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Texas Highways Wins 2 CRMAs, 10 IRMA Gold Awards
Texas Highways brought home a slew of prizes this award season. The magazine garnered two City and Regional Magazine Awards, 21 International and Regional Magazine Awards, and a nomination from the American Society of Magazine Editors. “I’m thrilled to see recognition for the entire team in our award wins and...
Let the Good Times Roll at Marfa’s Annual Sushi Race
The conditions must be perfect: It has to take place during the hottest part of the year, the moon needs to be full to aid with visibility, and, most importantly, it cannot be a weekday. When all of these circumstances are met, then, and only then, do the residents of Marfa rally to shoulder the burdensome task of bringing sushi to their small West Texas town.
Dive Into These Texas River Retreats
Three major rivers define the shape of Texas: the Red, the Sabine, and the Rio Grande. But our state has a dozen other major rivers that flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and in the heat of summer, there is nothing finer than a plunge into your favorite swimming hole.
Go Honky Tonkin’ on a Weekend Getaway to Brady
A short drive from our state’s geographic center, Brady is named for the creek that runs through the area, previously home to members of the Apache and Comanche tribes. Henry and Nancy Fulcher donated the land for the city in the mid-1870s, and the town was chosen as the McCulloch County seat soon after. An imposing courthouse was built from local sandstone in 1878. By 1930, Brady was home to 3,983 citizens and boasted a three-story hotel, a movie theater, a newspaper, a school, and several churches. Today, the town touts its central location and a plethora of annual events: two country music festivals in March and August; a big July Jubilee for Independence Day; and late summer’s World Championship BBQ Goat Cook Off, held since 1974. The town is known for its hunting spots, largemouth bass fishing at Brady Lake, and four prime camping locations for serene lakeside stays. Brady also houses two museums, a gun range, a golf course, an antiques store, and a small city-run water park to stave off the summer heat.
A longtime favorite in the Rio Grande Valley, alligator gar is a big fish that’s ready for an even bigger stage
After hauling his boat out of the Arroyo Colorado on that steamy July morning, Garcia takes the catch back to his house where he uses a pair of foreceps and a machete to hack a long strip of fins and scales off the gar’s back. Using a fillet knife, he then cuts two fat loins out of the gar, which he estimates weigh 15 pounds each. He also removes and sets aside the fatty belly meat for a friend. Afterward, he heads to Chili Willie’s Bar and Grill, a seafood shack on the slow-moving Arroyo Colorado, near where it empties into the Laguna Madre. Even on a weekday, locals are gathering for burgers on their lunch break. The restaurant is known by recreational anglers as a place to cook their catch, which mainly consists of redfish and speckled trout. But there are the occasional gar enthusiasts like Garcia, who proudly hands over sacks of lightly marinated nuggets and fillets to owner Trey Mitchell.
These Red Shrimp Are Gulf Coast Royalty
Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, there’s treasure. Not sunken galleons from centuries past, not vast fields of oil, but shrimp—shrimp so delicious, so prized, they’re called Royal Reds. And while these esteemed shellfish have long been enjoyed along the eastern side of the Gulf Coast, they’re finally making it onto Texas menus.
These Red Shrimp Are Gulf Coast Royalty
Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, there’s treasure. Not sunken galleons from centuries past, not vast fields of oil, but shrimp—shrimp so delicious, so prized, they’re called Royal Reds. And while these esteemed shellfish have long been enjoyed along the eastern side of the Gulf Coast, they’re finally making it onto Texas menus.
Peach Season Comes Early Around Texas
Paper bags, peck-sized boxes, and half-bushels of ripe peaches greet my spouse, Eileen, and me inside Cooper Farms Country Store. Along with shelves lined with peach preserves, salsas, jarred peach slices, spices, and condiments, there are bottles of peach-infused wines along one wall and pies, cobblers, and breads—baked in-house and mostly peach—crowding tables across from the cash registers. Fresh peaches are the store’s bestseller, while soft-serve cups, shakes, and waffle cones of peach ice cream take second place.
Recipe: Peel and Eat Royal Red Shrimp
Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, there’s treasure. Not sunken galleons from centuries past, not vast fields of oil, but shrimp—shrimp so delicious, so prized, they’re called Royal Reds. And while these esteemed shellfish have long been enjoyed along the eastern side of the Gulf Coast, they’re finally making it onto Texas menus. This recipe comes from Eunice in Houston.
The Dixie Chicken Celebrates 50 Years in Aggieland
The college town’s classic watering hole still serves a good time. Photos by Tom McCarthy Jr. Brig. Gen. Patrick Michaelis has served his country in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. And he’s been stationed across the world, from Pennsylvania and Poland to Kentucky and Germany. Still, the 1993 Texas A&M graduate, who now serves as commandant of the Corps of Cadets for the university, is always happy to return to the Dixie Chicken in College Station for its distinct brand of Texas culture.
Roadside Oddity: Slug Bug Ranch in Amarillo
In April, Randy Crutchfield was on his way home to Amarillo when he stopped in Conway, an unincorporated community 30 miles east of the city limits. He drove to the old Crutchfield property, where Randy’s grandparents once operated a curio shop and Conoco filling station. He has fond memories of spending time here in his 30s, playing sports and goofing around with his uncles, who were just a few years older than him. More than anything, Randy wanted to see the bugs: five Volkswagen Beetles buried in the ground nose-down at a 45-degree angle. Collectively the cars represented the Slug Bug Ranch, an under-the-radar roadside oddity created by his uncle Ricky in the late 1990s. But the bugs were nowhere to be seen.
Where the Saguaro Grow in Texas
Like many Texas tales, this story begins in a Terlingua bar. My friends and I were three days deep into a camping excursion at Big Bend National Park when we stopped in at The Starlight Theatre Restaurant and Saloon to gorge on gorditas and enjoy a few Shiner Bocks. In between rounds, our bartender noticed my friend’s hat emblazoned with “Texas Saguaro Club” across it. The barkeep got the joke.
Black Rodeos Are a Storied Texas Tradition
The love for Black rodeo was passed down through Krishaun Adair’s bloodline. As a child, Adair participated in the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Parade, riding her horse through Houston alongside her grandfather, L.J. Jackson, a member of the Prairie View Trail Riders, and many other Black cowboys and cowgirls. She relished riding next to her grandfather and participating in the event into her teenage years.
10 Summer Adventures for the Whole Family
Now that the school calendar is winding down, it’s time to embrace a fresh agenda for the summer. For families, that means planning activities for the kids that the adults can also enjoy. Here’s a list of 10 family-oriented destinations—some new, some under-the-radar that you might not have visited...
A fisherman reels in childhood memories on the Texas coast
I’m rolling through the produce section, just like any grocery run, when the first whiff of raw fish wafts over from the seafood market. It’s inescapable, that smell, but it passes once you hit the dry goods or salad dressings. This time, I stop short. There, in front of me, is a teeming mass of writhing, clawing, blue-brown crabs in a huge plastic bin. They’re crawling on top of each other, some raising their claws like the fists of wary prizefighters. I live near landlocked Austin, so live ocean creatures are an unexpected sight. But a recollection rises from the depths, as I stand in Fiesta Mart, and suddenly I am 7 years old again.
A Texan Learns to Surf at 72
Surfing has been a lifelong obsession for me. Back when the Beach Boys ruled the airwaves and the California surfer lifestyle became something to emulate, two junior high friends and I pooled our money and bought a surfboard by mail order—but never put it to the test. I rented longboards on South Padre Island family vacations, but try as I might to paddle out past the third sandbar to catch a wave, the few times I did manage to stand up, the wave disappeared. Unless a hurricane or tropical storm was in the Gulf, I would later learn, those choppy waves were as good as it got.
Fifty Years of Cadillac Ranch
Fifty years ago on the summer solstice, three experimental architects and artists completed Amarillo’s iconic Cadillac Ranch. Facilitated by a larger-than-life eccentric millionaire, the permanent installation of 10 Cadillac sedans buried nose first at a 60-degree angle into the dirt of a flat field within eyeshot of Interstate 40 has become the Panhandle city’s No. 1 tourist destination and biggest roadside attraction. It’s a must-see for road trippers touring Route 66, America’s Mother Road, seen by more than 1.4 million visitors a year.
The Heyday of Aquarena Springs
The weirdest and most wonderful water park Texas has ever seen opened on Spring Lake in San Marcos in 1950. At Aquarena Springs, gondolas rode in the sky, never deigning to touch water. “Aquamaids” picnicked and performed ballet in daily shows that were staged underwater. There was a swimming clown named Grupo, and a swimming pig named Ralph; there was also a chicken that played tic-tac-toe, though swimming was not in its repertoire. The park featured a fleet of glass-bottom boats that gave visitors a glimpse of eels, catfish, turtles, and other aquatic critters. From below, springs bubbled up from limestone rock formations, giving the impression of being “inside the world’s biggest Alka Seltzer,” as one park announcer put it in a 1970 Texas Highways story. This photo was taken in the park’s heyday, when Aquarena Springs drew more than 1 million annual visitors. It shows a family watching the gondola, named the Swiss Sky Ride—a creation of fiberglass sculptor Buck Winn, a native of Celina. As the new century neared, the park began treading water financially; it finally tanked in 1996 due to competition from rival amusement parks. Now the city of San Marcos pays tribute to Aquarena Springs each September during its Mermaid Capital of Texas Festival. —Christopher Collins.
Austin-Based Zellner Brothers on Capturing Bigfoot
Filmmaking brothers David and Nathan Zellner have been obsessed with Bigfoot since childhood, when the elusive woodland creature entered their imaginations. Their lifelong infatuation inspired them to create Sasquatch Sunset, a 90-minute, dialogue-free movie about a family of sasquatches living in a Pacific Northwest forest. The cast is played by Golden Globe-nominated Riley Keough, Oscar-nominated Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan (both brothers act, but David isn’t in this movie). The characters emote and grunt under heavy prosthetic makeup and fur-covered body suits in a mundane yet curious portrayal of everyday life.
Mist Connections at Caddo Lake State Park
With its Spanish moss-draped cypress trees and wide array of wildlife, Caddo Lake State Park has a mystical quality to it. Add fog to the mix, and it’s almost otherworldly. “It’s truly unlike anywhere else in Texas,” says Austin-based photographer Erin Newman-Mitchell, who took this fog-laden shot in March 2021. “This particular morning had begun enveloped in a dense fog, dissipating as the sun rose to reveal the many silhouettes of cypress trees. The weather conditions were like none I’d experienced before; so serene and beautiful.” To explore the park’s swampy mix of bayous, lakes, ponds, and sloughs—and stay safe from the alligators—it’s best to hire a professional, such as Ron Hollomon, a retired firefighter from Longview who owns Captain Ron Swamp Tours. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for kids, 3-15.
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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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