Darren and I went to Beaumont to get some BBQ from Patillo's. If you have never had Patillo's BBQ, you don't know what you are missing. You can't put it in any class of BBQ that you have ever had. It isn't Texas, Kansas City or Carolina style BBQ. It's just Patillo's. I've been eating this stuff since I was old enough to remember. My dad used to bring us BBQ from when they were located in a shack next to the railroad yards. They are located on
11th street across from St Elizabeth Hospital Washington Blvd at Fannett Road, the old location is now a Jack In The Box. It is well worth the trip for some good BBQ. Don't forget to get one of their links!
(I sent this picture to my brother, who also loves Patillo's right after we finished. His response was "You Suck!")
To the matter at hand. I called BMT a couple of days before we left and asked if they had a crew car. They did, but you had to leave a credit card because they have had a few people forgot to give the keys back. According to the guy at Beaumont Wings (the FBO), it costs $100 to get a new key because of the chip in the key. After giving my credit card and getting the keys, it looks like the keys are worth more than the car. This
cream puff has a couple of interesting features.
First thing you notice when you get in is the cassette player. It had a cassette in it and Darren tried to eject it and see who it was but it made a sound like sheep sheerers being turned on. This continued for 3 tries. Next was the lack of A/C. It's Texas and it gets hot here. You need A/C. Oh well, we'll roll down the windows and work on our Bubba tans. NOT! The driver window would roll down but not the passenger window. The rear passenger window would roll down but not the driver side.
So we took off to get us some BBQ. This thing drove like a boat. It sloshed around like a boat trying to ride the wake from another boat. We finally made it to Patillo's, docked this beast, got our food and brought 4 lbs back to the plane for the girls. But not before we took this picture below. I don't know what it means, but it is Beaumont after all, where lot's of things don't make any sense.
When we got back to BMT, we took some pictures of a bunch of Chinook and Apache helicopters that were staged there. I don't know if they were going or coming, but there were a lot of them.
Look in the background for the Apaches.
We finally said our goodbyes and headed off to Leesville (L39) but that is another story.
Two reasons why I chose KSSF over KSAT (San Antonio International). First, they don't charge a ramp fee for parking in front of the FBO (if you buy some fuel). Second, they charge a lot less for fuel. Third, because it's smaller, it's a lot easier to get into and out of quickly. There's no waiting on the ramp. Last and most importantly. We get outstanding service from Randy and his staff at San Antonio Aviation. Everyone there is friendly and they provide excellent service for their customers. Now on the the crew car...
It looked like a mercury marquis, but I couldn't tell you the year. There were a few things about this car that struck me. First, the A/C takes a good 20 to 30 seconds to kick on after you start the car. We were instructed by a series of post-it notes covering the window switches, not to roll down any of the windows (save for the driver's side window). There was a neat little crack in the windshield... and there was some kind of film on the windows (save for the driver's side window) that was not very well put on... in short, this was a crappy crew car. And I loved every minute of driving it! Did I mention that this thing drove like a boat riding in the wake of another, bigger boat. I was afraid to gun the engine and/or step on the brake too much for fear that the car would react in a very unsuspecting way... but hey, it did have a current inspection sticker on the windshield for whatever that's worth. Anyway, we had lunch with the grandparents as well as my wife's uncle and his girlfriend... and at the end of it all, we went to go pick up my mother-in-law who had been visiting her son for the last two weeks. We didn't test the radio or any of the other "amenities" that the car has to offer as I was concentrating on the road in front of me and controlling the SS Minnow.... I was concerned we'll have to throw down the anchor on this thing about a half of a mile ahead of our destination to stop the car, but we ended up parking in a structure at the top of a long uphill ramp that slowed up down to a manageable speed. Enjoy the pics.
