Places

Pam Jernigan had no idea she had any creative talent until she stepped into the Textile Studio at Uptown Blanco, a dining and cultural arts complex on the Blanco square. "I don't draw, paint or sculpt," Jernigan says. "I live in Georgetown, but I drive here because of the ladies who work and teach in the studio."

For 30 years now, Frio's Dry 50 has been offering visitors to the Concan area in the far west end of the Hill Country everything they could possible want. Three granddaughters of Tom and Vidal Neal—the legendary couple who began Neal's Lodges and Dining Room back in 1926—decided to start their own place along the Frio and opened the shop in 1985. "We lived in Uvalde then and spent our weekends and all summer here having a great time, running around shirtless and shoeless.

Caddo Lake just doesn't look like Texas. No deserts or plains here. It's tucked away in the far northeast, on the Louisiana border with Arkansas just a couple of bullfrog hops away. It's gorgeous and mysterious. "It's a beauty that neither words nor photographs do justice," explains John Winn, a tour guide who has lived at Caddo Lake most of his life.

Lost Maples State Natural Area was once one of the best kept secrets in Texas. In the first place, not too many people believed it could even exist. Colorful fall foliage in Texas? From maple trees? Yeah, right, and I've got ocean-front property in Lubbock for sale. But today, most Texans know about Lost Maples, the 2,175-acre preserve along the Sabinal River in the far west end of the Hill Country.

The legend says, "Build it and they will come." That's what happened to the Salt Lick barbecue restaurant. In 1967, Thurman Roberts dragged his heel in a circle in a field beside a back country road out in the middle of nowhere. He built a barbecue pit in that circle. "People would drive by and smell the barbecue smoke and stop to buy some to take home,"

For the intrepid traveler uncowed by crowds of scarecrows, eager for authentic antiques or enthusiastically enticed by the "verities of the vine" – not to mention just looking for a great time – Comfort is the place to be! Each October (traditionally a festive month), this charming old German town, known for its history, hospitality and Hill Country quaintness, welcomes one and all with multiple fun (and fanciful) fall-oriented doings guaranteed to keep attendees coming back year after year ...

For more than 50 years, New Braunfels has been celebrating all things sausage, ever since Mayor Ed Grist conceived an idea to boost the local economy. The first year Wurstfest was held, in 1961, around 2,000 people attended. Within five years, the festival had grown from a one day event to a 10-day event drawing more than 35,000 people to the popular event. Today, Wurstfest has become a tradition for families, both those who make the trek in November to the Wurstfest grounds in Landa Park, as w ...

Gourmet and specialty food trucks have become more popular in recent years. Food truck vendors can share their must-try flavors while finding an easier investment and more flexible schedule, and they are able to go to their customers instead of waiting patiently for them to arrive. Given the benefits of the mobile restaurant, why then did Matt Wigglesworth and Shelton Coleman, owners of Lot 102 in Johnson City, decide to park it? Shelton had originally brought home the food truck with the idea ...

Do they give you the willies? I'm talking about snakes. Shoot, if you're like a lot of folks, when you see a snake slithering through the grass, you become instantly alert. You feel a shot of adrenalin. Your body tenses. You feel a little electricity run up and down your spine.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Come one, come all, to the Annual Harvest Moon Celebration in Boerne (BURHN nee). Held every year on the last Saturday in October, the event follows the ancient Celtic tradition, Samhain (SAH win), by some accounts the origin of Halloween, when the summer harvests were celebrated with festivals of food, drink, music and other entertainment.