The year was 1999. Joy and Cookie Swanson had sold all of their belongings, including their home in Austin, Texas, and moved to Durango. During the previous two summers, the couple lived in tents near Hesperus and sold barbecue out of a red trailer by the side of the road. The plan was to ditch the summertime camping and open a year-round restaurant, Serious Texas Bar-B-Q.
“We tried to figure out how to make a living here and realized they didn’t have any barbecue, but there are a lot of Texas tourists,†Joy Swanson said. “We knew we wanted to go to Durango, and barbecue was our key.â€
More than 12 years later… continue reading.