Abilene

Last weekend we took a road trip to Abilene.  Ryan made fun of me because given the opportunity, most people would travel to Austin or Dallas.  There isn't much in Abilene, but I am drawn to places like that.  I like to find the interesting in the ordinary.  Besides, I haven't been much west of where we live, and I wanted to see the landscape. 

The drive was 2 1/2 hours.  Beginning about 45 minutes from here, the land became hilly and had these unique tree-filled plateau formations.  The town of Abilene itself has around 100,000 people and is not very pretty.  There are some interesting attractions, like Fort Phantom Hill, ruins of an abandoned army fort and Frontier Texas!, an old west museum.  Our short visit didn't allow for trips to these places, but we'll be sure to put them on our agenda next time.  We did visit the children's museum that is part of the Grace Museum and the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature.  We were really impressed with the latter.  There is no admission charged, and we showed up in time for a free children's art activity.  There are visiting exhibits, and we heard that the Berenstein Bears exhibit would be coming soon.

According to Trip Advisor, the best place to eat in town is Harold's Pit BAR-B-Q.  We were a little taken aback by the appearance of the building and the neighborhood in which it sits, but we loved the brisket, flavorful sauce and especially the pan-fried corn bread nuggets.  They didn't contain any flour, so Ryan could enjoy them, too.  We had a nice time chatting with Harold as it was 4:00 in the afternoon, and business was slow.  This meal alone was reason enough to go to Abilene.