SSUSA 2019 Ch. 2 - Smithville and the Red Rooster Barn

Thirty-some hours into our road trip for this year's edition of SSUSA we have arrived at our AirBnB in Smithville, TX, "The Red Rooster Barn".  Jay has been sleeping for hours after a filling lunch at El Mexicano Grill as I listen to the rain on the barn roof and "Tennessee Whiskey" echoes warmly out of the tin mug I've turned into a wireless speaker.  It's been raining ever since we finished our ride in Bentonville yesterday around lunch time but I've relished the excuse to rotate my knee through the four stages of RICE hell.



Hot water with Emergen-C warms me from the inside as I actually sit here and relax in the simplicity of this place and the knowing that the upcoming shenanigans will take over sooner than we think.  But for now, this quiet lil barn is our peaceful home away from home.

    

  
Smithville, home of the Sandra Bullock film "Hope Floats", is a cute little town bursting with Southern hospitality.  The main drag in town is ornate and we drove by as a film crew set up for a new Netflix show we heard whisperings of.  We met Coach and Mary at Honey's Pizza for dinner once they rolled into town and feasted on wine and Italian goodness.  Game 7 of the World Series was on the TV over the bar and we enjoyed cheering with the locals that filled the tables around us.

The decor reminded me of home and the kindness of our company was the perfect way to wrap up a rainy day behind the windshield.  The true creme de la creme, though, was the friggin' dessert!!!!  As the restaurant doors locked and the game sadly ended in NY's favor, our server asked if we wanted cinnamon rolls for dessert.  Usually, I only think of cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but hell if I'm not so grateful that we said 'yes'.

What came out was three amazingly fresh cinnamon rolls cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven in an iron skillet (but only one survived long enough for me to get out the phone and take a pic).  The rolls had been topped with olive oil and some amazing secrets that surrounded them in a pool of melted goodness.  We devoured every single morsel of them before the skillet could cool and I watched as Jay tried to channel Superman's powers and cool the skillet so he could drink up the last of the magic.

 

 After dinner, we brought them back to the barn to wind down the night and catch up on the stories of the road. 

Ready for rest,
Kristy Kreme