Required eating.

When in Texas, and in Austin in particular, one must eat barbecue. It's required. (They might let you off the hook if you plead vegetarianism, but I doubt it.) And so, one night not long after my arrival in Austin, our herd of nine people headed out to dinner at The County Line, one of Austin's myriad barbecue joints.

The location we went to is on the river, and in the warmer seasons (basically anytime but in the depths of winter) you can sit outside on the deck, or motor your boat right up to the place. The restaurant is massive and filled with memorabilia, lights and, well, stuff. It hangs from every rafter and fills every corner. It's awesome.

Also awesome? The honey wheat bread served with honey-touched butter. I thought I might die from happiness at its sweet, yeasty, chewy goodness. It had a firm crumb and a lovely, slightly crisp crust. And the slices were easily an inch thick. Heaven in a loaf.

And then, of course, we have the main event: beef ribs. County Line's sauce is sweet and tangy, with a hint of smoke thrown in for kick. The ribs are massive; I barely made it through one and a half of them before tiring and giving up the ghost, and I looked positively prehistoric while doing so. (Obviously, the leftovers came home with us.) All in all, it was a pretty badass eating experience - but it paled a bit in comparison to our trip to the Salt Lick a few days later.

More to come, my pets. Till then, may you have coleslaw days and barbecue dreams.