Texas Tidbits : July Festivals

As Texans, we seldom need a reason to celebrate something - "Hey, Jim Bob just ate a chili cheeseburger ! Let's have a party ! " The month of July offers Texans myriad reasons to socialize. From the Great Mosquito Festival  July 29 - 31 in Clute to the What A Melon Festival July 9 & 10 in Center. Here's a partial list of  Independence Day activities in the DFW Metroplex. If you'd like to take a road trip to an event you've never before been to, this list may hold something of interest to you.
If I'm not mistaken, my friend Ana lives in Granbury where they've got their annual 4th of July shindig. Houston, San Antonio, Colorado City and Luckenbach are all having big to-do's this week. Find out more about them.
I could write a post a mile long and still not even scratch the surface of all the things going on this Independence Day Weekend and throughout the month of July in the Lone Star State. I hope that some of the information I provided here today will be useful to you. If not, make up a reason to celebrate ! After all, we are Texans and we don't need a helluva lot of incentive to throw a party. Have a safe and fun 4th of July Weekend, y'all !

Texas Tidbits : Lake Texoma

Lake Texoma. 89,000 acres of some of the best fishin' anywhere. If you're on the lookout for largemouth, white, striped or smallmouth bass, there are some real wall-hangers awaiting you at Texoma. Let's not forget crappie, catfish and the 70 other species of fish that inhabit these waters. Allow me to put you some knowledge with the water body records for the Big T. Fish fry, anyone? At laketexoma.com, we find this: "The lake area includes two wildlife refuges, two state parks, fifty four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-managed parks, twenty-six resorts, hundreds of campgrounds and a variety of excellent golf courses". What the hell am I doing in Maine? (just kiddin', honey.....kinda) If you've got a boat, a secluded fishin'/camping trip is as close as one of the many islands located throughout the lake. The fishing license regulations at Lake Texoma are a little goofy, but as Wikipedia tells us " Historically, Texas and Oklahoma have not had a reciprocal fishing license agreement, which has posed a problem for anglers. Recent boundary resolutions have given Oklahoma jurisdiction over most of the fishing in Lake Texoma. An Oklahoma fishing license allows fishing most of the lake, up to within 400 yards (370 m) of Denison Dam. To fish the entire lake, a Lake Texoma fishing license is also available." Be sure to check with Texas or Oklahoma wildlife officers to get the right info for you. As at any major lake in Texas, the weekends at Texoma are, shall we say, busy? Although with 89,000 acres of fishin' available, you could probably find some place to hang out without too much of a crowd.

Texas Tidbits : World's Richest Acre

I thought that with all the recent bad news about the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I'd post an oil story with a slightly better ending. On October 3, 1930 a guy named "Dad" tapped in to what was then the biggest pocket of oil in the world. It was located smack dab in the middle of Kilgore in East Texas. Thus, The World's Richest Acre was born. Soon Kilgore sported nearly as many oil derricks as people. Today there are still replicas of those 1930's derricks in downtown Kilgore. I have seen them and it's a weird sight to behold seeing all that oil field equipment in the middle of town. Kilgore is also home to the East Texas Oil Museum which has received visitors from over 120 countries.

Texas Tidbits : Armadillos : Hillbilly Speed Bumps

Many things come to mind at the mention of the word "Texas"...Cowboys, Longhorns, oil, to mention a few. Another one is the armadillo. The armadillo has immortalized in print, folklore, TV commercials and even song (see "London Homesick Blues"). I know all my friends in Texas have seen an armadillo at one time or another. Most likely as a "hillbilly speed bump", or roadkill, laying on its back, arms out-stretched possibly with a longneck beer bottle in its grasp. There is even a Armadillo World Headquarters  in Austin ! So the next time you see an armadillo (Spanish for "little armored one"), grab a Lone Star Longneck and crank up some "London Homesick Blues" (I wanna go home with the armadillaaaaaaaaa") and salute our little 9-banded friend, the armadillo.

Texas Tidbits : Outlaw Sam Bass

Outlaws. Wild West. Texas. Hand meet glove. The bad guys, the times and and the state seemed to go together. One of the more recognizable names of that era is Sam Bass. Born in Indiana in 1851, Bass moved to Denton in 1871 after being raised by an abusive uncle. Then the "fun" began. Contrary to what many believe, Sam Bass was not some kind of murderous thug. He never shot anybody during his life of crime. Although on the wrong side of the law, he was a friendly, sandy-haired young man liked by the country folks, who just happened to be a thief by occupation. It's said that after robbing a Union Pacific train in Nebraska in 1878, he actually tipped the porters! Wikipedia continues. Outlaw Sam Bass. For a bad guy, he wasn't a bad guy.