Bets, beer, bordello, barbecue, chocolate, and cheap cigarettes. Forget making New Year’s resolutions this year. Admit and embrace your vices with gusto at these places:
Enjoy a little gaming in the smoke-filled and ear-splitting WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. Four hours north of Austin on I-35, the resort on Chickasaw Nation land has many ways to lighten your wallet and have fun.
When in far West Texas drink like the locals. Grab a cold Big Bend Brewing Company Tejas Lager. Belly up to the taproom in Alpine Wednesday through Saturday with tours on Saturday afternoons.
Miss Hattie ran her brothel in San Angelo for nearly 50 years. The furnishings of her cathouse were discovered undisturbed 20 years after it was shut down by the Texas Rangers. Tour Miss Hattie’s Bordello Museum Tuesday through Saturday.
Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in Llano is a good reason to unapologetically celebrate your carnivorous heritage. The pork chops are big and delicious, and the brisket is dripping with flavor. Select your cut of heart-stopping goodness right off the pit.
Two Greek brothers arrived in Abilene in 1912, and Candies by Vletas has been churning out sweetness ever since. They say that chocolate is a sin, but dark chocolate is a health food.
Avoid paying taxes on your coffin nails by getting your smokes at the Alabama-Coushatta Smoke Shops in Livingston, Leggett, and Humble. The tribe’s tax status allows the duty-free selling of tobacco products.
1,328th in a series. Collect them all. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of “Day Trips,” is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 40312, South Austin, TX 78704.
Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a weekly travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.
This article appears in January 6 • 2017.
