Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2017 i Texas Highways Magazine

IT’S OFTEN NOT UNTIL I LEAVE A place that I fully appreciate how much it has to offer. It is so easy to take the city you live in for granted in the busyness of daily life. As I drove from Houston to Austin one recent Wednesday evening to join the staff at Texas Highways the next day, I began to compile a list of local sites I would miss the most. And while considering my favorite Space City spots, it struck me that our memories are intrinsically tied to places. Hermann Park is perhaps my favorite place in Houston, offering a green oasis in the heart of a sprawling city. My husband proposed to me there, and we took our now 2-year-old son there on his first outing as…

Along with the famous pancakes, the restaurant is well-known for its overstuffed omelets, including an unusual jambalaya version. LIKE MANY TEXANS WHO HAVE A FONDNESS for pancakes, I keep a list of favorite places to eat them. Magnolia Pancake Haus in San Antonio recently joined that list. On a recent visit, after perusing the menu at length and admiring the dozens of commemorative souvenir plates that serve as decoration, I ordered Magnolia’s “world famous” buttermilk pancakes with blueberries. The short stack came cooked to perfection, evenly browned and fluffy, with a fresh, slightly sweet taste. “People always try to figure out what we put in our pancake batter,” says owner Robert Fleming. “We use all fresh ingredients but keep the recipe simple: butter, sugar, flour, buttermilk. It’s the proportions that…

TUCKED AWAY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE is a town that exists on its own time. It’s a place where bison herds still roam freely, ancient canyons feel untouched by human hands, and “urbanization” is just a fancy word in the dictionary with no application to real life. To slow down my own pace, I saddled my modern wagon of steel and headed off for some time in Turkey. 9 A.M. While the town streets felt sleepy, I found plenty of bright-eyed locals grabbing breakfast at Galvan’s, a Mexican-American institution. I grabbed a seat next to John Wayne’s portrait and proceeded to devour my delicious plate of huevos rancheros. Stuffed to the hilt, I wobbled toward the door until the heavenly smell of fried pies stopped me in my tracks. I…

True to the irreverent sensibilities of the musicians carrying the torch for Ameripolitan music, the show romps with humor, rebellion, and rollicking music. VETERAN AUSTIN HONKY-TONKER DALE WATSON says it’s gotten harder and harder to explain his music to strangers—the curious truck-stop bystander intrigued by Watson’s tour bus emblazoned with his autograph or the barber trimming his signature pompadour before a far-flung road show. “I used to say proudly and matter-of-factly, ‘Country,’” says Watson, whose original songs bear the influence of traditional masters like Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Red Simpson. But as mainstream country music has increasingly assimilated the sounds of pop, rock, and rap, Watson finds himself backpedaling: “I’m country music, but … and then I would spend 15 or 20 minutes telling them what I’m not. So…

The first lighthouses came to Texas shores in 1852, built to guide ships past sandbars and shoals at river mouths and through tricky passes between barrier islands. The government constructed several types of lighthouses, including cast iron, masonry, wood, and screw-pile styles. While many have succumbed to storms, beach erosion, or demolition, six sturdy sentinels still mark our coast. HALFMOON REEF LIGHTHOUSE Built in 1858 in the middle of Matagorda Bay to warn ships away from a dangerous mud shoal, the Halfmoon Reef Light Station is the oldest surviving wooden lighthouse in the state. Perched above the waters of the bay on seven wroughtiron piles driven into mud and sand, it has a style known as screw-pile. The hexagonal structure built on top of the piling is the only surviving…

FEBRUARY’S TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT: IT’S FITTING THAT OF TEXAS RIVERS AND TEXAS ART PREMIERES at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, on the bank of the Concho River. The exhibition (February 16-April 9) features depictions of Texas river landscapes by 20 contemporary Texas artists, such as painters David Caton and Mary Baxter. Curators Andrew Sansom, director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, and William E. Reaves, of Reaves | Foltz Fine Art, developed the exhibit to explore riverine themes in Texas art and emphasize the importance of water conservation. The exhibition next travels to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin and the Witte Museum in San Antonio. www.samfa.org. BIG BEND COUNTRY ALPINE: A Feeling of Humanity Western Art from the Ken Ratner Collection Through Mar. 26.…

Murphy, the war hero turned actor, and cotton both grew from Hunt County’s rich black soil. Both went on to change the world. In their own ways, both were kings. THE AUDIE MURPHY/AMERICAN COTTON MUSEUM in Greenville could just as easily be called the Hunt County Historical Museum. But why not lead with your best stuff? Murphy, the war hero turned actor, and cotton both grew from Hunt County’s rich black soil. Both went on to change the world. In their own ways, both were kings. Murphy won the most combat decorations of any American soldier in World War II, while a cotton compress in Greenville set world records for cotton production twice in the early 20th Century. Executive Director Susan Lanning says the museum was originally devoted to cotton…

AS THE CRAFT-BEER MOVEMENT EXPLODES IN THE Lone Star State, well-made beers are originating beyond Texas’ major cities and long-established smalltown breweries. This is particularly evident in East Texas. Beer-lovers seeking new breweries to explore should drive 90 minutes east of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, or a few hours north from either Austin or Houston, to visit three breweries separated by just 60 miles of tree-shaded roads. In Tyler, friends Ryan Dixon, Stephen Lee, and Dan Griffith founded True Vine Brewing Company in 2011 after several years of experimentation in Dixon’s garage. The microbrewery shares space with a mechanic’s shop in a squat brick building not far from Texas 31, in what Dixon calls a “forgotten neighborhood” that’s ripe for new energy. In fact, only a silver sign with the…

PHOTOS BY ERICH SCHLEGEL CHANCES ARE I WON’T BE HITCHHIKING OUT WEST ANY TIME SOON TO HIRE ON WITH A RANCH OR JOIN A SHERIFF’S POSSE. My boyhood fancies of a cowboy life on the open range, fueled by Lone Ranger reruns and imaginative bicycle escapades around the neighborhood, lost steam over time. But I’ve still got a Lone Ranger poster, and I’ve still got a mountain bike. And exploring the Texas countryside by bicycle still kindles my childlike excitement for adventure, freedom, and fun. Of course, if I were a cowboy, I wouldn’t be wearing spandex shorts and pushing my bike up this steep hill in the Chihuahuan Desert. I’m climbing the side of the Wax Factory Laccolith, the eroded remnants of an ancient magma intrusion set among Big…

DESTINATION: OAK CLIFF IT’S NOT A SUBURB, BUT A BOROUGH. NOT AN extension, but a separate township, at least spiritually. Although Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1903, the 87-square-mile area southwest of downtown has maintained its own identity. If Dallas is the packed dance floor under a disco ball, then Oak Cliff is the mysterious couple at the dark end of the bar playing footsie. Framed by beautiful rolling hills, Oak Cliff celebrates independence, diversity, and creativity. It’s Berkeley without the big college, Brooklyn sans subway. Just a 10-minute drive from downtown Dallas, Oak Cliff offers a convenient day trip for residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But Oak Cliff has also been drawing visitors from all over the state in recent years. • Fort Worth 35 minutes • Wichita…