Dancing in our Seats Opening night of the Tony Award winning musical Fela! had its Dallas audience dancing in their seats – and the show hadn’t even started yet. Instead of waiting for the curtain to rise, musicians were already jamming with the set on full display as viewers found their seats. In this clever…
Fort Worth Zoo – An Award Winning Top Attraction The Fort Worth Zoo consistently ranks among the top ten zoos in America, occasionally taking first place. Zagat Surveys even named it 19th out of the 50 Overall Top-rated Attractions in the entire USA! The zoo has come a long way since it first opened in…
X is for: XXX Brand Root Beer The XXX brand name first appeared in 1895 in Galveston, Texas as the moniker for a keg beer stored in oak barrels labeled, “XXX.” Hence, the name! (They could just as well have been stamped Gurglthwang, in which case I would have had to choose something different for…
For many, Texas is synonymous with oil production; however, did you know that Texas produces more wind power than any other state? Wind farming has even revitalized communities such as Roscoe and Sweetwater, where farming has become challenging due to drought conditions. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the wind farms of…
Not Technically Buzzards While vultures live all across the USA, I see way more of them in Texas than other states. People here often call them buzzards, so I figured that was a southern term. Turns out that the word buzzard crossed the ocean with our British ancestors. It used to be a generic European…
Unicorns of New Braunfels, Texas In 1928, the high school of New Braunfels, Texas chose the unicorn to be its mascot. They did so in honor of the unicorn featured on the family crest of Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Ludwig Georg Alfred Alexander, Prince of Solms, Lord of Braunfels, Grafenstein, Münzenberg, Wildenfels, and Sonnenwalde… or simply,…
Texas: Not Just Cowboy Art When I first moved to Texas in 2009, I figured that local museums would mainly feature paintings with cowboys, Indians and longhorns, especially in Fort Worth since that Texas city claims to be, “where the west begins.” Only Michelangelo Painting in the Western Hemisphere So I was pleasantly surprised to…
Bad Santa Sparks Massive Manhunt in Texas One of the biggest manhunts in Texas state history was for none other than Santa Claus. But before I go further, let me set the scene: Dead Bank Robber Reward Program While “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” is the phrase commonly associated with bounty posters, back in 1927, the…
Scarborough Fair in Waxahachie, Texas Every spring, Waxahachie, Texas hosts a huge ren fair, officially called the Scarborough Renaissance Festival. Back in 2010, it was the first such medieval reenactment I’d ever been to and – wow – was it ever fun. I had so much fun, in fact, that I returned in 2011 to…
Quinceañeras Look Like Brides – But They Aren’t In addition to colorful blossoms, here in Texas you often see teenage girls in fancy ball gowns at your local parks. These young women are accompanied by friends and family, also in formal attire, and there’s usually a professional photographer in tow. While, in some cases, you…
Petrified Wood Buildings in Texas In the late 1920′s, several Texan cities, including Austin, Huntville and Stephenville, began using petrified wood as a decorative building material. However, if someone were to name a Petrified Wood Capital of Texas, the town of Glen Rose would win hands down. Glen Rose, Texas is the Petrified Wood Leader…
Horned Lizard Buried Alive in Eastland, Texas While the average horny toad has a lifespan of five to ten years, there is an old wive’s tale that – like Rip Van Winkle – they can live for 100 years in hibernation. On July 29, 1897 a county clerk in Eastland, Texas named Ernest E. Wood…
Chuck Norris – an Honorary Texan Although the famous martial artist and action film actor Carlos Ray (a.k.a. Chuck) Norris was born in Oklahoma, starring in the TV series, Walker, Texas Ranger has earned him honorary Texan citizenship. After all, the show ran from 1993 through 2001, and every single one of its 203 episodes were…
Munster Mansion Replica in Waxahachie, Texas While there is no official address for, “1313 Mockingbird Lane,” in Waxahachie, Texas, there is one fantastic looking replica of the Munster family home where, in 2001, Sandra and Charles McKee built a replica of the house depicted in the classic TV sitcom. Since it’s a fictional house, the…
The Eternal Light of Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth, Texas is home to the second longest lasting light bulb in the world. Nicknamed the “Eternal Light,” this legendary light bulb has been burning since September 21, 1908. That’s nearly 105 years! Now on view at the Fort Worth Stockyards Museum, where it is protected from…
What is a Kolache? Kolaches are a Czech pastry consisting of a light sweet dough filled with fruit that immigrants introduced to Texas when they settled here in the 1850′s. The word kolache comes from kolae, which is the Czech word for, “cake.” While traditional kolaches are filled with fruit and jam, the Texan style…
Quirky Statue in Paris, Texas After mentioning Paris, Texas recently in the post A to Z Texas: E is for Eiffel Tower I’m bringing up that little burg again because it’s home to a quirky statue known locally as the, “Jesus in cowboy boots.” This statue is actually the 20 foot tall grave marker honoring…
Texan Accents Vary I love how accents and slang vary throughout the USA, so, for me, that aspect of moving to Texas has been a real treat. Of course, since Texas is such a big place, there is no one official Texan accent. Think for a moment of how different Tommie Lee Jones, Billy Bob…
Weird Tasting Water Has Healing Properties In the 1880′s, Judge James Alvis Lynch and his wife, Armenia, moved to north Texas and dug a well. At first, the couple was afraid to drink from it because the water tasted odd. After seeing that their livestock thrived, however, the pair began drinking from the well, too.…
German Culture is Part of Texas For some reason, when people speak of immigrants to the USA, New York’s Ellis Island gets all the press. We tend to overlook the fact that the port of Galveston in Texas brought many newcomers to our country, as well. Starting in the 1830′s, for instance, tens of thousands…
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