A Food Dilettante's Musings: Texas: Fort Davis

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Chuck Wagon: BBQ in Fort Davis, TX

Before the Star Party at the McDonald Observatory, we chowed down at the Chuck Wagon.

There's nothing as desirable as a big jug of ice cold sweet tea in the desert, and I'm forever grateful to the Chuck Wagon for serving them.

Texas-Size Sweet Tea

Homemade BBQ Sauces-(left to right) Spicy, Sweet, and Vinegary

You're not going to find the best BBQ in Texas here, but you'll find big portions of passable BBQ meats with pretty darn good BBQ sauce. It's really silly to be picky about food in west Texas so I was quite satisfied with our meal.

"The Big Haul"-Chicken, Sausage, Brisket, and Ribs with Cole Slaw, Beans, Fries, and Toast

Stuffed Baked Potato

After dinner, we headed to the McDonald Observatory for a pre-Star Party educational tour and Star Party. I highly recommend doing any of the tours at the observatory. I learned a lot of fascinating things about stars and even brushed up on my foggy knowledge of the planets. The best part was seeing Saturn TWICE through two different high-powered telescopes. We saw the freakin' rings of Saturn!!!! Unfortunately I couldn't take a photo of it through the telescope.

Sunset at the McDonald Observatory

Venus and The Moon seen outside the McDonald Observatory

The next day, we ordered breakfast burritos and a peach pancake from the Chuck Wagon. The burritos were cheap, gigantic, and delicious. Breakfast was better than dinner!

Peach Pancake

Breakfast Burrito-eggs, sausage, bacon, country ham, grilled potatoes, sliced tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, and cheese

Picnic Fare from Stone Village Market in Fort Davis

After two nights in Marfa, we headed to Fort Davis. I found Fort Davis quite likable. The landscape of the Davis Mountains is very varied throughout the scenic loop. You have to drive through the full Loop 118 if you're in Fort Davis. It's absolutely gorgeous, and you may just be given a friendly warning by a hot state trooper like we did for going slightly over the speed limit.

When we got into town, it was about lunch time. We wanted to make sure that we had time to visit the Fort Davis Historic Site as well as drive the entire scenic loop, have dinner, and drive back on the loop for the Star Party at the McDonald Observatory. We opted to grab some picnic fare at the Stone Village Market in town and to eat at the historic site.

I read a lot about how great The Get Go is in Marfa, but the Stone Village Market in Fort Davis (507 N State St, Fort Davis, TX 79734) is certainly superior in variety and freshness.

Stone Village Market; Deli Counter

Boy did we have a fantastic lunch! Fickle Foodie had the roast beef on Jewish rye bread, mom and I shared a turkey with Monterrey Jack cheese on wheat bread, and we shared deviled eggs and bacon potato salad from Stone Village Market. We drank Apple Sidra that we had brought along with us from Austin and ate peach empanadas that we had purchased from one of the vendors at Farm Stand Marfa that morning.