Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i Texas Highways Magazine

MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN over the past few years about the declining rate at which Americans take vacations. Various studies show that more than half of American workers leave vacation days on the table—to the tune of 640 million unused vacation days in 2015. All of this seems fairly counterproductive when you consider the benefits of taking vacations, including stress reduction, heart-disease prevention, improved productivity, and be­er sleep. And more important than all of the science-based reasons for taking time o€ is the real reason we travel: to savor new experiences and make lifelong memories. To do our part to turn the tide of lost memory making, we’ve compiled a list of 27 summer adventures to help you plan a vacation you and your loved ones won’t soon forget. And…

TEXAS WILD+SOUVENIR+TEXTAS TICKET+STAY HEAD EAST DOWN SEAWALL BOULE-vard in Galveston, past the lights and activity of Historic Pleasure Pier, beyond the elegant Hotel Galvez and Stewart Beach Park’s broad expanse of sand doed with blue umbrellas and beach toys, through tangles of grasses and mangroves on either side and, just past a tranquil lagoon before the pavement dead ends at water, turn right onto Boddeker Drive. Welcome to East End Lagoon, where locals have come for decades to swim, .sh, birdwatch, and otherwise enjoy nature. “When I was a small child, before World War II, families had lile cabanas in front of the Seawall on that end of the island,” former Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas says. “There was a Beach Club and a dock for sailboats. Our families went…

MY SON BYRDIE HAD BEEN ANTICIPATING OUR planned visit to the Alamo Inn B&B for weeks. The two of us have been birding ever since Byrdie, then two years old, pulled down an unused field guide from the bookshelf and asked me to read it to him as a bedtime story. He’s six now, and thanks to him I’ve caught the birding bug, too. Still, for all our countless trips to birding destinations near and far, we’d never stayed at a place designed by and for birders. Adding to Byrdie's excitement, he had recently decided he wanted to be a travel writer—he’s also wanted to be an ornithologist, a veterinarian, and an astronaut—and he was looking forward to serving as my apprentice. The Alamo Inn B&B caters to birders visiting…

A SALTWATER-SCENTED BREEZE TUGS AT THE end of a roll of paper towels planted in the middle of our wooden picnic table. Warm rays of sunshine dodge between triangles of awning over the restaurant patio. The sound of gentle surf carries from the beach just across the street, where brown pelicans glide in a V above the surface of the waves. This place on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston aptly reflects its name: Benno’s on the Beach. I’ve come here with my daughter, Bridget, 23, looking for that laid-back Texas coast atmosphere I loved as a kid. Raised by a mother who loved experimenting with Cajun cooking and buying seafood right off the boat, I’m also looking for a Cajun-style seafood fix. Benno’s is known for its crawfish, with the season…

IN THE BIG BEND FEEDER TOWN OF MARATHON, a lone, multicolored mirage appears on the horizon. Luckily, the fanciful sight gives way to a very real, if unlikely, organic bed-and-breakfast made almost entirely of recycled paper, Styrofoam, and sand. Eve’s Garden (left) belongs to an unconventional breed of Texas hotels that continue to crop up across the state, winning over travelers with their novelty and sense of adventure. While these hotels may look a little different, they aren’t the result of hoteliers gone mad; their owners are forward-thinking Texans inspired to share their strange yet magical little corners of the world. Break free from hotel chains and escape to one of these eight locales for a truly memorable summer vacation. EVE’S GARDEN BED AND BREAKFAST, MARATHON KATE THAYER, co-owner, artist,…

WHAT: MISSION MARS WHERE: SPACE CENTER HOUSTON WHEN: OPEN DAILY EXCEPT CHRISTMAS Mission Mars Debuting in Space Center Houston’s 25th anniversary year, Mission Mars explores the science of the red planet and NASA’s efforts to send humans there in the 2030s. GO, SEE, DO—TAKING IN TEXAS Amateur astronomers can easily spot the twinkling reddish dot of Mars under dark skies. But traveling to the red planet is worlds more complicated. Immerse yourself in NASA’s effort to send humans into deep space at Mission Mars, the newest permanent exhibit at Space Center Houston. Highlights include a five-story, high-definition video screen depicting a Mars landscape; a full-scale Orion research model showing astronauts’ living and working conditions; an Orion simulator with footage from a test launch; and a 45-foot, one-eighth scale model of…

CHRISTY SHOOK, ALVARADO GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? OUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA OF THE MONTH We visited the Texas State Cemetery [April] several years ago and really enjoyed it. Some may think it strange to tour a cemetery, but this one is really worth the visit. STEVE AND LISA THOMAS, NACOGDOCHES Every Texan needs to read your magazine. Always positive and great pictures! DAVID LONDON, TIOGA Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Gardening Grace The special flowerbed at our church has one single white bluebonnet this year. My brother started the flowerbed several years ago, and we still keep it going. He passed away two years ago. It makes us think he is still caring for it. Kathy Vickers, Orange Grove Wildfire Woes The Panhandle wildfires of March and news…

A CUSTOMER WALKS INTO CATALENA HATTERS looking for a special hat to match the one his friend never takes off his head, presenting a photo from his cell phone as a challenge to the hatmaker. Looking at the customer’s cell phone photo, Scott Catalena makes a quick assessment. “That’s an Atwood Straw; that means he likes a short crown,” he says, getting all the necessary details to complete the order. Another customer reminisces about the dancing of his youth while his black felt hat gets a quick tuneup. “I still kick a little bit,” he boasts. “I like my Tejano music.” “I’ve got a lot of customers who are glad their hats can’t talk,” Catalena says. Scott smiles, gives the second customer’s hat a good brushing, then holds it over…

TRAVEL + DRINK + EAT TEXAS HAS A SCORE OF ROCK-CLIMBING GYMS, but only one boasts an eatery that has earned kudos for its food on a national level. The 5.ATE Café, tucked inside InSPIRE Rock Indoor Climbing and Team Building Center in Spring, just north of Houston, opened in December of 2013. Initially, InSPIRE attracted attention for the height and scale of its climbing walls, which stretch as tall as 43 feet and span about 17,000 square feet. But it soon gained recognition for its café as well, named for a climbing-route difficulty rating of 5.8 (a beginner-level ascent). Whereas most other gyms offer packaged snacks or smoothies, InSPIRE’s 5.ATE Café features a full menu for a proper sit-down meal. Plus, its open eating area, in view of the…

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT THE SUMMER SOLSTICE THAT INSPIRES ADVENTURE. As the official start of summer and the longest day of the year, the solstice illuminates a world of possibility with more than 14 hours of daylight. On June 21 this year, the sun will rise at 6:30 in the morning and shine until 8:36 at night. What better excuse to explore the outdoors? I was pondering this potential last June as reports from around the Hill Country carried news of a rainy spring that had replenished the aquifers and swelled creeks and rivers. Numerous watersheds bisect the Edwards Plateau as spring-fed rivulets flow into creeks and rivers en route to the Gulf of Mexico. Other parts of the world have their natural wonders, but it’s hard to beat the summertime…

High Road 30º 39’ 28.61” N 140º 09’ 55.44” W SPECTACULAR VIEWS of ponderosa pines, a formation called Laura’s Rock, and Mount Livermore (the tallest peak in the Davis Mountains) abound at The Nature Conservancy’s Davis Mountains Preserve. To get there, take Texas 118 about 25 miles northwest from Fort Davis, turn south onto the preserve’s Madera Canyon Road, and follow it for about five miles. Open to the public only on specific days, the 33,000-acre preserve is part of a sky island in the Chihuahuan Desert created by the cooler and wetter landscape of the Davis Mountains. For more information on The Nature Conservancy preserve and a schedule of open days, visit www.nature.org.…

1 HANG 10 AT NLAND SURF PARK, AUSTIN Nothing has made waves in Austin lately quite like the opening of the NLand Surf Park. It’s just so unlikely—how is it that both surfing pros and beginners alike can now catch a wave in Central Texas? We can thank beer heir and passionate surfer Doug Coors, who paired up with visionaries at Wavegarden, the Basque wave-technology developer behind Wales’ first surf park. Coors sought out a place in the United States with both demand and available space, and in 2016 opened the country’s first inland surf park, deep in the heart of Texas. Whether you’ve never surfed or have been surfing all your life, this summer you get a chance to hang 10. The 13-acre surf lagoon has three different wave…

REAL TEXAS STORIES BORN AND BRED THE TEXAS RANGER HALL OF FAME AND Museum in Waco has just opened for the day, and already nearly 100 fourth-graders pore over exhibits and artifacts chronicling one of the world’s most storied law enforcement organizations. As the students from Garland’s Couch Elementary pass a display of Rangers’ firepower from the mid-1840s, several try their hand at hoisting a replica of a four-pound, nine-ounce Colt Walker Repeating Pistol. Some accept the challenge to break apart and reassemble a replica of another early Colt pistol. Located on Interstate 35, just across the Brazos River from Baylor University’s landmark McLane Stadium, the stone complex holds thousands of relics, memorabilia, documents, and artworks that, in many ways, depict the eternal struggle between good guys and bad guys.…

TRAVEL TALK WITH TRUE TEXANS THE ACTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT JASTON WILLIAMS GREW UP IN the small towns of Olton and Crosbyton in the Texas Panhandle, but he is best known for his portrayals of a different small town—the fictional hamlet of Tuna. The award-winning play Greater Tuna, which he wrote with his co-star Joe Sears and director Ed Howard, has been gracing stages across the state and beyond since its premiere at a theater space on Sixth Street in Austin in 1981. With a rotating cast of misguided yet endearing characters, Greater Tuna both celebrates and lampoons life in small-town Texas, in this case the “third smallest town in Texas,” located somewhere “between San Angelo and Hell.” The production was so successful that it traveled to an Off-Broadway theater in…