Willie's Place Set to Open This Week
The long-awaited opening of Willie's Place (as in Willie Nelson) will take place later this week in the town of Carl's Corner near Hillsboro. You might be familiar with this facility; it operated for many years as a truck stop named Carl's Corner on the southbound side of I-35. After an extensive renovation and expansion, it is now reopening as Willie's Place at Carl's Corner. It's appropriate that the reopening take place on the July 4 weekend because in its Carl's Corner days, this was the setting for several of Willie Nelson's famous picnics.
The events kicked off on June 30 with a sold out private benefit but the coming days bring several public events. On July 1 and 2, the facility's Whiskey River Saloon will be host to David Allan Coe & Ray Wylie Hubbard from 8pm to midnight.
On July 3 in the Willie's Place Theater, the day will be filled with free music. Here's the schedule at present:
10am Mike Siler
1pm Heather Myles
6pm Merle Haggard
8pm Ray Price
10pm Willie Nelson
Along with three stages, Willie's Place has a restaurant, gift shop and general store, facilities for truckers, and Willie's biodiesel fuel.
For More Information:• visit
http://www.biowillieusa.comLabels: Festivals, Prairies and Lakes
posted by Paris & John @ 9:37 PM
Legendary Texas Authors Sign Books in Fredericksburg
If you love Texas books, here's an upcoming event for you: a book signing by two legendary Texas writers. Elmer Kelton and Mike Cox will be signing books on Saturday, July 5 at Fredericksburg's Books Books Books from 1-4pm.
Kelton is a seven-time Spur Award winner and Cox is a Texas Institute of Letters elected member. The two have a long list of Texas-related titles including Cox's newest book,
The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso, 1821-1900 (Forge, 2008).
For More Information:Books Books Books
155 East Main
Fredericksburg, Texas
phone 830-997-5259
posted by Paris & John @ 10:44 AM
Arlington Promotes Staycation
Arlington has long been a top summer vacation destination thanks to Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, the Rangers Ballpark at Arlington, and lots more, but this year the city is promoting another good reason to vacation in the Metroplex: the "Staycation." With the price of gas and food on the upswing, vacation budgets are being pinched...but can still go a long way when you vacation close to home.
The Package: The Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau has come up with the Staycation Central Package. The Staycation Central package allows guests to choose their dates and from a myriad of hotel options, ranging from budget to full-service.
The package comes with coupons, a free visitors guide, a map and more information about Arlington and its incredible vacation values. The only way to buy a three-day Six Flags Over Texas park pass, which is interchangeable between Six Flags and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor is with a package on http://www.arlington.org.
Price: Vacation packages start at only $59 a night, quad occupancy, two-night minimum stay, based on availability.
For more information:• call (817) 265-7721 or (800) 433-5374
To book a vacation directly:• call 1-866-656-FUNN
• visit
www.arlington.org/staycationLabels: Prairies and Lakes
posted by Paris & John @ 9:12 AM
The Woodlands Planning Texas-Sized Fireworks Show, Celebration
Are you making your Fourth of July plans yet? We've just received a detailed schedule for the
11th Annual Red, Hot & Blue Festival and Fireworks Extravaganza in The Woodlands, home of one of the greatest fireworks displays in the greater Houston area.
Free Concert: The fun starts on Thursday, July with a free “Star-Spangled Salute” concert by the Houston Symphony at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Bring a blanket and enjoy the show beginning at 8:00 pm. The pavilion’s gates will open at 6:30 pm.
Parade: On Friday, July 4, the celebration starts at 9 am with the South Montgomery County Fourth of July Parade, featuring marching bands from around the Houston area, classic cars, floats, fire trucks and more. Bring a lawn chair and sit along the route, which begins at The Woodlands United Methodist Church, continues along Grogan’s Mill and culminates at Market Street.
Fireworks & Fun: From 6-10 pm, the 11th Annual Red, Hot & Blue Festival takes place at Waterway Square, the newest development in The Woodlands, located between Waterway Avenue and Woodloch Forest Drive. The Fountains at Waterway Square contains a water wall spanning 120 feet. As part of the festivities, it will feature choreographed displays of dancing columns of water, cascading waterfalls and “boomer” jets shooting water more than five stories high.
Entertainment will include live music from Texas native Rodney Hayden and the local Lord Stirling's Fifes and Drums. Face painting, caricatures, strolling entertainers, food and beverage concessions and the children’s interactive fountain.
Food Contests: What’s a Fourth of July without a hot dog and watermelon eating contest? H-E-B will host the hot dog and watermelon eating contest at Waterway Square every 15 minutes from 6:30 pm - 8:45 pm. Register in advance for the eating contests at
www.redhotblue.org.
The July 4 Schedule: A festival activity lineup for July 4 is as follows:
6:00 p.m. Presentation of Colors
6:05 p.m. God Bless America
6:10 p.m. Rodney Hayden
6:55 p.m. Opening remarks from local notables
7:05 p.m. Parade Awards
7:20 p.m. Rodney Hayden
8:55 p.m. Retiring of Colors
9:15 p.m. Fireworks Extravaganza
Parking: Parking is available for $5 in the Town Center Parking Garage located on Six Pines Drive. Visitors may park for free at the orange, yellow and green lots along Timberloch Place. Trolleys will operate from 11 am to 8 pm on July 4. For a map, visit
www.redhotblue.org or call 281-363-2447.
Road closures for the festival include Timberloch Place between Woodloch Forest Drive and the I-45 South feeder. This area will be shut down and barricaded on July 3 and remains closed until given the all clear by a public safety officer on July 4.
Water Taxis: Water taxis will operate along The Woodlands Waterway on July 3 from 11 am -10 pm and July 4 between 11 am and 11 pm. The water taxis will not operate during the fireworks display on July 4 from 8:45 pm - 10 pm, but will resume operation after the fireworks have completed. Special water taxi pricing for July 4 includes an All-Day Pass for $4 and a Seniors/Youth/Disabled Pass for $2.
Photos courtesy Red, Hot & Blue FestivalLabels: Festivals, Gulf Coast
posted by Paris & John @ 11:46 AM
Austin City Limits Festival Announces Lineup
The Austin City Limits Music Festival (also called the ACL Music Festival) is one of the city's most popular annual events...and a time when hotel rooms are at a premium. The lineup for the 2008 event, scheduled for September 26-28 in Zilker Park, has been announced. This year's event (which will include about 130 bands) will include Beck, Robert Plant, Allison Krauss, The Foo Fighters, Erykah Bad, and Manu Chao.
Hotel & Pass Package: The Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau is also offering exclusive access to discounted three-day passes and a minimum of two nights hotel accommodations through an
ACL travel package.
For more information on the festival:• visit
www.aclfestival.comLabels: Austin, Festivals
posted by Paris & John @ 9:19 PM
Update, Photos of Fire at Texas Governor's Mansion
There's still no word yet on if the Texas Governor's Mansion will be able to be repaired following this weekend's fire (which is now believed to have been arson). The damage is extensive, though, which you'll see in this video of still shots:
Labels: Austin
posted by Paris & John @ 11:35 AM
TexasTripper to Launch Online Texas Cookbook Next Month
We won't be officially launching our new online cookbook until next month but we wanted to give you a sneak peek of the
TexasTripper Online Cookbook! We're up to almost 100 recipes so far (and, don't forget our
barbecue recipe section) and will be adding new recipes from across the Lone Star State daily. Look for a launch of this new feature (and a Texas food-related contest) next month!
Labels: TexasTripper News
posted by Paris & John @ 11:25 AM
Governor's Mansion Heavily Damaged by Fire
If you've watched Texas news today (or even many of the national broadcasts), you've probably seen the devastating fire suffered by the Texas Governor's Mansion in the early hours of this morning. Already suspected as arson, the fire caused substantial damage to the historic structure which dates back over 150 years. The mansion was undergoing a renovation so the historic furnishings were in storage off site.
Labels: Austin
posted by Paris & John @ 5:49 PM
Top Coastal, Hill Country Destinations Named
The
San Antonio Express-News has released the results of their 10th annual Reader's Choice poll conducted to select the best coastal and Hill Country destinations.
And the results?
The best coastal destination (for the past seven years) was once again Corpus Christi. Fredericksburg was named the best Hill Country destination.
Labels: Gulf Coast, Hill Country
posted by Paris & John @ 8:32 PM
POTD: Cedar Park Heritage Festival
Saturday marked the second annual Cedar Park Heritage Festival, held beneath the Heritage Oak tree in town (which thankfully provided some much-needed shade on that 100 degree day.) The event showcased the heritage of this area that was formerly populated by cedar choppers who made their living cutting cedar posts on the acres of juniper trees that surround the community.
The one-day event included local arts and crafts:
blackpowder demonstrations:
performances by the Austin band, Duck Soup:
a demonstration by the K-9 division of the Cedar Park Police Department:
and squaredancing demonstrations:
Labels: Festivals, Photo of the Day
posted by Paris & John @ 12:25 PM
Day Trips from Austin Hits Local Bestseller List
We were excited to see the latest edition of our
Day Trips from Austin
guidebook listed in yesterday's
Austin American-Statesman as the #6 local bestseller!
Labels: TexasTripper News
posted by Paris & John @ 12:09 PM
Fredericksburg
