Folk singer and songwriter John Prine sang of the lonesome Bear Creek Blues, but the only thing lonesome about Marshall’s Bear Creek is the feeling you’ll get if you arrive after the barbecue pit sells out. Now in its eighty-first year, this enterprise began as a way to bolster family income during World War II. Today fourth-generation owners Tracy and Robbie Shoults have expanded the smokehouse to include a restaurant, an impressive general store and gift shop, a petting field of longhorns, and even a rental cottage (handled by VRBO). While turkey, ham, and chopped brisket sandwiches are the menu mainstays during the week, on the weekend you’ll also find lunchtime combo plates with options including pork ribs and sausage (with bourbon baked beans and baked potato salad on the side). On our visit, the ribs were falling-off-the-bone tender and seasoned with just a little bit of sweet and a lot of spicy. The atmosphere inside and out gives visitors true taste of Texas—think split rail fences and stock tanks. Your Yankee visitors or relatives will be suitably impressed.