Back in the day, the airlines used to include a meal when you flew from one city to another. If it was a really long flight, you might get a meal and a snack. Those days are long gone!* Now you have to pack your own lunch if you don't want to go hungry. I usually bring a large ziplock bag filled with snacks like gummy bears, apples, mixed nuts or pistachios, energy bars, maybe some fried chicken, and a bottle of water. You can usually buy a snack box on board, but those don't look too appetizing to me, and they're pretty over priced.
So imagine my delight when I saw a Texas BBQ stand during a layover in Houston last week on my way back from Miami! It wasn't much of a layover, I had about 20 minutes to get from one gate to the other before they started boarding my next flight. I was determined to find my gate, so I didn't stop at the BBQ stand when I first saw it, I just kept looking for the gate I needed to be at. When I got there, I saw that I still had 7 minutes before they started boarding. So, I quickly made my way back to the Texas BBQ so I could get some food to eat on the plane. They were fast, I got some ribs and made it back to the gate just as they started boarding my flight!
I waited until we were in the air before I broke out the ribs. Wow, what flavor! They tasted like they had been coated in a dry rub before being cooked, and they were drenched in yummy BBQ sauce... truly finger-licking good! The rest of the passengers just melted away as I enjoyed one rib after another, licking my fingers, sucking the bones, and everything! Mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm!!! I would have offered my neighbors some, but they were asleep. That's more for me!!
So don't worry! You don't have to go hungry while you're traveling! Pack your snacks, grab a bottle of water after going through security, and if you're passing through Houston, by all means get some BBQ ribs; you'll be more than satisfied with your lunch!
* I believe they still include a couple meals on the 12-hour overseas flights, like to Japan. :-)
