If you’ve never gone swimming in Krause Springs, drop everything this instant and go do it. It’s one of the most beautiful spots in Texas—nay, the world!—and it’s exponentially better on a weekday, when the crowds aren’t muddying up the water and tossing beer cans between the roots of 500-year-old cypress trees (seriously, dudes?). It’s ideal to float there in the sun with a belly full of barbecue. There isn’t much around the corner from Krause, but there is Opie’s, serving up a fine rendition of Hill Country barbecue in a pleasant space decked out with stylized, shiny varnished log-cabin furnishings.

The brisket’s not particularly smoky or moist (even when ordered fatty), but the bark is decent; pork ribs are a bit more flavorful, although still not noticeably smoky, and not coming off the bone anytime soon. Sausage has the unmistakable nitrite flavor and consistency of a hot dog, but with snappier casing. Chicken is lovely, and the blackberry cobbler rivals even Cooper’s for heavenliness. Unlike at Cooper’s, though, the free beans at Opie’s are bland, with no pork or spice flavor whatsoever. The sauce—which we don’t normally condone, but would here be helpful—is properly vinegary and peppery, but also a bit ketchupy. Still, this barbecue’s quite serviceable, and we’re happy it’s so close to one of our other favorite Central Texas pastimes.