Be a traveler, not a tourist. Dig deeper, learn more.
If you are headed to or from the Rio Grande Valley for any holiday, here is a tip you will thank me for. Always make sure that you are not are traveling on either Sunday or Monday for one leg of that trip. If you follow this advice, you’ll be able to eat at least one meal on the road at the King’s Inn near Rivera on Baffin Bay. I promise that this stop will become part of your regular vacation routine. [Read more…]
If you’re visiting NRG stadium for the rodeo or other conventions or sporting events, you may want to leave the NRG complex and see more of nearby Houston. I worked with my friends at Trip Chandler to make a guide to the best bars and restaurants in Houston for visiting sports fans!
Houston is a sports town, hosting the 2017 Super Bowl, the 2016 NCAA Men’s Final Four, plus eight professional sports teams of their own. Plus we put on one of the richest professional rodeos in the country. Our guide concentrates on areas around the major sports venues – NRG, Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, BBVA Compass Stadium and the light rail that connects them. Others are a quick cab or uber ride away.
It’s can be hot in Houston no matter what the season so we suggest you chill out as much as possible during your visit. Trade in the pub for the icehouse – our open air beer joints usually come with a selection of locally made ice cold craft beers, a nearby food truck, big screen TVs, a grumpy regular, picnic tables, some shade, misting fans, and dogs but all are laid-back and welcoming.
For old school, head to the West Alabama Ice House where Tacos Tierra Caliente is conveniently parked across the street (cash only) for a taste of local cuisine – the taco. Use caution with their red salsa!
For a new spin on the icehouse scene, check out D & T Drive Inn and their menu of Texas standards like Frito pie & pimento cheese served with Ritz crackers. If your crew craves more beverages than just beer, 8 Row Flint in the historic Heights neighborhood offers whisky, wine, cocktails, and tacos too.
If you’re staying downtown, let the rail line serve as your guide.
Highlights along Main Street include Honeymoon Café for a dose of southern hospitality, the Nightingale Room featuring both live music and LPs, The Pastry War for tequila and tamales, and Flying Saucer for wall to wall beer.
Other options just a block away from the rail line include OKRA Charity Saloon where you can legally vote in the US … for a local non-profit with every drink you purchase! Hit historic Market Square Park for classic bars with the best jukeboxes in town: La Carafe (wine & beer/cash only) and Warren’s Inn for no fuss cocktails. To score late night eats, head straight for a slice at Frank’s Pizza (open until 1 am on Thurs; 3 am Fri-Sat).
Further along the rail line towards NRG Arena is the Mid-Main neighborhood anchored by the Continental Club. See how Beetle, “Houston’s Best Beatle Band,” measures up Thursday for happy hour which starts at 7. Friday night, Von Hindenburg, a Led Zeppelin tribute band takes the stage followed by the Fistful of Soul dance party.
Double Trouble next door offers caffeine and cocktails, Natchee’s for American classics and Tacos A Go for more tacos of course!
Come back to shop the next day for music at Sig’s Lagoon where the walls are covered with Texas music history and My Flaming Heart for rockabilly wear and souvenirs with a soul.
For those with a car or uber/lyft users, Rice Village offers walkable stretches of retail, restaurants, and bars not far from the NRG Arena. Cool off with the far out ice cream confections at Cloud 10 Creamery or a scoop at the cocoa-centric Chocolate Bar. The Ginger Man has an easy-drinking vibe with a menu of beer-friendly snacks (pretzels!) and for late night eats, get in line for YoYo’s Hot Dogs – a hot dog meets crunchy roll creation crafted by a former sushi chef. (Thurs-Sun approximately 8 pm – 3 am). Listen to live music from blues to zydeco at the Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club.
For a scenic stroll, the nearby public art-filled campus of Rice University will really make you feel smart while drinking at their Graduate Student Pub, Valhalla, with budget-friendly prices. (Mon—Fri 4 pm – 2 am; closed Sat; Sun 7 pm-12 am; cash only)
If you’re staying around the NRG Arena, sample local eats with visits to Shipley’s in the morning for donuts, lunch at Frenchy’s Fried Chicken, and a scoop at Hank’s Ice Cream (try their signature banana pudding flavor!).
The Main Street Corridor is also home to a strip of Filipino dining options: load up on comfort food at Pugon de Manila’s buffet and takeaway desserts, Manila Mini Mart for snacks, Jollibee fast food chain & Red Ribbon Bakery for their ube (purple yam) cakes and sweets.
Hotel Ylem, a new, locally owned boutique hotel hosts happy hour in their Esperanto Bar and is a short walk to the arena (along with the remains of the Astrodome!)
Dana DuTerroil & Joni Fincham are your Trip Chandlers. Dana is a native Texan who grew up in Houston but considers New Orleans a second home. Joni is a Houston transplant via Kansas, North Carolina, Scotland and New Orleans. They have joined forces as Trip Chandler to personalize the city whether you’re here for a short stay or a permanent move. Contact Trip Chandler for your own tailor-made guide to Houston. www.tripchandler.com
Linda Ware is the Funky Texas Traveler. She is a transplanted Texan with a love for the history, people and peculiarities of her adopted state. Her blog, Funky Texas Traveler introduces natives and visitors to all things Texas. Read more about Linda and the Funky Texas Traveler blog here.
If your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or buddies have been after you go on a cruise and you have been resisting, read this. You’re going to want to take this Texas Country Music cruise. I wasn’t excited about my very first cruise either. Years ago, Joe Ladd, Mark Chestnutt’s manager and the preeminent country music expert in Texas was hosting a group of country music fanatics. I reluctantly came along to help.
That cruise turned out to be an unexpected, over-the-top blast! And a similar Texas Country Music cruise on the Liberty of the Seas is sailing this Labor Day from Galveston. Click here for details. During the day you get to eat, drink, relax and get waited on hand and foot by the crew. Evenings, you have sunset drinks on the deck, get dressed up and see great live country music with no worries about parking or driving. But the real “aha” moment for you may be the same one I had – how much fun it was to spend time getting to know new friends who like the same things.
I’m thrilled a Texas Country Music Cruise is sailing from Galveston with some advantages over my first fun country music cruise:
(One tip, I always seem to get my best cruise deals when I call and talk to a human. The cruise website gives you the option of talking to Cynthia at 832-298-9898. This way you are able to ask about any incentives and such.)
A cruise like this has something for everyone. It’s perfect for a couple or a couple of friends because you’re not always locked into what the entire group is doing. You want to work out, fine. You want to just lounge around the pool doing nothing, even better. Then when you want to all party together, it is just right down the hallway or the deck.
Okay, let talk about who is playing on the Texas Country Music Cruise and the places you’ll get to visit. You can also click here to book and get complete details and the itinerary.
Curtis Grimes “Anchors Away, Boots Up Kick-Off” Show
As we sail into the Gulf of Mexico, Curtis Grimes is going to kick off the Texas Country Music cruise and get the party started. It’s your chance to get to know your cruise buddies and get a taste of what’s ahead. If you don’t know Curtis, here’s his elevator pitch. In 2011, Curtis was a Texas college baseball player who was given a chance to appear on a new reality TV show called “The Voice”. Having nothing to lose, Curtis auditioned for the show and ended up finishing in the top 10 under Coach Ceelo Green. He been entertaining crowds all over Texas ever since and now he’s playing for you and your group.
Matt Kimbrow’s “Guys Night Out” w/ Jake Worthington and Dalton Domino
Labor Day will be a complete day at sea doing absolutely whatever you feel like doing. That night, another live concert. Matt Kimbrow is one of the rising stars on the Texas Red Dirt music scene. Jake Worthington is another “Voice” alumni – the 2014 “Runner-Up. Jake also had a hit with a remake of Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes”, one of my all-time favorite songs. Good choice, Jake. And Dalton Domino has to have the very best country star name of all. It’s a guys night out and we all get to tag along.
Bri Bagwell’s “Girls with Guitars” w/ The Rankin Twins and Abbi Walker
You’ll have another relaxing day at sea to get ready for a girls night out. Get tanned, get massaged, have a facial and shop for a great dress or top or some new jewelry, then show up. That’s what Bri Bagwell, four time Texas Female Vocalist of the year would want you to do. Heck, Bri or Abbi Walker might be on the next massage table getting ready for the third concert on the Texas Country Music cruise.
Bri is one kick-ass country singer comfortable performing along side Texas country legends like Mark Chestnutt at the Texas Country Music Awards or kicking back on stage in Fulton at Texas Game Warden Fishing Tournament concert. I’m particularly anxious to hear the Rankin Twins and their “blood harmony”. Years ago, one of the Gatlin Brothers told me about blood harmony, the sound of people closely related singing together. These voices often share close similarities which brings a kind of shimmering tone to the music. These twins must have it because critics are talking about their impeccably tight harmonies. They were also one of the Top 3 finalists on the reality series, Next Great Family Band.
Then there’s Abbi Walker. I met Abbi and her husband a few weeks ago. She will be a blast to hear and hang out with. She’s this wild-eyed, big dreaming, hard working, 4th generation Preacher’s daughter from South Texas with a big voice and plenty to say. She’s doing something right because Abbi has been Nominated for the Texas Regional Radio Music Awards New Female Artist Of The Year,
Jack Ingram @ “Lone Star Finale”
You are going to find out that you are having so much fun that the cruise is over way too fast. You’ll want to hang on to those good feelings as long as possible, So on that last night of the cruise, after hearing some of Texas’s best country acts on the way down and visiting the beaches, reefs and Mayan ruins of Roatan, Costa Maya , and Cozumel, Jack Ingram is going to put the finishing touches on an incredible Labor Day week with his show.
Jack is an SMU boy who was voted the Best New Male Vocalist in 2008 by the Academy of Country Music. Ironically, according to Jack, this “new male vocalist” had already been playing honky-tonks, theaters and stadiums for over 15 years by then. He’s had top hits like “Wherever you are”, “Love You” and “Barefoot and Crazy”, which you may be feeling at this point after the Texas Country Music Cruise. Now you’ve seen the line-up. Click here for more details and to reserve your cabin on the Texas Country Music Cruise.
After two wonderful, unscheduled days at sea and three country concerts, we’re going to get to visit tropical ports in Honduras, the Yucatan and Cozumel. Since we arrive at each port early (7-8a), you’ll have an entire day to explore and enjoy each one. Here my recommendations for each stop.
Roatan, HondurasThe largest and most developed of Honduras’ three Bay Islands with an average daily temperature of 84° F , so it should make us Texans feel like we’ve landed in Heaven. Check with the ship’s excursion desk to schedule some adventures. Scuba diving/snorkeling is the main allure of Roatan with some really world class reefs. If you want to keep your head above water, there is good fishing for Marlin, Tuna and Wahoo. Again, check with excursion desk to find a guide. As far as beautiful beaches, West Bay Beach seems to get the most enthusiastic response on TripAdvisor.
When we visited Roatan a few years ago, we took a trip to Little French Key, a small, secluded, private island resort. We spent the day lying on their uncrowded beach, looking at their animal menagerie and swimming. Here’s how their website describes it – “several white sand beaches, numerous bars, including a swim-up bar in the clear Caribbean Sea, three restaurants, two on the water and one on the white sand beach, two Jump platforms for your enjoyment; all created with utmost respect for the environment and the wildlife that is part of this amazing place.” That pretty much covers it. You may have to book an excursion here directly with Little French Key.
Costa Maya is new to me. The port was completed and opened in 2001 specifically to cater to cruise folks. It sounds nice but a little like Disneyland instead of an historic original. For me that could be a black mark but then I learned about the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben from Cruise Critic. Erase the mark and give Costa Maya a gold star. The ruins date from around 350 AD and are in a jungle setting roughly an hour from port. Largely unexplored until 1999 and much of it still not excavated, you can climb the steep stairs of “El Gran Basamento,” The other Cruise Critic recommendation is Xcalet, a small, off-the-beaten-path village within the Xcalak National Reef Park. It’s is about an hour away from the port. Visitors can dive or snorkel among shipwrecks in Chinchorro Banks, Mexico’s largest coral atoll. That sounds very appealing.
Check with the ships’ excursion desk to arrange tours in Costa Maya. While I have booked tours directly (without the excursion desk involved), be aware that if your tour has some kind of delay, the ship could sail without you. I’m told that excursions booked through the cruise line don’t have that worry.
Cozumel is your last stop and one I’ve visited many times before both on and off cruise ships. It is especially fitting that the Texas Country Music cruise dock here because at one time Cozumel was part of Texas. I’m not kidding, it was for a few days. On July 13, 1837, the commodore of the Texas Navy sailed to Cozumel, raised the Texas flag on the beach and appointed a local mayor who swore allegiance to Texas. President Sam Houston was not amused but I think it lend a special flavor to visiting Cozumel.
Unlike the more manufactured tourist destinations in the Yucatan, it wasn’t until the 1960’s that this once-sleepy fishing village became a tourist attraction. A documentary aired in which Jacques Cousteau declared it one of the most beautiful areas in the world for scuba diving. Bang, Cozumel was “discovered.”
Yet, in spite of more than one million cruise visitors a year, only one-third of the island has been developed, leaving large stretches of pristine jungle and sandy beaches basically untouched. That makes Cozumel a great place to explore.
You can visit the Mayan ruins sites at San Gervasio or get a glimpse of the beautiful reefs in the comfort of a glass-bottom boat tours. As far as shopping, I’ve had some great finds in the San Miguel de Cozumel, the main town on the island.
One of my favorites is Chankanaab National Park which has a a nice beachfront with a bar and grill, botanical garden and archaeological park. You can pay to swim with the dolphins at the Dolphin Discovery program, something you should do at least once in a lifetime.
I also love renting a Moped and toodeling around the less settled part of the island. Be aware that cruise ships worry about your safety with erratic drivers and less than smooth roads. And you don’t want to have anything get in the way of seeing Jack Ingram at the finale show on September 9.
All in all, I think the Texas Country Music cruise sounds tailor-made for Texans. You get Jack Ingram and lots of country music. Your ships leaves from Galveston. The cruise is over the Labor Day holiday, so you don’t have to take as many vacation days. Plus you get a few days away from September heat which we all know is hotter than the summer!
It’s probably smart to book your cabins now (click here) if you’re thinking about going. This is Texas, it’s country music – cabins are probably going to go quick. You can also get more info at that same site.
I’d love to hear from you. Tell me what do you think of cruising and these ports, the line-up, whatever. I like getting your feedback!
The Comal River in Texas is gentle, easily accessible and located in the picturesque German town of New Braunfels. On a hot summer day, it is a wonderful escape. I recently spent a quick weekend in San Antonio with a specific goal. We were making it a point to go beyond our usual itinerary – dinner at a crowded River Walk restaurant, a cursory visit to the Alamo and margaritas and shopping at El Mercado. There was so much more and now that my daughter was living there, she had a “live like a local” plan for our two days.
We had just finished a long morning bike ride along the expanded River Walk to visit the other four Spanish Missions and recharged with a stop at a local fruteria. The idea of soaking in a natural body of water was beckoning.
While Fiesta Texas or Schlitterbahn are both wonderful and I’m glad we visited often when our kids were young, neither fit the bill for this weekend.
Time for a tiny road trip to a tiny little river. We drove the 40 minutes north on I-35 to New Braunfels and the shortest river in Texas – the gentle, cool, Comal.
Like all city parks with Comal access, Prince Solms Park was packed with locals when we got there around 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon. We decided to embrace the exuberant chaos! It cost $15 to park at a doctor’s office but overall, a Comal visit is a good deal. Lounging in the peaceful park and swimming in the river is free and tubing is just $2 per tube on Saturday/Sunday/Holidays. Also you can bring you own ice chest, chairs, tables and canopies.
Dogs, kids, teens, grandparents, were all floating and swimming together in much the same configuration that’s probably been around since the residents were speaking German instead of English, Spanish and Spanglish. Large family clusters had set up canopies, tables and chairs and were barbecuing. Others stacked out a square of grass with a blanket. Old school buses were around to take you “up river” so you could float back or you could walk to the end of the park and jump in.
We were looking to chill after that morning’s long ride but you can add some exhilaration to your Comal visit if you are so inclined. The tube chute gives you a rush and you can have a river-eye view of the old and new Schlitterbahn as you float past. Click here for map of options for “rivering” in New Braunfels.
Algae from the Comal can and does make the wide steps into the river very slippery. Most kids and some adults seemed incapable of grasping that they are actually are at risk. The city has put up many signs warning about the slippery steps. Still we saw human after human doing the classic prat fall when they let go of the railing too quick. It was amazing, as if the signs actually encouraged the attempt to beat the odds. Like I said, the Comal is cheap entertainment.
After soaking for a while, my sore bike riding muscles started to ease. We sat along the steps, watching the spontaneous community that seems to arise when you are basically sitting together in a big, cool bathtub. There was a Mexican couple sharing the steps with us while playing with their granddaughter. I would imagine the little girl was about kindergarten age. At one point, she gave my long-haired son a hard look and then turned to her grandfather.
“There are just too many Caucasians here,” she told her abuelo, in a perfect imitation of a society matron dismayed at the riffraff. Her grandfather was speechless and chagrined. “I don’t know where she heard that,” he offered. We were surprised and then charmed.
Seems like immigration furor has ebbed and flowed in both directions for centuries. As a history buff, I realized her statement echoed sentiment in Texas before we became a republic. That complaint was probably heard frequently back in 1830, when the Law of April 6 decreed a severe restriction on Anglo immigration into what was then Mexico. What will the complaint be 150 years from now?
We soaked a little while longer while having another beer (open containers are only allowed in the river). In the early evening, we said a good- natured goodbye to our disapproving seat mate and her embarrassed family and headed back to San Antonio. It was time to think about eating again.
Looking for unusual places to eat in San Antonio? This visit, go beyond Tex-Mex to sample some of her traditional and non- traditional Texas dishes. If you’re hungry right now, click here for summary.
That’s what we did on a recent mini-vacation in San Antonio. With only two days to experience this Texas showcase like a local, we didn’t want to spend time waiting in restaurant lines. Besides, we were starting the weekend off with a 10-12 mile bike ride along San Antonio River on the beautiful Mission Reach trail that took us to visit the other four Spanish Missions that settled San Antonio.
