- 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.

(Light music) - The Spanish ruled Texas for 300 years and left an indelible mark.

The missions Longhorn Cattle, our very culture owes a great deal to the Spanish.

And that's not to mention the language which still designates many of our rivers, counties, and towns.

Even if we do hack it to pieces.

Lotus what's with the corn?

You'll see about 15 miles northwest of downtown San Antonio, you'll find he lotus a hill country hideaway hidden in plain sight.

It's cool to find such a small town existing right on the fringes of San Antonio.

I mean, I can almost see the Alamo, but the name goes back to the 17 hundreds when the Spanish named this area Elote.

Yep.

Corncob.

Perhaps because the Apaches grew this new world delicacy right here in the creek bed, perhaps, but we'll soon See, this town is as much myth as it is legend.

There is lots to explore, but first things first.

And that's coffee served hot and fresh from this old stone boarding house now occupied by Texas Ground's Coffee.

One step inside and you can smell the liberty served up with Texas Pride and a heaping helping a military support.

They pour all of that into the coffee.

Then pour the coffee into our bellies.

Here are co-owners, gin.

And Phil, I need a cup of coffee.

- Well, fantastic.

You come to the right place.

- What would you recommend?

I'm thinking a latte.

I like - A latte.

Well, you have to have a famous cream puff to go with with that latte.

- Oh my gosh.

I knew it was Texas Roasted coffee.

Texas ized cream puffs too.

- That's exactly right.

I'll change your life right there.

- Beyond Coffee.

Texas Grounds makes all their own pastries and sweetss making it the only place I know where you can get a coffee, a cream puff and ammo in the same breakfast.

I got napkins standby for cream puffiness.

Oh snap.

Huh?

Nice.

That really good.

Thank you.

Homemade verin cream in there.

Yes.

Oh man.

So this is the most Texas coffee on the planet, isn't it?

We're - Proud of it.

We're actually neighbors.

We live across the street from each other.

Okay.

Phil and I decided across a cream puff that we were going to start this business.

- So we had a dream to connect every Texan with a cup of Texas Grounds Coffee.

- Oh, I love that.

If there's anything that brings us together more than the Lone Star flag, it's probably coffee.

That's - Exactly right.

- Every cup they serve is roasted in house with a portion going back to those who've served us.

- And that's so important to me.

I was active duty Air Force before.

- So thank you for serving.

- Thank you so - Much.

Yeah.

So I imagine you'll have a lot of veterans come in here and - We do.

We do.

Yeah.

They love the DD two 14 tastes like victory.

So - That's the form military folks get when discharged after Faithful service Fillage in even keep the missing Soldiers white table up year round to honor those who never came home.

Well guys, this is an excellent way to start the day.

So thank you.

Cheers.

Thank y'all.

Cheers.

Y'all are doing great work out here at Hello Desk.

Thank you.

I'm gonna finish this cream puff and then I'll take another one to go if that's okay.

I love it.

Downtown he Lotus is a special place quaint time capsule to an era long gone.

It was settled by German and Mexican families in the 1850s and became a stop for stage coaches and cattle drives headed to Bandera.

And by far the most famous building down here is the iconic Dancehall John t Floor Country store.

However, most don't know that its current building is not where it started.

This building was the original floor country store, but it wasn't yet a dancehall.

No.

That distinction belonged to this building right here, known as Hillman Hall.

It's where the towns spoke.

Gathered to cut a rug and have a brew.

This was the town's first general store run by a man named Arnold Dugger, who lived in this old homestead, which is now the most historic bike shop in Texas.

The Hello US Bike Shop, owned by longtime resident Hank Cunningham.

So how long have you been here?

- 44 - Years.

44 years.

This has gotta be the only bike shop in Texas in an old 18 hundreds homestead, huh?

- 1881.

- Wow, that's amazing.

We lived - Here for 30 - Years.

- Okay.

And next to Floors Country store.

- It's not bad.

Yeah.

Get some free concerts.

Right?

Exactly.

It does look like you got a few fixer uppers over in this area over here.

- Yeah.

You don't want to throw 'em away.

You don't wanna ride them.

So then sometimes somebody wants one so bad that you have to fix it.

You're like, okay.

Off it goes.

- Just like downtown he lotus.

It's a collection of old things, but I guess when you get old enough, you become an icon like the neighbor.

And in 1952, this building right here became the historic John t Floors country store.

You guys are gonna have to sit tight a little bit on that one, but don't worry, we'll get here eventually.

Did anybody hang on to one of those cream puffs?

I didn't have anywhere to put it.

It was That would hit different right now.

Yeah.

Dude, I need held down to my dreams.

I need, how big was the big one?

She said?

She said they make one that's like the size of a table.

I - Kind of want to use that as like a pillow when I go to sleep.

I'd like have my hand under it and then just scoop it out.

- You think you could ever eat in your sleep without knowing?

Have you ever done that?

Oh, all the - Time.

Have you really?

Well, I used to make chocolate milk like every night.

Oh - Wait, like sleepwalk chocolate milk.

- I would sleepwalk to the kitchen and make chocolate milk.

Can you - Sleep?

Edit maybe.

Could you try that?

- That would be nice.

- Yeah.

Like taking multitasking to the next level.

I don't know.

That episode just felt a little sleepy.

I better hold off on another puff.

'cause we are headed to lunch and to enjoy some of the best Mexican food around all of San Antonio at local institution El Chaparral.

Yeah.

I can't say the number of people.

When I told 'em I was coming to he lotes, they said, oh, well you're going to L Chap, right?

Is that the - See this?

Yeah.

The El Chap or Or El chap or Charlie's.

My dad, the founder.

They call him Charlie's.

Oh, this - Is Charlie's - El - Chap.

This is Carlos Garcia.

His parents, Charlie and Mary started El Chap in 1972 when it was just a tiny Mexican restaurant shoved in a house - 52 years ago.

We lived here for two years and that dining room over there was the living room.

Dope.

My sister lived in the living room and my brother and I lived in the back with my parents and a little - Crip.

Oh my gosh.

- This was an amazing place to grow up.

- But Carlos and his twin brother, Gabe were gifted beyond the restaurant and left a lotes to travel the world playing professional soccer professional.

That is until the family business needed them back home.

- Unfortunately, in 1996, my sister was killed in a car accident.

That's correct.

Her name was Jessica.

Yes.

Needless to say, it was devastating to my mother and father.

So that's when I called him up in 1997 and I said, Hey, do you mind if I come back and get involved in?

Of course.

My dad said, yeah, sure.

Nice.

So my twin brother, Gabe and I, we run the day-to-Day operations.

The next generation.

Yeah, the next generation.

It's just deeply ingrained in my DNA, this restaurant.

It's an amazing blessing to come in every single day, but it didn't come easy - And nobody knows that better than Charlie himself, who at 87 years old still helps set the tone of hospitality saying Oh that to every table.

- And he is literally the face of Al Shaer and they love him.

- It's a tough job, - Huh?

Kiss babies and some ladies.

- You celebrated 50 - Years.

Oh - Yeah.

How hard has it been?

- It was difficult.

I felt like it was my last go around.

Oh, okay.

I had to make it go.

- Well, your last lap turned into a pretty long lap.

- A long lap.

Man.

- I'm happy to eat lunch in a little bit.

What?

What should I get?

I - Always recommend the highest thing on the menu.

- Well, can't ask him.

I'll decide after a closer look at the kitchen with Charlie's other son, Gabe.

Now, did you learn Spanish back here?

Like your brother?

- We learned all the bad stuff.

- Yeah.

- Ooh, homemade tortillas, - Obviously.

Single day fresh tortillas.

Ha - Ha ha ha.

- As fresh as you get - Hot.

That's wonderful.

It's just too good to keep all to myself.

God, how many tortillas y'all make a day?

- 2,500 a day at least.

- So this never cools off.

- Always going.

We have our homemade chili con carna here, which is one of the things that makes the El Shop Ralph so unique.

This is very labor intense.

We do have 13 different sauces, but this is our staple chili con kain.

- Okay.

You grow up in this house, you eat this food every day, you become a professional athlete.

There has to be a connection.

That's - A really good thing.

I mean, it has to, I suppose not just one, two of - Them.

There's something in the chili con carne, - We always say it's it's lard and love.

- Lard and love will get you very far in life.

I'm getting too hungry back here.

So upon recommendation, not Charlie's, I decided to go with the Valerie special.

I also asked my buddy Gabe, who grew up at Hees to join me.

Alright, brother, you've only been telling me to come eat here for like a decade.

- Yeah.

Yep, definitely.

What's - The affinity for this place?

- Well, you know what you're gonna get.

You know how it's gonna taste.

It's delicious.

I grew up on this.

Oh dude, that cheese enchilada - Is - Legit.

This was a rite of passage.

- When you grew up in a lotus, did you feel like you were growing up in the country or in the city?

- Oh, it was definitely country.

All there was was Blue bonnet pastures listening to Dwight Yoakum and Willie Nelson from John t Fors country store going, man, one day that might be me out there.

- Keep the dream alive, Dave.

- Yeah.

Keep the dream - Alive.

Mexican food is so pervasive, you think in your brain, okay, I've had it all.

And then you come here and you're like, oh gosh, this hit's different.

Yeah, these are the best beans ever.

There's as much lard as there is Bean.

- There's a little pool of grease on there, but you're supposed to have that with - Tex-Mex.

That's what it's supposed to be.

- This is the - Spot.

Ain't no doubt.

El chap is Tex-Mex heaven.

Speaking of heaven, Lotus sits at the gateway to the heavenly Texas hill country, a region known for its rugged limestone cliffs and rolling hills of mesquite and cedar and neighborhoods are sprouting up out here faster than a hill country corn cob.

That's not really a thing, but luckily there are some spots.

So important they're set aside to stay forever wild.

And one of those is the government Canyon state natural area.

Let's go on a hike with Park superintendent Nick Lucas.

I mean, I do love coming out here.

It's huge, right?

- Yeah.

This place is enormous.

It's 12,366 acres - And basically right in the San Antonio city limits.

Am I - Right?

The whole thing.

We are the largest urban cars preserve in the world that I know of.

- You could get out in 12,000 acres, you can basically feel lost.

- Absolutely.

And that's one of the things we love about this place, is you can have a wilderness experience in town.

- Super unique.

Yes sir.

Have you seen it all yet?

- I've seen most of it.

Most - Of it.

Seen most of it.

Most of it.

Yeah.

Government Canyon gets its name because the road we're hiking was once a military supply route.

The Western forts of Texas.

But the reason such a large area is protected is even more important.

- The reason that we were set aside in the first place is because right underneath our feet is the recharge zone for the Edwards Aquifer.

Hmm.

You know, it's the main source of drinking water for all the people of San Antonio.

- So if all this got developed, we'd be really up a creek without water.

- Absolutely.

- And while we can't really trip the aquifer, we do get to enjoy the surface and the wildlife.

- We have whitetailed deer.

People see raccoons, especially around the campground.

Sure.

Halina running around out here.

Quite a few.

Halina.

Halina.

Yeah.

We're that close to south Texas.

We've got a Turkey and we're also in golden cheek warbler habitat.

- So, oh yeah.

How often do people actually see those?

- The golden chs during the season.

They come here to see them - And it's kind of like a guarantee.

- Not a guarantee, but if you get here early, you go to the right areas.

Absolutely.

- Of course you never know what you might see on the trail, but we are headed to see evidence of the animals that roamed here long ago.

Hey water?

- Yeah.

- Y'all got some rain?

- We got a lot of rain.

And we love it.

We love it.

It makes the treks harder to see though.

- Oh, here they're, - Yeah, here they're, so this is the acro campus source Therapod three toes.

- So this is a carnivore, right?

That's like our Texas T-Rex - More or less.

That's a great way to say Texas T-Rex acro.

Canosa.

- Bigger, stronger, prouder.

No doubt.

- Well, you know, a little smaller, but definitely proud.

- Definitely - Prouder.

- We don't have pictures.

It was bigger.

At least two, three times bigger by estimation.

Acrocanthosaurus, Rome, Texas, 100 million years ago.

It was almost 40 feet long from nose to tail and big enough to take a Texas sized bite out of anything.

- I wanna show you these tracks from a different perspective.

They look really cool from right over here.

Okay.

- Oh see, there you go.

So these are clearly footsteps.

Like he's trucking that way to find a tasty - Meal.

Absolutely.

Probably Whataburger or something.

- Yeah, Texas.

- Right?

- Texas.

Texas dinosaur.

- So that's the AC Campau our therapod.

And right over this way we have our Soar pods.

Okay.

So Poseidon.

Okay.

- Soro.

Poseidon.

- Soro Poseidon.

It's a very easy word to say.

It rolls off your tongue.

- These guys truly Texas size with its head standing 30 feet higher than these cliffs.

Okay.

Big flat foot.

- Exactly.

Think more like an elephant foot.

- Oh, okay.

Now would this have been roaming the same time as the meat eater?

- So this particular animal, no.

If you'll notice, we're about foot or more above.

So geologically, this is a whole lot younger.

- Oh, - Whole lot younger.

- What a difference a foot makes when traveling through the epoch of time.

Hey Nick, thanks for showing us Government Canyon.

Man.

It's a very special place.

- It is.

I'm glad you came out.

The more people that know about it, the more people care about it and then they'll wanna protect it - Too.

That's right.

Well I guess now we gotta hike back.

Yes - Sir.

Let's, right.

- Okay.

I heard somebody yesterday, they didn't say hello.

- They said he lotus.

He lotus, he lotes.

So how do you say it?

As Texan as possible?

Yeah.

So you gotta say he lotus.

He lotus.

He lotus.

Well, he lotus.

He lotus there.

Here's one.

Luke pronounce this word.

B-E-X-A-R-X-R.

He ain't from around here, is he?

No, but like, okay.

It's the name of the county and the appropriate pronunciation is bearer bearer County.

I don't know how that one got so hacked up because wouldn't it appropriately be like Behar?

Is it Spanish and origin?

I, I don't know man.

If only I did research before these episodes.

I was gonna say, I was gonna say, so we've taken a leisurely stroll through the hill country.

Let's crank up the speed of it, shall we?

As we head to the Lotes Hill Country zip lines?

This is co-owner Rodney Mala who runs this business on the Ranch's family, his owned since 1955.

Tell me a little bit about what we can expect today.

- Okay, so today we're gonna run a total of 10 lines.

All right.

They're gonna range anywhere from a hundred feet to a thousand, which is our line.

Nine to a thousand - Feet, - A thousand feet.

That's our, that's our premier line.

You're gonna be at about height to 110.

Travel anywhere is from 15 to 40 miles an hour, depending on how well you ride - Down or how much Mexican food I had for lunch.

Well, yeah, so I get a little heavier.

Yep.

- The heavier, the faster you go.

So we're gonna, we're gonna - Fly.

Well let's hit the course man.

Let's go.

But to come down, we must first go up and after a short bus ride to the top, these F are incredible.

On a clear day, you can even see downtown San Antone chat.

- You ready for this?

- I think so.

This is our lead guide, Michelle Mala.

- The loud you screen chat, the faster you go.

Okay.

- Okay.

- Yes.

No breaker, Greg.

- Premature breaking brother.

And now that we got those first line jitters out the way, it's smooth zipping from here.

Michelle, were you hooked the first time?

You zip line?

Yes.

What was it about it?

- Just the, the adrenaline.

I mean, a little nervous.

I prayed, I knocked, all lie I prayed on every line.

Yeah, yeah.

And then after I got familiar with the harnesses and what they weigh with the cable waves I got.

Yeah.

I felt more comfortable.

I got it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I got it.

- These are some of those bucket list things for people, right?

- Absolutely.

Yes.

- I love it.

Like it's adrenaline pumping, but it's also kind of peaceful.

Like in middle of line you get that moment of zen, you're just flying.

- Oh - Man.

Alright Michelle, this is the big dog, huh?

It - Is.

Line 9,000 feet long.

- What's the top speed here?

- You'd probably get 40 miles an - Hour.

I hope this baby works.

- Yeah, there you go.

Yeah.

- Clear.

- You're clear.

Alright, you ready?

Beba?

- Hello This, - Yeah, - There's just something about this sport that never gets old and makes all of us feel young again.

Maybe a little too young.

All right.

I have no idea why Greg was motivated to do this, but he is trying to self rest you.

He's gonna burn.

He's gone too fast.

- He's gonna burn - Out fast.

Too fast.

One at a time.

Just slowly grind it.

Believe in yourself, - Greg.

Believe, yeah.

Ah, Greg, - In all honesty, none of us were even brave enough to try.

So, oh man.

It does not matter how many times we go zip lining.

It is always a rush.

If you've never gone zip lining, this would be the perfect place to go.

The hills are beautiful and the lines, they're fast.

Alright, so we've been teasing it all day long.

But with the sun starting to set, it's finally time to head to the hero of Lotes, the John t Floor Country store.

Wow.

- Because you - Don't, if there was a Mount Rushmore of Texas dance halls, this near mythic venue would be on it.

The walls stand as a memorial to all the greats of country music who've graced this very stage.

And the ceiling is a memorial to all the people who danced so hard.

They scooted right out of their boots and for a lesson on floor's, long story fast, we're gonna sit with venue manager Daniel Rosen Daniel.

This is awesome.

Yeah.

So where exactly are we?

- So we're in the kind of backstage green room area that at one time is where John T Floor lived.

- No kidding.

- Yeah, I guess he wanted to save money, so he built himself a little room back here.

- That's a man committed to his work.

John t stood six foot five and wore thick bottle rimmed glasses.

A true Texas entrepreneur.

After years of managing the Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio, he moved to Lotes to open a grocery store and that's when another opportunity presented itself.

- There's actually another little dance hall down the road and he saw all the foot traffic of people going to this little dance hall and he is like, I can do better than that.

Oh.

So he just bought some land, you know, and decided that he was gonna build himself a country store, dance hall, beer joint place to eat and have fun.

So pretty early on, I mean he was booking Ernest Tub and Bob Wills and Ray Price and all this kind of classic ah, legends man from that era.

So I think pretty quickly it got a little bit of a name for itself.

- By the 1970s, John had forged a deep friendship with a certain hippie cowboy and booked a standing gig.

- Him and Willie were good friends.

- The sign out there says Willie every Saturday night.

So when he - Was doing that, that's when he was living out in Bandera.

So - He literally played every week.

- It might have been every month, but okay.

- Look, it sounds like John was a good marketer.

It was on this stage where the legend, we know as shotgun Willie was born and over the next few decades everybody who's anybody in country music has played floors.

There's Merle, there's Pat Green, Charlie Robinson, like Waylon Jennings.

- Casey Musgrave too.

She's before my time too.

Apparently she opened for Willie one - Time.

They share a lot in common.

Yeah.

Probably including their pre-game ritual I imagine Fans.

Yeah.

They - Have some hobbies that are similar.

The cool thing about this place is you get to watch 'em grow sometimes.

Yeah.

You know, we'll book 'em in the indoor stage for a hundred people and then a year later it'll be 500 people and then they'll sell a thousand tickets outside.

Before you know what they're in, - They outgrow.

- So you get to watch it happen, which is cool.

- Both Parker McCullum and Cody Johnson played floors to small crowds of a hundred or so.

And on any given night you might be seeing country music's next big star place makes a lot of dreams come true.

Yeah.

It's hallow ground man.

Yeah.

- Kind of like a heartbeat of the city.

You know, - More than just the heartbeat of he Lotus Floors is the living embodiment of the Texas honky tonk.

And the sign outside may be a little off about Willie, but it is 100% true about Floor's, world famous tamales and I am all about tasting history.

Alright, so anytime you're seeing a show at John t Floors, you gotta get here just a little early to have yourself some Texas tamales.

It's just what you do.

This is fine.

Texas Caviar and champagne of the John t Floors variety.

Oh God.

We'll Salsa Verde for it.

You know, the same family that was making these when this store opened is still making them today.

Don't get much more Texan than that.

Right there.

Gimme enough of these.

And I might grab a guitar and start playing in a second.

Alright.

- Probably should take him away then.

I'm just saying - As the night moves on, the griddle speeds up and the crowd builds in anticipation for tonight's headliner.

Mike Ryan, I got to catch up with Mike briefly before the show you're playing tonight.

John t Floor's Country store.

What's that mean to you - Man?

Being from San Antonio seeing tons of shows, I mean, ragweed, Robert Earl Keen, when I was first learning how to play guitar, those were like my, my kind of heroes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It all kind of started here.

For me, this place is like about as special or hallowed ground as it gets.

It's just been rare energy.

Some of the best crowds - We've played for have been right here.

Hello Tes, it's time to say goodbye.

From your heels to your honky tonks and from your creamy puffs to your Dino Bluffs.

I hope you never change.

I'm sorry if that sounds corny.

I mean, it's literally your name.

Ha.

Well, what do you know?

I finally found some.

Hello and hello to, so I'll see all y'all out on the road.

Via con Dios, Amigos.

That's goo Alright, band's still on?

I'm gonna go back in.

- 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.