What's Neat in Texas?

[Nyaricus]

I'm going Thursday March 22nd to Sunday April 1st to Texas. Never been before, so I gotta ask: what's a body to do/see/experience in Texas? I have no idea where exactly we are going in Texas, save for the Alamo (sp?).

I'm going with my dad and brother, and my dad is a bit overweight, so nothing, *please*, which will clog up arteries. That's a no-no

Thanks!

cheers,
--N

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The Alamo is in San Antonio, a city drenched in the Spanish/Mexican influence on Texas life. Its a big city- 8th biggest in the USA, and is remeniscent of New Orleans- a river city with great cuisine. You can't go wrong with the Tex-Mex or BBQ there. There are some nice museums, and Sea World is there.

Still, San Antonio is kind of a big small town. (OK, a HUGE small town.) Friendly people everywhere, but its really spread out.

The River Walk is scenic and has nice shopping and dining opportunities. If you're lucky and you care for that kind of thing, you can check out a San Antonio Spurs basketball game.

About 90 minutes North of SA on I-35 is the state capitol, Austin. It is one of the great music cities in the world, currently hosting the International SXSW music & film festival. Although it will be over by the time you get to TX, there will still be a host of music to see. Austin also has a huge arts community, including writers like Bruce Sterling and Michael Moorcock, one of the biggest beading societies in the US, and so forth.

Maybe you'll be able to catch a concert?

Musical styles popular in the region: Texas has a big hard blues/rock scenes. Remember Pantera? ZZTop? SRV? Check out Harder Beat magazine: http://harderbeat.com/html/home.html

 

[Nyaricus]

Neat, San Antonio sounds like an awesome place; I love Mexican/Spanish foods, and I like shopping and everything too. Got some cash for this adventure saved up and ready to spend, lol I hope my dad plans to spend a day or two here. Unfortunatly, I'm not 21, so by US of A standard, no bars for me *likes being Canadian for this reason, since it's 18 here in most provinces*

Thanks for the advice, in any case. I'm looking forward to my time here; I've never been that far south before (though I've been to both Hawaii and Florida).

Any tips on weather and what clothes I should be packing? I was speaking with my dad the other day, and he was saying the weather is about 70-80 degrees, which is easy shorts weather where I come from (I think about mid-20s in celcius, or somesuch). Is it cold at night, or still fairly balmy? Thanks!

cheers,
--Ryan

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This time of year, you can expect high 70's to mid-80's for daytime temps, possibly as cool as the low 60's for night time, lower if a storm front rolls through. It should be mostly sunny, but storms roll through pretty quickly, though a lot of them are nothing but a stiff wind with high humidity.

However, if the sky goes green-black and you see people running for cover- follow their lead. Texas is in "tornado alley" and even if there isn't an actual twister, you can get some NASTY lightning & hailstorms pass through.

I'd take some good walking shoes, mostly summer-type clothes, and a small umbrella or folding windbreaker for the possible rain.

Except for the very best, few restaraunts here have a dress code. Heck, there are some upscale steakhouses in the Dallas/Ft Worth area (where I live) where you can see one table with people in dress casual attire while the people next to them are dressed in shorts & flip-flops.

OH- I forgot! You MUST have beef while in Texas. The high-quality beef around here is the core to a lot of the cuisine! Besides Beef Brisket BBQ (the pork ribs etc. are good too, but Native Texans prefer their brisket) and the Tex-Mex Fajitas, you'll find it in our chili, burgers, and in the billions of steakhouses adorning any city in the state.

IOW- when in doubt about the menu, go with cow!

A word of advice: Tex-Mex is not quite like true Spanish or Mexican food, and, for that matter, its different from Cali or New Mexican style cuisine as well. Its generally hotter, for one. Fajitas are the standard Tex-Mex dish, with quesadillas and Chimichangas being hot on their heels, as opposed to more traditional fare like paella or guisado. Chuy's is a San Antonio/Austin/Dallas chain that has Chimis as big as a dachshund (OK, a chihuahua). El Fenix is one of the state's biggest family owned chains- excellent Tortilla Soup, BTW- and pretty dependable for a good meal.

 

[Nyaricus]

Awesome advice man - thanks so much! It does much to gimme an idea of what I'll be experiencing.

In Manitoba here we are know for a lot of pork, and Alberta beef is the top pick in Canada, so no doubts in that I'll be having a blast with some awesome beef in Texas

In any case, I love hot, spicy, mouth burning food, so I'll be looking forward to a lot of these tasty treats your are tantalizing me with

cheers,
--N

P.S. And thanks for the tornado advice - that was actually going to be my next Q

 

[Jdvn1]

You're just going to San Antonio? The River Walk and the Alamo are definitely the two most famous things there.

Texas is a huge state.

For San Antonio, you may want to look at the events going on: http://sanantonio.citysearch.com/find/section/sanantonio/events.html

 

[Nyaricus]

You're just going to San Antonio? The River Walk and the Alamo are definitely the two most famous things there.

Texas is a huge state.

For San Antonio, you may want to look at the events going on: http://sanantonio.citysearch.com/find/section/sanantonio/events.html

Thanks! Actually, I have no idea what the itenerary (sp?) is; I do know we'll be going to the Alamo though.

cheers,
--N

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

So...how was the trip?

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Texas is so big that it would help - even be essential - to know where in the state you will be?

Austin has a geat night life in the down town area and is home to the state capital, which you can take tours of.

All the above statements about San Antonio are true.

There is a big wildlife park near Glenrose, with zebra and rhinos from Africa.

Dallas is home to a lot of theater and arts.

Galveston and Corpus Christi are home to some great beaches.

 

[Nyaricus]

So...how was the trip?

It went by very fast!

We drove down in two days, arriving in Galveston in the dark of the second day.

That day, we toured the town and the beaches, checked out some stores, and had brekkie at an IHOP (first time, and I was really impressed with some TexMex-style omelet I had, at your suggestion).

We then drove up to Katy, through Sugar Land (neat shops! Stopped in at a Half-Priced Books and DLCS for 13 bucks!), which is just west of Houston, and stayed at my dad's girlfriend's son's house. His name is Rick and man is that guy loaded Kinda cool he's a kinda-sorta half-brother to me, ha ha.

That was the 3rd day. On the fourth, we went to Katy MIlls Mall for a short while, and then we went to San Antonio and checked out the city a bit (a short bit down into the Riverwalk and surrounding area), but light failed us quickly.

The 5th day, we checked out the River Walk more extensively, went to the Mall in San Antonio that's right on the River Walk, went on a guided tour boat cruise of the River Walk and was really impressed by the vibrant history of San Antonio. It is comparable in size to Winnipeg, and I felt quite at home here.

From here, we hoofed it down to Corpus Christi, where we stayed the night. The next day (the 6th) we drove back to Katy on the islands on the Gulf of Mexico, eating lunch at a nice Seafood and Spaghetti restaurant, where I had an awesome steak sandwich, not being a seafood or spaghetti fan

Back in Katy, we had supper at this pulled pork restaurant that was a short drive out in the country whch has a good rep around the area. Really awesome meat there!

The next day (the 7th), we went to Katy MIlls again, where my bro and I spent 4.5 hours shopping. That place is HUGE; I've never been in such a huge mall before. I saw a lot of my spending money gone this day, but it was well worth it.

Then, on the 8 and 9th days, we were back on the road back to Manitoba. It was a whirlwind tour of Texas - 4 cities in 6 days - but it was a blast, and I had a great time. The people were all fairly friendly, and we had no negative incidents (though on our way back there was this black guy in a big ol' beat-up SUV smoking weed who was really funny ) and I'd definitly do it again - though with more time to get a feel for the different places we went.

So that was the shorthand on the trip. Thansk for lstening

cheers,
--N