Sounds Good

Road trips make summer memories

Have you hit the road yet this season? Here are some of my highlights:

Bryan and College Station

I snapped the larger-than-life class ring sculpture at Texas A&M and toured the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. That was a full day, right there. I loved a brochure that pointed out a city ordinance boosting Aggie maroon and minimizing Texas University orange in the area. Apparently businesses such as What-a-Burger and Home Depot which have the rival’s color as a main design are required to add some maroon to the structure.

Baton Rouge

Of all the great meals I had in New Orleans, I’m keeping Tony’s Seafood Market & Deli in Baton Rouge, La., on my tops list. It’s a big warehouse of a place with catfish swimming in a concrete basin on one end, and catfish being fried on the other. There’s no place to sit down, so after patiently waiting in a long line with people in their church clothes, we took our sandwiches to the car and ate under the partial shade of a tree. The toasted, pressed muffuletta was so good. I shared half of that an an oyster po-boy with my husband. I can’t even tell you how or why that oyster sandwich was so amazing. We are still talking about it.

Fort Worth

You can walk right by the Fort Worth Water Gardens without realizing the sublevel wonder is right beside you. At street level, near the convention center, you can barely hear the roar of water falling down crazy banks of steps built at unusual angles. You may not realize there are families, couples and perhaps quinceanera girls getting photographed. I found it and my jaw dropped. Then, I realized you could walk down into it, so I did. After dinner, I was again impressed to see it at night, all lighted. I posed for a News is Everywhere photo, which Roger will maybe run. I had been to Fort Worth within the year and walked through part of this complex without discovering the water gardens. After I posed this on Facebook, someone noted that a scene from “Logan’s Run,” a 1976 science fiction movie, was filmed there. I Googled that a bit and decided it’s one I want to catch.

Another Fort Worth highlight: Spotting a nacho truck that looked like the bed was filled with giant tortilla chips draped in cheese and jalapeno slices.

ddoiron@panews.com