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The Stark Center Puts Physical Feats on Display
Go up to the fifth floor of UT Austin’s Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and you’ll find yourself face to face with a 10-and-a-half-foot-tall copy of the Farnese Hercules. This towering nude statue, admired for its detailed depiction of musculature, marks the entrance to the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports.
Texas Has a New National Park
On the grounds of the Blackwell School in Marfa in the early 20th century, it was policy that students leave their native Spanish language at the door. If they broke this rule, they faced punishment, ranging from demerits to being placed in a closet. And according to a placard from the Texas Historical Commission, students were even made to scribble down Spanish words on slips of paper they buried in a mock funeral ceremony, vowing not to speak the language again.
Denton’s Longtime Record Store Is a Collector’s Haven
Growing up, my father’s records were like siblings. I competed with them for his attention, if not his affection. When I left for college, they moved into my old room and eventually every room in my parents’ house in Abilene. My father, Joe, began to mail newspaper clippings...
A Pakistani Street Food Favorite Is the New “It” Burger
Straight from the streets of Karachi, Pakistani bun kebab are now popping up all across the southern part of the state. Dating back hundreds of years to the Portuguese conquest of India and the British partition that created modern day India and Pakistan, the dish has found new life stateside with the rise of South Asian food truck culture in Texas.
The Wonderful Story of Wes Anderson
At first it seems odd to call Houston-born auteur Wes Anderson a Texas filmmaker. He’s a citizen of the world, shooting most of his movies abroad—Greece, Italy, London, India, Germany, Spain. But his Lone Star roots are deep. He graduated from St. John’s School in his hometown in 1987, then attended the University of Texas at Austin. There he met Dallasite Owen Wilson, who became a close friend, occasional screenwriting partner, and regular in his troupe of actors. His first movie, co-written with Wilson and co-starring him and his brother Luke, was the short film Bottle Rocket. Anderson shot it in Dallas on 16 mm black-and-white after graduation while he and Wilson were living in an apartment on Throckmorton Street. The movie caught the eye of writer and director James L. Brooks, who convinced Columbia Pictures to produce a feature film version.
The Fearless Cowgirls of Mexican Rodeo
Imagine riding a horse through an arena. The sun hits your back as you guide the thousand-pound animal in a synchronized pattern with seven other riders: Trot in a perfect circle. Stop. Spin in place. Then weave through a line of sprinting horses at just the right speed, careful not to ram into one.
After the Smoke Clears
The drive north from Amarillo to Canadian takes about an hour and a half. The flat, yellow land eventually turns into rolling hills with mesas jutting up. Pastures are a vibrant green. It’s almost hard to believe the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest wildfire in Texas history, barreled through here...
What’s Happening on Lockhart’s Town Square
Just off the square, Chris Hoyt opened Haunt Happy Books in January, but he’s co-operated Loop & Lil’s Pizza above the spooky basement bookstore since 2015. Both Webre and Hoyt say nights and week- ends are the busiest times for the square, especially on monthly First Fridays, when downtown businesses stay open until 8 p.m. or later and offer shopping specials and complimentary snacks and beverages. On the weekends, the streets are full of folks who’ve come to town for a barbecue crawl, including stops at Barbs-B-Q on the square and Smitty’s and the original Black’s Barbecue just off it. Behind The Culinary Room, across the street from Haunt Happy Books, sits two popular night spots, Little Trouble restaurant and The Pearl bar.
Hit Refresh at Boykin Springs Lake
This time of year you’ve got to find a way to beat the heat. Sure, you could stay inside for the season, soaking up air conditioning in front of the TV. But it’d be a shame to miss Texas’ best bodies of water: Try taking a dip at Boykin Springs Lake, a 9-acre water hole tucked inside Angelina National Forest, where the whole family can swim and splash till they’re tired. Located two-and-a-half hours northeast of Houston, this spring-fed lake has refreshed visitors since 1938. “It’s just right for a dang mega-hot day like this!” said a kid quoted in the Texas Highways story that accompanied this 1983 photograph. The picture shows a bevy of bankside activity at the lake, along with an impressive splash as someone on the rope swing makes impact with the water. This place was once clear cut by loggers, but thanks to the efforts of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, towering maples and longleaf pines once again ring the lake’s perimeter, bringing much-needed shade in these dog days.
Global Takes on the Classic Texas Snow Cone
Although it may lack the same fanfare as barbecue, Buc-ee’s, and cowboy boots, shaved ice is every bit as Texan. After all, prevailing theory holds that the modern snow cone was introduced to the world at the State Fair in Dallas in 1920. Not to mention the treat has curative properties when it comes to offsetting Texas’ sweltering weather. Lines are a constant at classic neighborhood spots like Sno-Ball in Corpus Christi, established in 1972. But Texas shaved ice takes many forms today as it’s shaped by the state’s growing diversity. With offerings like floral Iranian faloodeh and candy-carpeted raspas, good ol’ snow cones are proving to be only the tip of the…well, you know.
An eclipse chaser seesthe light in totality
Under a hale blue November sky pebbled with clouds—one of us steering by sight, the other by scent—we wend our way along narrow deer trails through knee-high grass, stepping around prickly pear cacti and brittle fallen tree branches covered in lichen, across dry rocky earth fringed on every side by cedar brakes. No matter that her eager nose pulls me into bramble that nicks my arms, pilfers my hat, and pelts me with waxy blue juniper berries; my eyes are as happy as her nose to take it all in. That setter nose cannot be trusted. At any moment, a new scent might trigger a cascade of chemicals to course through her lean bird dog frame and project her into the land. That way into the creekbed. That way onto the limestone bluffs. This way through the field. So, I keep Piper on a leash—a long retractable one.
Dallas’ Sha’Carri Richardson Sprints to the 2024 Olympics
Kincaide Stadium in South Dallas might be best known as the home to Carter High School football, one of the programs immortalized in Buzz Bissinger’s book Friday Night Lights. Now, however, spring Saturdays are also etched in the 15,000-seat stadium’s lore. Last fall, the racetrack that circles the football field at Jesse Owens Memorial Complex was named the Sha’Carri Richardson Track after the world’s current fastest woman, who started running there at 9 years old.
A New Book Revisits Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic
In the spring of 1995, Dave Dalton Thomas, a self-described “copy editor with a writing problem,” at the San Angelo Standard-Times got a call that would change his life. On the other end of the line was storied Texas empresario “Jalapeño Sam” Lewis delivering the news that Willie Nelson was bringing his annual Fourth of July Picnic to a town that Nelson and Waylon Jennings made famous: Luckenbach. This would be the first time the picnic, founded in Dripping Springs in 1973, would come to the hamlet 15 minutes southeast of Fredericksburg, and Lewis wanted Thomas to be the first to spread the news. Little did Thomas know at the time that not only would the Nelson’s picnic become a near-annual ritual for him, but that he would go on to author the event’s definitive history—from its early days through a half-century of triumphs and tribulations.
Friday night lights shine on Odessa’s big game
Evel Zubiate sits inside a dually pickup truck, towing a hulking smoker. The smoker belongs to the Odessa High School Bronchos booster club and is painted a crisp red with white trim—the school’s colors. It is just past noon on Friday, Oct. 6. The Bronchos football team won’t take the field at Odessa’s iconic Ratliff Stadium for another seven hours. But Zubiate seeks a prime position inside the gates for the booster club’s pregame tailgate.
Texas Forever
Welcome to the 50th Anniversary issue of Texas Highways. It’s a culmination not only of the planning our team has done for the past 18 months but also 50 years of diligent work by former editors, photographers, designers, writers, fact-checkers, and a host of business and administrative support staff. We are honored to continue a legacy of inspiring travel through stories and images that reveal Texas’ distinct character, wild beauty, and inimitable culture.
A San Marcos Mermaid Gives the Deep Dive on Her Hometown
Michelle Kraft followed a meandering path to becoming a scuba instructor. After growing up in a military family and graduating from high school in Del Rio, Kraft moved to Arlington for college to study interior design. Back then, she was afraid of sharks and refused to go in the water. “I saw Jaws and was petrified,” she says. “I was the kid who they’d have to pry off the wall to dunk my head.” But she eventually conquered her fear after an interest in the Titanic got her to take a scuba class. “After that, I was hooked,” she says.
The Port Aransas Nature Preserve Is For the Birds
The last of the migratory birds resting, eating, and let’s face it, luxuriating in Port Aransas were taking to the air and continuing north before summer when I visited the Gulf Coast town in mid-April. Although I’m familiar with Mustang Island, an 18-mile sliver of land that includes Port Aransas and separates Corpus Christi Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, it was my first trip out to the Port Aransas Nature Preserve. With the island being an important stop along the Central Flyway, a major flight path in North America for untold numbers of birds every spring and fall, the nature preserve helps protect coastal wetlands and prairie grasses, thus ensuring a welcoming biodiverse setting, especially if you’re a bird. Or a bird watcher.
Seabrook Chef Aaron Davis’ Unique Take on Creole Cuisine
A sign on the door at Viola & Agnes’ Neo Soul Cafe in Seabrook proclaims: “If you are in a hurry or want fast food, this café may not be the best choice.”. Some may see that as a playful warning. But it’s really part of a promise, one that includes the reward of a “fresh, local, honest meal,” according to chef and owner Aaron Davis. Because real food takes time. And diverse, deeply flavored dishes as good as Davis’ island-tinged soul food can take as long as they please.
Texas Highways Debuts Redesign in 50th Anniversary ‘Small Town Summer’ Issue
Texas Highways is ushering in its next half-century as the state’s official travel magazine with reimagined print and digital products. Last week, subscribers received the 50th anniversary July/August issue featuring a bold new look and upgraded paper. “After working on this issue and redesign for over a year, we’re...
The Daytripper Tries Burgers and Burritos in Borger
By all accounts, the town of Borger, population 12,500, should be burned to a crisp. In early March, a series of wildfires stormed through the Texas Panhandle, decimating hundreds of structures, killing two people and upwards of 7,000 cattle. But thanks to proactive “controlled burns” conducted beforehand, Borger was able to battle back the fire, and the town was mostly unscathed. Now that the smoke has cleared, take an opportunity to visit this former oil boomtown in the Canadian River Valley. It’s a place with a fraught history—and luckily, it can be enjoyed in the here and now.
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Texas Highways is the Official Travel Magazine of Texas, and your ultimate guide for exploring the Lone Star State's people, places, & wide-open spaces.
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