Texas Travels: White Oak, Texas

Yes, another Texas Travels blog post! I haven't had a stay-out in quite some time. Well, that's actually a lie now that I'm looking at my work schedule. I was out of town in May in a tiny town called Cooper, staying in another tiny town called Paris (as in Paris, Texas...don't be ridiculous. The State of Texas is going through a budget crisis, we can't afford to be gallivanting through France). Anyhow, this week I'm working in White Oak, Texas. Where is White Oak, you ask? I couldn't really even begin to tell you. I didn't drive out here. All I know is that I'm about 15 minutes away from Longview. I couldn't even tell you if I'm north, east, south, or west of Longview. But after doing a quick Google Maps search, it turns out White Oak is west of Longview. 

So what is White Oak known for? From the looks of it, nothing. I kid, I kid. But in all seriousness, I don't think White Oak is known for anything. Their official website tells me that the town is located 125 miles east of Dallas, has a population of approximately 5,600 people, and hosts something called the White Oak Roughneck Day Festival (I don't think I want to know what that is). Pretty much all I know about White Oak is that there is a state bank out here with THE biggest flagpole I have ever seen in my life. 

Truth be told, I didn't mind coming out to the middle of nowhere. Want to know why? It may sound ridiculous, but I was a little bit giddy knowing that I was scheduled to come out to the East Texas area...because of the food. Yes, the food. You see, on this job, we go to these small towns that we normally would probably never have gone to. And we get to sample the local cuisine. Now, White Oak doesn't have much to offer as far as local cuisine, but Longview...there's plenty in Longview. Such as...

Jucy's Hamburgers

Amazingly delicious hamburgers with patties bigger than the buns. The burger patties are so "jucy" that they literally fall apart and practically melt in your mouth. Avoid this place if you're on a diet. Everything in moderation, people.

Dudley's Cajun Cafe

Pretty decent Cajun seafood. I had the fried catfish, which came with more fries than I knew what to do with. If you go to Dudley's, you need to accept their offer for complimentary coleslaw before your meal. So good.

Random Sidenote: I took this picture at Dudley's - a basket FULL of saltine crackers. It reminded me of some of my coworker friends. While we were in Cooper, a few of us attempted the "eat 5 saltines in a minute" challenge. Have you ever tried it? Don't. Shelby opted for the 2-crackers-at-a-time technique. She realized her mistake after the first bite. Patrick also tried this technique and he ended up spitting cracker all over his sleeve. I was laughing too hard at the both of them to even finish one cracker. Epic fail.

Pizza King

Delicious, delicious pizza. Oh, so tasty.

Now these aren't the fanciest of dining establishments, by any stretch of the imagination. But they do serve some of the best food around. And, of course, no trip to East Texas is complete without a stop at the Country Tavern in Kilgore for some of the best ribs around!

Lastly, I just had to share this picture. This was my favorite part of the bank. And yes, I took my phone to the bathroom - that's what I call dedication to blogging.

Texas Travels: Sherman, Texas

I spent the last two weeks in Sherman, TX. Sherman is about 80 miles north of Dallas off Highway 75.  It's not too far from home, but far enough that it requires staying out. This was my fourth time to stay in Sherman and just when I thought I knew everything about this small town, one of the bankers told us about a taco bus. An old school bus turned into a restaurant? We had to check it out. We were told that it was about 10 miles north of the bank we were at, in the parking lot of a liquor store. Classy. When we found it, it was just as we expected. A school bus. Turned into a restaurant.

Taco Hondumex is run by a husband and wife. There is actually seating inside the bus, but there's also a few picnic tables set up outside. They have tacos, burritos, sopes, tamales, etc. And it's super cheap! I got a pork sopes and a soda and my lunch was only $5.50 including tax! What a deal! This is pretty authentic Mexican food, and it was pretty tasty! So if you're ever in the area, go find the taco bus!

Taco Hondumex
2301 Highway 691
Denison, TX

Texas Travels: Lindale, Texas

I spent the last week of my life in Lindale, Texas. Lindale is located east of Dallas, approximately 20 miles north of Tyler, off of Interstate-20. What is Lindale's claim to fame? Home of country singer Miranda Lambert

and beautiful Tyler roses.

Unfortunately, I'm not so much a country music fan and those beautiful roses don't bloom until May. I, however, was very much looking forward to my stay in east Texas. Why? Feast your eyes on THIS.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you, the BEST. RIBS. EVER. Albeit, a little bit pricey (this is the medium rib plate, and cost me about $20), and a 30 minute drive from Lindale, I couldn't resist going to the Country Tavern for ribs last week. Twice. Don't judge me. The best, fall off the bone, ribs you will ever have in your life. So if you're ever in the east Texas area, stop by the Country Tavern and have a plate of ribs. And if you can stand it, get the blackberry cobbler for dessert. You won't regret it.

Country Tavern
State Highway 31 & FM 2767
Kilgore, Texas

Texas Travels: Life as a Bank Examiner

As you know, David and I met at work. What you might not know, is what it is exactly that we do. We both work for the state department of banking. We go from bank to bank ensuring the safety and soudness of each institution. What do we love about our job? We work 9 hour days and get every other Friday off. We get comp time for state holidays such as LBJ's birthday and Texas Independence Day. We accrue so much vacation time, we sometimes have to take a week off, just so that we don't lose it. What do we sometimes hate about our job? Hands down, the time we have to spend away from home. Our jobs entail A LOT of travel. The good news is that we spend every weekend at home. The bad news? We sometimes have to go to rinky-dink small towns throughout the state.

We work in the Arlington office, so we cover basically all of north Texas. We go north to Sherman, northeast to Texarkana, east to Longview, south to Waco, west to almost Abilene, and northwest to Wichita Falls.

The fun part about traveling all over north Texas is learning about what to do and where to go when you're in these small towns. So I thought it would be neat to kind of showcase each town we go to! So follow along as I show you around north Texas!