Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2015 i Texas Highways Magazine

The musical chronicles the fictional tale of Calvin Armstrong, a young homesteader determined to scratch out a place for himself in the tough environment of the Texas Panhandle in the late 1800s. THE INFECTIOUS OPENING SONG of TEXAS—a bouncy Broadway-style tune sprinkled with Texas swagger— sticks in your head long after the outdoor musical ends. “There’s no better place to be than Texas,” proclaim the singers and dancers, sweeping their arms to the colorful backdrop of Palo Duro Canyon State Park. “You can look around and see in Texas.” Celebrating its 50th season this summer, TEXAS dazzles audiences with its one-of-a-kind blend of musical theater and scenery in Pioneer Amphitheatre, an 1,800-seat venue at the base of Palo Duro Canyon, located 12 miles east of the town of Canyon. Against…

Housed in a 4,000-squarefoot brick building, The Pink Pistol is an explosion of sparkly, quirky fun that puts a boutique spin on Lambert’s rebellious and rocking style of country music. WELCOME TO LINDALE,” announces the vinyl billboard with a picture of a platinum blonde holding a guitar. “Hometown of Miranda Lambert.” Located 13 miles north of Tyler, the East Texas town (population about 5,300) is our destination not for a potential glimpse of the country music superstar (we’d just seen her the night before during the Dallas stop of her “Certified Platinum” tour), but to visit The Pink Pistol, Lambert’s bling-filled boutique. We’re among the hundreds of visitors—many of them devoted “Ran fans”—who flock to town each week to check out Lambert’s retail spin on her rebellious and rocking style…

I’D BET ANYTHING THAT THE SILO HOUSE in San Angelo would be the state’s best restaurant located in an abandoned chicken farm even if it weren’t the state’s only restaurant located in an abandoned chicken farm. The Silo House is that good. And yes, the restaurant is really built around a pair of grain silos at the Chicken Farm Art Center, a compound of artists’ studios just north of downtown San Angelo. Roger Allen, a potter, bought the ramshackle property in 1971, long after it was no longer used for raising and processing chickens, and converted it into a place where artists could live and work. Today, the Chicken Farm Art Center houses 15 studios and two galleries where artists create and sell their works, as well as an inn…

OUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA OF THE MONTH... Never been to Mustang Island, but I want to since Pat Green sings about it. Joy Chapman Hinkle, Springtown My best souvenirs are my memories of my visit to The Alamo in 2010. It’s a hard act to follow. Wendy Kell, Huntingdon, Quebec Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram EDITOR’S NOTE: In a May story about the Roy Orbison Museum, we incorrectly identified the location of the museum’s hometown of Wink. Wink is about 50 miles west of Odessa. We appreciate the readers who called this to our attention. Travel Sweet Spot? In the June issue, columnist Barbara Rodriguez wrote about her annual vacations to South Padre Island and the comfortable pleasures of her tradition. This prompted several readers to chime in…

For my six-and nine-year-old sons, the light-rail journey is half the fun. IF YOUR KIDS ARE LIKE MINE, THEY’RE FAS-cinated by trains. Perhaps it’s the powerful sound of the horn at crossings, the rumble of locomotives chugging alongside the highway, or the magic of an unusual sight found mostly in cartoons, movies, and storybooks. Maybe it’s just the allure of traveling without seatbelts. Whatever the reason, children love trains—and so do many of us grownups. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light-rail system includes 90 miles of track and 62 stations along four color-coded lines. The system, which recorded 96,380 passenger trips per weekday in 2014, bustles with commuters on a daily basis. But it also provides an entertaining and convenient way to explore the Dallas area, offering access to…

THIS IS THE MOST DELICIOUS thing I’ve had to drink at breakfast, or maybe ever,” says my friend Leslie, pointing to her tall glass filled with ice, fresh mint, a pineapple drinking vinegar, and seltzer water. It’s one of the specials on the blackboard at Righteous Foods, where I’m joining her for Friday-morning breakfast. Sett ling into a bright orange chair at a sturdy table crafted from reclaimed wood, I spot apricot as an option on that same specials board, and soon I’m parroting Leslie’s sentiments: The fizzy beverage provides both tang from the coconut vinegar and sweetness from fresh fruit juices cold-pressed on site daily. Combined with a little sparkling water, the blend delivers a burst of all-natural refreshment unlike anything else I’ve found in Fort Worth. That we’d…

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR FUN? Viva Big Bend features more than 50 bands in 10 West Texas music venues. IF THERE’S A DESCRIPTION THAT COMES UP REPEATEDLY WHEN people talk about the Marfa lights, it’s the way they dance. The color and intensity of the lights vary widely depending on whom you ask, but their darting, dipping, and flickering movements often call to mind some sort of supernatural boogie. Maybe it’s understandable, therefore, that sightings of the Marfa lights spike during the Viva Big Bend music festival, when everyone has music ringing in their ears. Viva Big Bend, which takes place July 23-26 this year, features more than 50 bands in 10 venues spread around Alpine, Marfa, Fort Davis, and Marathon. The music fans who journey to West Texas…

THE CADDO INDIANS WERE AMONG the first Texans, moving into the Neches Valley about 1,200 years ago. For nearly a millennium, until the arrival of Europeans, they dominated life in East Texas; for the first half of that time, they occupied a terrace above the Neches River. And when the Caddo vacated the village, they left behind three ceremonial mounds that tell us much of what we know about prehistoric times in East Texas. They also inspired the name of our state. Caddo Mounds State Historic Site covers nearly 400 acres on either side of Texas 21, about 26 miles west of Nacogdoches, near the edge of Davy Crockett National Forest. Archeologists from the University of Texas at Austin conducted the first formal excavations at the 94-acre village site from…

29º 52’ 02.71” N 93º 55’ 17.82” W Fed by the Sabine and Neches rivers, 90,000-acre Sabine Lake straddles the Texas-Louisiana border. The Texas shoreline provides ample opportunities for fishing, launching a boat, birding, and enjoying the natural beauty of the lake. To reach this pier on the Pleasure Island portion of Sabine Lake, take Texas 82 from Port Arthur, cross the Martin Luther King Bridge, turn right onto T.B. Ellison Parkway and follow the road 2.65 miles, then turn right and travel for a half-mile along Lakefront Drive. For more information, visit www.pleasureislandtx.com.…

If YOU WERE BORN BEFORE 1950, YOU’RE OLDER THAN three-fourths of the lakes in Texas. And let’s get this straight up front: Most “lakes” in Texas are actually reservoirs constructed for a variety of purposes such as flood control, irrigation, municipal water supply, and industrial use. Of the 187 reservoirs in Texas that hold 5,000 acre-feet of water or more, 138 were built following the drought of the 1950s, when a growing population demanded water, water, and more water. Texas has only two large natural lakes, and both have been somewhat altered by humans. One—Caddo Lake, shared with Louisiana—is famous for its cypress sloughs and steamboating history, but the largest natural lake entirely in the state—Green Lake, south of Victoria— is virtually unknown. But natural or constructed, all Texas lakes…

WANT MORE? GO TO THE EVENTS CALENDAR AT www.texashighways.com. PINEY WOODS >Longview Balloon Bounty The congregation of about 85 hot-air balloons in Longview means it’s time for the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship and Great Texas Balloon Race. Held July 21-23, the championship features the nation’s 50 top pilots competing in flying accuracy contests over Longview and Kilgore. On the weekend of July 24-26, the championship pilots join competitors in the Great Texas Balloon Race for more contests, which spectators can view at the East Texas Regional Airport. Also at the airport, a festival boasts balloon glows, shaped balloons demos, bounce houses, and concerts by the Oak Ridge Boys and Cooder Graw. www.greattexasballoonrace.com. PRAIRIES AND LAKES >Plano Fun on the Fourth It’s hard to beat the Dallas-Fort Worth area…