Texas Highways Magazine

Web editor Sarah Thurmond first had the idea to cover curious roadside attractions while searching the internet for stories on interesting happenings around the state. The resulting “Roadside Oddities” series at texashighways.com/oddities, which insp

Founded in 1976, Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center, located 30 miles west of downtown Austin in the tiny town of Round Mountain, wasn’t always this lush and green. When the first 25 acres were purchased in 1974, the area was depleted and dotted with

Alpine is a wonderful little town [“Small Towns to Visit Now,” August]. I love walking around and taking photos of all the artwork with the mountains. John Haring Comstock is really on the edge of nothing [“Way Out West,” August]. But the beauty is i

The 17 original families that made up the small community of Smithville moved 2 miles west to meet the Bastrop and Taylor Railway when it was built in 1887. As the railway grew and changed, so did the town, which peaked at a population of about 4,200

On the drive down to Texas, with most of my belongings jammed into my dad’s Lexus, my boyfriend and I trailed a caravan of polygamists who were also making the trip south. It was 2010 and I was 25, running from the destruction Lou Gehrig’s disease, o

“ Pardon the poo,” says Melanie Moreau, the founder of My Pig Filled Life, a pig rescue organization in Wills Point, east of Dallas. On a tour of her 17-acre sanctuary, Moreau leads us from the grassy front lawn of her brick farmhouse through pens, p

Every October, families head to fall festivals and pumpkin patches to pick out their favorite pumpkin to carve into a jack-o’-lantern for Halloween, turning them over in their hands, looking for scuff marks, making sure they are round enough, tall en

Dallas 1 hour Austin 4 hours Houston 4.5 hours San Antonio 5 hours Surrounded by tree-dotted farmland along creekbeds, Farmersville is a small community that’s proud of its agricultural past. Settlers who were attracted to the fertile soil of the Bla

The drums are first. I’ve never been able to figure out if the drums echo my heartbeat or if my heart races to match the drums. From my first step into the arena, I can feel the drums thrumming under my feet. Then the singing registers, voices feroci

MY FATHER WAS A MAESTRO OF THE COOKOUT. FAJITAS AND TABLITAS, OR SHORT RIBS, WERE HIS SPECIALTY. For our family carne asadas, he'd hold court at his enormous grill in our backyard in Del Rio. He’d poke at the crackling fire as it burned down to cooki

THE SHOULDER, NEAREST THE COW’S HEAD This area is used for ground beef and is optimal for braising, slow cooking, or stews. THE UPPER AREA OF THE COW’S CENTER Good for grilling, roasting, or searing, the rib is used for prime rib, rib-eye steaks, and

(Feeds 30) • 8 lbs. of outside skirt steak, non-marinated and pre-tenderized• 5 medium limes• 3 cans of beer• 3 oz of tequila blanco• Fire & Smoke Society Thundering Longhorn seasoning, to taste• Bolner’s Fiesta Brand fajita seasoning, to taste• Corn

Of the establishments that played a part in popularizing fajitas, Ninfa’s is the only one still around. Make sure to order a Taco a La Ninfa made with their famous beef fajita. ninfas.com Open since 1932, this restaurant offers interior Mexican cuisi

Doing a double take at something strange on the side of a remote highway is a rite of passage for any road-tripping Texan. Maybe it’s a geyser that shoots water 100 feet in the air or a 10-foot-tall killer bee with a menacing look in its eye. Our sta

West Texans in towns like Iraan found themselves in something of an existential crisis in the spring of 1964. Agriculture and petroleum, the life bloods of their economy, were on the wane. Iraan, about 80 miles south of Odessa, decided to get creativ

Presiding over the southern approach to the rootin’ tootin’ cowboy town of Bandera and fixing its steady-yet-vacant gaze on the Medina River is a giant polyurethane foam and fiberglass sculpture of a Longhorn skull. Roughly 12 feet tall and about 50

There’s a line in Act IV of Hamlet where Claudius says to Gertrude, “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” Change the word “sorrows” to “bees,” and while the result may be unpopular among Shakespearean scholars, it will a

Acubist-style armadillo stands atop a hillock next to a sleek roadrunner in a 2-acre field at the intersection of State Highway 288 and Bellfort Avenue, just south of Houston’s Loop 610. A dragon rears menacingly nearby, while King Kong scales a boom

On a Saturday evening in Houston’s west end, hundreds of Indian classical music enthusiasts gather in the Auditorium at the Houston Durga Bari Society. Bright red velvet curtains frame a performance accompanied by Unmesh Banerjee on tabla—a pair of h

Restaurateur Brad Lomax never thought much about the oyster shells his patrons discarded after eating the decadent meat inside. A lifelong surf enthusiast and owner of four eateries in Corpus Christi, including Water Street Oyster Bar, Lomax didn’t w

The annular eclipse crosses Texas on Oct. 14, dimming the sky as the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun. This is when the moon is at its farthest point from the Earth, making it appear slightly smaller than the sun and giving the impr

As you explore, you’ll find an amazing range of relaxation and adventure, natural beauty and urban culture, fine art, fine dining, small-town charm and big-city amenities… but what you will remember most is the warm, West Texas hospitality. MIDLAND–D

An axe murder lured Lesli Linka Glatter back to Texas. The Emmy nominated director behind shows like Mad Men, Homeland, Freaks and Geeks, and Gilmore Girls grew up in Dallas, but she left home for New York as a teenager to pursue her original passion

“ Slinging” Sammy Baugh, pictured here as quarterback for the Washington Redskins (now Commanders), embodied Texas toughness, tenacity, and loyalty. Born in Temple, Baugh played high school football in Sweetwater and college football at Texas Christi