Whatcha Eatin? Part One: Aggieland

{Scarlett here}

Hello everybody! This report is coming to you live from my home state of Texas. I've been sent here for work and took a few extra days of vacation to see some of my favorite cities and friends in the Lone Star State. I met up with my ol' pal Work Girl for an epic road trip across Central Texas that involved 1) loud, prolonged laughter, 2) awesome hotel rooms, 3) singing along to the radio in her Mini Cooper and 4) making lots and lots of good memories. However, the definitive part of our trip, the one thing that everything else revolved around, ended up being -- you guessed it -- food.

I looove food. I've always enjoyed going out to eat, and one of the things I miss most about not living in Texas are my favorite food groups: Mexican, bbq, and fried. Sure, you can find imitations in Washington, DC, but let me tell you, it's not the same. So I set out on this vacation with very specific ideas about exactly where and what I wanted to eat.

My first foodie experience was in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex. I had a gourmet, 5-star breakfast at the buttcrack of dawn on Saturday morning. In a gas station. With a two police officers, a judge, and a detective (my very own brother). Most cops get donuts and cheap coffee for breakfast, right? Not these. I was treated to a first class meal of yummy breakfast tacos and freshly brewed coffee at what's billed as a five star restaurant. You just have to walk past a couple of gas pumps and through the potato chip aisle to get to it. I also got to catch up on on the lastest scuttlebut on crooks, theives, and ne'er-do-wells. I'm telling you, this was better than cable tv.

I went back to the police station with my brother, where Work Girl picked me up to start our road trip. (Let's hope that's the LAST time you have to pick me up at the police station, right??) Our first destination: College Station, home of Texas A&M University, our alma mater. I hadn't been back since I walked the stage for my Master's two years ago. Combine my excitement about going back with about 8 cups of coffee that I'd had that morning and I was practically bouncing around the Mini Cooper like a rubber ball. We intended to be in College Station in time for lunch but because of rain (yeah, let's blame it on the rain) by about 12:30ish we were still on the road, getting hungry, and needing a(nother) bathroom break. We were conveneintly passing through Small Town Texas and noticed a Dairy Queen. We decided to pull in to use their facilities and agreed that it would be rude to not order anything. To be polite, we decided to get a blizzard: chocolate, with Reese's Pieces. It was a nice prelude to our much-anticipated triumphal entry to College Station and Wings n More, our favorite local restaurant (don't judge.)

Both Work Girl and I had fond and vivid memories of Wings n More. We'd had dates there. Lots and lots of dates. We remembered exactly how it looked, exactly what the waitresses wore, and exactly how it was supposed to taste. So when we walked in and noticed some changes we were alarmed. First of all was the menu. Not only did it look different, they'd changed the minimum number of wings you had to order from 6 to 10. (OK fine, I'll get 10.) Second was the ketchup bottles. They used to have those red cylinders with the little plastic cones on top that allowed you to create designs on your French fries. No more. Those have been replaced with fat Heinz bottles. So much for the smiley face I was going to make. And they got rid of the huge rolls of brown paper towels on each table and instead had a pristine stack of white napkins. Sigh. Grudgingly we ordered the wings, the fried pickles, the chicken tenders and fries, the Dr. Peppers and the side of ranch, hoping against hope that it would come out the same as we remembered but fearing that these imposters who took over the place might not know how things are supposed to be run. At least in that regard, our fears were misplaced. The pickles? Delish, hot and crispy. The wings? Spicy, messy and juicy, just how they're supposed to be. The fries? Delectable, despite the tampered-with ketchup. The Dr. Pepper? Just as good as we remembered.

The rest of our food experience in College Station was also divine. We went to La Bodega for dinner and had the BEST baja-Cali tacos. I chose the pulled pork while Work Girl tried the sushi taco. I paired mine with a frozen margarita swirled with sangria. Yum! The next morning, or ok maybe it was noon, we went to our favorite coffee shop hangout, Sweet Eugene's, for brunch. I have spent HOURS in that place, reading, cramming, and consuming just about every latte combination they have. This time I got a cappucino and a jalepeno, sausage and cheese kolache. Work Girl had a non-fat chai and egg and cheese bagel. We sat in a cute little table near the window while we enjoyed our food and reminisced. The whole combo was so good that I had another. (What, those kolaches are small.)  We capped off our visit to College Station by driving through campus and looking at our old dorms, our old dining halls and our old classroom buildings, awww.

And with that, we set out in the rain for Austin. To find out what we ate, um, I mean what we saw, um, I mean all of the culture we consumed in the state capital, stay tuned for more from Work Girl.