Photo: A Male Cardinal Adds a Splash of Color to a Cold Day
Scarlet possumhaw berries and the bright plumage of the male northern cardinal add a splash of warmth to an otherwise cold winter day. While possumhaw is found in Central and East Texas—sprouting berries in fall and winter—northern cardinals can be spotted year-round through most of Texas. Like this iconic winter bird, other songbirds, gamebirds, opossums, and raccoons all dine on the possumhaw’s conspicuous berries. Read More »
My Hometown: Southwestern History Runs Deep in the Border Town of San Elizario
Explore the adobe streets of this colonial Spanish presidio town with artist and history buff Al Borrego. As he guides walking tours of San Elizario, Al Borrego paints a vivid picture of the town’s 400 years of borderland adventure and enterprise. On Main Street, Borrego describes the day in 1598 when explorer Juan de Oñate marched through with an expedition of 500 colonists. Outside the immaculate San Elizario presidio chapel, Borrego explains how the community was actually south of the Rio Grande until an 1829 flood realigned the river. Read More »
Festival of Texas Fiddling to Highlight Diverse Fiddle Styles in Blanco
Need a spark to shake off the post-Thanksgiving, start-of-the-holiday-marathon malaise? Fiddle music could be just the ticket. This Saturday, Dec. 1, The Festival of Texas Fiddling will bring together fiddlers from across the state for a day of performances, dancing, and workshops at the historic Twin Sisters Dancehall in Blanco. Read More »
Explore a Winter Wonderland at Circuit of the Americas
Winter Wonderland at COTA Select dates, Nov. 23-Dec. 30 Circuit of The Americas 9201 Circuit of The ... Read More »
Serious Surfers Brave the Winter Chill to Ride Texas’ Waves
People who visit the coast during the summer may think there’s no surf in Texas, but that’s because they haven’t seen the waves of winter. In late January through mid-February, storm-driven northerlies blow across the Gulf of Mexico, roiling the placid surf into choppy waves that can build to heights of 5 feet and taller. Offshore winds then polish these waves to produce smooth, jade-colored swells that build then break, curling in a clean line, row after row. For those willing to brave the chill, there are plenty of destinations along the 367 miles of the Texas coast to give off-season surfing a try. “Most people are fair-weather surfers,” says James Fulbright, proprietor of Strictly Hardcore Surf Specialties in Galveston. “There are 70 percent fewer surfers in the water in winter.” Read More »
Holiday-Themed Pop-Up Concept Coming to Texas Bars
While most of us might be too old to sit on Santa’s lap, that doesn’t mean we’ve outgrown holiday merriment. For a warm glow within and without, make plans to stop by Miracle, a pop-up concept coming to five Texas bars this season. Miracle transforms watering holes in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Galveston into full-blown holiday wonderlands with nostalgic, kitschy décor and themed specialty cocktails Nov. 23 through Dec. 29. The concept debuted in New York City in 2014 and now has 80 locations internationally. Read More »
10 Gift Ideas for Texas Travelers
Texas offers an extraordinary array of adventures worth traveling for—for those who aim to collect memories ... Read More »
Frank Lively, Founding Editor of Texas Highways, Dies at 90
Today we received news that Frank Lively, the founding editor of Texas Highways, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 18, at age 90. Frank began working fulltime in the Travel and Information Division of what was then called the Texas Highway Department in July 1961. When he became the editor of Texas Highways in September 1962, the magazine was a 24-page highway design, construction, and maintenance journal for department employees. Read More »
Bayou Bend a Hidden Treasure from Houston’s Past
Bayou Bend stands apart in Houston’s famously non-zoned cityscape. The pink stucco mansion and estate—now known as ... Read More »
Sarah Bird’s New Historical Novel Is Wild as an Acre of Snakes
In the debut of Texas Highways’ new monthly essay, Open Road, novelist Sarah Bird writes about walking the trails of J. Frank Dobie’s Paisano Ranch in the Texas Hill Country with the ghost of Cathy Williams, the only woman to join the Buffalo Soldiers, the African American army regiment formed after the Civil War. Since 1978, when Bird first heard about Williams at an African American rodeo, she had hoped Williams’ remarkable but mostly forgotten story would be told. After almost 40 years of waiting in vain, Bird decided that she would have to tell the story herself. The resulting novel—her 10th—is an exuberant, mind-opening page-turner of historical fiction, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. Read More »
Stir-Fried Chinese Eggplant and Green Beans Recipe
Cooking oil, for frying 1 large Chinese eggplant (about 10 ounces total), cut into one-inch pieces 5 ounces ... Read More »
Hebert’s Caboose Ice Cream Shop
Hebert's Caboose Ice Cream Shop has been dishing out scoops of Blue Bell since owners Lonnie & Deanna Hebert bought, refreshed and reopened the shop in 2013. Lonnie & Deanna bought a nearby antique shop and the caboose was included in the deal after it had closed 3 years prior. Read More »
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