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i love Schoepf's in Belton too!
will have to try Georgetown BBQ.
what kind of food is Monument Cafe and Louisiana Longhorn?
i like the fact that Georgetown has that nice Bark Park (dog park), and many of my coworkers live there-mostly the richer ones e.g. surgeons, docs. dont know much about Georgetown, but from what i gather it is very upscale and lots of McMansion suburbia type living. otherwise, i would like it cuz of the dog park. but i am looking for very cheap very rural country area. plus my cowboy church is up here, though i know yall have Williamson County Cowboy Church.
my lease is up in 2 months, and i am looking around Gatesville (outside city limits)..fixin' to go look at a house this afternoon, on a big ranch...rental home. may not have time to go through the mortgage process and find a "buy" before my lease is up here in Cove.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady
I'm in Georgetown (and Jarrell - office and ranch), but range the entire area (Travis and all the counties surrounding it). My favorite places for BBQ - when I can get there, City Market in Luling. Schoepf's in Belton. I understand from Texas Monthly there's a phenomenol place in Lexington, but we haven't been yet and are waiting for the furor to die down before going. In Georgetown my favorite is Georgetown BBQ.
In Georgetown, my favorite Mexican food place is Mariachis. Monument Cafe is another favorite (but don't go on Monday nights, for some reason it's not as good then). B-B's Homecooking is opening up again, and I am SO excited! I was heartbroken when they closed and am straining at the bit for them to re-open. Just down the road in Round Rock, Louisiana Longhorn is another favorite, and worth the few minutes drive.
Last edited by NOTAM; 07-30-2008 at 12:00 PM..
Reason: add
i love Schoepf's in Belton too!
will have to try Georgetown BBQ.
what kind of food is Monument Cafe and Louisiana Longhorn?
i like the fact that Georgetown has that nice Bark Park (dog park), and many of my coworkers live there-mostly the richer ones e.g. surgeons, docs. dont know much about Georgetown, but from what i gather it is very upscale and lots of McMansion suburbia type living. otherwise, i would like it cuz of the dog park. but i am looking for very cheap very rural country area. plus my cowboy church is up here, though i know yall have Williamson County Cowboy Church.
my lease is up in 2 months, and i am looking around Gatesville (outside city limits)..fixin' to go look at a house this afternoon, on a big ranch...rental home. may not have time to go through the mortgage process and find a "buy" before my lease is up here in Cove.
Monument Cafe is good home cookin' with locally grown ingredients (including Kobe beef).
Louisiana Longhorn is Louisiana cooking (GOOD Louisiana cooking! - their chicken and sausage gumbo is the best I've had, perhaps even including my own), and they supposedly have BBQ, though I've never made it past the gumbo and jambalaya and bread pudding with bourbon sauce to find out.
Georgetown is definitely NOT a McMansion community. It's a lovely small town (but growing), been here for a VERY long time (Southwestern University is Texas' first university, (http://www.southwestern.edu/about/about-history.html - broken link) charted in 1873, but existing before that). The city itself was founded in 1848.
If I had to live in a town again (I'm VERY used to my closest neighbor being over a quarter mile away), there are a few neighborhoods in Georgetown where I would feel comfortable. There are a few McMansions, but they are only a small part of this community.
Sounds like us!! And most of our customers are exactly that person you described, we hate it here. We want that country house, even a fixer-upper, load up our horses and get the hell out of here. These people can keep their lanai's, BMW's, gated communities, and over-priced everythings. They can keep their treadmills too, I'd rather be working in a garden and shoveling horse sh**, always dirty driving my pick-up with my dog hanging her face out the window. You are lucky you had the RV, we might get so desperate that we'll live out of our trucks, don't know how much more we can take. HELP!! I'm surrounded by snobs who can't drive!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodsy1
After 15 years in west central Fl, I can totally relate. We will always look back on the decision to move there (family thing) as the biggest mistake
we have ever made as a couple and will be honored to get old and die in rural Texas. You have hit on the biggest problem with relocating here....
deciding where. I doubt you'll have to board your horses here...what you're paying to do that there will likely buy an acreage here if you shop carefully. Homestead and ag exemption make taxes very reasonable.
I'm embarrassed to say, actually. What we did when we moved back was to plunk ourselves in the middle of the area we wanted to look at in an RV and spent a few weeks scrounging around till we found some property to buy. Not sure what the RV market is doing now, but it was easy to sell when we were through with it. the land has gone up a good bit since we did that, but it's still a huge bargain when you compare it to reclaimed orange groves for 50 grand an acre there. Depends on where you look, but I imagine you can still find plenty of plots around for 1500 to 2000 an acre. One of the properties we found had a farm house and 6 acres for $32,500. The house needed some upgrades, but we are currently living very comfortably in it. The pasture supports half a dozen miniature cattle and a couple donkeys...Gardening is great. Sandy loam works good. Not sure about the landscaping thing here.... Might be able to land some maintenance contracts with some of the commercial operations, but I see a lot of homeowners enjoying doing their own. My business took me into a lot of Florida homes and it always cracked me up to see the decadent class struggling to take off the extra fat on their treadmills in an air conditioned sunroom while they watched a skinny Hispanic dude get healthy paid excercise taking care of the lawn. Go figure. I guess sweating your butt off on a treadmill is a classier thing to do than sweating it off behind a lawnmower...presumably, that attitude is much to your benefit.
I do miss my Myers lemon tree, but that's about it. Like Davy Crockett said.."The rest of you may go to hell, I'm going to Texas." That works for me!
I LOVE BBQ & TEXMEX!! That is so nice of you Texhorselady to help us see the area. You all are so helpful, I'm in shock. NO helpful people around here, the opposite. Just when we think we've finally met someone like us, it ends up they are ripping us off. I don't think there are any honest people left here at all. They're in TEXAS!!
i'll be glad to be tourguide for yall too-if you want to see Coryell/Lampasas/Mills county areas (Gatesville, Copperas Cove, Lampasas, Hamilton)...just let me know. I am off every weekend and all holidays and one day off during the week.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FleeingFloridaASAP
I LOVE BBQ & TEXMEX!! That is so nice of you Texhorselady to help us see the area. You all are so helpful, I'm in shock. NO helpful people around here, the opposite. Just when we think we've finally met someone like us, it ends up they are ripping us off. I don't think there are any honest people left here at all. They're in TEXAS!!
Sounds great Bellestar, would love to take a tour of your area. You're so generous to offer your time for us, it's nice to know there ARE good people out there! We just have to get through our busy rainy season here. Summer is hell for us landscapers. It rains everyday and everyones landscaping grows like crazy, weeds too. We can never take vacations in the summer. We're shooting for September to visit Texas. That reminds me, does it rain a lot there and are the mosquitos bad in Texas like here? Is it humid where you live? It rained here this morning and again this afternoon, just took my dogs outside and had to run back in the house, got attacked by mosquito's big time. It's after nine o'clock and it's 80 degrees and 85% humidity outside. I know it's hot there, just not sure how humid. I can take the heat, but sick of sweating buckets and swarming mosquitos. I live in a swamp. I'm waiting for swamp thing to show up in my back yard, or mansquito, either one.
No it does not rain alot. We are probably in a drought. However, last year before I moved to Central Texas, they had major floods-my coworkers tell stories about trying to get home from post. Some kids drowned in Killeen, I think. But generally, most of Texas is pretty sunny-at least from what I have seen living in North Texas for MANY years, South Texas for 12 months last year, and now here.
Humid? I would not say so, though others would. It's all comparatively speaking. To me, Central Texas is much the same feeling as North Texas-during the heat of the summer, it's like being in a convection oven, but luckily we have wind here. When I was stuck in Ft Stewart GA (near Savannah), it was HUMID SWAMPY and the air was full of skeeters and sand gnats. I could not go walk the dogs without bathing in skeeter spray. Same experience in South Texas but not as bad with humidity due to gulf winds. You would think Savannah GA would be windy, and part of the three years I lived on Wilmington Island, off the causeway, with the ocean 10 min away, but it wasnt windy or breezy. Just humid sticky. At least Corpus area had more wind/breeze,so it was "balmier", a more pleasant humidity.
I have used my skeeter spray since I moved to Central Texas from South Texas in October. Not once. I have not used my bug candles, or my pinon wood or chiminea logs in my chiminea. I have not been stung once. I live out in the country, nothing but wide open range behind my house and a creek. I actually dont sweat much here-and if I do it evaporates with the convection heat. In South Texas, it was sticky sweaty, but not near as bad as Georgia or Mississippi, two states I have lived in. In Mississippi, you literally felt like you were soaked once you walked outside. Almost felt like "why bother even showering!"
I will tell you, folks will say its humid here in Central and North Texas, but just tell em to spend a while in the Deep South and come back, they will then see. My skin is MUCH drier here. Your skin willl age much faster here, if you dont protect your skin. There is a reason we wear cowboy hats! Especially those who work outdoors on the ranches. It's not just for looks! And same goes for cowboy boots-I wear them as much as I wear flip flops/sandals/zoris.....I have to wear cowboy boots when I walk the dogs out on the open range, or anywhere out in the country, cuz of sticker burs and of course in case of snakes. Plus the terrain is rough. Prickly pear, sticker burs, mesquite etc..........
Quote:
Originally Posted by FleeingFloridaASAP
Sounds great Bellestar, would love to take a tour of your area. You're so generous to offer your time for us, it's nice to know there ARE good people out there! We just have to get through our busy rainy season here. Summer is hell for us landscapers. It rains everyday and everyones landscaping grows like crazy, weeds too. We can never take vacations in the summer. We're shooting for September to visit Texas. That reminds me, does it rain a lot there and are the mosquitos bad in Texas like here? Is it humid where you live? It rained here this morning and again this afternoon, just took my dogs outside and had to run back in the house, got attacked by mosquito's big time. It's after nine o'clock and it's 80 degrees and 85% humidity outside. I know it's hot there, just not sure how humid. I can take the heat, but sick of sweating buckets and swarming mosquitos. I live in a swamp. I'm waiting for swamp thing to show up in my back yard, or mansquito, either one.
Last edited by NOTAM; 07-30-2008 at 07:48 PM..
Reason: add
It's a variety of lemon tree that produces lemons the size of
small grapefruits. And lots of them...at least ours did.
We're a good bit due east of Dallas. Lots of pine trees...the ones with long needles that produce pine cones......just anticipating your next question here......(tongue in cheek)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas
Woodsy1..where did yall end up moving to in Texas? and what is a Myers lemon tree?
Too funny...you sound like us 5 years ago. You can probably find the same crap in Dallas or Houston, or anywhere for that matter, but it did seem more prevalent there. Everyone is from everywhere else and it's all about a sense of entitlement to a Disney life style in paradise. Little sense of community or state pride. Me, me, me! Fine if that's what you're looking for...not our cup of tea. I literally pulled over on the interstate, stopped, and kissed the ground with tears streaming down my cheeks when we crossed the state line when we moved back. I didn't give a damn who saw it, either. Gratitude and respect....we have a lot of that these days. It sure as hell beats contempt and disgust.
It took us a year from the day we made the decision to move back to the day we pulled out. Given the price of gas, I would think you could come up with a used travel trailer pretty cheap in Florida these days if you go that route. We used one vehicle to pull a travel trailer, and another to haul a load of the crap we couldn't bear to part with. We liked the flexibility that kind of arrangement gave us in several ways. It was cheaper than renting an apartment, and we could move it around from area to area without moving stuff in and out if necessary. Most small towns have a park you can pull into for a reasonable cost. Usually cheaper if you commit to a month, rather than by the week. You can unhitch and use the tow vehicle to explore. Mobile home parks with an empty lot or two can be even cheaper. And we could live in it if we bought bare land. We weren't sure if we would find the right spot with a house on it. We ended up doing both....lived in the RV on a wooded property for a year or so while we cleared and brought in power and water and got a homesite ready, then diverted our attention to the place we're on that had a 30's farm house on it. Between the work we did on the wooded property for a year and the work we put into gutting and upgrading the old farm house, we lost a lot of sweat, but probably not as much as you're currently producing in a month. No, it is not as humid, unless you get down towards the coast.
What you want is here, and in abundance for the time being. I think you could probably find it in a number of the neighboring states as well.
I spent a decade doing circles around 3/4 of the United States for work when I was young and adventuresome, and put footprints on much of the eastern 2/3 of Texas in the process. Where we ended up was a matter of personal choice based on that experience. It might not suit everyone, but it's our version of heaven on earth.
Have the garage sale, paint and sell the house, pack it up, and haul ass! Life's too short to worry with trying to be a round peg in a square hole. There is brilliance in beginning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FleeingFloridaASAP
Sounds like us!! And most of our customers are exactly that person you described, we hate it here. We want that country house, even a fixer-upper, load up our horses and get the hell out of here. These people can keep their lanai's, BMW's, gated communities, and over-priced everythings. They can keep their treadmills too, I'd rather be working in a garden and shoveling horse sh**, always dirty driving my pick-up with my dog hanging her face out the window. You are lucky you had the RV, we might get so desperate that we'll live out of our trucks, don't know how much more we can take. HELP!! I'm surrounded by snobs who can't drive!!
Lessee, by 9 AM you've rubbed your forehead raw from wiping the sweat off, yours eyes are stinging from it, you've dumped a half a cup or so out of each shoe...never mind mosquito dope...it won't stay on for long....
The money you can make seems to get smaller every year because you're increasingly forced to compete with old farts who figured out they didn't save enough to retire on and went back to work, or immigrants who popped in from another country to check out the action...they all will work for less than you can afford to.....do they still call it the "sunshine tax?"
Just another ho-hum day in paradise.
In terms of comfort level, 95 to 100 degree day here is roughly equivalent
to the day you are having there. Last part of September can be substantially cooler than the first part. From where you're at, Pensacola is over half way. We usually try to get well through the panhandle the first day, do the rest the second. Think it's around 1100 miles from Tampa. Rain varies from year to year as it can there. Pretty much the same thunderboomers, but not on a daily basis as you're accustomed to.
Weather is determined by cold fronts from the NW or (humid) flow off the Gulf. The tornadoes here are more intense, but a lot less frequent. A lot less lightning. 2 growing seasons where we're at. You'll probably find it's a lot windier and not so damn flat. There are four seasons....winter can drop into the teens, but usually well above that. expect an ice storm or two, maybe a snow flurry with occasional accumulation. Not as many termites, and not much mold to worry with. Your bleach bill will go down. Wooden structures last a lot longer. A wooden deck I built for a friend over 20 years ago doesn't look a whole lot different today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FleeingFloridaASAP
Sounds great Bellestar, would love to take a tour of your area. You're so generous to offer your time for us, it's nice to know there ARE good people out there! We just have to get through our busy rainy season here. Summer is hell for us landscapers. It rains everyday and everyones landscaping grows like crazy, weeds too. We can never take vacations in the summer. We're shooting for September to visit Texas. That reminds me, does it rain a lot there and are the mosquitos bad in Texas like here? Is it humid where you live? It rained here this morning and again this afternoon, just took my dogs outside and had to run back in the house, got attacked by mosquito's big time. It's after nine o'clock and it's 80 degrees and 85% humidity outside. I know it's hot there, just not sure how humid. I can take the heat, but sick of sweating buckets and swarming mosquitos. I live in a swamp. I'm waiting for swamp thing to show up in my back yard, or mansquito, either one.
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Loved your story Woodsy1
What we did when we moved back was to plunk ourselves in the middle of the area we wanted to look at in an RV and spent a few weeks scrounging around till we found some property to buy. Not sure what the RV market is doing now, but it was easy to sell when we were through with it. the land has gone up a good bit since we did that, but it's still a huge bargain when you compare it to reclaimed orange groves for 50 grand an acre there. Depends on where you look, but I imagine you can still find plenty of plots around for 1500 to 2000 an acre. One of the properties we found had a farm house and 6 acres for $32,500. The house needed some upgrades, but we are currently living very comfortably in it. The pasture supports half a dozen miniature cattle and a couple donkeys...Gardening is great. Sandy loam works good. Not sure about the landscaping thing here.... Might be able to land some maintenance contracts with some of the commercial operations, but I see a lot of homeowners enjoying doing their own. My business took me into a lot of Florida homes and it always cracked me up to see the decadent class struggling to take off the extra fat on their treadmills in an air conditioned sunroom while they watched a skinny Hispanic dude get healthy paid excercise taking care of the lawn. Go figure. I guess sweating your butt off on a treadmill is a classier thing to do than sweating it off behind a lawnmower...presumably, that attitude is much to your benefit. 
