Sunday April 29
 
 
I returned downtown for one last good cup of coffee at Halycon and one final walk around the downtown area. 
After returning to my hotel north of town I had one more meal left before I continued on to San Antonio to fly back home…
 
No one should leave Texas without a good bowl of red….present company included..
 

 
Well….they’re open
 
Texas Chili Parlor
 
Recommended by Bushie  when I first visited Austin back in 2005 for CAT duty, Texas Chili Parlor eventually made it’s way to The Stern’s 500 places to eat Book… After a 7 year absence I’m really looking forward..
 
Once again before I entered, the sign across the street caught my attention..
 

 
 You all know I’m looking at the Austin’s best coffee sign- I know the rest of you are looking at the “bacon cookies and and ice cream” sign.
 
Anyway, back to Texas Chili Parlor
 
The interior of the place  looks exactly like what I would expect a  chili parlor to look like.
 

 
at least one that’s in Texas…
 
I began with a side of Chips and Queso
 

 
The chips were very pedestrian, however the queso had a slight jalapeno bite….
 
However this is why I’m here….
 

 
A nice big beefy bowl of chili….with a side of raw onion and jalapeno….no beans….no cheese….just the basics…
 
With the option of ordering “X” “XX” or “XXX” (you need to sign a waiver for the last one)  , you can even order habanero, white chili or black bean and elgin sausageI ordered the “XX” – certainly spicy but not overbearingly so…..The cumin laced bowl of red is everything that it lives up to be…..
 
After lunch I drove back to San Antonio to fly home…..the story doesn’t end there…
The rest of the trip is just a rant- Of course the trip began with transportation issues back in Arizona and it’s going to end with transportation issues…
 
As I was boarding the plane, I was forced to check my carry on bag (on Southwest- checked baggage is free)  even though I’ve carried it on board many times in the past- no big deal. When I arrived in Chicago to change planes, I realized I couldn’t take a photo of my Chicago Style Dog at the Airport’s  Gold Coast Hot Dog concession stand which might I add, had some of the nastiest cheese fries I’ve ever had ( Weiners Circle or Poochie’s they aint) I should have just had two dogs instead…
 
The clincher is they had to do a plane swap for my  flight back to Providence (that flight was still in Atlanta!)
So instead of arriving in Providence before just before 11pm, I ended up getting home just after 2am. …Thankfully I had planned on taking the morning off at work anyway…..
 
I will conclude with epilogue and foot notes (for both Arizona and Texas)  later in the week