The Cheese Weasels Do Big Bend, Texas

[Stichill_imp]

Yeah Big Bend is a place apart from the rest of Texas in many ways. It's an extension of the ecosystem of the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahuan_Desert]Chihuahuan Desert. The [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisos_Mountains]Chisos Mountains are entirely contained within the park boundaries, and are sometimes counted as a northern extension of Mexico's [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_del_Carmen]Sierra del Carmen.


After coming down off the mountain, it was getting close to 2:00pm and we were hungry. Luckily, the restaurant at Chisos Mountains Lodge was nearby, so off we headed to grab a bite.





I had a plate of enchiladas with refried beans and a baked jalapeño pepper on top. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad either...about what you'd expect from a national park restaurant.

Sitting next to us was a retired couple from Germany. After a long consultation with the waitress, the man ordered chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. When the meal came, he wasn't happy. He was mad that the steak was breaded and fried, and mad that there was white gravy poured over everything. And he was mad that the Texas Toast was just thick, floppy, oily white bread. He tried to pick all the breading off the meat and scrape off all the gravy. Finally he said, "This is $&!+." We said, "It's not what you ordered?" He said, "Gravy, gravy, gravy, gravy! Why? And soft bread! No good bread! No good bread in America! No, wait...I can get good bread at H*E*B. H...E...B. Only H.E.B has good bread! Not this $&!+!"

We just shrugged and felt bad that the guy was letting something like that ruin his day. He said they'd been here five months...I guess he was just homesick.

That is about my favorite meal. Texas Comfort Food. So sorry he couldn't enjoy the local eccentricities. "When in Rome..."

Absolutely. I've found that one key to traveling well is adopting local customs and cuisine as much as possible.