Cadillac Ranch and The Big Texan

Travelling through Texas is often quite daunting as the state is so BIG! It normally takes us two days just to skirt through the top part towards Louisiana. Yet, there is so much to see in Texas and better yet, so much to EAT!

This time I wanted to stop at a few places in Amarillo as we made our way through.

Cadillac Ranch is basically a sculpture made of Cadillacs that was built in 1974. The cars are embedded in the earth in a field just off the interstate (here), which makes for easy access. You get onto the side road, pull your car off to the side, and enter through a fence and walk out onto the field until you reach the cars. If you have dogs this is a great location for them to stretch their legs- on a leash of course!! They even encourage bringing spray paint to graffiti the cars! So fun! We didn't have any spray paint, but the cutest little boy offered us his can. 

After admiring the graffiti, we stopped for some lunch at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. At the Big Texan, they have a 72 oz. steak and if you can eat it, along with shrimp cocktail, a baked potato, salad, and a buttered roll, in under an hour, you get it for FREE! 
This challenge emerged in 1962 after the owner brought a bunch of tables together and told a group of cowboys that he wanted to see who could eat the most 1 lb steaks in an hour. The cost for the competition was $5 and whoever ate the most got the entrance fee waived. 
One cowboy took the lead when he ate 2 steaks right away and then requested a shrimp cocktail and baked potato to be served with his third steak. By the end of the hour this cowboy had eaten 4.5 steaks, the shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad, and a buttered roll. The full history is available here. 

We so wanted to eat in, but the weather was scorching hot and there was no way we could leave the dogs in the car during the meal. I went in and ordered some food to go. When I got outside we found this eating area called the doggie coral that was fenced in with a picnic table, so we let the dogs wonder around and ate our lunch... in the scorching hot weather. It was fun and the food was very good. 

The Big Texan is basically a little old western community. In addition to the restaurant, they have a hotel, casino, shopping, brewery, and RV ranch. It is very unique! 

These two pit stops made for a great travel day! There is so much to see in Texas and one day we will spend the time exploring it all. 

-S

Up Next: Florida