Note: This blog entry was copied from last year with a few minor revisions since Pi Day falls on Friday this year rather than Thursday and one or two of the pie restaurants have made slight changes to their weekend marketing and or hours. But I enjoyed writing this blog last year and based on my readership, several of you enjoyed reading it. Hopefully, one or two even took my advice and took a little Pi Day road trip. If not, maybe you will this year using my guidance. Have a great weekend!
Well, it's Pi Day.... You know, like the number pi (3.14159265359), not the pastry pie. So in honor of 3/14 or Pi Day, I'm celebrating the pastry rather than the number. Because honestly, what kind of a geek would want to celebrate a number, for the love of Pete.....
So let's talk about the best places to go for a really great piece of pie. Now, if you're asking me, the best place to go for a perfect piece of chocolate or coconut meringue pie is my Mom's house and back in the day my Grandma's house was a close second. However, if you all show up at my Mom's house with forks in hand, she's probably going to get a little pissy and none of us wants to see that. So I found an article from Southern Living on line that ranked the top 10 pie places in Texas and since it is going to be a perfect spring weekend in Texas, I thought what better way could my lovely readers spend their time than driving around the state conducting your very own pie tasting comparison?
Now I have to be honest, although I have lived in Texas all my life and I have lived in several different parts of Texas, there are still parts of the state that I either don't even know exist or just prefer not to visit. So, although Southern Living ranked 10 in their article, I'm only going to give you information on the ones in locations that I think are worth your visit. I mean let's face it how many of you are really willing to drive out to Medina this weekend to visit an orchard during it's off season? None of you, right? So, I'm not going to tell you that the apple pies at the Love Creek Orchards in Medina were ranked #1 by Southern Living. What sense would that make. The fact that I had to Google Medina to even find it on a map is pretty telling, I think.
So moving along, you might be interested in visiting the Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls this weekend. After all, the bluebonnets may be starting to bloom and you probably haven't tossed your kids in a bunch of them on the side of the highway in the last year for a photo op. This weekend would be the perfect time to do it and there is no better place to do that than along Hwy 281 in Marble Falls. Monday through Friday the Blue Bonnet Cafe has a pie Happy Hour from 3 - 5 p.m. If you take off from work early today, you might be able to make that. If you need a place to spend the night in Marble Falls after OD'ing on pie, check out the Bella Vista Bed and Breakfast for a relaxing evening of digesting your pie.
But wait, it gets better, because you could really make a big weekend out of your Pi Day celebration if you drove over to Stephenville and took Hwy 281 south stopping at Hico first. You wouldn't be able to stop here and still get down to Marble Falls for pie Happy Hour, but you see, the #3 place in Texas for pie is the Koffee Kup Family Restaurant in Hico at the intersection of Hwy 281 and Hwy 6. They also have great chicken fried steak but how could you expect anything less? I mean, it is right smack dab in the middle of Texas. So, okay, here's the new plan, you leave work early today.... head to Hico. Get your pie on there. Then you head on down to Marble Falls.... If you happen to lapse into diabetic coma after the pie from Hico, you can always stop in Lampasas for the night. But I would recommend driving on to Marble Falls since you are going to have several more stops to make before the weekend is over.
I'm thinking now that you are going to have to eat your Marble Falls pie for breakfast or lunch because you've gotta get to Round Top before the Royers Round Top Cafe closes at 9:30 on Saturday night for your second dose of pie of the day. By the way, it is Antique Week in Round Top which is the smallest incorporated town in the state with a population of 77 people. So, the website recommends that you make reservations at the cafe. I'm just sayin'..... I'm thinking that finding a place to spend the night in Round Top is going to be pretty tough unless you are related to one of the 77 residents. So you might want to head down I-10 and look for a hotel room. But don't go too far because tomorrow we are hitting our next stop in Chappell Hill. Bad news this year about Royers Round Top Cafe, last year they had a Pi Day special in which they were offering 25% off pies ordered from their website all weekend long. I guess they're too big time for that this year. Maybe I sent so much business their way, they couldn't keep up with the demand but no such offer this year....
The next stop in our weekend of celebrating Pi Day is in Chappell Hill, Tx. at Bevers Kitchen. We're in luck too! Friday and Saturday are Mexican buffet days in the restaurant. Be sure to check out the website for this place because the photos of the pies and bread are amazing! After the Mexican buffet and a big old slice of pie you might want to walk it off at the Chappell Hill Lavender Farm which just opened a few weeks ago for the 2014 season. You can cut your own lavender for $5 a bundle.
As you leave Chappell Hill, you will make your final stop in Brenham. Now, I know what you're thinking..... Whoa there Susan!!!! It's Pi Day not Ice Cream Day! But Brenham also happens to be the home to Must Be Heaven and yes, to answer your question it is indeed also an ice cream parlor selling Blue Bell Ice Cream. The stop in Brenham will wrap our trip up. But after 3 days of pie, we will need to get back home and head to the gym anyway. So if you are still conscious after all of that pie, head on over to I-45 to drive back to the Dallas area and if you get hungry along the way, stop at Buck-ees for a little snack. Yeah, that's right, I said it.
Have a good weekend. I'll talk to you all on Monday. Happy Pi Day!
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