Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2019 i Texas Highways Magazine

AT HER STUDIO IN HUTTO, Jae Benjamin crafts small batches of coldprocess soaps and hand-poured soy candles using all-natural ingredients. Her artisan bath, body, and home products often contain locally sourced organic herbs, raw honey, and plant-based essential oils. Some feature inventive additions like local coffee beans and stout beer. When she first started soapand candle-making, she didn’t mean for her concoctions to end up in stores. “I began to create bath and body products for my own family using the best ingredients possible,” she says. Shop more Benjamin Soap Co. products at shop.texashighways.com Order Online SHOP.TEXASHIGHWAYS.COM…

While researching “As Big as Texas” (Page 26)—Texas’ various claims to the world’s largest—writer John Lumpkin heard some interesting stories. One of them comes courtesy of Austin sculptor Bob “Daddy-O” Wade, whose 35-foottall cowboy boots at North Star Mall in San Antonio have the distinction of being the World’s Largest Cowboy Boots, according to Guinness World Records. When Lumpkin interviewed Wade for the article, Wade recounted the memory of someone calling to tell him, “Sorry, Mr. Wade. Your boots are on fire.” “That’s not possible,” he retorted. It turns out someone had punched a hole in the heel of one of the boots and made it his temporary home. Smoke billowed out when the occupant lit a can of Sterno cooking fuel. “He was summarily evicted,” Lumpkin notes. Featured Contributors…

Stories of Dallas’ glamorous past unfold at three classic hotels where recent, significant updates make them as relevant as some of their much younger and flashier counterparts. To spend time exploring The Adolphus, The Stoneleigh, and The Statler is to appreciate the ways old becomes new again and to understand how these vintage jewels first shaped the Big D into an enjoyable place to visit. Adolphus Hotel “King of Beers” Adolphus Busch would surely be as proud today as he was when he built his palatial Texas hotel in 1912. A renovation completed in October of the 407-room downtown landmark honors Busch and his beer, Budweiser, in numerous ways. A giant chandelier Busch purchased at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1904—and which resembles a crown festooned with the same…

Swing Carousel The Texas SkyScreamer at Six Flags over Texas in Arlington is nearly 403 feet high and pulls riders in a 124-foot circle at its widest extension. Beer Can House Adorned with 50,000 flattened beer cans by its now-deceased occupant, the Houston domicile has been preserved by a foundation dedicated to visionary art. Killer Bee Worried that actual killer bees would hurt the city’s reputation, Hidalgo commissioned a $20,000 20-foot-long statue instead. Armadillo Sculpture Welded by artist Marc Rankin, Killer is 48 feet long, visible to passers-by at Fall Creek Farms near Granbury. Foam Finger The Guinness record-holder at 1 foot thick and 20 feet tall, it stands in the Dell HQ lobby in Round Rock, celebrating being “No. 1” among privately held technology companies. Garden Spade Garden-ville, supplier…

A new year and an empty calendar. Does inspiration know any finer muse? When it comes to travel, the arrival of January fuels daydreams of adventures and far-flung exploration—at least it does in the halls of a travel magazine. Here we explore 12 new and evolving travel opportunities across Texas, everything from cold springs to hot fiddling and craft beer to modern art. And with the exception of two—McAllen’s MXLAN festival in July and the Festival of Texas Fiddling in December—these ideas aren’t tied to a specific date, making them worthy of a trip any time of year. Start marking up that calendar now. 1 The Houston Museum District Evolves Southwest downtown Houston near the Texas Medical Center. mfah.org; menil.org; hmh.org; houmuse.org With 19 museums, the Houston Museum District is…

Wearing a red apron and blue “Retired Air Force” cap, William Garner walks out of the kitchen of Mr. & Mrs. G’s Home Cooking and Pastries in San Antonio. It’s the lunch rush, and the phone is ringing as the 81-year-old takes his usual seat behind the cashier. “Hello,” he answers. “Pot roast? Yes, we do.” Hanging up, Garner notices a young girl waiting in line with her mother. He gives her two pieces of candy then shakes hands with a regular customer who introduces him to an out-of-town visitor proclaiming his love for the soul food restaurant—all evidence of the warm glow of kinship that has developed over three decades in business in the city’s East Side neighborhood. “Even if you’re eating alone, it feels like home,” says Frank…

We lost a true Texas treasure on Nov. 18 with the passing of travel industry titan and Texas Highways founder Frank Lively at age 90. In May 1974, Frank repurposed an internal highway department publication into a travel magazine—in his words, a “showpiece for Texas.” Within a year, the Texas Legislature had named the 33-page monthly “The Official Travel Magazine of Texas,” declaring that “every effort be made to enlarge its growing family of readers.” “We learned that our readers like articles about history, scenery, travel, and wildflowers,” Frank often said. “We placed a lot of emphasis on top-notch photographs, and we always put the reader first.” Frank’s love of Texas and Texas Highways readers did not end with his 1990 retirement. Always frank and lively, his legendary letters to…

Anyone who’s ever made New Year’s resolutions knows they’re discouragingly hard to keep. Most studies reveal only 8 percent of people who make them stick with them. Maybe part of the issue is that we tend to focus on tackling problems rather than having more fun. So this year, our staff is making Texas travel resolutions instead. I’m resolving to finally buy that Texas State Parks Pass so my kids can buck the trend of their generation, which spends more time indoors than any before, and glory in Texas’ wideopen spaces. Wes Ferguson, Managing Editor: For years I've wanted to drive my old Jeep Wrangler on the dirt roads of Big Bend National Park. I will need to do a whole lot of tinkering to get it running in time…

Your redesign confirms Texas Highways continues to grow bigger and better with each issue. I plan to pack up and move back to Texas the next time our resident volcano erupts.Milt Sylwester, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Highways Heritage TH: The November death of Frank Lively, the founding editor of Texas Highways [see Page 73], prompted an oupouring of memories, including this one from a longtime contributing writer: I remember my first visit to Frank’s office in about 1990. I was there by invitation to discuss some possible assignments. As I was waiting to see him, I could hear a typewriter pounding, periodically interrupted by curses and the sound of paper being ripped out of the machine, wadded up, and hurled at a wastebasket. I was not hopeful, but the meeting launched a…

Keith Carter has a problem. He’s one of the world’s great photographers, with a legendary sense for the mystery in the mundane. But right now he’s at home in Beaumont, and his longtime assistant, Cathy Spence, is calling for help from a side door. “She’s out there putting textures on a dead snapping turtle, and it’s not going too well,” he says. There’s usually one critter or another to fuss with in Carter’s corner of Southeast Texas, a place he likes so much because it’s “flat, tangled, wet, deeply green, and full of really good storytellers.” He’s also a fan of possums and poetry. For his photographs, Carter prefers the arcane, the imperfect, the muddy, and what he calls the gumbo culture of Beaumont—a blend of “white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, Hispanic…

POTTER RYAN LUCIER and graphic designer Melanie Pavao joined forces to form Rhyno Clayworks in Austin in 2011. Together, they update classic ceramic forms with contemporary surface treatments, sometimes glazing only part of a vessel while leaving other parts exposed. They offer an array of stoneware for home and garden, including birdhouses and planters, crocks and tumblers—and even a set of mugs printed with linedrawings of the heroes of the Texas Revolution. “I think I finally just reached a point where I knew I wanted more freedom and that I needed to be designing and creating as a fulltime potter,” he says. “I was passionate about what I was doing. The rest I would figure out along the way.” Shop more Rhyno Clayworks products at shop.texashighways.com Order Online SHOP.TEXASHIGHWAYS.COM…

Aseemingly incongruous site greets Saturday afternoon visitors at the Presnall-Watson Homestead, a rambling 19th-century farmhouse along the Medina River in south San Antonio. Kids on bicycles kick out tricks as horseback riders in cowboy regalia round the corner, creating a surprising mash-up of three centuries crammed into one. Time warps are not all that unusual for the Presnall-Watson Homestead, which is the centerpiece of a 1,200- acre preserve managed by the nonprofit Land Heritage Institute. With its 1850s farm site, the homestead represents a well-preserved example of Texas frontier life. But a deeper exploration reveals this territory’s connection to a wide swath of Lone Star history—from prehistory to statehood. And on the second Saturday of each month, the preserve opens to give history buffs, mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians, and nature…

“EVERYTHING’S BIGGER IN TEXAS”— how often have you heard that? The New-York Tribune is said to have coined the phrase more than a century ago. Though not quite everything in the Lone Star State qualifies as the world’s largest, tallest, longest, or widest, plenty do. Hitting the road to find them is a gargantuan trip in itself. The world’s largest rattlesnake statue? Behold the coiled serpent in the South Texas town of Freer. The largest mosaic of the Virgin Mary? Gaze up at a 40-foot-high representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe by artist Jesse Treviño on San Antonio’s West Side. Guinness World Records recognizes at least a dozen Texas claims, ranging from a fly fishing pole exceeding 70 feet in Port Isabel to the largest commercially available pizza (“The Bus,” a…

LUNCH Carter swears by the chicken salad at Katharine and Company, a lunch spot in an ornate former drugstore that anchors the historic, Spanish-style Mildred Building. Standout specials include the cornmeal-crusted redfish topped with crawfish etouffee. 1495 Calder Ave. 409-833-9919; katharineandcompany.com SEE AND DO Beaumont preserves its history in museums such as at the opulent, 1906-era McFaddin-Ward House (below) and the Fire Museum of Texas, which boasts the world’s largest functioning fire hydrant (painted white with black spots to resemble the world’s largest Dalmatian). Along Hillebrandt Bayou just off Interstate 10, the Cattail Marsh Scenic Wetlands is 900 acres of wetlands, woodlands, levee trails, and bayou on the migratory flightpaths for a number of feathered species. “There’s lots of alligators and birds,” Carter says, not to mention a 520-foot boardwalk…

Arts & Culture CENTRAL TEXAS Austin Get in the Game Exhibit Through Jan. 13 This exhibit examines the intersection of social justice and sports in the United States by celebrating athletes who have broken barriers and spoken out for equality, both on and off the playing field. LBJ Presidential Library, 2313 Red River St. 512-721-0200; lbjlibrary.org Austin Middleditch & Schwartz Jan. 13 Together, Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz perform an improvised comedy show in which they create characters and storylines based on audience suggestions. Every show is different. Middleditch stars as the lead of HBO series Silicon Valley, while Schwartz is an Emmy-winning writer, comedian, and actor best known for his role on Parks and Recreation. Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Ave. 512-472-5470; austintheatre.org Groesbeck Right Turn Only Exhibit Jan. 24-27…

Barbara Lynn was a left-handed young girl in Beaumont when she started sounding out notes and chords on a guitar made for right-handed musicians. She’s always done things her own way. The pioneering sound that grew out of those childhood guitar rhythms—fiery and percussive, complemented by her soulful singing voice and a poet’s command of songwriting—took Lynn around the world, from Beaumont to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and to the top of the charts in 1962. Lynn was just 20 years old when she wrote and recorded “You’ll Lose a Good Thing,” which became the No. 1 R&B single in America. The song, a heartsick warning from a suspicious lover, crossed over to No. 8 on the pop charts and inspired covers by hit-makers Aretha Franklin and Freddy Fender.…