The Daytripper

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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.

Let the good times roll - This place might seem like a sea of concrete, but hidden amongst the Houston highway is a trip in oasis.

We'll eat everything from Venezuelan pastries to Vietnamese crawfish to South African ostrich.

We'll learn about the history of the railroad and rice while sipping a pint under the historic silos.

We're exiting the fast lane for this one, y'all to visit one of the purdiest ladies in Texas.

Have a good time - Katy, my lady.

Oh, what day trips you hold?

Woohoo.

(upbeat banjo music) (upbeat music) Katy is tucked just 30 miles west of Houston, right where the city sprawl starts to loosen its grip.

Now, Houston is one of the most culturally diverse places on Earth, so it follows that Katy is too, which means we're gonna deviate from our normal breakfast of tacos and kolaches with a stop in downtown Katy and a taste of Venezuela at Pan pa Bakery.

Oh, this place smells amazing.

You're like, look at this.

So right off the bat, I mean, you can tell this is not an American bakery.

Venezuelan rolls, cachitos, guava rolls.

And then what is this, cheese on a sticky bun?

The cases are filled with not just Venezuelan classics, but also European staples.

And the man behind the pan, owner David Diaz.

- We have a pastry and bread for all the world.

- This looks beautiful.

So how did you learn how to do all this?

- For my friend and my family, we have a business in Venezuela, the bakery.

- Okay.

- And my grandfather from Italy.

- Ah.

If you wanna know how much David likes bread, well, he has the entire process tattooed on his arms.

I gotta say, man, you're the most fit baker I've ever seen.

- All day making bread.

This is a secret.

(laughs) - Well, I also see all your racing medals.

- Yeah, in my second passion I am practice triathlon.

- I guess it helps keep the carbs at bay.

One of David's specialties is panettone, an Italian classic that takes three days to make.

But I gotta ask what the cheese is doing on a cinnamon roll.

What is this?

- This is the most popular here.

It's golfeados in my language.

The combination is the sweet and the salty for the cheese.

It's so good.

- And now for my kind of endurance challenge, tasting as many pastries as possible and drinking perhaps the best coffee in town.

Breakfast of champions.

Let me show you all this score.

Oh, I'm going for this right here.

Golfeado.

Oh my gosh, that works.

That is so good.

I can't wait to try 'em all.

This is gonna be amazing.

- Oh yeah.

We'll save something for you.

Probably maybe.

- Hold up what?

It's bad when my crew has even less self-control than I do.

Life is pretty sweet here in Katy.

So we are standing in one of the fastest growing parts of the greater Houston area.

But if you look around, you can still see remnants of when this was just a small town well beyond the bright city lights, and we would've been surrounded by near endless rice fields.

It all begs the question, who is this elusive Katy that they speak of?

Well, maybe this'll help.

It's the depot for the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.

Sir, all right, I have a question.

Who is Katy?

The people need to know.

Katy?

Is that, oh, sorry, ma'am.

Katy?

Oh no, boy.

Katy.

Ah.

I mean, she could be a Katy.

Katy, isn't it?

Ah, you're no help.

Beatrice.

I like the sound of that.

Ah.

Ah.

I'm just getting blank stares.

Somebody tell me the truth.

Who is Katy?

- Katy was not a person.

That's a pretty common misconception.

Katy was a company.

- This is Joshua Garland, head of Katy's museums.

- The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, they had the exclusive right to build a railroad from Kansas to Texas through the Indian territory.

When the railroad got here, the surveyors had to come up with a name for the town to apply for a post office.

You're not supposed to name the town after yourself.

So the first postmaster, James Oliver Thomas, decided to name the town after the railroad.

It's the Katy Line.

So he called the town, Katy, Texas.

- So I was reading the history, and it might've also been named after a female saloon owner.

Any truth to that?

- The saloon owner's story is one of many stories.

We get people all the time who tell us, you know, "Katy was my grandmother."

I got a cold call in the middle of the day, and he said that he heard through the grapevine that his great-grandmother, Katy, was not being properly credited as the name sake of the town.

So I asked him in my most polite, diplomatic way.

Prove it.

And I never heard it from him again.

- Okay, will the real Katy please stand up?

Somewhere, anywhere.

Katy and its depot really started rolling in 1901 when the Yule family, German settlers, planted the first rice crop, working all 17 acres by hand.

Fast forward a few decades, and this small prairie town became one of the top rice producers in Texas and the country, keeping this depot very busy.

Ooh, I wonder what's in the air?

Oh, this is cool.

So it's the freight room.

Check this out.

This is super cool.

It's hobo artwork.

So this would've been painted on by basically migrants who were hitching rides on the train.

And then some of these are symbols that would've let visiting hobos know whether or not it was safe to stick around in town, or if this town was already taken or it was hostile to hobos.

Anybody need a bag of rice?

- Whoa, you're strong.

Whoa.

- He can lift a whole bag of rice with one finger.

Oh!

Whoever said train depots were boring?

All aboard.

(train whistles) Next stop, Katy.

(train whistles) Now trains can move rice, but they can also move people.

And over the past century, folks have moved to this area from all over the globe, making it one of the most diverse places in the US and one of the most delicious.

Y'all know we travel small town Texas.

We get plenty of chicken fried steaks, plenty of barbecue.

We eat plenty of cheeseburgers and we love them all.

But if we're gonna come to Katy, we're gonna do things a little different.

- I'm all for it.

- All right.

- I am excited to try some new things.

- We're expanding Luke's horizon.

See, this is what day tripping is all about.

You get experiences you can't find at home.

- Force your friends to try things they don't want to do.

- Don't wanna do.

Yes!

It's the good kind of peer pressure.

And so for lunch, we're headed to Katy's own Asian town, a shopping center full of flavors, usually found a hemisphere away.

But I'm here to experience a true cultural mashup that originated in Houston, Viet-Cajun, Vietnamese food with a swampy spin.

And this is Yummy Seafood & Oyster Bar, run by local lover of all good food, Tyler Tran.

All right, Tyler, I'm excited.

What is this?

- So this is our traditional Gulf oysters that Vietnamese people grow up to eat.

A little bit of olive oil, green onions and peanuts.

Topped off with a little Cajun powder.

So a little bit of twist.

How is it?

- That's great, dude.

And then you gotta twist it off with a little cheers.

- You got flair on this one too?

- For this kind of drink that we add a little bit of fish sauce to give it a little tang.

- I ain't arguing with that, dude.

That's great.

- The thing with Asian culture is we just like to sauce everything up a little bit, right?

- Yeah.

Why not?

- And so, why not?

There's not much into this.

It's very simple, fresh seafood consistently.

And that's it.

And that's what we do.

And that's all we do.

- But this is not your typical Cajun crawfish boil because after they're cooked Yummy tosses the crawfish, shells and all in a baptism of butter, garlic, and what they call Yummy Delight.

- So how you boil it and how you time it is the most perfect thing.

- So what's the point of putting sauce all over the outside?

- Just an extra aphrodisiac, I'm assuming.

(both laugh) - I guess so.

- That's not is it?

- Let's just say it definitely gets the juices flowing.

Now, I think a of people like would be surprised that there's like an Asian town out here in Katy.

- When this opened, Katy didn't have much of an Asian culture.

They opened a shopping center.

I was surprised.

The next thing you know, boom, boom, boom.

And this whole place opened up and I always encouraged the customers to try everything like surround this area.

Every place is great here.

- Hey, thank you man.

- No problem.

- So if you're not into buttery delicious mud bugs, the menu is filled with other items.

But I came here with a purpose.

Here it is, buddy.

Oh, so this is what Tyler told me to do.

Just sort of toss it around.

If I eat this, I will weigh 20 pounds heavier today.

- Well, you're only eating the meat.

- Most of it's shell, right?

Oh, but I am gonna take off my jacket and maybe my shirt too.

Y'all don't mind, do you?

- You probably shouldn't have worn white.

- (laughs) Crack the neck.

Crawfish is a commitment.

We got a little bit of andouille sausage in there, and Tyler said, "You want an egg?

It's Asian food.

You gotta put an egg in it."

So.

Slam dunk, baby.

And you see all the good stuff on my fingers?

It's familiar, yet it's not 'cause nobody in Cajun country puts this much sauce and butter on the outside.

This is for Tyler and all my boys back home in southeast Texas.

(sucking) Juicy Cajun Kool-Aid coming out of it.

I love finding these little pockets.

This is more than just a little lunch, right?

It's a cultural experience.

Take a little lunch and leave Texas for a little while.

At least what most people think of Texas.

All right guys, y'all may not realize it, but you are driving through what is the widest highway in America.

This is the Katy Freeway, but at the widest part, it's 26 lanes.

- Holy cow.

- We're about to come to stand still driving.

- I know.

I was gonna say, why is there still traffic?

- 26 lanes going nowhere.

- Do you think somebody would day trip just to drive on this highway?

They should.

- Yeah.

It's worth it, right?

- They absolutely should.

The joy is in the journey, but not if there's construction.

And in West Houston, well, there's always construction.

But if you've ever looked out your window and thought, "Man, I'd like to give one of them heavy equipment thingers a ride" Well then you're in luck.

Time to roll up our sleeves and dig deep at Dig World.

This is founder and big dirt visionary, Jacob Robinson.

- Chet welcome to Dig World, man.

- This is incredible.

- Yes, we've got excavators, we've got skid steers, we've got UTVs, we've got trick shots.

But first question.

- Yeah.

- Have you ever ridden an excavator?

- You see these hands, these pretty boy editing hands?

I have never driven an excavator.

- Well, man, we gotta get you up here first.

- Okay, let's go.

- Let's do it.

- I'm so pumped.

I need a hard hat though.

- Let's get you your vest.

- Life with dreams being fulfilled as we speak.

- All hop on up there.

- Alright, you're gonna need to treat me like a 3-year-old, okay?

- These two joysticks control everything.

- Already way over my head.

We got left.

- Kick that one out that side.

- This is why people need licenses to do this.

- There we go.

Look at that.

- Oh!

- Like a pro, like a pro.

- I got a scoop baby!

This is fun for kids ages 1 to 100 because where else can you dig in the mud with a big giant machine and splatter your crew with a bucket of dirt?

Boom.

- Oh yeah.

- Gotcha.

- Oh yeah.

Did that hit anywhere?

Ah, look at his back.

Look at Luke's jacket!

- But for the Robinson family, this isn't just about playing in the mud.

- I've got three amazing kids.

But my oldest son, when he was almost two years old, he contracted bacterial meningitis.

Pierce has a whole host of special needs now.

He's deaf and non-verbal, epileptic, but he's still the happiest little dude that you'll ever meet.

He loves life.

He's always loved construction equipment.

So a buddy of mine and I, we came up with this idea and said, "You know what?

We're just crazy enough that we think we can put kids on construction equipment and let 'em drive it."

But really the idea was birthed of how do we bring people together?

How do we bring families together?

- This is a dream fulfilled, I'm sure for little kids.

But there's a lot of big kids who've been waiting a long time to do this.

- We had an 80-year-old birthday party here a few months back.

- Playing in the dirt is ageless.

Visitors can also drive skid steers around a track.

But I was just getting good at that bucket thing.

Let's test my skills.

- How good of a golfer are you?

- Oh, pretty bad.

- We have our excaputter here.

- All right, I'm gonna put it on the line here.

This is a day tripper excaputt-off.

Ah, it's, it's no.

Oh, oh, it's- ah!

- Not so easy.

Is it Daniel?

- Oh no.

Oh!

There it is.

Oh no.

Ah!

- Money.

- I hate to say it.

Congratulations.

Turns out my golf game is bad both on the course and off the course.

But our last challenge is gonna take our skills to new heights.

Literally.

- All right, let's do it.

- I don't think I'm scared of heights, but this sounds kinda terrifying.

- We'll find out in a second.

- All right.

- I've got confidence you can make this.

- I think so.

- Hey, one for one.

Let's go.

- I gotta say, I really dig this park, especially the mission to bring families together and put smiles on faces.

But there's only one thing to do after getting so muddy.

We are going to Buccee's.

Hey.

- All right.

- All right.

Don't get too excited though, 'cause we're not going inside, all right?

- What?

- We don't have time.

We got a schedule.

We need a car wash.

- They have car wash?

- Yes, but this one is not just any car wash.

This is the longest car wash in the world.

Still go inside?

- No, Luke, I told you.

Now y'all know I can't pass up the biggest anything and clocking in at 255 feet of soapy sudsy fun, this car wash was even awarded the official Guinness Book World record.

- Are we there yet?

- It like we're going through Wonka's Chocolate Factory or more appropriately the Beaver Nugget machine or wherever those things come from.

(sigh) Feeling squeaky clean.

Where are we headed next?

- I think we're going inside.

- No, no, no, you can't go inside.

- We're gonna get some beaver nuggets.

- But we really have no time today.

Get back in the truck.

- This is an excellent idea.

Beaver nugget?

- Get it outta my face.

No, I don't want your nuggets.

Okay.

I do want some nuggets.

All right, fine.

- Oh man.

- I mean, I did want to go in, I was just trying to keep a schedule.

- We can keep a schedule.

- I didn't meant to get mad at y'all.

Sorry.

- No, it's okay, it's okay.

It's good right?

- Yeah these are really good.

- It was worth it.

- It's time for us to track down a different kind of suds, maybe even some with the side of rice and a brew.

Under Katy's historic rice dryers.

Long gone are the days when these worked nonstop to ship Katy's cash crop across the globe.

Although these days, one dryer is still pretty active.

This historic tower is home to Katy's, No Label Brewing, turning out some of Texas's and the world's finest craft brew.

Seriously, they have the awards to prove it.

And this is owner Tom Painter.

- Finally, welcome to No Label.

Listen, it's the brewery between the silos.

This is, you're finally here.

- I know.

I've been waiting to come here a long time.

I need a beer.

- Cali Boy.

It's won a Silver World Beer Cup, the second best West Coast IPA in the world.

Trust me.

- Okay.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- Well, hey, I wanna see how y'all do it.

- I'll give you the tour.

Let's go.

- And to see how the magic happens, we're gonna meet up with Head Brewer Randy Rodriguez.

And are we standing in one of the historic parts of the old silos?

- Absolutely.

Yeah.

So we were lucky enough to be able to repurpose as much of these old silos as possible.

Nearly a hundred years old.

This is where all the fun begins.

It starts here.

This is where the liquid gold is made.

- How many of y'all make, how many beers do y'all make?

- Hundreds, hundreds at this point.

- And each of those beers gets its own name.

And you guessed it, label.

It's called No label.

Yet y'all have some of the best labels in the game.

- What irony.

- That was the plan.

- Yeah, I mean, part of the feel is like, we want to provide something for everybody, you know?

Something as easy drinking as a rice lager, but then we also want to do something creative like have a golden stout that you rarely see in the market.

- I've never even heard of that stout.

- Exactly.

- Breweries are community hubs and we are a part of this community.

Katy made rice, now we make beer.

There's a lot of pride in that.

- Cheers to that man.

Cheers to that.

That's great.

Question.

Can you, can you go in the silos?

- I'm not- - Can you go in the- I know the kids don't get to play in it.

- Listen, we can go back in the tap room.

- Nah, nah, no.

- I got you.

I got you.

- I just wanna see it.

I just gotta know.

It's for you guys.

And Doc Love is the one staff member crazy enough to join us.

Oh, this is creepier than I thought.

Do we need headlights?

There wasn't like a elevator?

Generations of Texans worked in silos like this so that we could eat at home.

Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers feeding their families and all of us.

As a kid, you drive by silos all over Texas and you're always thinking, "I want to go into one of those."

Now we're in one.

And based on the amount of bones up here, it looks like some owls or hawks are also eating pretty well.

Hey!

I don't think these beer taps work anymore.

Maybe someday they'll put a tap room up here.

Better head back to ground level.

So I found out they make a rice lager and sitting under the historic rice grain silos of Katy, it felt like the rice thing to do.

And if you ask me, we're having a really rice day right now.

Alright, y'all time for dinner.

I promised we were gonna do things differently today.

So let's visit a restaurant held as one of the best in the city with food hailing all the way from South Africa.

Welcome to Astor's Table.

The vision of Chef Casey Castro to bring the foods of his native country to Texas.

- Oh okay.

I see- - I can smell this Chef Casey.

- Oh wow.

Yeah.

- I smelled it before it hit the table.

(Casey laughs) What do we have here?

- Right here, you have the South Africa sampler.

- Oh, I'm so excited.

- Yeah, that's bobotie.

It's very traditional.

Over here you have boerewor sausage.

There's no sausage better than that in the whole world.

Over here you have the chakalaka, it's a little bit spicy.

I'm a wimpy, so I don't touch that.

But one of the things that I see is that I love your Texas cowboy hat that you got.

- Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

- So I'm gonna have to measure you.

So I got mine.

No, hold it.

I'm bald.

But you know, I- - Oh, as you can see, South African hospitality even rivals Texas and the flavors here are taking my taste buds on a tour.

- Now let that flavor hit you.

- God, what am I- then there's some heat coming in.

I mean the depth of spices.

- Exactly.

And that's one of the things that we do.

- And world's best sausage.

- Oh.

- It is totally different.

- There's a lot of different kinds of sausage in Texas that's like none of them.

That's its own category.

- That's another level.

- South African cuisine not only carries the flavors of the indigenous people, but also centuries of influence from places like India and Europe and Chef Casey's journey to Katy is even more unexpected than the flavor.

- Originally, I came here to go to high school 23 years ago.

For real.

I got here in Atlanta.

The people were supposed to sponsor me, never showed up at the airport.

- No kidding.

- I called back home, I was like, "Do you guys know anybody in America?"

So my auntie was like, "I know somebody that lives, that used to live here 10 years ago."

Guess where they live?

- Don't tell me.

- Texas.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- So I call them and I'm like, "Hey yo, how y'all doing?"

(both laughing) - Now were, were you a cook?

A chef at this point at all?

- No, none.

Zero.

- None.

Okay.

- I didn't even know I could cook.

- Casey and his wife opened a small Argentine coffee shop and bakery that grew little by little into this.

- Yes.

I mean this is a land of opportunity.

You know, you come here, you be humble to your community and give back and work hard.

That's the American dream.

- Wow.

- There's nothing better than that.

And there is no place in the world where you come in with $75 and you get to become what you are today, so.

- Amen.

Amen brother.

- Yeah, thank you.

- The only thing I hadn't tried is that right there., - Are you ready for that one?

- I mean, is it gonna ruin my night?

- Well, it is spicy yeah.

- Chakalaka.

I know the flavor of crazy spicy peppers.

And it just means it's a matter of time before my tongue sets on fire.

That is hot.

I gotta give you props because there's a ton of flavor packed in that.

It's not just heat.

Woo.

I'm awake.

Anybody else?

One of Astor's specialties is exotic meat and Casey's got something special for us.

- How do you like your ostrich?

- (laughs) Well, usually walking around in a field.

South Africans, this is a typical meat?

- Yeah.

I also got something for you.

We're gonna do some hop, hop, hop.

- Now.

You don't mean kangaroo.

- Yes, I do.

We love it salty.

- Why not?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- We love to hunt.

So I have like kangaroo, ostrich, camel, alligator, you know, elk, antelope.

- Meat, fire, flavor.

Remember what I said about South African hospitality?

One day tripper versus the entire animal kingdom.

Kangaroo, ostrich, lamb chops, beef, short rib, boerewors sausage, oxtail?

More?

Oh my gosh.

Okay.

I mean the one that's kind of hanging right here.

The sword of meat.

Eat it like a true kebab.

Tender.

Very flavorful.

Kind of bouncy.

You're not gonna bounce it around in my mouth here, but that is delicious.

I'm gonna fight the urge to just eat an entire kangaroo and I'm gonna come over here and I'm gonna eat an ostrich.

Now that tastes just like beef.

That amazing too.

Kind of a giant flightless cow.

It's delicious beef.

Stuff like this that makes Houston probably the best food city in all of Texas.

All the cultures of the world existing in one location and oh man, they taste good.

It tastes really, really good.

Turns out Katy isn't a lady, but nor is it a town you should speed past on the highway.

It's a place where history, progress, and the flavors of the world collide.

And the best way to enjoy it is to slow down and savor it.

Alright, Chef Casey, what do we have here for dessert?

- We have a South Africa peppermint tart.

Beautiful.

- Alright, good way to finish a meal.

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

Vaya con dios, amigos, or hey, as they say in South Africa- - Sawubona.

- Sawubona I like that.

- The "Daytripper" is made possible by Rudy's, real Texas barbecue.

Shipping nationwide at rudys.com.

Karbach Brewing Company from Houston, Texas, makers of Karbach Lager, a beer that is proudly partnered with Don't Mess with Texas, please dispose responsibly.

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.