Road Trip To Texas - Day 12 & 13

Travelling through Dallas we stopped at Evan's Auntie and Uncle's for a couple of nights in a town called Frisco. The houses here are absolutely stunning and it was lovely to sleep in a proper bed after the car and cheap motels. After unpacking and showering we sat down for tea, a good home cooked meal of smoked pork and corn beef. I couldn't have felt more welcome if they tried as I was supplied with beer and margaritas whilst we all played a rude version of Apples to Apples, a card game.

We Really Need These Places
In England

The morning after, Evan's cousins Chris and JJ took us to Redneck Heaven for lunch. This place is similar to Hooters but a little more risque, the best description is that the waitresses are using it as a stepping stone to working in a strip club. The food is cheap in big quantities and the beer is cheap so all is well. Upon hearing that I'm English I had all the girls coming over to talk to me and tell me of their plans to kidnap me. I can think of worse kidnapping scenarios.

Wikipedia
When the Dallas area was being settled by American pioneers, many of the settlers traveled by wagon trains along the old Shawnee Trail. This trail was also used for cattle drives north from Austin. This trail later became the Preston Trail, and later, Preston Road. Preston Road is one of the oldest north-south roads in all of Texas. With all of this activity, the community of Lebanon was founded along this trail and granted a U.S. post office in 1860. In 1902, a line of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway was being built through the area, and periodic watering holes were needed along the rails for the steam engines. The current settlement of Lebanon was on the Preston Ridge and was thus too high in elevation, so the watering hole was placed about four miles (6 km) to the west on lower ground. A community grew around this train stop. Residents of Lebanon actually moved their houses to the new community on logs. The new town was originally named Emerson, but that name was rejected by the U.S. Postal Service as being too similar to another town in Texas. In 1904, the residents chose Frisco City in honor of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway on which the town was founded, later shortened to its present name.

The restaurant have different dress up days throughout the year, from naughty nurse, maids, school girl etc. Today was bikini day with bum cracks on display left, right, and centre. Apparently on 'clothes that aren't clothes' day there is a queue outside waiting for it to open and an average 2 hour waiting time to get a table throughout the day.

I Want To Be A Redneck If This Is What It's Like

Top Golf

After an entertaining lunch we went on to Top Golf. This is like a driving range but with a twist. Rather than just hitting it as far as you can or onto the greens, the flag is in the middle of a netted circle that is split up into sections. The golf ball has a chip inside it to track where it lands and if you get it in the netted circle you get points, the more points the closer you get to the flag. Despite having fun and a few beers, I still don't understand how golf is classed as a relaxing sport. The little white piece of crap won't go where I tell it to go, ever. There are multiple different games to play, from just hit it wherever you want, to the computer telling you which hole to aim for. 

On our return we were greeted with tortillas with pork and beef, Texan food is very good; although if you're a vegetarian they'll probably drag you out into the street and shoot you. After another good nights sleep we packed up, said our goodbyes, and started the long trip home. Due to lack of time and lack of money we couldn't see Memphis, Amish Town or anything in between but the later we will try to do before I come back to England.

By the time we got home we had driven 6228.1 miles and pushed the car over the 100000 miles mark. In my honest opinion the south of America is much better than the north. The people are very friendly and the way of life is very laid back. My favourite places are the majority of Tennessee and New Orleans (minus getting robbed). If I had to recommend America to anyone, I'd recommend the south. The only bad thing about travelling round the south is that I have picked up a liking for country music and as soon as I get a little workshop the first thing I'm going to make is a rocking chair.