The Daytripper

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Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Texas local bottler providing the Lone star state with a variety of Coca-Cola products.

- How can a sound you've likely never heard of be rewriting history?

Well get ready.

We're gonna visit an archeological site that's uncovering humanity's hidden past, and tour a company leading the space race to the future.

We'll test our skills on a hero's range, and then go full Italiano as we sip on some Vino and eat some stromboli.

After all, this is Florence, ey!

- Is that really how they say it?

- No, that's not how they say it at all.

- I didn't think so.

(bright music) (upbeat music) - Florence is small and easy to miss, but sits about 45 minutes from downtown Austin and very near the northern edge of the Hill Country.

So Florence, Texas is not named after the famous Italian city, but rather after the original postmaster's hometown of Florence, Alabama, or the original town merchant's daughter, who knows.

Either way, this is a Texas original that at one point had its own college and its own railroad line.

Now the past couple decades have been a little bit slow in Florence, but recently, a bit of a renaissance is rising.

(bright music) Now Florence, Italy might have been the heart of Europe's renaissance in the 1500s as they explored art and science like never before.

But move over, Da Vinci, because Texas is having its own renaissance, and like y'all, we're making discoveries literally changing the world.

It's just a bit peculiar that some of our new discoveries are about things that happened 20,000 years ago.

Confused?

Well so is the entire school of archeology, all because of this unassuming ranch in Florence, Texas known the world over as the Gault site.

And this is Board Member Tim Brown.

It's not an overstatement to say that the Gault site changed the entire narrative of the North American continent.

- Well said.

This is one of the most important archeological sites in North America.

- It blows my mind because it's in one of the most unexpected, you know, unpublicized parts of Texas right here.

- Well I tell people one of the most remarkable things about it is it's so unremarkable, and yet what's under our feet is so important in terms of what we've learned about the early presence of man in the Western hemisphere.

- So generally speaking, the further down you dig, the further back in time you go.

And for about a century, we've thought humans first came to North America 13,000 years ago.

We call them the Clovis people, but then came Gault with undeniable evidence of humans right here 20,000 years ago.

It was an archeological bomb.

What do they find that goes back 20,000 years?

- The projectional points like this, clearly somebody took the time to sit there and engrave designs on this little piece of rock.

What it meant to them, we have no idea.

This one we refer to as the Wheatstone.

It's got stems, and then up here it looks like little seed pods of some kind of plant.

- That's cool.

So these are like prehistoric doodles, basically?

- Yeah.

- Before the big discoveries, this ranch had been known for decades as a great place to pay to dig for arrowheads.

The sheer abundance of artifacts caught the attention of Dr.

Michael Collins, who knew there had to be more.

And after eight years of digging, he and his team not only uncovered our continent's largest treasure trove of Clovis material, but also artifacts that predate Clovis by thousands of years.

- A complete surprise.

This is the older than Clovis material.

They look more like something in the archaic much later.

But this is 5,000 years older than that.

- So I see this.

Is this the right depth?

- That is, the archaic material that's three and 4,000 years old is up here, and then you get down into the Clovis stuff down here.

You can see artifacts sticking out.

- Oh my gosh.

- And it's amazing how much important material gets tossed over the shoulder of people who are just artifact collectors.

- Yeah, I'm probably guilty of all that.

Ah, it doesn't have a point or ah, yeah, it doesn't look like somethin,g you know, you get in a souvenir shop.

- Precisely.

- Now the points they found are not arrowheads.

Bow and arrow didn't exist yet.

They're spear points for an atlatl .

- Like that.

- Okay.

That could kill a mammoth, I think.

Have you gotten better at this over the years?

- I've never had to fool with them.

- That was his first throw ever.

- Showing somebody how to do it is as far as I go.

- Full baseball wind up.

- Release, yeah, nice.

- Oh, yep, that's it, definitely killed that animal.

We're not eating for a few days, guys, sorry.

I guess I would've been a little more gatherer than hunter.

Time to get our boots dirty and see the actual site, which oddly looks just like every other ranch in the area.

So what made this one special?

- You've got this high quality shirt that's embedded in this Edwards limestone and then erodes out on these cliff faces, but it also erodes out on these slopes.

So the prehistoric tool makers love this stuff.

- Your supply store.

- That's your hardware store right there, yep.

- The deep pits have been filled in to protect the remaining artifacts, but there are fragments everywhere.

- The first time I saw this place, it looked like a war zone.

- Bring a shovel and you might find a couple arrowheads.

- Or you might find a hat full.

It was a rich site.

It was a vast archaic site.

- So look at this, all lithic scatter pieces that have been broken off by human hands as they were trying to make a point.

Daniel, you're standing on prehistoric artifacts.

Move back.

No, don't stand there, move over.

- What are you doing?

- So Chet's got the bug.

- Tim, but see, the bad thing is once you start, you can't stop.

- Believe me, it's a disease.

- Hey Greg, just hold all this for me.

You're gonna make me an art and craft later.

No, we didn't actually take artifacts, but it is amazing to stand in the place that's helping uncover the true story of how we got here.

How much is just under our feet left to be discovered?

- That's the question that makes all this worthwhile.

We think we've got everything figured out and we're just scratching the surface.

What's been learned here at Gault if it taught us anything is that we don't know much.

- That right there just gets me so inspired for the future.

- Yeah, exactly.

- What will our grandkids know that we'll go, "Ah, how did we miss it?"

- How did we miss it?

- Nothing like a prehistoric walk to get some perspective on just how long people have lived in this land we now call Texas.

(upbeat music) Our Texas passport is filling up by the day.

So we went to Canadian, then we went to Paris, now we're in Florence.

- Is there a Machu Picchu, Texas someplace maybe?

I feel like it's so worldly right now.

- Our office is like half an hour from here.

- Less, I think.

Hey, this is what we do on day trips.

We show people that like you don't have to travel far to find a big adventure.

- But you're supposed to day tripper them, not us.

- Yeah.

Everybody getting day tripped on this one, but it's time for us to be getting lunched too.

Downtown Florence has a handful of great restaurants, but with one undeniable community hub, the Florence Beer Market, but more than just a place of long necks and a dusty jukebox, the beer market is a craft Italian kitchen alongside cold craft beer.

This is owner Charles Montgomery, who was born and raised in Florence and worked for the original owner before buying the restaurant and becoming one of Florence's youngest entrepreneurs.

- Can I get you a beer?

- Oh, that's a great place to start.

- We've got 23 beers on tap.

- Well, I love all shot stuff.

Let's just go with the Kolsch.

No shortage of choices.

Charles partnered up with his parents and now employs his older brothers.

Not a bad deal.

So how old are you?

- I'm 21.

- 21.

- I bought the bar when I was 20, so I couldn't even drink beer at that point.

- Did you always wanna be a business owner?

- It was in the five year plan.

It wasn't in the immediate plan.

- A door opened and you ran through it.

- Yes, sir.

- How's it been?

- It's been amazing.

- Now is the Italian food because y'all are just really good at making Italian food?

Or is it like, because it's Florence, Italy, you gotta have Italian food?

- A little bit of both, but we're really good at making Italian food.

So we've got lasagna, pizza, stromboli, calzones.

- What should I get for lunch?

- The stromboli.

The stromboli is massive.

- Say no more.

I'm starving.

- So we make this dough every day.

We let it sit in the walk-in for a day, and then it turns into a stromboli.

- That's like perfect pizza dough.

This one comes loaded, ricotta, meat, more meat, and the entire produce department.

Let's throw a cheeseburger on it.

- At this point, yeah, and then you take it and pull it, fold it over, and it'll cook for about four or five minutes.

- Four minutes, I can't wait that long.

Come on now.

What's your favorite thing in the kitchen?

- It's probably the garlic parm wings.

- Well, let's make some of those too.

- Okay.

- I told y'all I was hungry.

You know, when in Florence, you eat the stromboli.

And the wings.

And I don't know how the wings fit into the whole Italian theme, but you know.

Ooh, yeah!

The dough.

The dough is on point.

All the toppings are great, and that's a fantastic stromboli I think actually it's the first stromboli we've eaten on "The Day Tripper."

We're breaking new "Day Tripper" ground right here.

How do you know we're in Texas?

Because you don't have to ask for ranch.

- I thought we didn't do ranch on pizza.

- I'm not eating pizza, Daniel.

This is a stromboli.

- I'm done, man.

- It's totally different.

- I am done.

- After I eat the stromboli, my David-esque figure is gonna go away.

If David had a dad bod, this is the sort of stromboli he would eat.

(speaking Italian) right here.

And while the Beer Market may be the busiest spot in downtown, it's definitely not the only spot worth checking out.

Holy cow, this is a great pillow.

You dream of steaks every night.

(cow moos) Pew pew pew pew pew.

A canned squirrel or canned raccoon?

- Canned coon, huh?

(Chet laughs) (Chet whistling) (upbeat music) - All right, back up.

How much money did we bring?

This glass case has no hope.

- I don't know about that.

And that didn't take long.

- Do I look sophisticated?

You know what they say about one man's trash being another man's treasure.

This is Florence.

- That's the first time I've seen you with a wig in your hand that you didn't put on your head.

- I think I have to buy this.

(eagle screeches) There's no better shirt on earth for July 4th.

Daniel, you're Dorothy, I'll be the cowardly lion.

You know, if you don't have time for a cupcake, then you're day tripping all wrong.

Now the Italian renaissance tried to give man the gift of flight.

Well that's old news now.

Here in this Texas renaissance, we're moving beyond earthly flight and heading straight for the stars.

While SpaceX and Blue Origin get lots of publicity, let me introduce y'all to a different company that's already set numerous records, Firefly Aerospace.

From this facility outside of Florence in the small town of Briggs, they're building the fastest, lightest rockets known to man.

Now they don't do scheduled public tours, but they open up often for schools and community groups.

So I thought it'd be a good chance to share it with all y'all.

And this is VP of Engineering, Bridget Oaks.

- So right now, we're actually in our manufacturing facility, and these are pieces of barrels and domes that come together for the fuel and aox tanks for the MLV rocket or our medium launch vehicle.

- Do you have to pinch yourself that you build rockets every day?

- Yeah, and spacecraft.

- And spacecraft, I mean it's high science, but a bit of an art too, right?

- I think composite specifically is definitely an art.

- Compositing carbon to make ultralight rockets is part of Firefly's secret sauce.

So secret in fact that we can't show you everything.

It's so light.

- Not only is it more light and has a strength that we wanna preserve, but it's scalable.

So we essentially can just drag the pen over, make the picture larger, and then we can go and build those much larger vehicles using the exact same technology.

- My goodness.

Firefly's vision is to give everybody access to space, not humans, but objects, satellites and instruments of every kind from government entities like NASA to private businesses.

They're also building spacecraft that can move items between different levels of orbit, something that's never been done.

Oh, and they can now even put things on the moon.

That blows my mind.

- And this was the first successful lunar lander from a commercial company to hit that, yeah.

- And needing stuff in space is not slowing down, right?

- Absolutely not, different commercial companies, different institutions want access in different ways.

Another one of the things we do really well is how quickly we can deliver.

We were able to get a call and then go and launch the alpha rocket to space just over 24 hours later.

- What?

- No one has been able to do that before.

I think the longest record before that was something like 28 days.

And we took it down to just over 24 hours.

So when I say that we do things fast, we do things very fast.

So the sky's the limit essentially.

- Well, not even, because you can go past the sky.

- Okay, true.

- While Firefly plans to launch rockets all over the globe, everything is made right here, including the engines.

Lucky for us, they're about to conduct a little test fire.

So let's meet up with Engine Engineer Alex Cagnola to show us the boom.

I feel like we're going into a James Bond movie set.

Whoa, now this looks like an engine.

- So welcome to Test Stand 5's functioning Miranda Test Bay.

- This is rocket science.

- It is rocket science, yes.

- Miranda is firefly's largest engine yet.

All of Briggs and Florence is gonna shake when this thing.

- Yeah, I think everyone knows that we're testing this one first, boys over there.

- Let's go.

Wait, we nervous about this one?

- I don't think so.

It's pretty exciting.

Never gets old.

- I got my lucky shoes.

I'm never nervous.

- As long as the lucky shoes are on.

I'm feeling the fireflies.

Are you feeling the fireflies?

- Ooh, the fireflies.

- They're going, they're in my chest.

You see the smoke coming out of the bottom.

They're just like priming the pump, so to speak.

It's liquid oxygen.

It's gotta be stored extremely cold.

Chet Tripper to ground control, prepare for lunch.

(engine booming) My whole body is rattling.

This is unreal.

And to think their eclipse rocket is going to have seven of these engines strapped to it.

Yes!

Look at the cloud of smoke it just sent into the Texas sky.

Oh my gosh.

That was one of the coolest things I've seen in Texas.

I'm glad there's people way smarter than me trying to figure this stuff out.

That is awesome.

Whew.

Now if rockets aren't explosive enough for you, well I got a little something else up my sleeve, and in my holster.

Welcome to Staccato Ranch.

And if you know about handguns, then you already know about Ataccato.

And from this facility, they custom craft some of the most accurate, most sought after handguns in America.

And best of all, they love showing folks around.

This is Team Member Ryan Welch.

So you guys truly build these handguns start to finish right here.

- We do everything in house fully sourced, all American made, not a single internationally sourced part.

- And that's how this sign says built for heroes.

And I see with Texas Rangers.

Special Forces.

- Got a little bit of everything.

Some of those guys on staff as well.

- No kidding?

That's awesome.

Staccato started out making competition handguns, but soon realized theirs super accurate goods needed to be in the hands of those who keep us safe too.

So let's see how they do it.

- So this is our manufacturing plant.

We start off as a 4140 high carbon steel billet.

Again, American sourced, American made.

- So I mean, this is about as raw material as you can get.

- It's a five pound block of steel.

- It's gonna be a handgun someday.

With 56 components in every gun, precision is key.

Their margin of error is as small as a quarter of a human hair.

That's next level craftsmanship.

I mean, it's a little different than making an atlatl spear tip out of flint.

It looks like somebody's just getting a really messy bubble bath in there.

I'm always amazed at the people who can break down a gun like crazy fast, you know?

- Not me, I took mine apart, it took me about three weeks to put it all back together.

So last stage before we actually ship that gun out of here is we're gonna do a test fire.

So every gun get a minimum of 10 rounds put through it for function check.

But three of those rounds we're gonna put onto this target test sheet.

So that is also gonna ship with every gun we ship.

- I mean, you give me a perfect handgun, I can't hit that.

With Staccato's fan base growing across the globe, they decided to build a full-on shooting destination worthy of their name.

Indoor ranges, outdoor ranges, and all for the purpose of building community.

This is Co-CEO Justin Honea.

Oh my gosh.

This place is way bigger than one manufacturing facility.

- We're trying to bring the community into shooting sports.

Obviously it's a very intimidating sport to get into.

- For sure.

- So we're trying to make it fun, right?

It's about family, fun, freedom.

And what you see out here is exactly that.

- And what I see immediately in front of me is a dusty western town called The Lone Star Hideout.

Any advice for me on this thing?

- Go fast, have fun.

- Okay, I can have fun.

But first, I gotta pick my weapon of choice.

This is Ben Clark.

- So we have the whole lineup here.

Starting of course with our smallest, that was our concealed carry, CS.

P is our kind of do everything.

Most law enforcement are carrying this one.

The XC, which is mine, a lot faster, a lot more fun.

Barely any recoil.

- Well, I think this one's calling my name.

- Fair enough.

- You know, I thought we were just gonna start at like a range.

Maybe something with a binge and a target on the other end.

But we're going cowboy style.

What's the record on this course?

- The current record is 45.5 seconds.

- I've got three magazines.

Can I hit all the targets with these three magazines?

- So I'm gonna ask, are you ready?

- I'm ready.

- Okay, standby.

(timer beeps) (gun firing) (upbeat music) There you go.

- Now we're running.

- Two red.

Perfect.

- Now each door has a color that matches the targets to shoot.

And obviously safety is key.

Guns are not toys.

And the Staccato crew is working hard to keep us safe and on target.

When done right, shooting sports are a ton of fun.

- There you go.

- Oh gosh, that's hard.

I'm doing pretty all right.

- Good.

- I know one thing for sure out here, when I miss, I can't blame the gun.

Did I kill the hostage?

- Nope.

- Okay, everything else.

Ah, come on.

Ah!

Oh, so close!

- Percect drop.

- Hey!

The gun is awesome.

- Absolutely.

- That gun is so smooth.

It took me a while.

- But if you notice your misses where you're trying to force it, just let that gun do that work because it's so smooth.

- All right, can we go again?

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Of course, the crew didn't wanna just stand around and watch me have all the fun.

It's clear that there is power in precision, along with protection when guns like these are in the hands of our military and the people who keep us safe.

Because of them, thankfully, all we have to shoot at today is a few metal targets.

One last stop before the sun sets on this trip.

Now we are in Florence, and it wouldn't be complete without a full-on taste of Tuscany, which is exactly what they're serving up at The Vineyard at Florence.

It's wine, it's food, it's one of those places that truly feels like you've been transported to that other Florence across the pond.

And this is General Manager Stacey Harris.

All right, Stacey, what have you poured us?

- Well, this is a brand new release called Haven.

100% Albarino, Texas fruit.

Perfect for a Texas summer day.

- Ooh, that's good.

So I know this place is way more than just a winery.

- It started with really humble beginnings to just be a part of the very early stages of the Texas wine industry.

A few grapes in the ground, small tasting room.

And as guests started visiting, they started asking for more.

They wanted to stay the night, have dinner, and so everything just grew up slowly.

- Okay.

When it started in 2009, it all fit in one barn.

Now it's spread across 30 acres with a hotel, an immaculate tasting room constructed from an 1850s barn, and a delicious farm to fork restaurant and garden.

Like this is all getting served in the restaurant tonight?

- Yes, we work season to season, chef and gardener together, and they decide what the next season's menu's gonna look like and what we're gonna cultivate ourselves.

- That's really fun.

- Nothing's more delicious than a homegrown tomato.

- I mean, Tuscany can just eat it.

They got this, this is better.

This is way better.

- It is a beautiful little slice of heaven.

- Time to head into Farmer's Common, where all those delicious veggies combined with the passion of Head Chef Ruben Gifuni.

Born in Spain, Ruben worked across Europe and has spent his life learning the art of cooking.

So you got a very close relationship with your gardener.

- Yeah, we change the menu every three months.

And we make planning in advance.

- This is real organic food.

- Real.

- You wanna know, where do these ingredients come from?

Right over there in the yard.

Simple food, complicated food.

What's your take on it?

- When you are looking at good food, you have to look at always the simple food.

Like good food is one statement of you or your feelings and you think you can feel 10 things in the same time, no.

- No.

Maybe two, three emotions at once.

I'll second that emotion.

Time to taste the passion.

All right, now this is a meal fit for a farmer, a very fancy farmer.

Look at all the greenery, the tomatoes, the parsley, these flowers all came out of that garden, like right over there.

Whipped truffled ricotta with a little pool of honey in the middle of it.

I'm not even sure that people in Florence, Italy are eating this well.

Ah, the bouquet is quite appetizing.

Now for the main course, shrimp and grits.

- Just eat your grits, man.

- That's southern comfort food right there.

We got tomatoes from the farm, shrimp from the Gulf, Andouille sausage from a dude named Andy.

Look around.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

I mean, there are people who travel all the way across the ocean to get a setting exactly like this one when it's right here in our backyard.

It's like a mini trip right at the end of your day trip.

You were already tripping, now you're extra tripping.

(bright music) The Italian Renaissance ended over 400 years ago.

But I have a feeling this one is just getting started.

What more will we discover?

What will we create?

How far will we travel?

Nobody knows.

What we do know is that we'll definitely be eating good along the way, and that we all better buckle up for the big adventures ahead.

So this is a strawberry pistachio marscapone marquesa.

So I'll see all y'all out on the road.

Vaya con dios, amigos.

Y'all don't get any of it.

- No!

- No.

That's so good.

- Aw man.

Howdy, y'all.

Follow along with my adventures at ChetTripper on Instagram, and at TheDayTripperTV on Facebook and YouTube.

Or head to thedaytripper.com for travel guides, past episodes and info on our mobile app and Team Daytripper.

- The Daytripper is made possible by Rudy's real Texas barbecue shipping nationwide at rudys.com.

Visit Georgetown where big ideas meet small town charm.

Georgetown the most beautiful town square in Texas.

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance protection and peace of mind for Texans since 1952.

Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick in Georgetown making Texas road trips possible for over 50 years.

Don Hewlett Chevrolet, Buick, Texas true.

Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Texas local bottler providing the Lone star state with a variety of Coca-Cola products.