LOCKHART

I have so many places that I want to go in Texas!  But with NBA playoffs keeping me close to home, I don’t have a lot of time to travel.  You can relate to that, I’m sure.  So why not go somewhere close by?

I chose Lockhart State Park, which is about 40 minutes away from home.  It’s a small, but unique park.  It’s the only Texas state park with a staff-operated nine-hole golf course.  And it’s in a town known for it’s flashy courthouse and classic BBQ.

When I arrived at the park, I set up my camp site and looked around.  It was a beautiful day and the sites backed up to Clear Fork Creek.  It was calm and serene, so I decided to hike before dinner.

There are several short trails, all of which add up to about 3-4 miles.  I mapped out a 2-2.5 mile hike, starting at the Recreation Hall.

The Recreation Hall and Water Tower were built in the 1930’s by the CCC and they sit at the highest point in the park.  I figured it’d all be down hill from there.

I started on the Caddy Trail (.08 mi), which is short, but rocky.

Then went on to the Chisholm Trail (.54 mi), with a short detour to the Comanche Loop (.14 mi). The Chisholm Trail starts near hole 3 on the golf course.  It’s a bit of a surreal experience to be hiking through rugged terrain and suddenly peek through the trees to a golf green.

The Comanche Loop has some nice plant life with wildflowers and cactus.

I followed Chisholm Trail to Fence Line Trail (.21 mi), and skipped over to Persimmon Trail (.18 mi).  Then I took Creekview Trail (.18 mi), which includes the Old Fishing Hole.  That was my favorite part of the hike.  I stopped and sat there in the evening light for a while.  It was cool and quiet.  Recent storms made the water cloudy, but when it’s clear, you can see fish swimming around.

From Creekview Trail, I intended on taking Clear Fork Trail (.47 mi) past the camping area, but in order to do that, I had to cross a creek.  Normally there’s a spot on the trail that’s dry and easy to cross.  That day, though, the dry spot was a waterfall that lead to a semi-flooded picnic area.  Crossing safely wasn’t a possibility, so I walked the camp road instead.

To get back to the Recreation Center and complete my loop, I took the CCC Trail (.09 mi), which is really more of a long staircase.  All that downhill hiking caught up to me there.

When I finished my hike, I was starving.  You can’t go to Lockhart and not eat BBQ.

There are three main BBQ restaurants in Lockhart – Black’s, Kreuz Market and Smitty’s.  All of them are family owned.  All of them are famous.  All of them are delicious.

I chose to go to Black’s BBQ, the place that’s been around the longest, for dinner.

Black’s is right off the down town square.  It definitely has a family atmosphere.  I felt completely at home from the time I walked in.

Just inside the door, they hand you a plate and you help yourself to sides as you make your way up to the counter, where they slice your meat and charge you by the pound.

I had lean brisket with mashed potatoes and mac n cheese.  Everything was perfect.

On the way back to my camp site (after a stop at Dairy Queen), I saw the high school football stadium.  It’s such a quintessential small-town stadium.  I wanted to photograph it.

I took my camera, tripod and locking trigger to the field and left the shutter open as people ran around the track.  I tried to light paint the stands, but it just wasn’t turning out how I wanted.  Instead, a long exposure left me with a clean, simple shot.

You know how much I love night shots, so I tried again to get a shot of the evening sky from a camp road.  By then, though, the full moon had risen and it was far too bright to see stars.  My best 30-minute exposure yielded me with this.

So with a sigh, I gave up and crawled in to my tent for the night.

In the morning, I got up and ate some breakfast before tackling my biggest challenge – golf.

Other than mini golf, I have very little golf experience.  I’ve seen other people do it, and I know some of the rules, but I’ve barely even held a driver.

I rented clubs and a golf cart and used a couple of reclaimed balls from the course that the ranger was kind enough to lend me, but other than that, I was on my own.  They don’t have golf pros or anyone who can teach you to swing a club.  I just had to go off of the little knowledge I had in my head.

And with that explanation, here’s the video…

I golfed five holes, with much of my time spent letting others play through, before it was time for me to pack up my camp site.  It was pretty clear that I didn’t have any idea what I was doing.  It was fun, though.  I enjoyed trying!

Next time maybe someone can give me a lesson.

Like I said, I packed up my camp site and left the park.  Before I went home, though, I had one more BBQ place to visit.

This time I went to Kreuz Market.  It was on my way out of town and I’d never been there before.  The restaurant is in a large barn, and I expected that it’d be sort of cheesy and commercial inside, but I was completely wrong.

You walk in the front door and go all the way to the back, where the BBQ pits are.  It’s practically ancient looking back there.  With the fires and the bricks and steel, it’s sort of reminiscent of a blacksmith’s shop.  Anyway, that’s where you get your meat.  They wrap it up in brown paper, then they send you over to what looks like a little grocery store counter for your sides.  You pay separately for each.

I sat down to eat and noticed they gave me two spoons and a knife.  I also noticed there wasn’t any BBQ sauce on the table.

I walked up to the counter and asked for a fork.  Don’t do that.  Just take my word for it, they don’t use forks.  After that embarrassment, I didn’t ask for BBQ sauce.  I looked around and no one else had sauce either, so I chalked it up to quirkiness and sat down to eat.

I ordered the same thing I did at Black’s – brisket, potatoes and mac n cheese.

This is just my opinion, but I thought the brisket was way too dry to not offer sauce.  The sides were just okay, but I didn’t have high expectations there.  That little plastic bottle contains some kind of salt mixture.  It didn’t add much flavor, just salt.

I much preferred Black’s, but I know Kreuz has many fans.

After I finished lunch, I headed back home to prepare for another Spurs game.

Here are some links to help you plan your trip:
Lockhart State Park  (including camp site, pool and golf course info)
Trail Guide  (including all trails and golf holes)
Black’s BBQ  (my favorite)
Kreuz Market  (not my favorite)
Smitty’s  (also good)