Places

You’ve heard about the famous bats in Austin. If you have any interest in these fascinating winged mammals, I hope you’ve made the pilgrimage to Ann W. Richards Bridge on South Congress where most afternoons between May and November you’ll see over a million Mexican free-tail bats spread across the sky. But I'm going to let you in on something — you ain’t seen nothing yet! Out near Mason, in the Western Hill Country, is an even more fascinating bat community — the Eckert James ...

What would a beautiful sunset in the Texas Hill Country be like without bats dodging and darting overhead? What would it be like to have an estimated additional 2 million pounds of flying insects disrupting our lives? Thankfully bats, the Texas State flying mammal, rid us of that flying nuisance! Central Texas has an estimated 3000 or more caves and sinkholes.

If you’d like to relax and sleep in beauty and history, you can’t do better than the Baines House in Salado. This is a lot more than lodging. Built in the 1860s, the Baines House was once the home of Reverend George Washington Baines, the great grandfather of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. If that’s not enough history for you, how about this: Baines was a key figure in early Texas.

Shari and Boyd Bessire try to leave their home in Wyoming each year in October, before the first snow flies, when winter temperatures can already be zero or below. They’re bound for central Texas, where temps will often be sixty degrees or warmer. During their six weeks-long journey, the Bessires enjoy stops at Copper Breaks State Park, Abilene State Park, Lake Mineral Wells, Caprock Canyon and Palo Duro Canyon, before parking their 34 ft fifth-wheel travel trailer at their destination: Sou ...

It’s unlikely you’ve ever seen anything like the Echo Gallery in Johnson City before. Even if you’ve visited here previously, it’s going to be different because everything here changes so frequently. At a quick glance, it might look cluttered but look carefully. You’ll discover unique fine art and vintage furniture, you’ll see trash turned into art, you’ll even see holes in the wall that owner Linda Haddock is quite proud of. Her goal here is to eliminate the barriers we ten ...

Guess you really shouldn’t be surprised to discover an aquatic paradise in San Angelo. After all, you find oases in deserts — not in rain forests. And Tom Green County with 20 inches of rain almost qualifies as a desert. But still — my jaw dropped the first time I happened upon Civic League Park which houses the International Waterlily Collection — the largest repository of these lovely aquatic plants in the world. When they call it “International” they’re not kidding.

If all you know about Salado is that it’s a small village between Austin and Waco that you can’t even see from Interstate 35, you’re in for a surprise. Get off that freeway and check it out. That’s what frequent visitor Jan Smith of Wimberley does. “It’s a wonderful little town. It’s out of the way but convenient to get to.

Within the shadow of Fort McKavett State Historic Site, near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Roads 864 and 1674 in southwestern Menard county, is the small town of the same name. The settlement of Ft. McKavett was likely established by ranchers and tradesmen who not only benefited from the protection of the soldiers, but provided services and supplies to the military outpost. Nowdays, there are few buildings in the downtown area and the post office is doubtless the hub of local activity.

The current state of the Texas Wine Industry is exciting! The wine business is booming like crazy with more consumers visiting Texas wineries and seeking out high quality wines, and the wineries are responding with some real vigor. Texas wines are now something to be reckoned with, and they keep getting better year after year! The Texas Hill Country is without a doubt the pinnacle wine destination in the state.

It seemed as if there were less and less natural areas for people to enjoy, as civilization pressed itself deeper into the countryside, building towns, highways and areas otherwise closed to the public. Sound familiar? It could be a headline from today’s news, but the year was 1950. The town of Kerrville had, for the most part, been built on the high north bank of the Guadalupe River.