Day 15 – Bonus Time in Texas

Day 15 wasn’t supposed to happen.

According to the original plan, we should have been somewhere over the Pacific Ocean heading home to Australia.

Instead, thanks to flight changes and the events documented in yesterday’s blog, we found ourselves with an unexpected bonus day in Grapevine, Texas.

And honestly, we weren’t complaining.

After an absolutely magnificent night’s sleep at Hotel Vin, I set off on a mission to recover the luggage that had spent the previous day conducting its own independent tour of the United States.

Thankfully, the rescue mission was a success. The bags were located, recovered and reunited with their owners, bringing an end to the Great Knoxville-Dallas Luggage Adventure of 2026.

With that drama finally behind us, we headed out to explore Grapevine’s historic Main Street.

What a pleasant surprise this town turned out to be.

Unlike many shopping districts we’ve visited during the trip, Main Street is packed with independent businesses rather than chain stores. The historic buildings, local boutiques, cafés and specialty shops gave the whole place a relaxed and authentic feel.

It was exactly the sort of place you hope to stumble across when travelling.

Our first stop was Chez Fabien, a charming French bistro right in the heart of town.

• 

• 

• 

Now, most people would probably order coffee at 10 o’clock in the morning.

We ordered mimosas.

When in Texas and all that!

The mimosas were quickly followed by an Aperol Spritz, because after two weeks of travel, barbecue and airline drama, normal breakfast rules no longer seemed particularly relevant.

For breakfast we shared the huevos rancheros, which was absolutely superb. Fresh, full of flavour and easily one of the better breakfasts of the trip.

The food was outstanding.

The atmosphere was relaxed.

And the fact they were happily serving cocktails at 10am confirmed that Grapevine was very much our kind of town.

After breakfast we spent several hours wandering through the shops and exploring Main Street. It was warm, very warm in fact, but the pace of the town encouraged you to slow down and enjoy it.

By around 2pm we decided it was time to cool off.

The obvious solution was the hotel swimming pool.

There was just one small problem.

Hotel Vin doesn’t actually have a swimming pool.

This fact only became apparent after Ro and I had changed into their swimming gear and spent a considerable amount of time wandering around the property trying to find it.

Eventually we surrendered and asked at reception.

“Oh no,” they said. “We don’t have a pool.”

Good information to have.

Perhaps a little earlier.

Slightly defeated, we returned to the room, watched some football, relaxed for a few hours and generally enjoyed doing absolutely nothing.

After two weeks of driving, sightseeing, eating and drinking our way across half of America, a quiet afternoon turned out to be exactly what we needed.

Before long it was time to head back to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

And so, as I write this, we’re sitting comfortably in the Qantas lounge waiting to board our flight home to Australia.

The Barbecue Road Trip is finally coming to an end.

Over fifteen days we’ve driven thousands of kilometres through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee.

We’ve eaten more barbecue than any sensible person should.

We’ve chased coffee across multiple states.

We’ve survived thunderstorms, flight delays, lost luggage, missing pilots, questionable navigation decisions and a surprising number of cocktails.

We’ve discovered some incredible places, met some wonderful people and collected enough stories to keep us entertained for years.

Most importantly, we’ve had an absolute ball.

So, barring any further airline surprises, the next blog post should be written from Australia and Lake Tahoe.

This will be the wrap up blog from each of the intrepid travelers, in their own words.

Thanks for following along.

See y’all back home.👋