreuz Market was very Soup Nazi-esque. But they didn't ban me. They couldn't send me to the back of the line, since I was the only on the line 10 minutes before closing. But I loved this place. The stench of BBQ smoke oozes from the walls.

 

 

Works for me!

[scooterdoug]

I visited SFFT and Lockhart a month ago, so this brought back warm (both figuratively and literally) memories. I'm glad that you tried two of the BBQ places, as I only ate at Black's. It looks like I made the right choice. The fatty brisket was easily the best I've ever had...same for the baby back ribs. I'm reluctant to eat BBQ again, as it's bound to disappoint after Black's. I'd like to visit again. I really enjoyed my time there. Thanks for the great TR!

-Doug

P.S. - Did you ride Iron Rattler in the back? While I preferred Texas Giant, I found the airtime in the back row on the final hill to be my favorite RMC moment...absolutely the strongest (and most sustained) airtime I've ever felt.

[larrygator]

P.S. - Did you ride Iron Rattler in the back? While I preferred Texas Giant, I found the airtime in the back row on the final hill to be my favorite RMC moment...absolutely the strongest (and most sustained) airtime I've ever felt.

 

Second to last row, I never wait more than one extra train for the last row.

Edited January 2, 2017 by larrygator

[redfoot12]

Great finale, Larry! I believe on the TPR Texas trip in '09 they gave us the "Texan lunch/dinner" at every park we went to, and my un-experienced taste buds thought that was some damn good BBQ. I'd love to visit these parks and try out some of the places you've gone to.

 

Doing my own mini BBQ/theme park trip on Friday (St. Louis BBQ & Silver Dollar) so thanks for posting!

-Zach

 

My biggest regret from that Texas trip is that I never went to Whataburger!

 

Looks like a great trip! I may be going to SFFT in mid-October so I'll use this report as a guide for places to eat!

[Joe Cool]

Did you ever get to Franklin's Larry?

[larrygator]

Did you ever get to Franklin's Larry?

 

Joe, I knew there would be a wait but not nearly as bad as I encountered.

 

My plan was to get there at 9AM for an 11AM opening. But of course, this was the last day of the trip and I was dead tired. I got to Franklin's at 10:05AM and the line was down the block and slightly around a corner. I'm thinking maybe a two hour wait, just enough time to make my 4PM flight out of Dallas

 

About 10:15 a woman starts walking through the line talking to groups of 10 people at a time. She says she will take our orders shortly and informs us of what is expected to be sold out when we get to the window. She also informs me and the people around me that it will only be a 4 hour wait to get our food at this point. I chose not to miss my flight

[Arthur_Seaton]

A quick bump rather than starting a new thread for Sandy Lake.

 

I visited the park yesterday and it was exactly what I expected — rural and charming. I could see a place like this appealing to families and birthday events and whatnot. I went to check out the old-school pretzel as I'm a big fan of classic dark rides and this one didn't disappoint. The park is basically a small collection of vintage flats and one-of-a-kind rides, so it's a worthy stop for enthusiasts who are in the area (it's about 20 minutes from Six Flags Over Texas).

 

The Pretzel is pure vintage with a lot of original tricks in place. The guy who operates it has been working there for many years and will talk your ear off (his name's James). He was a fascinating figure with a bunch of stories about the park and his life — many of which he'll repeat as though he's telling you for the first time. The ride itself is really just a large room with some dividers, and the effects are what you'd expect — papier-mâché-looking models dressed in flaking fluorescent paint. Sometimes the scenes would light up; sometimes they wouldn't. These are the kind of dark rides that appeal to me the most, and James' stories only added to the experience.

 

I also rode the Zumur — which, when I saw it running, I couldn't believe how fast it was going. I did capture some footage of it as the speed that it spins at is pretty incredible. When it's at full speed, the seats are almost at 90-degrees and the g-forces on the ride were pretty intense. I don't handle spinning rides too well these days, and this one pushed my limits, but I had to ride it as it looked too crazy to skip. The op speeds it up and slows it down to change the elevation, but toward the end of the cycle, he set it on high and left it there for a few minutes.

 

I skipped rides like the scrambler, the spider, and the tilt-a-whirl as I've ridden those kind of rides many times before.

 

I did, however, ride the space shuttle as it looked like it was knocked together in someone's garage. Pretty fun, producing the exact same effects that you'd expect from a regular swinging ship. The tire-drive was on the axle instead of the base, but aside from that, it followed the same logic.

 

I also rode the roll-o-plane as I used to ride them when I was younger and wanted to see if it brought back memories. I kind of wussed out and kept the cage upright for the whole ride (not a fan of that zac-spin style face-planting effect), but it was certainly fun.

 

There was also a little train that I was tempted to ride, but it wasn't clear to me exactly where it went, so I skipped it.

 

Overall, a nice quirky little place that's worth checking out if you're into old-school flats. There's clearly a lot of history to Sandy Lake, and the place upheld much of its vintage charm with authenticity.

[Joe Cool]

Trying to plan this same kind of trip in May. BBQ and roller coasters, I cant wait!

[larrygator]

^Good luck. I really enjoyed the trip, but I never did lose the weight I gained on this excursion.