Photo: The Texas Basket Company in the 1930s
This undated photo of a Crystal City farmer driving a truck packed with spinach baskets hangs on an office wall at the Texas Basket Company in Jacksonville, which celebrates its 100th year of operation in 2019 (see “A Century of Baskets,” Page 22). Crystal City, the seat of Zavala County, is a hub of South Texas’ Winter Garden Region, where winter conditions are prime for growing spinach, onions, carrots, and broccoli. Before the introduction of plastic bushels, regional spinach farmers were big customers of Jacksonville wooden-basket factories. Zavala County remains Texas’ top producer of spinach, and Crystal City celebrates the harvest every November with its Spinach Festival. Read More »
Book it to the Big Country for The Children’s Art and Literacy Festival in Abilene
My children stepped foot in Abilene for the first time in their short lives last June for a quick three-night visit. Now, even though it’s been a year, mention Abilene to them and you’ll get a happy earful of stories. This fond association traces directly to the Children’s Art & Literacy Festival, an annual celebration of all things picture books. Most people know Abilene as the capital of the Big Country, a dusty railroad outpost thick with steakhouses and Churches of Christ. But for three days every June, the festival (known as CALF) cloaks downtown Abilene in an imaginative world of colorful characters and fanciful tales—and ice cream vendors aplenty. Read More »
The Daytripper’s Top 5 in Colorado Bend State Park
No need to travel “just around the bend” when the bend itself is the main attraction. From the tops of its panoramic vistas to the bottom of its darkened caves, Colorado Bend State Park offers more than 5,000 acres of pure Hill Country heaven to explore. Read More »
Join Texas Highways as It Celebrates Big Bend National Park’s 75th Birthday
Please note that this event is now full and reservations are closed. Big Bend National Park turns 75 in ... Read More »
New TV Show Tours Texas BBQ Joints
The first season of BBQuest features barbecue restaurants in four major cities Read More »
Tracking Elusive Mountain Lions in the Mountains of West Texas
The cat has been gone for hours by the time Bert Geary comes upon the footprint. He sees it as our utility-terrain vehicle bounces over a rough ridgeline trail, the wind gusting over golden grass, heavy and cool with incoming August rain. The tracks are perhaps 5 inches across, clear and distinct. “It’s too big to be a bobcat,” Geary says, swinging out of the vehicle to examine it. “I think that’s a mountain lion. Young one, too. Maybe 60 pounds.” Read More »
James Beard Award-Nominated Chef David Ugyur Conjures the Spirit of Italy at Lucia in Dallas
At Lucia, one of the most coveted dinner reservations in Dallas, Jennifer and David Ugyur conjure the spirit of their journeys through Italy. If you look closely, you’ll notice David’s international driving permit from one of their trips framed on the wall. Beyond inspiring the décor, a laid-back, European sidewalk café vibe permeates the Bishop Arts District space. Read More »
Bonnie and Clyde Movie Brings New Attention to Sulphur Springs Writer
The recent release of the movie The Highwaymen on Netflix has introduced a new generation to Hamer, a famed Texas Ranger. Starring Kevin Costner as Hamer and Woody Harrelson as his sidekick, Manny Gault, the film recounts the chase and ambush of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker—the notorious robbers and killers who carved a swath of terror throughout the South and Midwest in the 1930s until their deaths in Louisiana on May 23, 1934. Read More »
To Hook ’Em, or To Gig ’Em? A Son Schools His Father on a College Tour
The night before I take my oldest son to visit Texas A&M, my wife comes home to find me watching The Blind ... Read More »
Atta Girl: Lucy the ‘Bark Ranger’ Completes Quest to Visit All 95 Texas State Parks
The title of “bark ranger” comes with great responsibility and even greater dedication. Lucy, my 5-year-old rescue ... Read More »
Conjunto Ambassadors Los Texmaniancs on the Magic of ‘Musica Alegre’
The Tex-Mex sound of Los Texmaniacs is also called musica alegre—happy music—for good reason. That bouncy two-step rhythm, powered by a button accordion and a 12-string guitar known as the bajo sexto, is made for dancing. Sitting in place or standing still is not an option. And no one sits or stands still when Los Texmaniacs, the band led by Max Baca, 51, and his nephew Josh Baca, 27, are on stage. Read More »
My Hometown: Take a Tour of Decatur with Longtime Newspaper Publishers Roy and Jeannine Eaton
Roy Eaton’s earliest memory of the Wise County Messenger was his parents eagerly awaiting its Thursday delivery during World War II for news about local servicemen. “Many were our friends and neighbors,” recalls Roy, who would leave the family ranch near Decatur for college, become a TV news anchor in Fort Worth, marry his high school sweetheart, Jeannine Eaton, and return with her in 1973 to buy the weekly newspaper his parents read. Read More »
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