People

In more than four decades of working with wood, Lewis Lamar Lackey has clearly proven he can make the cut. He's incredibly skilled at muscling around big, bulky logs and whittling them down to size, transforming the tree trunks into planks or cross sections that ultimately become functional furniture or construction components.

If you go to Round Top, you must stop at Royer’s Café. Family-run since its beginning in 1987, Royer’s is legendary for its eclectic menu, eclectic décor, and—oh, my—its pies. Bud and Karen Royer took over the 40-seat Round Top Café, changed its name and its menu, and built it into a renowned Texas institution that attracts visitors f ...

Hey Girlfriends! If you were to have a glass of wine at 4.0 Cellars in Fredericksburg, you might be tempted to have a slice of Texas-made, European-style Veldhuizen Cheese along with it! This cheese is definitely "Made by Hand and Blessed by God"

Chili inspires passion in people. "No food item has caused more arguments than chili, so a cook-off becomes the perfect thing to do," says Alan Dean, a former executive director of the Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) and head honcho for the 45th Texas State Men's Championship in Johnson City. Even the state legislature has gotten involved with chili, declaring it the official State Dish of Texas. Texans ...

Hey Girlfriends! Who hasn't always wanted to participate in an old fashioned grape stomp just like Lucille Ball in her Italian adventure?! Well, maybe without the grape slinging fight, ruined clothes, and purple hair ...or well, who knows?! There are 2 wineries in the Hill Country that offer just such an opportunity to celebrate the Grape Harvest!

"Takeoffs are optional but landings are required," Nichols said. Floating through the sky in a hot air balloon is an incredible way to see the Hill Country. Prior to my flight with Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, I was filled with anxiety. As someone who hates flying and gets woozy peering out the window of a skyscraper, I wondered what I got myself into as I hopped into the balloon's gondola. Our pilot, Skip Nichols, who also owns the company, assuaged my f ...

Call her music Americana roots—some blues, some psychedelic rock, some bluegrass, some swing, some country. Whatever it is, it's always a beautiful toe-tapping melody. Not bad for a 61-year-old deaf lady. "My eardrums were deformed when I was born and it's been a chronic problem all of my life," Karen explains. "I didn't respond to thunder when I was a child, but I thought the sound of the fluid moving back and forth in my ear was a monster plodding its way toward me." Karen grew up on a smal ...

Gems of the Hill Country, Lapidaries and Jewelers, is owned by husband and wife team Brad Hodges and B. Diane Eames, and is located in Ingram on Hwy 39, just west of Kerrville. Gems of the Hill Country is on the right, just as you enter the historic Old Ingram Loop, where a quaint collection of artisans' shops and boutiques line the street. Their shop is full of jewelry set with sparkling gems, most of them the beautiful Mason county topaz.

What do you get when you cross beer, a singer/songwriter and honey? Robert Earl Keen Honey Pils, of course! It was a case of serendipity that the three came together, but for Robert Earl Keen and Lee Hereford, it just made sense. That's Robert Earl Keen, Texas singer and songwriter, who, for the last 25 years has called the Hill Country his home.

The transformation of red oak leaves from green to a deep crimson each fall coincides with an epidemic in the Hill Country – buck fever. Even the most-experienced hunters feel twinges of nervous excitement as they fan out among hilltops and valleys in an annual quest to bag trophy whitetails or other game. For many hunters, the odds of success have greatly improved since Nature Blinds established a fabricating operation on the western outskirts of Kerrville.