- 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.

- Don't you feel a bit dumb when you fly past the town on the highway and barely even notice it, only to find out later about all the things you missed.

Well, if zombie horny toads Santa on a bank heist and chicken fried goodness or reasons to stop, well then you better never fly past these two towns again.

Eastland and Cisco, The towns of Eastland and Cisco sit about an hour and a half west of Fort Worth, right down Interstate 20.

And we're gonna start our trip right here in the heart of downtown Eastland County.

Welcome to Eastland, which ironically is west for most of Texas.

But this town was actually named after Captain William Eastland, who never visited, but who served in the early Texas Army and was one of the few unlucky soldiers who drew a black bean and was executed in Mexico.

But for the cause of Texas.

About 30 years after that incident, this whole town was platted out in anticipation for the railroad.

And well, ever since that day, folks have been moving out west to make a life in the land of the east land.

Eastland today has a population of about 3,600 folks, which is only a third of what it was a hundred years ago at the height of the oil boom.

To hear that story and many more.

Well, let's head to the Eastland County Museum occupying the old bank building, and this is Terry Simmons, making sure the stories of Eastland - Live on our real history almost started in the early 19 hundreds with the oil boom Ranger oil field, the McCluskey, number one, the oil discovery that - Saved the war.

It was 1917 World War I was dragging on and the US desperately needed fuel and supplies like rubber tires.

Then boom, the Ranger oil field hit and history changed forever.

So this part of Texas not only saved the war, but saved the world - By extension.

Absolutely.

And it just started a boom out here.

And we always say, if those walls could talk, how much money was made and lost up there during the boom?

- Oh, I can only - Imagine.

But at some point there was a bust, as we all know, - Always is.

You know, Eastland County is full of lore and legend.

- So Ted, have you ever seen the movie Young Guns?

Of course.

There's a character that Keefer Sutherland played.

This is Doc Scurlock and Doc actually was a real person is buried in our cemetery out here.

- So the regulators actually existed.

They actually existed.

I gotta go back and watch Young Guns.

Yes.

This bar to Texas could get pretty wild west, if you know what I mean.

Right.

So this is a bar taken out of a saloon in nearby Ranger and evidently one day during the oil boom, a customer was getting a little ornery with the bartender.

And well look at this, there's a bullet hole.

The bartender shot him through the bar.

It's a tough place to get hit - A little below the bell.

Do.

Ah, yeah.

- All right.

Y'all see Santa Claus up here with a gun?

Okay, that's a different story for a different town, but just make a middle note.

The stories here stretch even further back than the county itself.

Alright, so I mentioned the black bean incident earlier and it happened during the period of the Republic of Texas.

A group of Texan soldiers in the mere expedition were captured and brought to Mexico as prisoners.

Now as a punishment, Santa Ana ordered that one out of every 10 be executed.

But the way they decided is they drew beans.

White bean Mincha lived a black bean mincha died.

I'm gonna make you draw first so there's less black beans in there.

Oh man.

Oh damn.

Yes.

Alright.

Woohoo.

We will live to trip another day.

He lives Captain Eastland drew a black bean and died along with all the ladies of our crew.

Apparently.

Oh, sorry Renee, we're done.

Oh no.

Luckily nobody's getting executed today 'cause we still need a crew via Con Dios Theresa.

But of all the stories in this museum, there's one truly Texas sized so big, it's almost unbelievable, dare I say.

But it's the tale of the most famous citizen to ever live in Eastland County.

Old Rip the Texas horny toad who lived.

- Yep.

Old rip was put into the cornerstone of a courthouse built in 1897.

1928 when they built the current courthouse, opened up the cornerstone, pulled out a Bible bottle of whiskey and some other things, and pulled out a horn toe, lifting him up, held him by his tail, and all of a sudden he took a breath and started moving.

What a crowd of thousands of people just went crazy - For 31 long years old Rip lived, locked inside the time capsule, but how - Maybe he, you know, drank the whiskeys or ate the Bible, ate ants or whatever.

- So he lives on a steady diet of ants.

Whiskey will sip a whiskey every now and then.

He gets to read the good book.

Yeah.

While he is in there.

Yeah.

The story spread like wildfire and even spawned a nationwide tour where old Rip met President Calvin Coolidge.

Sadly, all that excitement got to, and he passed away about a year after his rise to fame.

But to honor the famous toad, the city built old Rip a casket where he lies in state behind glass that only the county judge can open.

- Okay, Chad.

So here he is, is - The hero of Eastland.

There you go.

- I can hold him.

You can hold him Now.

Are we sure he is not still sleeping?

- He's pretty dead.

- Yeah.

So now that you've held him, you have to take the oath.

- Oh my gosh.

I was, I'm not prepared for this.

Okay.

Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will faithfully execute the office of Old Rip Promoter and will to the best of your ability, promote, preserve, protect, and defend to the death?

The truth of the story of O Rip.

I do.

Then you're sworn congratulations to the death.

- To the death.

That's intense, judge.

We've only executed one or two - In - Recent - Weeks.

Yes.

I won't fail you.

O rip.

I'm now Chet Garner Texan Day Tripper defender of the Toad.

Eastland is certainly an interesting town that has certainly embraced its artistic side.

I mean there's even art in the DQ parking lot, but there is one especially cool piece tucked away in a very unexpected place.

Alright, so in the corner of the Eastland Post office, you will find this epic mural made completely out of us postage stamps.

It's wild.

So evidently in the 1960s the postmaster here had a couple extra hours on our hands.

And so at her expense she started to construct this mural.

It took like seven years, uses over 11,000 different stamps.

It's estimated to be worth over $5 million, partially because they're the signatures of six US presidents on this mural.

Look at this though.

It's epic.

Oh, the things you can find in Texas.

So we've hunted down some history and some art, but now it's time to hunt down some lunch.

But first I got a little bone to pick with my crew.

Alright, so I'm the only one who took the oath.

Y'all are just gonna let old rips legacy mean nothing to you.

You're not gonna be a defender of the toad.

I was thinking about it until you said until death.

Until he said until death.

Hey, if old rip is willing to die for us, then the least we can do is return the favor someday.

My, my great grandkids.

Why did Grand Pappy Chet die again?

Well, he was defending a dead horny toad.

Yeah.

What?

What do y'all think about that?

Like, oh, there's no way.

There's no way that that was No.

What can horny Toad even live that long?

How long did the dinosaurs live?

Millions of years.

I think he lived all right.

I think he did prove - Me wrong.

Y'all Chet's obligated to defend this to the death.

- Yeah, he is.

Okay, I just need to get, I'm pulling over right now.

We're gonna go fisticuffs my friend.

Let me introduce you to old and ripped right here.

Oh, it's getting heated.

My hangriness must be kicking in.

No better way to fix that than with a Stop by Maze Meat Market.

It's tucked just off the main strip down a dirt road.

You have to know it's there to find it.

But old man, have folks found it.

Maize is a dinosaur of a concept that's still very much alive in Eastland.

And this is owner Jimmy Pitzer.

Jimmy, good to see you man.

Good.

How you doing?

I'm doing great.

Alright, so lemme get this right.

Half of this is a meat market and the other half is a cafe.

- Yes.

- Well if you need to, you know, get an extra steak, you just walk across the building, - You can come pick outta your steak and we'll cook it for you.

- Is that right?

Yeah.

Hot dog.

It don't get much fresher than that.

Jimmy worked for years in the meat department of a big chain supermarket and realized, well he preferred the old school way.

- You know, a lot of stores are now coming pre-pack, so you can't get that special cut.

So you come here to get that higher quality beef.

Everything's hand cut from a bacon wrap, quell to our homemade sausage.

We also make our own beef jerk.

- Jimmy's a young man with an old butcher's soul.

Mays is named after the previous owner's mother, but when they got ready to retire, they called Jimmy.

- So is it more work than you expected?

Yes, it's a lot of work, but I get to see my family and work at the same time and do what I love doing.

- I love it.

Absolutely.

What's the more popular side of the business?

The meat counter or the cafe?

It's about split.

Is it really The cafe side of things Turns out an endless stream of delicious burgers, hand battered chicken fried steak and daily specials and judging 'em by the smiles on customers' faces.

It's all very good.

Well dude, I can't decide what I want for lunch.

You want to come help?

Make your lunch.

Make the lunch?

Yeah.

Alright.

Okay, good.

Gimme some gloves.

Alright, this is Mary the butcher.

Put me to work.

- We're gonna make some steak fingers.

Steak fingers.

I love it.

You ready to tenderize it?

Turn up the machine.

Let's, it's like a chainsaw.

You run up through there and then you turn it, run it again.

- Okay.

- At a boy.

See if it's tender.

Do it about one more time.

- You gotta kind of slap the meat around.

So - There you go.

Just to go.

Yeah.

Two sometimes.

Now pick up your knife.

Okay.

I'm gonna try to make you pour snake fingers out.

This there one?

Yes.

- All right.

One.

- You could just make three pin.

That's it.

That's how we do it.

That's it.

Yeah.

- There.

Ah, next it's into the batter, the grease, and then my belly.

Ooh.

Well thank you ma'am.

Ooh, man.

I've eaten a lot of steak finger baskets in my life and this definitely looks better than a hundred percent of them.

Like that right there.

That's a Texas sized steak finger.

All right, let's go.

Oh man, that was good.

The steak is perfectly tenderized if I do say so myself.

Like absolutely perfect.

They nailed the tenderizing.

I don't know who did that, but they deserve a raise.

- Anybody?

No, no.

- The crust perfectly crispy.

The gravy, peppery and creamy.

Ah.

Like this is on a whole nother level.

This is amazing.

I love this place because it's both like a throwback with the old school butcher shop, but then like a modern meat market with this delicious food.

It's got one foot in both worlds and that means more delicious meat than my stomach.

With our bellies full, it's time to hop a town over one that sits less than 10 miles down the road.

We're supposed to do one city per episode.

Yeah, but who follows rules?

Daniel, where we day trip?

We don't need rules.

We don't need rules.

You know, these two cities are kinda like Sister Cities.

They should just rename Cisco to Westland.

That kind of makes sense.

It almost felt like when we were in Eastland, everybody was asking if we had been to Cisco.

And when you're in Cisco, everybody's asking if you've been to Eastland.

I wanted a real banger of an episode.

So just took the two together.

M them in a big pot.

Do you have a problem?

Watch the protocol.

Let me introduce you to my friends old and rip like its neighbor.

Cisco has a population just under 4,000.

But unlike Eastland, it's not the county seat.

So it doesn't have a courthouse, but it does have a tail as epic, as old rip.

So this is the first national bank.

Well, it used to be back in 1927 when it was robbed by Santa Claus.

It was Christmas Eve Eve, and a man named Marshall Ratliff dressed as Santa pulled more than presents out of his sack as he moved in to rob the bank.

It's Santa with a guy.

This is a ho ho holdup.

Put the money in the bag or else you're all getting coal in your stock Here.

What followed was a flurry of gunfire.

Santa in is not so jolly elves escaped, but the shootout left two officers dead and others wounded.

Eventually all four robbers were either dead or captured.

Ratliff was taken to jail in Eastland and after a failed escape attempt that left another officer dead while he found himself on the wrong end of a rope, as the victim of the last mob lynching in Texas.

Not exactly Hallmark material, but Eastland will forever be known as the town that killed Santa.

Oh, no, no, sorry kids.

I mean, it wasn't really Santa Downtown.

Cisco is bigger than I expected.

And like Eastland, it swelled during the oil boom and had to quickly think of ways to accommodate all those nomadic oil workers.

Alright, so you may not know it just by looking at it, but we are standing in front of the world's first Hilton hotel.

Oh no, not that one.

This one over here.

And this man right here is Conrad Hilton, who had actually come to Cisco to buy a bank.

But when that deal fell through, he found himself standing in the lobby of a very busy hotel.

He looked around and he thought, Hey, maybe I should run hotels instead.

Turns out that was a very good idea.

This is the Mobley Hotel built in 1916.

And in 1919 became the first Hilton property, 40 rooms and a seemingly endless demand.

Conrad knew that he was onto something.

By the 1950s, Conrad had built a hotel empire that spread across multiple continents and owned some of the fanciest hotels in all of the world.

And it started right here in Cisco.

That's nuts.

This catapulted Conrad to a life hosting presidents and dining with Hollywood stars.

He married Jaja Gabo.

His son married Elizabeth Taylor.

And let us not forget about his granddaughter.

Without this hotel, the world might have never learned the phrase.

It's hot.

'cause how else would we say?

The temperature outside or like what would you say if you touched a hot frying pan?

Ouch.

No, no, no.

Oh, it's hot.

It's hot.

Yeah.

Conrad's story is hustle and entrepreneurship at its finest.

This museum also has great exhibits to Cisco's long history, including its unique mascot.

- All right, Che, I was looking at this.

Eastland has the mavericks.

Yep.

Mavericks.

And Cisco has the lobes.

What are the lobes?

The lobes.

It's not lobes.

They've got an E in it's lobos.

No, Lobo means wolf in Spanish.

I know that.

Yeah.

What is, what is a low bow with a E?

- Why don't point that out to anybody in town if you say they misspelled it them's fighting words.

Really?

But there should not be an E on it.

Oh, oops.

In proper Spanish.

But when did Texans follow proper Spanish?

Anyway, - Classic Texas.

In Texas, we make our own - Rules.

Yeah, this is true.

Leave it to us with an E in Lobo.

There's no E in Lobo.

What'd you say?

Let me introduce you to old riff.

Now, I'm not sure if they ever had Lobos at our next stop, but they certainly don't anymore.

And it's time to take a little hike through the creepiest zoo in Texas.

So in the 1920s when Cisco was a much busier town, some ambitious townspeople decided to build a zoo just below the dam of the newly formed lake Cisco.

It was built as part of a resort that also included a huge manmade pool.

Now this is all abandoned by the 1930s, but very recently, they decided to clear the trails and turn it into outdoor nature park.

If you come out here, you get to hike the old footpaths of the zoo.

And even look at the cages, which are right up here.

This is creepy.

In its heyday, the zoo held a strange menagerie of animals, a deer, a bear, even flamingos and a monkey.

And keep in mind, this is before the days of the internet and television, you couldn't just Google what does a monkey look like and then watch endless videos of monkeys.

And so a zoo like this, even though it was small, would've been mind blowing.

The trails twist and turn each former cage marked by bits of crumbling stone or rusted iron, the zoo was eventually closed after a string of mysterious deaths to a deer and a bear.

It's not hard to imagine their angry animal ghosts still lingering around.

Whoa, whoa.

Oh, Daniel, what was that?

- I don't know.

- I swear I I just heard animals in the trees.

It's getting a little creepy, huh?

- What?

What was that?

I don't know.

It sounds like it's all around us.

Oh gosh.

What in the world?

Go, - Go, go.

- I think I'm gonna go get a beer.

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

We came to the right place, the Red Gap Brewery in downtown Cisco, bringing all the flavors of the city craft beer scene out here to the country.

Man, it is cool to find a craft brewery in an old building like this in downtown Cisco.

And it's named Red Gap Brewing, because that was actually the name of the town before a tornado.

Destroyed it in 1878, which is the name for one of their traditional laggers, 1878 lager.

Looking at the whole menu, these guys make some seriously creative beers.

A hea colada.

It's like a hea wisen with a pina colada.

They've got a milkshake.

IPA gun site heisen named after the owner's ranch.

I'm getting thirstier and thirstier looking at the menu.

I did not ask the crew what they wanted.

And so I'm just gonna get a bunch of beers I wanna try and take steps off of before I bring 'em to the table.

That's pretty good.

Hey, good.

How about that beer running me like a beer winch?

Oh, okay.

That's fine.

All right, guys, this should pep us up.

Help us heal from our trauma.

Cheers guys.

- Hey, - Cheers.

Sorry about that ghost animal thing.

- Yeah, thanks - A lot.

All right, y'all, time for one last stop.

Now, pretty much every small town is guaranteed to have a few things.

A great chicken fried steak, and a great hole in the wall, Mexican joint.

Now we had chicken fried for lunch, and that means dinner at La fca.

Finca is small town Tex-Mex done right.

If you need a plate of sizzling fajitas or saucy enchiladas to eat under flamenco dancing prints and Aztec masks.

Well this is your stop.

What do we have here?

Sun brisket, nachos.

Thank you.

Oh, they're really good.

Brisket nachos.

Yes.

With queso and everything.

This is longtime manager Delilah Castro.

You know what's good when it gets all over your face?

People seem to love Laca.

- Yes.

- And I got a dumb question.

What does La Finca mean?

- It's a small ranch.

Oh, okay.

nda.

It's a bigger ranch.

Okay.

And the smaller ones are called Laca - Laca.

Hey, that's appropriate.

Considering they serve up a mean Mexican steak.

So did you grow up in Cisco?

- Yeah.

I actually used to work at this building when I was 13, helping in the kitchen.

Once I got on enough to waitress, that's all I've done.

- So that's cool.

In a small town, it's a very involved job.

- You gotta learn your customers in little to like this.

There's some that like their food hot, that plate got to be hot.

If they touch it and be like, oh, that's not hot, can you take it back?

You walk around the restaurant and it'll be like maybe one person, I don't know.

I don't know anyone in here - But already feel at home.

Alright, so what should I order?

What do you think - The Lobo or the ranch style?

Fajitas.

- Okay.

- Which has a creamy homemade salsa to it.

Ooh.

It's - Really fajitas with sauce.

Oh man.

After sizzling on the griddle, they add cheese and a spicy Picasso sauce and boom, someone better pass me a platter.

Alright, so when I found out Finca means little ranch, I had no choice but to get the ranch style fajitas.

Because you know most places fajitas are just fajitas.

You may get some peppers and onions, but these fajitas, they're covered in sauce and cheese.

Oh, that's so good.

It's been marinated.

It's got the taste of the fire.

It also has all those Mexican spices that you love so much about fajitas.

All this needs, it's a tortilla.

- So are you the kind of person who likes to, Ooh, I Nevermind.

I guess.

Oh, answer my question right there.

- Just go for it.

Give it, give it the beans, give it the rice, give it the cre, give it the guacamole.

All of it.

It's for the record.

It doesn't matter if I do this or this.

It's still a fajita taco.

It's not even a taco.

It's fajitas, which is a whole nother thing.

Like is it a burrito or a taco?

It's neither.

It's fajitas.

I love a good small town Mexican food joint.

You know if you drive through a small Texas town and you see a local place and the parking lot's got cars in it, chances are there's some absolutely delicious food inside.

If I told you there was a town where horny toads live forever, Santa is a bank robber and ghost animals roam the trails.

Well you probably tell me I was crazy, but I just tell you that it's time to head west to visit the land of the east.

Oh, that is some good eating.

So I'll see 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.