Rudy's real Texas barbecue shipping nationwide at rudys.com.

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.

- Today we're headed behind the pine curtain to trip East Texas.

We'll, Chocho Cha boogie on the Texas State Railroad and eat barbecue at the most astronomical restaurant on earth.

We'll learn about the town's deep roots and rich history while sampling the flavors of local honey and cauldrons full of Mexican deliciousness.

All aboard the train to Rusk or bust!

Choo-choo!

Rusk Texas sits about two hours southeast of Dallas in an hour south of Tyler.

There's no doubt this is some beautiful country and if you stop in nearby Palestine first, you'll find the most exciting way to roll into Rusk.

Not all, we would take a little bit of a different form of transportation today.

So we're gonna ride the Texas State Railroad, but first we gotta get our tickets.

This historic rail line has been running for over a hundred years.

Today it offers passengers not only a scenic ride through the Pines, but a glimpse back in time to when Rails ruled.

This is a 1958 diesel locomotive engine.

That is awesome.

Almost looks like a big old cartoon up there.

The single headlight, it's not what you think of.

You think of the old trains, the traditional steam engines.

They do run those out here on occasion, but today it's all diesel.

Let's take a peek under the hood, so to speak.

And Chad with train engineer Chaz Robitaille.

Man, it's a lot tighter in here than I thought - It is.

They were not ergonomic in 1958, though it also doesn't have air conditioning.

But I got 2-25 air conditioning, which means I got two windows and I got 25 miles an hour there.

There you go.

There you go.

So how hard is one of these trains to actually drive?

The throttle is here.

Okay.

That's kind of like the gas in your car, Ford and reverse lever.

That's like a transmission.

It's simple to explain, but it, you know, it can take a long time to, to master.

- It's enough to confuse a guy like me.

Well, I mean, you know, like you need a special certification to do this.

Sure you do.

All right.

Can I blow the horn?

- You can, yeah.

It's - This big one.

You just push it down.

Watch your ears.

Ah, yeah.

Well, the horn's been blown.

That means it's time to find our seats.

This is nice.

Ooh, snacks.

I love it.

Scoot over.

Scoot over.

No, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

No, this is my seat.

I've got presidential.

Y'all got something called open air.

Ah, sounds breezy.

I think it's like a few cars down that way.

- What?

- Look, I'm just reading.

Chet Garner Presidential.

- Oh my Gosh.

Daniel Mecey, open air.

whatever.

- So is this it?

Keep going, keep going.

Is this it?

I don't mind this, but how come he gets to be up there?

I call the window seat - And we are off just like the old days.

This train has multiple different classes of tickets.

But let me just tell you that from where I'm sitting, presidential is choice.

This is Joyce, who's been given tours and sharing smiles on the train for 14 years after volunteering to work at Thomas the train weekend.

- And they said, we'll see you next weekend.

And I said, when does this ride end?

And they said, it don't.

You're here.

So that's how I got here.

- There might be a misconception that this ride is for like old men, train enthusiasts.

You've gotta see people from all over.

- Oh, I do.

All over the world.

We see football players, baseball players, singers.

What is it about trains that fascinates us?

What is it?

I don't know, but it's fun.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I hope I never outgrow trains.

I wonder what the crew's doing.

And I said I'll just wear the brisket as a hat.

I think I should go grab 'em and we can explore the train a bit, because on this train, all passengers are free to roam.

So today's journey is about 25 miles long.

One way it takes about an hour and a half.

There are pine trees everywhere with scenic views of rivers and creek beds, and every car seems to offer a bit of a different experience.

Feel like someone should be chasing me.

And I gotta, the oldest parts of this route were constructed in the late 18 hundreds by Texas inmates to haul iron ore to a prison foundry.

The rails were eventually connected to Palestine, and from there, the world in the middle of the train, it feels like it's moving very slow back here.

It does not feel like it's moving slow.

We're burning some cracks here, like a dog sticking my head out the window.

Well, folks, looks like we've reached the end of the line.

Most riders will have lunch and rust and then turn around and head back to Palestine.

But we've got more to explore.

Well, we finally made it to Rusk, which is the county seat of Cherokee County, one of the first counties formed for the newly minted US state of Texas back in the 1840s.

Now, this city was named after Texas Revolutionary Hero, Thomas J Rusk, who was also one of our first US senators serving right beside his buddy Sam Houston.

Yes.

The history in East Texas is as old as the trees, and there's a lot of both of them out here.

History and trees.

Rusk has a population of about 5,500 folks all East Texas proud.

But before we deep dive on town history, I wanna dive into a plate of Texas barbecue.

And so we're swinging for the fences at All Star Barbecue.

A true diamond in the rough baseball diamond that is.

Here owner Russell Turner's been honing his craft of smoking meats for over 30 years and amassing what is one of the most formidable collections of Houston Astros stuff on earth.

Alright, Russell, I don't know if now's a good time or bad time to tell you.

Most of our crew is actually Rangers fans or Yankees fans.

- Y'all didn't tell me that.

- I mean, I'm sorry.

No, you're safe.

I'm an Astros fan.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Yeah, you stay so, I mean, this is more Astros memorabilia than I've seen anywhere.

And it's a barbecue joint.

- Yeah.

- Where did this come from?

- Well, I knew I was gonna go into the barbecue business.

I was like, you know, I'm gonna be looking at this all day every day.

Well, everybody does their license plates and farm equipment and things like that.

Sure.

Yeah.

It's easy.

I love baseball.

Here we go.

I'm gonna put baseball stuff up.

- All Astros here on.

Yeah.

Why I mess with it.

Russell's got all the killer bees here.

Bagwell, Gio, beans and brisket.

There's so many Nolan R autographs.

You'd think the two of them were pen pals, but Russell's biggest memento came out of the Phillies stadium in the nineties, and - Every year they take it down to repaint it or put a new one up.

And so they've taken this down in the clubhouse and Astro's coming through, signed it for 'em and everything.

What?

So I said, I'll buy it.

- Much to his wife, Christie's dismay.

They had to cut a hole in the door to get it in here.

You weren't gonna cut the sign.

Oh, so you had to cut the door.

Yeah.

That could be replaced.

Yeah.

So you gotta have just Astros fans from all over Texas come in and just, we hear stories - Used to the the, the Mason Dixon line was Lufkin from Lufkin South.

You could have radio stations that would play the Astros and everything up north was Rangers and then they started winning.

That line is smooth moving a little bit.

It's heading that way.

- It's heading that way.

Alright.

Hey, y'all come to the bathroom with me.

What?

Whoa.

No, not weird.

Just I gotta show it to you.

Look inside the whole thing is Astros-afide.

I mean, how do you know if you're a real Astros fan?

Just look at your bathroom.

This is crazy.

All right, now y'all get out.

I gotta actually use it for what it's for.

Oh.

And wash my hands.

Okay.

Enough.

Baseball.

Bring on the brisket.

So rotisserie that's a rotisserie.

That's your style.

Yeah.

And what, what's the smoke I'm smelling here.

It's hickory.

Doesn't seem to be a ton of bark on here.

What kind of rub you use?

I'm gonna give away a secret.

I don't put anything on there.

- No - Fire and meat.

That's worked since the caveman days.

- Caveman.

I just thought caveman.

You know, - Russell learned his craft working at Bodacious Barbecue in Longview - when the owner offered him the chance to be their first franchisee in Rusk.

When I called - My wife and said, Hey, we're going to Rusk, she just started crying, hung up.

Well, hey, once we got here, it's like, okay, we're here for a reason.

Perfect place to raise our three kids.

- Yeah, yeah yeah.

- It was, it was been, it's been a - Great ride.

That's cool.

America's pastime.

Maybe baseball.

But here in Texas, ours is barbecue.

You know, things just taste sweeter out of a cup with the Astrodome on it.

Right.

The dust adds a certain sort of a, je ne sais quoi to it, if you know what I mean.

So here it is.

East Texas special.

I mean, when you're behind the pine curtain, you go chop beef.

Oh gosh.

There was supposed to be some ribs with it too.

Is it?

Oh, here.

Here.

Ha.

Oh, of course.

Here they're Wait, what?

Yeah, just full special service right there.

These ribs are legit.

The rub has a little bit sweetness to it guys.

A phenomenal rep.

Time for the beef.

Oh, that's good.

You know you can't do chopped beef though without, in my opinion.

Well, you gotta get some good sauce in there.

A couple pickles, a couple jalapenos.

If you're feeling spicy.

It's about that combination.

You get the greasy smoky meat and the pop of the pickles and the sauce.

I guarantee you, at one point in my childhood, I sat in the stands of the astrodome when I ate a chopped beef sandwich You know what I'd say, this barbecue right here, hits it outta the park.

If you ask me.

I just came up with that - Man.

I love going to the East Texas to see the trees go up on either side of the road.

Oh man.

For so long, man feels like you're in a tunnel.

- If I had told you, Hey guys, we're going to Rusk, would you have even known what region of Texas that town was in East?

That's too much to me.

Sounds like an East Texas name.

- There's not really a way to mis pronunciate.

Rusk.

- Roosk.

Yeah, you're saying the wrong there.

You say it like somebody who's lived in the backwoods, where do you live?

Rusk.

- Little Rusk around the edges.

The town might be a little Rusk around the edges, but it's real good in the heart.

So let's head to its heart and visit its county museum, which captures both the heart, spirit, and soul of Rusk and Cherokee County, more than a place of glass cases and placards.

The Heritage Center of Cherokee County tells centuries of stories about real people.

It's been built over the years by the residents of Cherokee County, more specifically by volunteer director Betty.

Betty, this museum is extensive.

- It is.

I know.

It starts with the Caddo Indians and goes forward all the way through wartime, the Civil War, the kind of commerce that was here, the legislators that served for this county.

Well, I - Think, you know, some of our oldest stories in Texas come from this eastern part.

- You know what I like to tell people?

All roads West came through this territory.

The first mission was set on El Camino Real in this county, this territory in 1716.

- Wow.

It's that long.

That's a long time ago.

Yeah.

Besides the mission is Caddo mounds, which dates back over 1200 years.

So yeah, lots of history.

Now, early on, the city of Rusk was a rural long cabin community.

That is until 1883 when Texas built its second state prison here in town, which was eventually converted to the reason that most people know Rusk, the state hospital.

You know, for better or for worse, I think the town of Rusk is synonymous with the state mental hospital.

- Yeah, it is.

- And this was open for how many years?

- 106 years now.

- My goodness, for lack of a better word, this was our state's largest, insane asylum.

And for decades, folks with mental conditions, many of which are now treatable, would be shipped to live in this facility.

But the science and medicine for treating them was so limited.

- I went on a tour and took pictures of it.

I interviewed people that worked there to see what that was like.

- We were doing lobotomies then and things like - That, right?

Yeah, they were.

They had 'em there.

They did shock treatments, - Treatments.

Oh, - All of that.

- Okay.

- But once medication started, - Yeah, that - All stopped.

- They were doing the best they could at the time.

Yeah.

With the medicine they had - And it's all they could do, you know?

- Yeah.

Science, thank goodness has advanced.

- Yes.

- At its peak in the 1940s, the hospital had 2,500 patients and a person could be committed for any number of reasons.

I could be diagnosed with a bunch of these.

You could just go in for fright.

Irregular habits, a solitary habit, bad health, religious excitement.

You raise your hands a little too much at praise and worship, you get kicked out.

The oldest building was torn down in 2020, but the Rusk hospital is still going strong.

Caring for patients who truly need Texas's help.

Betty's dedication to honoring her county goes way beyond the artifacts.

She even tracked down the names of all 230 fallen veterans from this county and honored each with the dog tag.

She takes a very hands-on approach to history.

- This was given to us by a collector from the Civil War.

And he said, this is a union one.

You - Know, anywhere else this would be like in a glass case.

And you wouldn't let people like me touch this.

- I don't have very many glass cases here.

People say that it's more personal, that they feel like they can touch things and look at things closer.

- Yeah.

I mean, when you could hold this real civil war sword in your hands.

- Yeah.

- Makes an impact.

It makes us realize that maybe we aren't so far removed or even that different from all the people who came before us.

I wish that we had come earlier.

We could have toured the old Yeah.

- Building.

Do you think places like that are haunted?

Oh, there's no doubt.

Would you have stayed the night there in the old one?

Lived the night?

Yeah.

In the state hospital.

The closed one.

My gut says no, but - You could probably talk me into it.

Would y'all like?

Absolutely not.

I wouldn't do it - Alone.

- My mind would play so many tricks on me.

I'd probably put myself in a straight jacket.

- It might traumatize you for life.

Right?

What would it take for y'all to do it alone?

50 K. All right.

Yeah.

I think I'd do it for 10 grand.

I think for the stories alone, I'll do it for free.

If I can have a camera, it makes good tv, I'll do it.

That's true.

But I can't let you know for free 500 - The if only I had a time machine.

Now, not all history and Rusk is inside a building.

Some of it is a building itself, like the recreation of Governor Jim Hogg's childhood home.

Unless you're a true Texas history buff, you're probably thinking, who was Jim Hogg again?

So Jim Hogg is one of those names that most Texans have probably heard, but very few know anything about.

So just to help y'all out, here's a picture of him.

Ah, come on guys.

Here's a picture of him.

And now Jim was the first native born governor of Texas.

He served in the late 1800's.

Truly helped transition Texas from an agricultural state into the industrial age.

He's known as one of the greatest governors that Texas ever had.

He's even called the Peoples Governor.

Now, this is way before the Rock came along as the people's champ with the people's elbow and the people's eyebrow.

All right.

Jim did that.

First established the railroad commission fought corruption all around standup guy.

Okay, so don't say I never touch nothing.

Touch anything.

Ah, don't pay attention to the grammar.

Just the history.

The home and surrounding acreage used to be an official Texas State Park.

So it's a great place to grab a hike.

But if you want a truly historic and momentous hike, how about walking the longest wooden footbridge in America?

So wind and Rusk.

You gotta walk the historic Rusk footbridge.

Am I right?

But this thing's actually pretty cool.

It was built back in 1861 and it's over 540 feet long.

It was originally constructed to help connect the east side of town with the county courthouse because if that creek flooded folks out east we're totally stuck.

You know that old saying, yeah, sure, I'll make it.

Good Lord will and in the creek don't rise.

Well, it was very true.

Ain't no way you were crossing it unless you had a foot bridge.

Or a helicopter.

Or a helicopter.

Whew.

How long did I say this bridge was again?

Where's Chet?

He's still walking the - Footbridge.

He needs to go faster.

He needs to go faster.

No wonder he can't get off of it 546 feet.

Ha.

What?

Y'all just gonna leave me out there?

Woo.

The - Thing is so long.

546.

He just kind of came outta nowhere though.

I don't know about that.

- Let's step out of town to hang out with some other bees.

Not named brisket and beans, but Bulah's best bees.

This family run business raises happy bees and offers their mini products to the world.

But I'm not just talking about honey.

And they wasted no time putting me in the suit.

Spaceman.

Today we day trip into the colony.

It just quiets them down.

Oh... Feel it, feel it, feel it.

Oh yeah.

It's amazing to be able to stand this close to 'em and not worry about getting stung.

Can't get into my mouth.

Owners, Donna and Tomas keep between 30 and 50 hives.

They fell in love with bees and love sharing that love with customers, treating everyone like a guest in their home because it is their home.

- This is an - Amazing place out here in the country.

Yeah, we're glad you made it.

And I'm ready to taste some honey.

All right, then let's begin.

So this is just the raw honey right out of the box.

- Oh, it's rich.

The base honey is just the gateway and they use it to create over two dozen different flavors.

- Okay.

We have strawberry, we got blueberry, lemon.

We got pumpkin spice.

We got chocolate.

- Well, the answer to which one I want is Yes.

- Okay.

All - Of them.

- Yeah.

So we're gonna try a turmeric black pepper and cinnamon.

Ooh.

Yeah.

It tastes like honey.

Cinnamon and Mediterranean.

Middle Eastern food.

So we're trying to do different things with our honey because we're small beekeeping farm while the honey flavors are crazy.

- Good.

I did mention this isn't just about honey.

They believe bees make - Medicine.

It's called Apitherapy.

This is a pollen pro.

It's pollen and propolis.

Okay.

What's What's propolis?

Propolis is what the bees use to protect themselves.

It's a resin.

They seal their boxes so no predator can come in and steal their honey.

- And, and this is good for us.

- Oh man.

It's antioxidant.

It gives you energy.

- Okay, that's good.

It does a different flavor.

Dawn and Tomas have traveled to countries all over the world learning more about how humans have used bees for centuries.

And they brought all that knowledge back to East Texas.

One last thing, even I'm hesitant to try that, is an Apilarnil a larva bee larva bee larva.

It's for cell renewal, - Hormonal balance, energy, gifts.

And this, - This is good for me.

Yes.

I was about to eat a weird, okay, here we go.

There you go.

Okay.

Was I supposed to chew it?

'cause I just, no, I didn't.

Drinking water, I like that taste.

It's kinda like the oyster.

Gimme a cocktail sauce and a lemon.

I just drop it back.

Well, my brain is buzzing from all we've learned today and all the sugar from the honey.

Probably even my worker bees are getting fed.

But it's time to leave the apiary behind and head to our final stop.

A community favorite Mexican restaurant, just off the square.

La Charra I gotta say this spot feels like the Mexican restaurants of my youth.

Bright colors, heavy wooden chairs and buckets full of fresh chips and salsa.

It's the proper setting to enjoy a margarita, some nachos and a chat with owner Esmeralda.

So what is this?

Where do we got, - Okay.

This is Piedras Negras nachos.

That's from where I'm from, across the border from Eagle Pass.

- So these are named after your hometown?

- Yes.

- Believe it or not.

But nachos were invented just across the Texas border in the town of Piedras Negras by a man named Nacho Anaya back in the forties.

- And they're fantastic.

- Good.

Ah, that's good.

- And we like the nachos.

Okay.

With everything.

- I mean, yeah, literally everything.

Is there anything in the back that didn't go on this?

- Oh no, not really.

Everything is fried you, but a tamles rice on top.

- Never in my life have I seen corn on nachos.

- That's how we eat 'em over there.

- Okay.

Right.

Esmerelda moved to Rusk and started working as a waitress and cook at the only Mexican restaurant in town.

But when that restaurant closed, well the town loved her so much, they convinced her to go out on her own.

- I was so blessed though.

It was full.

Yeah.

- You have some faithful, loyal - Customers, huh?

Yes.

They treat you like their own family.

- And - That's what we do too.

I tell my workers, I say, we need to treat my customers like family.

- This is our kitchen and living room and they're our guests.

I love that Esmeralda learned to cook from her grandma in Mexico and still puts a grandmother's love into everything.

It's all super fresh.

And based on Esme's recommendation, I'm going for the mochjete.

ate a traditional stone bowl overflowing with goodness.

We have shrimp, fajita beef, fajita chicken.

There's a full cactus petal over here.

There's cheese, salsa, and somewhere underneath all of that.

In the middle is carne guisada I mean, the only way to find out is to start digging.

This is kind of like those nachos, like what's in here?

Oh, just like everything.

I guess I should try the shrimp first.

Oh, that's still good.

Fresh cut.

Fajita beef.

Oh, so tender.

This right here is what border town dreams are made of.

Folks.

If I crossed the border somewhere in Mexico and I got this meal, I would dream about it for the rest of my life.

And now it's here in Rusk, Texas.

And what am I supposed to do with this guys?

Like, I'm totally showing my gringo ness with this like, ma'am, there's a cactus in my bowl of food.

It kind of tastes like a big green bean, like kind of a tangy green been.

I just ate a full taco with this stuff, but I, it doesn't look like I even made a dent.

It's gonna be a long night guys.

It's gonna be a very long night.

One of the best things I've ever had in any Mexican restaurant ever day trips just hit different.

In east Texas.

They rumble and they smoke, they educate and they buzz.

But at the end of the day, they just make you feel at home and feed you really, really well.

All I need now is to ruskle up some dessert homemade flan.

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

Via Con Dios Amigos.

Oh its legit.

La-flan James right here.

Its the GOAT of flan (crew laughing) Howdy, y'all.

Follow along with my adventures at ChetTripper on Instagram, and at TheDayTripperTV on Facebook and YouTube.

Or head to thedaytripper.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.

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.