Monday, August 18, 2008

Trip to Shiner (2)

Aside from the brewery, there is quite a bit to see and do in Shiner. Not that we old folks were quite up to doing much of it. We thought about going to the drive-in or even driving over to Yoakum for Country Music USA. In the end, we settled for the local museum and several naps.

But we didn't miss any meals!

While we were not as adventurous as I would have wished, i.e., we didn't try every single eatery in Shiner, we did find a couple of jewels--and went back again for another meal.

Our first discovery was the Country Corner Cafe.

We first went there for dinner, expecting to see a lot of, well, country food on the menu. We were a bit nonplussed by page after page of Tex-Mex with only a tiny corner for chicken fried steak and that sort of thing. There was, however, a large assortment of hamburgers, all given monster names, perhaps to indicate their size. My Prince managed to find the belt-buster Tex-Mex meal (which made my mouth water--I was jealous of every bite), and I, having had a high blood sugar reading, decided to try the taco salad. My Prince shared his nachos, which I nibbled very slowly, but he managed to handle everything else all by himself. This was not quite the tragedy I make it out to be, since my taco salad was quite large. Happily it was mostly lettuce (that's my story and I'm sticking to it), so I could eat it all. Well, I left most of the salad shell behind and felt quite virtuous about it. My blood sugar readings were much happier anyway.

Our second trip to the Country Corner was for lunch. As promised, there was a sizable buffet that included all sorts of meats and veggies. This time, the place lived up to its name: fried chicken, pulled pork, chicken fried steak, turnip greens, green beans, and on and on. A nice assortment of salads and desserts plus some big pots of soup provided ample variety and opportunities for most everyone to maintain their diet (sorta). At $6.25 per person, lunch was a bargain.

The Country Corner Cafe was not all that much to look at. Inside and outside, it was fairly ramshackle. Getting in and out of the ladies room was a challenge, given the way the doors bumped into each other. But the food was good, the staff friendly, and the place filled up nicely for lunch.

Our other find was Mary's Tacos. This was a tin-roof building, nicer than a shack, with corrugated parking. Mary's was only open from 6:30 to 1, so her trade was for breakfast and lunch. Both mornings that I went there, a steady stream of customers walked in and out. Inside, the place was clean and bright, with several small tables for those who chose to dine in. Most seemed to just grab and run off to work or wherever.

The tacos themselves seemed overpriced at $1.75 and up--until I saw them. They were huge. One was quite easily a meal in itself. The breakfast plates were also filling. I ordered huevos a la Mexicana and huevos rancheros (on separate days) for My Prince. Both of us were more than pleased with our food. My egg and bacon taco had the extra benefit of little green chiles, which left me with nothing to complain about. Both mornings, breakfast for two cost about $7.00, which we decided was a good deal, especially in terms of value for the dollar.

There were a few other options for eating out in Shiner. Maybe we can check them out on another trip. We did decide to stay in for dinner one evening, since we had brought along some summer sausage and crackers. What we lacked was cheese, so I went out to find it. I tried one of the (national brand) service stations which seemed to have a convenience store attached to it. That turned out to be a good place for junk food (nachos, hot dogs), but no cheese. One of the teens who had popped in for grease and calories directed me to the local grocery store. I had seen it before as we drove past, so I had no trouble returning. Sadly, it was closed (at 7:00!), highlighting one of the difficulties that come with rural life--lack of goods, services, and amenities. We found others, which we could easily survive for a couple of days, but all these little "annoyances" made us appreciate Austin (and its traffic) even more. Luckily, I found another convenience store (no national brand), complete with domino table, that had some cheese. I loaded up and went back to the Shiner Country Inn (well, we were in the country) for a nice meal of sausage, cheese, crackers, and the Olympics (we weren't that far in the country).

On the whole, we ate well in Shiner. You sure won't starve to death if you go there for a couple of days--and you will get away from every national chain you ever ate at. There is nothing Generica about Shiner, except maybe that Exxon station.

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