Sara and I love to travel and experience new things, even if those new things seem trivial to others. However, we do like to take advantage of where we live. Not that we’ve done so on purpose, but in the ten year we’ve been married, we’ve lived in four differnt cities in three differnt states (more if you count our six month stint in Georgia). So the thing we’ve learned is that we have to take advantage of seeing everything there is around us while we’re there. Otherwise, we may regreat never having seen ________ or not having visited ________. Personally, I’d be real happy to stay put for now. I love what I’m doing at Gateway and we love where we live. Plus, there are enough things to do around her to keep us buys for a decade.

So, in addition to our BBQ challenge, we’re taking on the Swimming Hole Challenge as well.

One thing we noticed since living in central Texas is that people around here love their swimming holes. More than any other place I’ve ever seen, these people love their rivers, lakes and stream. I guess it’s making up for the fact that Texas doesn’t have the best beaches. I was first exposed to this when we moved here and we saw Barton Creek in Zilker Park. Just south of downtown is a HUGE, beautiful spring fed swimming hole that people swim in year round (the temperature of the water is 68 degrees year round). Then we started to hear about all the people who tube down the Guadalupe or swim in the Frio. Then last summer Texas Monthy, the same magazine that ran the BBQ competition, had an article about the best spots to swim in Texas. Most of these swimming holes are close to where we live, so Sara and I (Titus too) are going to plunge in to all that we can.

Below is the list from Texas Monthy:

1. Barton Springs – Austin.
2. Blue Hole – Wimberly
3. Brinks Crossing – Cedar Point
4. Balmorhea State Park – Toyhavale
5. Hamilton Pool – Travis County
6. Garner State Park – Uvalde County
7. Schlitterbahn West – New Braunfels
8. Deep Eddy Pool – Austin
9. Medina River – Near Bandera
10. Fort Clark Springs – Bracketville
11. Krause Springs – Spicewood
12. Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area – Ratcliff
13. City Tube Chute – New Braunfels
14. Lake Raven – Huntsville
15. Utopia City Park – Utopia
16. Burger’s Lake – Fort Worth
17. The Quince – Camp Wood
18. The Slab – Kingsland
19. Cypress Bend Park – New Braunfels
20. Lake Fryer at Wolf Creek Park – Perryton
21. Rio Vista Park – San Marcos
22. Hunt Crossing – Hunt
23. Village Creek State Park – Lumberton
24. Blanco State Park – Blanco
25. Hancock Springs Pool – Lampasas

In addition to this list, I found another list of top swimming spots. I won’t include repeats from the previous list:

1. Lake Whitney
2. Pedernales Falls
3. Mustang Island State Park
4. Guadalupe River State Park
5. Colorado Bend State Park

There you have it. That’s 30 swimming holes. There are a few that may be a little futher out of our way and aren’t as high of a priority. However, we’re going to hit as many of these as we can. We’ve already been to Hamilton Pool and we anticipate going there again soon. Between our busy schedules and all, I assume that this will take us 2-3 years to complete. So, if you’re in the area, you like to swim and are up for a bit of adventure – let us know and we’ll put it on the schedule!

Cooper’s BBQ (where we went to get such good BBQ) is voted the best BBQ in Hill Country and among the top 50 BBQ joints in Texas. I was curious. What’s the best BBQ in Texas. A quick google search revealed the top 50 BBQ locations in TX by Texas Monthly Magazine. This review was from 2008, but who really cares if it was last year. What was most intriguing was that the top five BBQ spots in TX are all within an hour of Austin.

You know what that means, right?

So, the BBQ challenge is that over the next 2-3 months, Sara and I (Titus too) are going to visit the top five BBQ restaurants in Texas. Being that Texas style BBQ is far superior to the other variations of BBQ, these places could possibly be the top five in the world.

So, we’ll be keeping you posted on where we go and when. I’ll write about the visit and adventure here on www.kennyandsara.com and Sara will probably write her detailed review at www.dixiegypsie.com. Our first appointment is already scheduled for mid-June. We’re hitting Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX. Yum, I can’t wait.

Here’s a link to the top 50 BBQ in TX.

The #1: Snow’s BBQ in Lexington
Top 5: Kreuz Market in Lockhart
Top 5: Smitty’s Market in Lockhart
Top 5: City Market in Luling
Top 5: Louie Mueller Barbeque in Taylor