- 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.

(soft music) - I love a town that flies under the radar.

A place that folks may know of, but know very little about.

A community travelers pass through, but very rarely explore and these towns are often Texas's best hidden gems.

And today we are making Daytripper discoveries.

Brownwood here and here.

Hoo hoo, Brownwood.

(bright music) About two and a half hours southwest of Fort Worth in the same northwest of Austin, you'll find Brownwood at the crossroads where central Texas meets West Texas.

So I know what you're thinking, "Chet, isn't all wood brown?"

Well, no, it's not, smart Alec.

There's Yellowwood, Blackwood, Whitewood, even Greenwood with of course, Lee being my favorite of that variety ♪ because I'm proud to be an American ♪ All right, nevermind.

So Brownwood went from being a cattle drive town to a railroad town, to a military town, to a manufacturing town, now to current day, which is somewhat of a renaissance town.

I think y'all are gonna be surprised with this one.

(soft music) Daniel, you ever been to Brownwood?

- Yes.

- What happened to your voice?

- I lost it.

- Did you go to the Taylor Swift concert?

- Yeah.

Went real hard at karaoke.

"Don't Stop Believing."

- This is good.

We can just keep making fun of him and he can't say anything.

- Really.

I love it.

(light laughter) - Well, hey, back row.

Have y'all been to Brownwood?

- Always pass through on the way to West Texas Panhandle.

You don't get to see a lot of it because the highway doesn't necessarily take you through town.

- No, it doesn't at all.

And that's a shame, truly, because Brownwood is bumping.

Today it has a population of about 19,000 folks and a huge historic downtown.

It's the heart of Brown County and the home of Howard Payne University which dates all the way back to the 1880s.

Oh, and I failed to mention another very important sort of wood found only here in town.

My favorite kind, Underwood.

This is Underwood's barbecue cafeteria.

Since 1946, the dinner bell and the smell of warm rolls have been calling folks to the family table.

Today it's run by third generation pit masters and brothers, Leo and Paul Underwood.

- Hey Chet.

- Paul.

Good to see you, man.

- Yeah - Hang on a sec.

I'll be right there.

(soft music) - Good to see you.

- Yeah, you too.

You too.

Time to grab a seat and some hot rolls.

Paul, I love walking into Underwoods because there's a smell in this building that you don't find anywhere else.

- Well, I'm gonna take your word for that, Chet because when you come every single day you lose that ability to smell your rolls.

- You can't smell your rolls anymore?

- No.

I gotta be gone for like a two week vacation and then I come in, it's like, okay.

Oh yeah, smell it.

(light laughter) - Oh, that's a shame.

Lemme describe this to you.

It's butter, yeast and heaven.

Paul and his brother basically grew up in Underwoods with their grandparents at the helm.

They actually call this building the new place because it was only built in 1975.

The original was just a small building where the parking lot is now.

But from these humble roots was born a Texas institution.

- My dad had eight brothers and at one time I think six or seven of them had Underwoods all around, you know the state of Texas here.

- Whoa.

Okay.

Those are an old potholder and a matchbook.

- You got all the kind of the locations there.

- There were Underwoods in each of these cities?

- Absolutely.

- I did not know that.

Even some north of the Red River?

- How about that?

- What?

- Lot in Oklahoma.

- Enemy territory there (chuckles) - It really is.

Today the original Underwoods is the only one left, serving their unique brand of home cooking and smoked meats including chicken, ribs and this one of a kind cut they call barbecue beef steak.

Now this isn't really brisket, right?

And, you know, it kind of, it's got its own texture.

- We don't apologize for it whatsoever.

You know, it's just the only thing we've known, you know?

- So what is the technique?

Because it's not like any other barbecue and I've traveled a lot of Texas.

- Right.

- Nobody else is doing it like y'all are.

- Well, I know and we're gonna keep it that way, Chet.

- Yeah.

Okay, good, good.

(light laughter) I see how that just went.

- We always say the proof is in the eating.

Whether it's down to our barbecue beef, our orange potato salad, the way we season our beans, you know, it's just Underwood and the rolls are there to sop it all up at the end.

(light laughter) - That's right.

And there's a lot to sop up because after you pick your meat you get as many sides as you want and as many rolls as you can squeeze into the empty spaces of your stomach.

- Well Chet, I'd love to sit here and just chat with you all through the lunch run, but I mean I can see right now that there's that red light up there that every time that light comes on, it's our cue.

We have to pass out the hot rolls.

Can I deputize you and let you maybe pass out some rolls.

- I can think of no greater honor.

(bright music) All right, let's go spread some yeasty happiness.

Are the cameras rolling?

(light laughter) All right.

Fresh rolls.

Would you like a roll?

Yeah I did not make these so you won't get any food poisoning.

Fresh outta the oven.

There you go.

That's my first roll delivery.

Oh yeah, there you go.

That's a good one right there.

All right, y'all enjoy.

I think I'm getting the hang of this.

Call me butter 'cause I'm on a roll.

Would any of you ladies like a fresh roll?

Mom?

What cha you doing here?

- What are you doing here?

- Why, I'm making the show.

- Are time's this rough.

(light laughter) - Here.

You can put tips right there in my pocket.

(light laughter) They're hot, Ladies, like straight out of the oven.

Guess I gotta go back for some more.

All right, hang around for lunch.

The lunch crowd is always hungry.

Come on a weekend, especially during hunting season and the line will likely extend through the parking lot, but I can only watch others eat for so long, time to roll through the line.

Well, I've been here enough times to know that you can't walk in the door without getting barbecue beef steak.

- There you go.

There you go.

- I'll take a beef steak.

- What else you got?

- I don't know.

I mean, you want to throw a rib on there?

- Let's throw a rib on there.

- Maybe a piece of Mama Underwood's fried chicken.

I gotta have some fried chicken.

- I love our mashed potatoes but you gotta try our potato salad.

So just, you might skip the mashed potatoes.

- I can't skip mashed potatoes.

- My mom and cousin Ruth were gracious enough to stick around for lunch.

Cheers, y'all.

- Cheers.

And I'm glad you got some veggies, Chet.

- Yeah, you know, I thought I'm eating with my mom.

I'm gonna have to make sure that I have a balanced diet.

- That's right.

- Patty, how are you?

- I'm good.

Whipped cream?

- Yes, please.

The whipped cream train is here.

It feels like we're at a family reunion, right?

- That's right.

That's right.

- Right.

Yeah, yeah.

Do y'all remember going to the Underwoods, like around?

- I can tell you about when my first trip was.

It was in the sixth grade actually in Wichita Falls.

And it was the first time I'd ever went to a restaurant and I thought that was the most fantastic.

(light laughter) - I mean, that's amazing.

- If we have company come and they've never been to Underwoods.

Oh, you gotta go to Underwoods.

- Yeah.

Oh man these ribs are good.

- Oh Chet.

You've made a mess.

You are a slob.

(light laughter) We taught you better than that.

(light laughter) - Ah, mom.

Always watching out for me.

And now that we've cured our hunger it's time to explore a bit of the history around these parts and there's no better place to do that than the Brown County Museum of History.

From mammoth Bones to Frontier Homes this museum covers every era of Brownwoods storied past.

And this is director, Kendall Howard.

- One of our goals for our museum is to basically showcase our community history, but also we're trying to inspire people about different places in history, different items like this 1880 cabin.

So they brought in each one of these pieces to basically recreate this inside the museum.

So we could show it to our guests.

- It's adult-sized Lincoln Logs.

- Yes.

- Like almost all of the artifacts in this museum, this cabin was actually donated after it was discovered on someone's property.

- But we are hands-on so that people can actually get a real feel of history.

- Oh, seriously/ - Don't jump on the bed.

(light laughter) That's the one- - You know him too well.

- I know, that sounds like, wait, I was about to do that.

Even I have some self-control but you don't have to tell me twice it's okay to touch stuff.

(soft music) You know, some people put like bands and feathers on their hat.

I've never seen anybody with a full antler rack on their hat.

I mean, that'd be like the most Texas hat ever.

(piano chimes) It's like a chorus of angels singing to me.

If that's what the angels sound like I ended up in the wrong place.

Sorry guys.

Yes.

I'll connect the Bluetooth right away, sir.

Bluetooth, (chuckles).

Where's the wifi on this?

Right, right there.

Ah, yes.

Router connected.

This was actually made by a retired clown, circus clown.

All of this by hand.

(lively music) This is wild.

This is the song I hear every time I get to work.

(light laughter) Yeah.

The Unofficial Daytripper theme song.

It's a circus folks.

It's a circus, Costumes.

(lively music) They also have a large section dedicated to Camp Bowe, a World War II Army camp that covered over a hundred thousand acres and brought more than 250,000 troops to Brownwood.

- It was the largest camp like during World War II in the United States.

And it still had a calvary which I think was very interesting for that time.

- Yeah, very.

Alongside the troops we also had a POW camp.

I still get people contacting me from Germany, whose family was in here.

They got to work off of the camp at different farms.

A lot of them didn't wanna leave.

- All those soldiers spent their extra time and money downtown and those were booming years.

- So, hey Chet, Our largest artifact actually isn't in this building because it is a building.

- What?

- Yes, it is our old Brown County jail.

- More like Brown County Castle built in 1902.

This jail served those who were serving time in Brownwood until 1981.

It's now a fascinating look at what happens when you get caught by the long arm of the law in Brownwood.

- Welcome to our old jail.

And you know what?

We haven't had an inmate in a while.

(dramatic music) - No.

(dramatic music) - Ah.

(dramatic music) No, wait, no you can't Daniel.

No, I mean, I don't even think there's some barbecue here.

You can't leave me.

You can't leave me.

- It's not even locked.

(light laughter) - It's a good thing sentences are pretty short when you're the host of a show that must go on.

But for the past few decades, Brownwoods downtown has seemed like the one trapped behind bars.

Shackled by its past with only a few tourist friendly businesses scattered across blocks of boarded up buildings.

However, things are changing fast.

And you could say Brownwood has found a new kind of freedom, guided by some creative and hungry entrepreneurs.

Example, Over the Rainbow ice cream with delicious scratch made goods.

And I'm getting the full scoop from Brownwood Mayor, Steven Haynes.

And this is shop owner, Julie McDermott.

- Yes.

- What's most popular?

- Probably our ube, the purple one, ube and toffee.

It's probably our most popular.

- I like toffee.

I have no idea what ube is.

What is it?

- So ube is a Filipino purple yam.

- You ever had Yam ice cream?

- I've never had Yam ice cream.

- I think today's our day.

(light laughter) - All right.

Yep.

Cheers.

That's really good.

I'm getting my vegetables too.

Do you see that?

It's called smart decisions.

- Yams.

- Mayor, so did you grow up here?

- I did.

- What do you remember about downtown as a kid?

- You know, downtown as a kid, really was just professional offices and the courthouse and that was pretty much it.

It seemed like something new every week is being announced or planned and it's really exciting time.

- You guys have become a really good example of like, okay if we're all in this together, we can make a real impact and give the community something to be proud of.

- And we feel like we're going back to that in a way where people enjoy getting out.

They like seeing unique businesses and new businesses, not just the chain restaurants.

- Well y'all got one heck of an ice cream shop.

This is amazing.

- It's good yams.

- Good yams.

Seems like every block now has something to see or eat, whether it's a fantastic restaurant, a wine bar, a tap house, or an indoor market meets coffee shop.

There's even one of the most unique bookstores in Texas.

(soft music) Oh, cool.

So this is Intermission Bookshop and it actually used to be an old theater.

Lemme show y'all something.

All right, so look at this wall.

You see all the different levels for the stadium seating that went to the back of the theater.

And at each level you have these stains.

These were actually left by soldiers' hair, you know all the product and grease that they would put in their hair.

And during the movie they would fall asleep resting on the wall.

I love it that they didn't take this stuff off of the wall.

That's character right there.

This whole place just makes me want to cozy up with a good book.

Thanks for joining me at story time, let me tell you about a magical mystical world full of wonderment and barbecue.

(soft music) It's called Texas.

Are you falling asleep, Orange?

Get outta here.

Get him outta my class.

While I'm feeling like a kid again, let's stop by another museum downtown that feels more like a toy store with a history.

Welcome to the Lehnis Railroad Museum.

And this is museum director, Crystal Stanley.

Crystal, this is like a kid's dream land.

- Kind of depends upon who you're considering a kid.

Mr.

Lehnis, who the museum is named for, he worked on the railroad for almost 50 years.

He had such a passion for the railroad and what it offered that he started collecting items and they ended up donating their entire collection to the city.

And then the museum was built with (indistinct).

- What was that?

Oh, that's the railroad.

- Yeah.

That's the railroad.

(light laughter) - So yeah.

Something, oh cut audio.

No, we don't have to.

- We have our own soundtrack all day long.

- It's so realistic.

Everything in here is, all the way down to the tiny, tiny sets built by volunteers over thousands of hours, each with its own tiny, tiny world.

Oh, look at this one.

This whole layout is set up like a civil war town and battle.

There's supposedly Abraham Lincoln somewhere in here.

(light laughter) There he is.

Look at him.

- You know he's right next to the brontosaurus.

I like it.

So not everything is totally realistic, but hey you gotta have some fun.

Oh, now this is cool to actually have some full-sized train cars.

Let's hop on the Caboose.

How are you, good sir?

All right, so here's one of the private cabins and you gotta save space in a rail car.

So you see this, it's a nice chair but if you suddenly feel nature taking over, it's also a toilet.

This is making me wanna take the train on all my trips but to upgrade to the full-size train, I think you gotta start with the tiny ones.

(whistle blows) Yeah, baby.

- All aboard.

(train chugs) - I could really get into this.

All aboard, boys.

Let's go for another round.

(bright music) So here's another question, like where are we in Texas?

What do y'all consider this?

- We're kind of at the top of the hill country, aren't we?

- Kind of, but not on maps.

Like we're not in West Texas, right?

- No, no.

- No.

Yeah, I mean it seems like it's not quite hill country and not quite high plains.

because if you look at the map.

that's probably the best description but very non-descript as well.

- It's a lot of words to say and a whole lot of nothing.

- Whatever it is, it's a great part of Texas.

Rolling hills of oak and mesquite, pecan bottom creeks and lakes.

So for our next stop, we're headed to the one and only, Lake Brownwood and the state park that gives everyone a lakefront getaway.

Lake Brownwood State Park sits on 500 acres with six miles of trails, but one of its coolest features, beloved by outdoorsy types and history buffs alike, are the incredible structures built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

To tell us more, here's Park superintendent, Nikki Little.

- And that was part of the New Deal programs that Franklin D Roosevelt had set up to provide work for young men so they could provide for their families.

There was about 200 of them.

And so they were working six days a week.

They were making $30 a month.

They had to send $25 back home, they got to keep $5 in their pocket and they were getting three square meals a day which was a big improvement for some of their lives.

- Sure.

On top of that, they were learning trades that they could take back to their homes.

Masonry, plumbing, carpentry, blacksmithing.

Across many Texas state parks the CCC built some of our most iconic structures and that includes right here in Brownwood.

- This building cabins, lodges, roadways, culverts.

They designed all of these things and then gave them those plans and they built it.

- Oh, that's cool.

- Yeah.

This park has the most CCC built structures of a Texas state park.

- Okay.

This building here is officially the group recreation hall.

It's the centerpiece of the park and its tower offers the best view of the whole lake.

Wow.

Lake Brownwood, I gotta say I'm impressed.

- It is a really special place.

I mean, throughout time this place has been a place to come getting out on the lake, spending time with their family, hitting our trails, doing birdwatching.

There's all kinds of options.

- So that's awesome.

That's awesome.

(soft music) Man, I'm always impressed by state parks.

So like if you ever find yourself in a town you don't know what to do, if there's a state park within 30 miles of you, go stop in.

I got a good feeling you will be very happily surprised.

How happy This happy.

(bright music) With the sun starting to set and my stomach's starting to growl, well it's time to head back into downtown Brownwood for dinner at Lucille and Mabel.

And while this place may be named after two grandmas, trust me, the food here isn't exactly what grandma used to make.

At least not my grandma.

- Lucille was my grandmother, Mabel was my wife's grandmother.

And so we wanted a place where an experience of food and great love for food and where you're being served well and you walk away going, "Man, what a great date."

- This is Christian Nance, who with his wife Tammy opened this restaurant in 2022 bringing new life into this old bank building.

- We found this building when we moved back from Houston, it did not look like this at all.

There was no brick, there was no wall.

We had to recreate it, rebuild it.

- And so they put a grandmother's love into everything they cook, make or mix up, including the drinks.

Oh, did you notice the giant whiskey wall?

- Howdy.

- Hi, Chet.

- Michael Bunker.

- Good to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- He's come up with this drip system of an old fashioned takes about 24 hours to go through all the fruit kind of absorbs in and breathe back out.

And then- - You're not really a bartender, you're like a chemist.

- This is kind of a science experiment.

- Yeah, thanks, Cheers.

- Hey, cheers Bud.

(bright music) - That is good.

Obviously you guys have the cocktail program locked down.

- Yes sir.

- Tell me a little bit about the food.

- Our food has a blend of kind of high end steak, you know, but we also bring in a lot of fusion with Asian food.

So we have some coconut fried shrimp with the mango salsa.

We've got some cream fried chicken.

- That is not something I would expect to find in Brownwood and definitely not in a place like this.

- And people tell us that all the time, like why are you making this?

I'm like, 'cause it's good.

(light laughter) And two, because my wife says it's delicious.

And she's usually right.

(light laughter) - He's a smart man.

And whether you're talking about the dry aged prime steaks or the delectable house-made desserts, everything is made from scratch because that's what grandma would expect.

- You know, there's this love of food that we want you to experience from us.

- Well, they certainly make it easy to love.

(bright music) So what we have here is a dry age, coffee crusted beef tenderloin, lightly fried lobster tail.

No man, we're gonna batter that stuff up and deep fry it like a crawfish, garlic butter mashed potatoes, asparagus.

The star of the show guys, is this Tenderloin.

How did we order it?

Medium rare.

Wow, this steak doesn't need any sauce it needs nothing else.

That is perfection.

Brownwood is surprising, even me out here and I planned this show.

One of my favorite parts of tripping is stumbling upon the unexpected.

Unseen adventures hiding in plain sight and unreal food that rolls your eyes back up into your head.

Sure, finding a piece of brown wood is hardly earth shattering, but finding a town like Brownwood, well that's enough to send us all day tripping to our next adventure.

House made German chocolate cake because in a place named after two grandmas, this is the kind of dessert they should sell.

All right, look.

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

Vaya con dios, amigos.

- 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.