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.

(upbeat music) - Even the towering pines can't hide the adventures ahead.

We dive into some of the best and butteriest barbecue in Texas.

I risk life and limb on a high speed dirt track and slow it down on the Lonestar Hiking Trail.

We catch some dinner but opt instead for one of the most revered sandwich shops in the nation.

By land or by lake, it's all here in Montgomery.

I do declare.

- What are you declaring?

- That we are indeed in Montgomery.

Montgomery.

(upbeat music) Montgomery, sometimes you just have to say it that way but it sits about an hour northwest of downtown Houston but barely a stone's throw from the urban sprawl.

However, when you get downtown the big city feels world's away and you realize this small town of about 2000 people has deep roots and a proud Texan history.

So, you may have heard of the old 300, right?

It was the first 300 families that Stephen F. Austin settled in Texas but have you heard of the not quite as old but still pretty old 500?

Well, it was the second group of 500 families that Austin brought right here to what would become Montgomery County.

In fact, it's known as the birthplace of the Texas flag as it was Montgomery resident Dr.

Charles Stewart who designed our very own Lonestar Standard.

What, y'all don't carry a Texas flag with you at all times?

- No.

- What?

Oh.

Never leave home without it.

Dr.

Stewart is certainly a local legend in these parts but there's only one folk hero in Montgomery who gets not one statue but a bunch and that's Monty the Goat.

(goat baaing) A hundred years ago there was an actual Billy goat who lived in town and he figured out that if he wandered up to this well and he stood here long enough folks would give him a drink of water.

Well, he got smarter and figured out that if he wandered to the local saloon folks would give him beer and food.

So guess what, he stuck around.

Kinda became a little local legend and hero.

You could call him the GOAT of getting free handouts.

And who doesn't love a free lunch but in terms of the modern day heroes of Montgomery who are willing to work to feed all of us lunch, well let's head to Bar-A-BBQ.

Hopefully before they sell out which is a daily occurrence around here.

From this small house owners Cooper Abercrombie, his wife, Shelby, and his brother, Caleb, serve up some of the most sought after Q in Texas.

All smoked to perfection on what looks like a random Swiss Army knife assortment of pits but according to Cooper there's a method to all this meat madness.

All right Cooper, by my count we got one, two, three, four, there was a fifth one out there then you got this cooktop and they're all different.

- Well, they all serve a different purpose and we use every one of them almost daily here.

- Is that right?

- I've got some briskets on here right now.

- Ah.

- Coal stone smoking brisket.

- A few short years ago Cooper was a fence salesman but then, well he got bit by the smoke bug.

- When you buy a house in Texas you have to buy a smoker.

It's in the paperwork of every house that you buy.

- That's when I got my first pit, yeah.

- You go, hey I gotta cook a brisket, why not?

You know.

- Yeah.

- Gave it a shot and it was absolutely horrible.

We tried and tried and I don't handle being bad at things very well.

I spent everyday I could, like I'm gonna cook a brisket... - Became an obsession.

- Every day until I figure this out, so... - Cooper was hungry to master Texas barbecue.

So hungry that he started driving over three hours to Goldee's Barbecue in Fort Worth to work for free.

- Really, I asked like, hey I'll take the trash out.

Let me do whatever I can to be around you guys.

- For real?

- So, I would just drive up there and spend a day or two at a time and just do whatever I had to do while I still had a full time job.

You know, growing up a high school football coach's son, all you know is be around good people and watch what they do and try and mimic them.

- It worked and now Bar-A is unquestionably one of the best in the room and the state of Texas.

- We started a tent in a brewery, brewery to a trailer, trailer to the brick and mortar.

- That's amazing, dude.

- Yeah.

- The American dream.

- Sometimes, sometimes.

- The Texas dream, yeah, yeah.

- Yeah, for sure.

- Or curse some days, I'm sure.

It's hard work but like I can see the passion that you and your wife have and your brother now too.

- Yeah, my brother as well.

It's a lot of sleepless nights and blood, sweat, and tears like they all say but you know, it's a challenge and that's why I think we're addicted to it.

- Well dude, I'm starving.

So, you wanna walk me through the line a little bit?

- Let's go eat.

- That passion extends to everything on the menu where Cooper's bringing new flavors to Texas Q with sides like tater tot casserole and honey butter corn bread.

Emphasis on the honey butter.

Shelby runs the line where she's dishing out today's special, pork steak.

That's insane.

- He's gotta process.

- This is like a pork belly and a pork chop had a baby.

- It's the perfect mixture.

- You're not waiting, Daniel, eat this.

I've still gotta eat lunch after this.

I basically want everything.

At least wanna try it.

- I'm gonna get you what my ideal order would be, how does that sound?

- Yeah, I won't argue with that at all.

- Let's go, so we're gonna start with brisket.

The king.

There you go, buddy.

- Yes, sir.

I need a moment.

- We warned ya.

- And then here's what I think is possibly the hardest thing to cook is pork ribs.

They have such a small window for when you have to get them off the pit.

Get our links in there, got our house made beef, and then our house made jalapeno cheese.

Now, that tray's not complete without the honey butter corn bread.

We always joke there's enough honey and butter in there to kill Paula Dean so... It is sweet, sweet, sweet.

- Time out.

This is yours.

Enjoy.

- I thank you.

(slow music) Look at this tray.

My goodness.

Honey cornbread.

It's like a corn bread tres leches but with butter and honey.

One of the sweetest, most amazing things I've ever had and it's served as if it's a reasonable thing to have.

There's so much butter on this it's unreasonable.

Like, this is so decadent.

All right, we're getting into the barbecue.

Craft barbecue is better than it's ever been and Cooper is like an absolute artist.

They're taking the classics that we've had for generations and they've just upleveled everything.

I mean, if barbecue keeps evolving, I don't know how it gets better than this.

The barbecue would have to become sentient and then it would end up killing us all.

All right, so I just found out that any leftover corn bread gets turned into chocolate corn bread pudding.

Yeah, I'm just gonna sit here and eat this.

Life's too short to rush through desert.

(slow music) So, some folks go to Montgomery and others go to Montgomery.

- Montgomery.

- Well now, what are you boys doing in Montgomery?

- You're scaring us, sir.

- Yosemite Sam, is he from Montgomery?

- Oh, the actual... - I say, I say... - Wait, that's Foghorn Leghorn, isn't it?

- Oh, is that?

- Yeah, that's Foghorn Leghorn.

- Yosemite is like... (cameraman grunting) - Same question.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yosemite Sam is definitely from Texas but there's just some towns when you say the name you have to say it a certain way.

Welcome to Montgomery.

Not as big or as old as it's Alabama namesake, Montgomery, Texas was founded in 1837 and originally it was the county seed of Montgomery County but in the 1880s the County government moved to Conroe to meet the railroad and Montgomery sort of froze in time.

Fernland Historic Park now holds many of Montgomery's early pioneer buildings.

All right, so this is the oldest structure in Montgomery County.

It's called the Jardine Cabin and it was built in the 1820s by hand.

There's no nails in this.

You drop me in the middle of a forest by myself I die, this dude built an entire cabin for himself.

What do you put right beside your front door back in those days?

Not a doorbell, a rifle lookout.

So, this is a gun port just in case you had to shoot at anybody coming up to your house.

Jardine was an Irish Catholic and at that time it was incredibly difficult for Catholics to own land in Ireland so he came to Texas in search of freedom and a dream.

God bless Texas.

Ah, top of the morning to ya.

Come to the front door, I'll shoot ya through the little hole.

Wait, what?

(upbeat music) Texas's early pioneers were a different breed.

They were drawn to this area by the beauty and resources of the forest and today Montgomery sits as a gateway into one of our state's most precious woodland regions, the Sam Houston National Forest.

160,000 acres of protected wilderness.

All right y'all.

So, I thought we'd spend a little bit of time out in the woods on a very special trail.

Right over this way.

This is the Lonestar Hiking Trail, the longest continuous trail in all of Texas.

96 miles long and if you include all the connected loops, it's over 120 miles.

I mean, that's pretty Texas sized and today we're doing all of it.

- What?

- I didn't tell you?

Nah, I'm just kidding.

We're just gonna do like a little piece.

I mean we got other stuff to do.

- He's not going very far.

- Okay good.

- Guess sometimes it's best if I don't tell the crew what we're doing beforehand.

They'll catch on.

All right crew, pop quiz.

We're in one of Texas's national forests, how many are there?

- Um seven.

- Seven, okay, anybody else?

- 17.

- 17, what?

Have y'all ever worked on "The Day Tripper" before?

Ever?

Okay well, the answer is 4.

- Okay, I was close.

- Can you name any of them?

- Uh, this one.

- Sam Houston.

- There you go.

Bingo, you read that on the sign in the parking lot.

- Davy Crockett.

- Davy Crockett, Greg's the winner, he's got, he's got 2.

- Naming people from the Alamo.

- Angelina, the Angelina National Forest.

- Yes.

- The Sabine guys, the Sabine.

The Sabine.

- I would not have remembered this.

- I'm so ashamed.

I thought they were learning, they're not.

- I'm trying.

I just keep it in focus, man.

- I hope y'all can remember better than my crew as these national forests are some of the most beautiful places in our state.

Man, standing underneath these giant trees, it just gives you an idea of how small we truly are.

When we think of Texas we think of desert and cowboys and all of those kind of iconic things and we get very little respect for our beautiful forests and this right here friends is your friendly reminder from "The Daytripper" that you need to head east.

You need to get outside.

You need to experience these forests.

(upbeat music) Lots of folks take multi-day camping trips out here and my plan was just to hike out to Little Lake Creek and then turn around but maybe we can cross it.

It's a raging torrent today.

It's a good thing we have this tree bridge.

Be very careful around fast water.

Guys, it's not about the destination it's about the journey, remember.

Daniel's in the river.

Daniel.

- Help me.

Help me.

- Reach, throw, row, go.

Ah, you're gone, sorry we lost you.

Oh glub, glub, glub, glub, glub.

I'll never let go, Jack.

I know hiking isn't for everyone and some folks need a little more speed to their forest fun.

Like F5 tornado speed.

(motorcycle engine revving) Welcome to the Texas Tornado Boot Camp and Motocross.

Folks come here from all over the world to take their moto skills to new heights literally.

This is founder, hall of famer, and the man they call, the Texas Tornado, Colin Edwards.

So, I think my adrenaline started pumping just by stepping onto this property.

- We've got so much going on here.

I mean, it started with these bikes honestly and it was, what do I wanna do when I retire and it's basically try to give people some knowledge that I've learned throughout the years.

- Is this for people who are into this sport or is this sort of a place to kind of test it out?

- You don't have to have any experience.

We actually prefer no experience because you have no bad habits.

So come here... - Okay.

- We teach you the right way.

Which you're gonna learn here today.

- Oh.

Colin is a legend in the moto world.

Up and coming riders stay for days at a time to train with him.

Whether they're looking to stay on the dirt or switch over and ride the concrete.

- We learned years ago this kind of dirt tracking with a slick tire on the back, it translates over really well and it's a lot safer.

- 'Cause you're not going 200 miles an hour.

- 200 miles an hour.

- You get a little higher out here though on the dirt than you do on the concrete.

- If you're jumping on the concrete you got issues.

- Hey, it's just like riding a bike, right?

And here for my beginner lesson is trainer Joe Pulchiano.

This is the kiddie pool.

- Yeah, yeah it can be.

- I'm sure you set up some cones out here you can get pretty fast.

- And we actually have races and there's a bunch of grown men riding little kid's bikes out here and it's a great time.

- Wait, wait, wait, now you're telling me this is a little kid's bike?

- Well... - I thought this was the real thing.

- I mean no, this fully grown adult motorcycle.

- Come on.

Gotta start somewhere.

Yep.

- Clutch in, down on the shifter and give it a little gas and feed in the clutch.

- Whoa, there she is.

Joe starts with the basics and I'm picking it up I think.

- All right, we have this little drill set up.

I want you to build some speed and I want you to stop in that box right down there, okay?

- Whoa, okay.

(motorcycle engine revving) Ah, blew it.

Ah, who needs to stop anyway when you can go fast?

So, this arena is meant to prepare people for road tracks, asphalt?

- Yes, any discipline you're gonna do translates.

- So, whether you're doing moto GP or you're gonna buy a Harley Davidson... - Exactly.

- Got it.

But seriously, I am getting a feel for this and adrenaline can be addicting.

- You keep going at this rate, I'm thinking by the end of the day we might have you out there on the motocross track.

- That makes me nervous, Joe.

- I don't like getting that far away from the ground myself.

(Joe and Chet laughing) (upbeat music) - No time like the present to break some ribs.

- You're in the big time now.

We got you with Mr.

Van Martin right here.

- Yeah, now you're in Motocross training, Chet.

You moved up really quick, man, it's impressive.

- Amazing.

- What did that take, like an hour?

Van is another former pro who runs Texas Tornado's Motocross giving daily lessons to anyone who feels the need for speed.

- We'll take it easy at the beginning and then based on your level, we'll see what you do.

- See where it goes.

- Yeah.

- Rough dirt is a different animal.

Van's job is to show me the lines to ride through turns and over jumps.

Okay, feeling a little better, more gas.

Did y'all see that?

Both tires off the ground.

Turns out this old dog can learn new tricks.

- Good stuff, man.

- Colin, I did all right, huh?

Oo.

- Oh, got the gang here.

- This is Colin's son, Hayes.

A current motocross pro.

- I heard you're killing it.

About time you come ride with us.

- You're not gonna run me over, huh?

- Let's roll, come on.

Let's make some laps.

- Okay, be gentle with me, all right?

- Hey, we're gonna throw you in the deep end.

- This old dog is about to feel even older.

- Fire 'em up.

(motorcycle engines revving) - Yep, I'm literally eating their dirt.

(motorcycle engines revving) Oo, come on blue bike.

Let's rev this engine and make Van proud.

(motorcycle engine revving) I look good, don't I?

Hey, every host needs a stunt man from time to time.

I'm not Tom Cruise.

Maybe you're a novice like me or the world's next hall of famer but this is a tornado you wanna ride.

(motorcycle engine revving) - I got some exciting news.

Evil Knievel once jumped the Grand Canyon, correct?

- Yeah.

- Well, I was fairly impressed with your motocross skills and I talk to a few people up in the Palo Duro area, what are you doing next weekend?

- The answer is jumping Palo Duro Canyon.

- Yep, it's only the second widest canyon in the United States.

- Are we charging for tickets?

- I wouldn't say we as much as you are saying right now.

Tickets are being sold.

- Tickets are being sold, okay.

- Tickets are being sold.

- All right, all right.

Can I at least get a piece of the corn dog revenue at the gate?

We've spent some time in the woods but one of Montgomery's biggest draws isn't the trees, but the water.

As it sits on the western banks of Lake Conroe, one of the most popular fishing lakes in Texas and to try our luck, we're heading out with Captain Chris Edwards of Catch A Trophy Guide Service.

Well then, let's go.

- Let's go.

- On the boat, guys.

So, what are we going hunting for today?

- Catfish is some of the best eating fish and it's known for Conroe.

- I love finding a good local guide and Chris certainly knows his honey holes.

I don't understand any of this stuff.

This looks like you're launching ships to the moon or something.

- I mean, as you can see I've been fishing here a lot lately.

That is the magic spot.

- Let's get some hooks in the water.

- Let's go get 'em.

- All right.

And we haven't always had much luck when the cameras are running but I'm feeling pretty good about this one.

I've never baited a night crawler on a hook like that.

- The best thing you can do is leave the hook exposed and leave this as natural as possible.

- No kidding.

- And you will get more bites just because of having this tail.

- Local knowledge always priceless.

Now remember, fishing is all about patience.

Just enjoy the water, even if it takes hours.

- There we go.

- Nevermind.

There he is, got him.

Good fish, good fish.

- Wait, Chet, you got something too.

- Do I really?

- Yeah, yeah, you got a fish on, go get it.

Go get it.

- Get it, get it, get it.

- There we go.

Awesome.

- It's not the size that matters though guys, it's really not.

- The difference here, this is a blue catfish.

Channel cat always has bigger whiskers that are dark.

- Woo.

- There we go.

- Fish on.

- Good fish, good fish.

Look at that.

- There it is.

- Nice blue cat and that's why we come to Lake Conroe to catch some nice fish.

- There we go, man.

- Awesome.

- It's a good day for cat fishing.

How do you compare Conroe to other lakes you fished in Texas?

- A lot of people talk how clean our water is.

The San Jacinto River Authority, they do a great job keeping our lakes clean so it makes the fish quality very, very good.

- We're definitely making up for lost time.

- Look at that fat channel cat.

- That's a great fish.

- Good fish, look at that.

Whoa.

- Whoa.

- I don't do this for a living.

That's a green horn right there.

I've got a pretty good job but sometimes I'm so envious of you guys.

You get to spend your days out here on lakes.

- We're definitely blessed to be able to do it.

- No doubt.

I didn't bring my deep fryer so we have to put these back and then go find some proper dinner.

All right guys, adios.

- There they go.

- Vaya con dios, amigos.

- All right.

- After all my years of day tripping I've gotten pretty used to surprises but finding the number one rated Italian deli in the country in Montgomery, Texas?

Well, that's something that surprised even me.

Welcome to Tony's.

And whether you're here for the meat stuffed sandwiches or the cream filled cannolis, this restaurant has enough to make any Texan say, forget about it.

What is an Italian deli doing in Montgomery, Texas?

- It was originally opened by a man named Tony.

- Okay.

- He's from New York.

I came here as a customer and fell in love.

- This is Tony's second owner, Laurie.

A New Yorker herself, something about these sandwiches connected to her soul.

- I became a walking commercial for Tony's and I would tell everyone that I met, you know, like, have you ever been to Tony's?

- That is... - You have to go there.

I had to have it.

I like, I wanted to be part of it.

- And did you think it would actually happen?

- No.

- Or it was just a pipe dream.

- No, yeah I never though it would happen.

- Laurie went from number one fan girl to the owner of Yelp's number one rated restaurant in America.

So, what makes it number one?

Maybe it's the hand cut meats and cheeses or the imported bread.

There's just something special about these hoagies and each is named after an Italian great.

Sinatra, Pacino, Sophia Loren, but the all time best seller is the Stallone, which starts with fresh pesto.

Write down this recipe, I need secrets on this.

- No, no, no, so I've already put the spices in so you can't do that.

- What?

We're not even measuring spices?

Are you kidding me?

What do we have a little bit of garlic, a little bit of salt... - Extra virgin olive oil and then a pound of fresh basil.

- A pound?

Oh wow.

- Yeah, that does smell good, doesn't it?

- Gosh, it smells fantastic.

Here we go guys, liquid gold, green gold.

Is this the sub oil?

- No, the sub oil we will not share with you, if we have to, we'd have to kill ya.

- I'll be sleeping with the fishes as the Italian's say, you know what I mean?

Sub oil, the life blood of Tony's.

It goes on near everything including my Stallone which Garrett here is about to whip up for us.

Garrett, you made a few of these before, right?

- I have made thousands.

- That crusty Italian bread gets loaded with fresh pesto, provolone, salami, marinated tomatoes, ham, sub oil, onions, gabagool, and sole piccata.

The bread is then pinched so tight the ingredients disappear.

Look at that.

This is art.

Yo Adrian, it's time to eat some subs, okay?

- What's that, Apollo Creed?

- Stallone, okay?

All right, so I got half of it cold and half of it hot.

Oh gosh, I wish y'all could smell this sub.

You see that?

That's the amount of sub oil and pesto.

I'm gonna be licking it off the paper in just a little while.

Wow, that's an amazing sub.

If I had this sandwich at an Italian deli in New York City I would come home dreaming about it.

Cold version, softer more delicate.

Both of these, they're punching straight to my taste buds but you know what he said, he said, it ain't how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit, get back up and keep moving forward.

I'll sit here and take punches to the face like this all day.

I keep biting, Daniel, I don't give up.

I keep biting.

We can try some of the other sandwiches.

I got a lot more impersonations I can do.

You wanna see my Dean Martin?

Or my Al Pacino?

That's a good one.

Bad celebrity impressions aside, Tony's is a knockout.

(upbeat music) We went full Monty on this day trip.

From deep roots to tall trees and smokey pits to juicy subs.

Whether you're casting a line or eating dirt, Montgomery is a trip to the fullest and like any good Italian will tell you, always save room for the cannoli.

Oo.

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

Vaya con dios, amigos and... (speaking in a foreign language) (upbeat music) Oh, that's good.

They gave me a few extra too.

I guess I get to eat 'em all.

- Wait, hold on.

I mean, we can... - Save some for us.

- Wait, are there four more?

- What's the deal?

Howdy, y'all.

Follow along with my adventures at chettripper on Instagram and at thedaytrippertv on Facebook and YouTube, or head to the daytripper.com for travel guides, past episodes, and info on our mobile app and team "Daytripper."

- 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 miss 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.