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Article Excerpt
Wherever you travel in Texas, you're never far from the colorful history and diverse cultures that shaped this giant land, from conquistadors to cattle barons. In Texas you cane find German biergartens with oomph bands and Spanish missions where mariachis play, historic battlegrounds and festive border towns, and old fashioned Main Streets that look like picture postcards from the nineteenth century. You can also discover city museums with cutting edge art, tour historic homes and working plantations that re-create the lifestyles of earlier eras, and marvel at pieces of eight recovered from Spanish galleons sunk offshore. Texas' heritage is as wide and full of wonders as the land itself.
But that's not surprising in a state where traditions from dozens of countries and cultures remain as vibrant today as they were back home. Here you might catch a Dragon Dance at a Chinese heritage festival or celebrate Mexico's Cinco de Mayo at a flamboyant fiesta. Whether you're yearning for opera, blues, or bluegrass, a Renaissance fair or a rodeo, you can be sure it's all happening in the Lone Star State.
Brownsville Convention and Visitors Bureau 650 FM 802, Brownsville 800-626-2639 brownsville.org
Located in the heart of the Rio Grande delta with Mexico at its doorstep and Gulf of Mexico beaches close by, Brownsville is a perfect vacation destination. For families, the outstanding Gladys Porter Zoo offers more than 1,500 animal species in natural settings, and the Camille Lightner Playhouse, next to the zoo, stages performances ranging from musicals to dramas.
Brownsville's Mexican and Spanish cultures add immeasurably to the region's richness, inspiring lively festivals and events throughout the year. Everyone loves the La Frontera Blessing of the Fleet and Shrimp Fiesta, celebrating the world's largest shrimp fleet. October brings the renowned Brownsville Latin Jazz Festival, inaugurated in 1997 by the now late, great king of Latin jazz, Tito Puente.
History was made here, too. The very last battle of the Civil War was waged in Brownsville, five weeks after the surrender at Appomattox. The nation's newest national park is being developed at the Palo Alto Battlefield, where the Mexican-American War began in 1846. Visitors can learn more about this city's colorful history at the Historic Brownsville Museum, located in a restored 1928 train depot famous for its beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. The new Brownsville Heritage Complex complements the museum's artifacts with documents and photographs tracing Brownsville's past.
Canoesport 5808 S. Rice Avenue, Houston 866-665-2925 canoesport.com
Within the borders of Texas it's easy to find numerous and varied opportunities for fishing. An angler can drop a line into any of Texas' countless rivers, lakes, streams, bayous, or the Gulf of Mexico. And what better way to enjoy this sport than from a canoe or kayak?
For the avid outdoorsman, Canoesport is the most complete paddle sports store in the state, a one-stop shopping source for the best kayaks, canoes, flyfishing equipment, outdoor gear, and more. Since opening its doors in 1983, this establishment has provided the highest-quality canoes and kayaks to Texans. Its twenty years of service and knowledge set Canoesport above all the rest.
Customers can visit the Fly Fishing Shop, choose from hundreds of canoes and kayaks, and select from a wide array of outdoor clothing and the ultimate in gear suited for Texas and the Gulf Coast. Canoesport also offers lessons in flyfishing and kayak paddling, and its experienced professionals can teach you how to maneuver your boat and share with you tricks of fishing from a kayak.
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston 52 Z 6 Montrose, Houston 713-284-8250 camh.org
Ever since its founding in 1948, the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston has celebrated the living artist--and insisted on making contemporary art as accessible to the public as possible. Today the museum presents the finest work from the past forty years in its building on the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, which was completely renovated in 1997. Over the years the museum has mounted such dynamic exhibits as the early combine paintings of Robert Rauschenberg and the first American retrospective of Yoko Ono. Today the exhibitions are just as ambitious--and just as engaging. Earlier this year the museum presented the first Texas exhibition of New York artist Sanford Biggers, who installed several new works that were created specifically for the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston. Until June 2003 "Strange Messenger: The Art of Patti Smith" will explore the drawings of the accomplished musician and poet. And opening on April 12 is an exhibition that's sure to redraw the lines of contemporary art. "Splat Boom Pow! The Influence of Comics in Contemporary Art, 1970-2000" presents more than sixty works by 35 renowned artists who have incorporated the iconography of comics techniques into their work, including Michael Ray Charles, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein. Now that's thinking outside the box.
Downtown Aquarium 410 Bagby, Houston 713-223-FISH downtownaquarium.com
In February Landry's Restaurants, Inc., unveiled its redevelopment of two city-owned structures into a stunning six-acre public aquarium and entertainment and dining complex in downtown Houston. The centerpiece is a 500,000-gallon aquarium showcasing some 200 species of Texas and tropical marine life, such as snapping turtles, alligators, octopi, electric eels, groupers, peacock bass, poison arrow frogs, freshwater stingrays, piranhas, spiny lobsters, seahorses, damselfish, pinecone flashlight fish, triggerfish, spadefish, and barracudas.
In addition, the complex offers a 400-seat seafood restaurant, a 120-seat casual cafe, a lounge, a 6,000-square-foot ballroom, and a plaza with dancing fountains. Among the other amusements for the entire family are an aquatic-designed Ferris wheel, an underwater-theme carousel, and a gas-powered train. Before or after dining, guests can also experience a Louisiana swamp, a South Seas shipwreck, an Amazon rain forest, a Caribbean reef and sunken temple, and an offshore oil derrick.
Landry's Restaurants, Inc., is the nation's second-largest and fastest-growing full-service seafood restaurant chain. Along with its restaurants--Landry's Seafood House, Joe's Crab Shack, the Crab House, Rainforest Cafe, Charley's Crab, Willie G's Seafood and Steak House, the Chart House, and Saltgrass Steak House--Landry's operates the Kemah Boardwalk, a 40-acre family-oriented entertainment destination.
Fort Bend Museum 500 Houston, Richmond 281-342-6478 fortbendmuseum.org George Ranch Historical Park On FM 762, eight miles south of Rosenberg 281-343-0218 georgeranch.org
The Fort Bend Museum takes you back in time to experience life on the Brazos River through dioramas and displays. Considered one of the state's best small museums, it portrays Fort Bend County history from the establishment of Stephen F. Austin's colony in 1822 to 1945. Its galleries represent the 1821 settlement of Spanish Texas by Anglo-American colonists and the role of Stephen F. Austin in that settlement, the Texas Revolution, and Fort Bend County's role in the Battle of San Jacinto. Here visitors also learn about Texas' plantation period during the 1850's and 1860's, when sugar and cotton were king; the Civil War and the role of Texas Rangers; and the contributions of Czech and German immigrants to the development of Fort Bend County. The Fort Bend Museum Complex also includes several historic homes.
Texas history comes to life in a different setting at the George Ranch Historical Park, a 480-acre living-history park in the heart of a 23,000-acre working ranch and farmland. Visitors see cowboys tending cattle as they did in the 1930's, visit an 1830's farmstead, and tour an 1890's Victorian mansion as they relive the struggles of one ranching family through four generations.
Fresh Arts Coalition 2000 W. Loop South, Suite 2110, Houston 713-703-7171 fresharts.org
Fresh Arts Coalition brings together some of the most original and thought-provoking arts groups in Houston with the mission of collectively raising public awareness of the size and diversity of the arts scene in this richly varied city. The coalitions fifteen innovative dance, theater, literary, musical, and visual arts groups are all distinctive organizations that give Houston one of the most progressive art cultures in the country.
Fresh Arts member organizations also create groundbreaking new collaborative works and host exciting events around town. And through the forum provided by the coalition, members of visual and performing arts groups exchange ideas and host special events to further networking and arts attendance. By marketing the importance of the arts to the public, Fresh Arts Coalition builds audience participation through increased visibility, collaborative efforts, and advocacy.
The public can learn more about this dynamic group of small and mid-sized Houston arts organizations by visiting the Fresh Arts Web site, which makes it easy to find out where some of the best art in Houston is being made, shown, and performed.
Galveston Convention and Visitors Bureau Galveston Island Visitor Information Centers 2428 Seawall Boulevard and 2215 Strand 888-425-4752 Galveston.com
The grande dame of Texas' Gulf Coast became a cultural and financial powerhouse at a time when many other Lone Star cities were little more than frontier outposts. Founded in 1836, Galveston soon was known worldwide for its opulent mansions, fine buildings, and countless firsts, including the state's first opera house, post office, and electric streetcars. By the late nineteenth century Galveston was a Victorian showplace, its Strand mercantile district famous as "the Wall Street of the Southwest."
Today visitors stroll among the picturesque shops, art galleries, and restaurants of the Strand National Historic Landmark District, bask on the island's 32 miles of beaches, and explore the city's many museums and cultural attractions. Among the most popular are the Railroad Museum, dramatizing the birth of railroading in Texas; the restored 1859 Ashton Villa mansion, replete with Gilded Age splendor; and the Mardi Gras Museum, which displays historical costumes and memorabilia from a Galveston Island tradition begun in 1867.
Another prime attraction is Moody Gardens, a complex comprising three ten-story glass pyramids that contain gardens, aquariums, and exhibits, as well as a beach and lagoon area. For evening entertainment, visitors can check out what's playing at the Grand 1894, Opera House, the Strand Theater, Galveston Island Summer Musicals, and the new East-End Theater Company.
Galveston Historical Foundation 502 Twentieth Street, Galveston Texas Seaport Museum and 1877 Tall Ship Elissa at Pier 21, #8 409-765-7834 galvestonhistory.org
During the first two weekends of May (3-4 and 10-11), the public gets a rare...
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