Food
Mary's Tacos & Burgers
On day trips, Texans face a tough decision: tacos or burgers? At Mary’s, a local favorite for 25 years, you don’t have to choose. Mary runs the kitchen with her sons Joe and Gus. The tortillas are hand rolled every morning, even the taco shells are fried fresh, and Joe hand-forms and grills every burger. I went for the Gus burger with bacon, guacamole, jalapenos and special sauce, plus a plate of tacos on the side. That fresh shell crunch beats anything off a supply truck.
The Cabin
The Cabin is the storefront for pecans.com, and if you came for pecans, you will not be disappointed. They’ve got chocolate-covered, cinnamon-covered and sugarcoated pecans, plus pecan fudge, bars, cobbler, ice cream and coffee. Owner Jessica poured me a Texas pecan affogato, their Texas butter pecan coffee over Blue Bell butter pecan ice cream, and then I added pecan peach cobbler and went full pecan. If you have a pecan allergy, maybe stay about half a mile away.
Southside Tavern
Britney and Nick Hammond, along with Nick’s brother Travis, turned an abandoned building that once held their great-grandfather’s grocery and feed store into Southside Tavern, and helped bring downtown back to life along the way. It all started when they got hungry after working goats and found nothing open at 8 at night. Start with the hand-breaded onion rings. Chef Travis loves to get creative, so I went with his bacon-wrapped meatloaf medallions in a tomato Sriracha glaze. Not your grandma’s meatloaf.
Culture
Mills County Commission Company
Goldthwaite is the Meat Goat Capital of America, and the place to see why is the goat and sheep sale every Thursday at 10 a.m. sharp. John Clifton and his sons run one of the nation’s largest goat and sheep auctions. Some animals go for wool or pets, but most end up on plates across Texas and the country. Sit in the bleachers, try to follow the auctioneer, and watch the regulars bid with a nod. Just be careful with your bidder card. That’s how I ended up with a goat named Rosie.
Texas Botanical Gardens & Native American Interpretive Center
This entire city block is built to look like untouched Mills County land, showing how the very first Texans lived off it, using plants for food, medicine and shelter. You’ll see a bedrock mortar, worn into stone over a thousand years of pounding food, and learn how this county is loaded with archaeological sites. I ground my own pecans, sipped pecan milk and tried pecan pancakes with prickly pear jelly. Turns out you can even eat redbud flowers.
Mills County Historical Museum
Right next door, the Mills County Historical Museum keeps the timeline rolling. Goldthwaite is named for Joe Goldthwaite, the railroad agent who drew settlers with a free lot and a free house, with one catch: they had to name their firstborn son Goldthwaite. There’s a silver cup to prove it. You’ll also find the first automobile registered in Mills County, from 1906, and tributes to local legends like UT basketball coach Jody Conradt.
Mills County General Store
Folks in Goldthwaite have been coming to the Mills County General Store for over a hundred years. It opened in the early 1900s, has changed hands a few times, and remains the heart of downtown. Over the years it’s been a little bit of everything: bring your bike to the back door for a tune-up or your saddle in for a fix. Owner Robert Shive has heard 90-year-olds remember getting candy here as little girls, holding their daddy’s hand. Not many places like this are left.
