Waltz Across Texas
I have lived all over the states and when people ask about Texas I say, “go to San Antonio, then work out from there”. Let alone the reputation of the Alamo, San Antonio is very modern city that has the best food in Texas. Along the famed River Walk you have all the trendy shopping, upscale hotels, and fine dining a person could ever want. You have the NBA Spurs, McNay Museum, and the Japanese Tea Garden. The city reflects the colorful Mexican heritage and brashness of the American Cowboy. Albeit, San Antonio is a microcosm of the Texas ideal.
The colorful San Antonio river walk is usually bustling with crowds of people, but this December day was out of character. A surprise storm with wind and freezing rain forced the usual crowd indoors. Yep, this day made for a great time to catch unique shots of the best city in Texas.
Not everything in Texas are Longhorns and Cowboys. Sometimes the light is just right to catch something perfectly. Imagine waking up on a cool Spring morning, stepping out on your deck with a cup of coffee, and taking in the quiet country ambiance. Almost heaven.
Even in the Dallas area you can get fabulous sunsets. On a back country road forty minutes northeast of Dallas, I caught time sunset on December 3, 2021. At the very moment, I turned towards the east and caught the full rainbow below.
Texas is a land of many contrasts. From long sandy beaches to deep piney forests. From desert mountains and canyons to deep coastal harbors. Texas can be subzero temperatures in Borger to a sub-tropic deluge in Beaumont at the exact same moment. They have blizzards and hurricanes. They have floods and droughts. If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.
The coastal scene after the Hurricane Ike devastation was surreal. Not something you see every day are these stacked up shrimp boats in San Leon. Since then, the entire landscape of the area has changed due to that September 2008 storm. Coupled with the hurricane, two months later a winter storm blanketed the area with snow.
For amateur ornithologists and photographers, Texas offers a wide range of bird life. From desert to coastal to the plains, Texas has a wide array of bird species. Two of my favorite places for bird pics is the gulf coast and the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. This Snowy Egret is a common species in the Lake Texoma area, however they are camera shy and sometimes difficult to photograph.
The Texas Gulf coast offers the armature Ornithologist a wide variety of avian life. Pictured here is the Brown Pelican are more than willing to be the subject of your next masterpiece. You will find them being very entertaining as you watch them wrestle with each other for space.
No, this isn’t Kansas. And yes, people in Kansas do like to brag out how flat it is but in the Texas panhandle, there is some bragging to be done. Interstate 40 going east from Amarillo towards Oklahoma is flat. In the distance you can see a storm brewing and it will take two hours driving at 80 mph to catch up.
For you out of state visitors, if you don’t start with San Antonio, then start with Ft. Worth. Of course you have the world famous stock yards and Gilley’s, and you have premiere museums, and theatres. But one place you can’t miss is the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens. The Japanese Tea Gardens in San Antonio are awesome, but they are no match for the gardens in Ft. Worth.
Texas has modern urban centers like Dallas and Houston. It stretches from bayous in the east to the western desert. Rock climbers enjoy rugged rock formations and beach lovers frequent Padre Island.
Texas is legendary for its wide open spaces, however, city dwellers enjoy all the amenities of urban life such as museums, performance venues, and professional sports.
And for one of the more surreal activities……the world famous Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater. It is a unique experience and one you will never forget.
But for a more family oriented adventure, you can go to the Ft. Worth Zoo. In my zoologist daughter’s opinion, it is the best in Texas.
