Texas has an independent spirit unmatched across the globe. Its people, like its landscapes, are rugged, fiery, captivating, and endearing. The one element that ropes them all together is an immense Texas pride. The Lone Star State’s mystique is enormous, and for good reason—Texas is practically a country unto itself, and people continue to be intrigued by its dynamic magnetism.

Friday Night Lights. Barbecued beef ribs. Austin City Limits. Chisholm Trail cowboys. You can’t swing a pinata stick in Texas without encountering a cultural icon. It’s what makes the state such an enigma and such a fascinating place to explore.

Perhaps most intriguing about Texas are the bountiful authentic experiences you’ll discover just below the surface—the dusty rodeo in a small Panhandle town, the perfect slice of pecan pie at an unassuming restaurant in the Piney Woods, the iridescent indigo hue of a field of Hill Country bluebonnets. You could spend a year exploring the state’s natural and cultural wonders and still find yourself with dozens of destinations remaining on your must-see list--all certain to become unforgettable future memories.

San Antonio is a mythical city, and for good reason. Its beginnings predate the founding of the United States by more than half a century, the legendary Alamo is a cultural icon, and the city’s missions represent an era of Spanish colonialism that becomes more fascinating as each new detail is learned. Add to that the lure of the River Walk, amusement parks, and the city’s welcoming lack of pretension, and it should come as no surprise that San Antonio regularly appears in top-10 lists of favorite travel destinations in Texas and the United States.

San Antonio (population 1,296,682) is the ninth-largest city in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but it’s certainly not evident to visitors savoring long lunches at downtown patio cafes alongside casually dressed office workers. Nor is it obvious when you’re sitting atop the Tower of the Americas, surveying the modest skyline, devoid of egocentric glass monuments dedicated to power and prosperity. It’s certainly not noticeable in the genuine greetings and friendly eye contact you’ll encounter around every street corner.

It’s the kind of town ideally suited for a getaway--no stressful hustle and bustle, just a steady flow of activity among an impressive infrastructure of historic buildings and modern conveniences. Most visitors come to San Antonio on a pilgrimage to see the Alamo, even though they likely couldn’t tell you about its significance in U.S. history. The nearby River Walk is one of the top tourist destinations in the entire state, with its tantalizing smells, colorful sights, and vibrant energy.

Every Wednesday night in the small northeast Texas town of Marshall, tuned-in locals and visitors start buzzing about the music. They head to OS2 pub and restaurant, where they’ll eat, drink and dance to boogie-woogie all night.

The throwback music style, popularized by artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis who helped create rock ’n’ roll, was invented in Marshall, according to recent research. The findings link boogie-woogie to former slaves who played fast piano tunes based on the chuffing steam engines they heard while working at the Texas and Pacific Railway in Marshall.

City officials quickly dubbed the town “The Birthplace of Boogie Woogie.” Along with the thriving local galleries and museums, the scene has positioned the town of 25,000 as a historical arts and culture hotspot.
-June 2011 issue

The Real Stories of Brazoria County: Plantation Sites Beckon Curious Tourists

Visitors strolling beneath the supple Spanish moss on outstretched oaks at the Texas Historical Commission’s Varner-Hogg Plantation are immediately swept into a bygone world of Southern heritage. There’s an undeniable charm to the lush, tranquil grounds and distinguished historic buildings, but guests are increasingly curious about the structures and stories that aren’t immediately noticeable—those of the hundreds of enslaved people who lived here in the mid-1800s and represent a signifi cant part of the site’s history.

Over the years, the site’s focus has been the Hogg family—including remarkable 19th-century furnishings and references to the tremendous oil reserves discovered in the 1920s (at one point bringing in nearly $40,000 daily). But over the past decade, interpretive efforts have turned toward the era of Columbus Patton, the plantation’s second owner. Students inquire about the former slave dwellings, and visitors are curious about the enslaved people who called the plantation home.
—Fall 2011 issue

In the Texas Mountain Trail Region, encountering the past doesn’t take much time, distance or imagination. History is always close at hand. Sun-baked adobe structures appear much as they did a hundred years ago; frontier forts remain enduring rugged outposts; and mountain trails lead to magnificent untouched vistas.

The area’s remote nature enhances its preservation. Since urban sprawl and redevelopment are not major factors, century-old buildings and their environs often receive the same consideration residents bestow upon each other in this region: live and let live.

“Out here, stories about Texans being on the frontier and living off the land aren’t too far removed from history,” says Beth Nobles, executive director of the Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) Texas Mountain Trail Region. “You’ll often find that the only man-made thing around you is the road that got you there. It gives you a real sense of how this corner of the state has always appeared.”

Also distinctive to the Texas Mountain Trail Region are adobe structures, constructed with sun-dried bricks made of earth, grass and water. The thick walls are often covered with a plaster-based material to help insulate against extreme weather conditions.
-May/June 2010 issue

Tucked behind rolling hills in a grassy pasture just west of Floresville is a modest structure barely visible from FM 536. Drivers who catch a glimpse of the low-slung building might mistake it for a barn or storage shed. They wouldn’t suspect it once raised a community’s collective spirit with vivacious music, passionate dancing, and memories that endured for decades.

This popular salon (dance hall) was known as Yndo Park, a family-oriented facility that hosted dances and celebrations. Like hundreds of other salones in the Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) Texas Tropical Trail Region and throughout South Texas, it peaked in popularity during the 1940s and ‘50s. Step inside one of these buildings on a Saturday night, and it’s easy to conjure up a simpler time when dancing, music, and socializing inspired people to endure another work week in anticipation of the dance halls’ lively weekend fiestas.
-July/August 2010 issue