Women take a closer look at a piece of pottery at the Rockwall Founders Day Festival, which features all-day live music, gourmet food trucks, children’s activities and a street fair of vendors. This year’s event is on May 18. (Photo courtesy of the City of Rockwall Parks and Recreation)

The Metroplex-area city of Rockwall celebrates its 159^th birthday May 18 with a festival and a chance to get a glimpse of the mysterious formation that gives the town its name.

The Rockwall County Historical Foundation will offer rare access to private land for a presentation about the underground rock formation where it’s been exposed by a small excavation. Experts have speculated on whether the subterranean wall is the work of prehistoric people or simply an unusual geological occurrence. The wall’s mystique recently attracted the attention of cable television’s “America Unearthed” on the H2 (History 2) channel, which filmed an episode last month that’s expected to air late this year.

Shuttles will depart the Rockwall County Historical Foundation Museum, at 901 E. Washington, every half-hour from 1-3 p.m. on May 18. Tickets cost $10 (cash or check only, nonrefundable) and are available at the museum, which is open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Visitors can call 972-722-1507 to check for availability. Some tickets might still be available the day of the tour, but buying them in advance is recommended, says Debbie Lawhon, curator of the Rockwall County Historical Foundation Museum.

“Most locals have never seen any part of an exposed wall ever, so people are really excited about this,” Lawhon says. “I’m selling tickets left and right.”

The museum also will host demonstrations, a scavenger hunt and other activities  in conjunction with the city’s big birthday bash. Just half a mile away, the Rockwall Founders Day Festival on the downtown square will rock out with a full day of live music, including the Casey Donahew Band, plus a children’s area, food trucks, shopping and a farmers’ market. The festival runs from 10 a.m.-9 p.m., so there’s plenty of time to visit before or after the rock wall tour.

A cook-off competitor fries up his best chicken-fried steaks in Lamesa.

The West Texas town of Lamesa, about 60 miles south of Lubbock, serves up its annual Chicken-Fried Steak Festival this weekend in celebration of the town’s claim as the birthplace of the Texas delicacy. According to local legend, short-order cook James Donald Perkins accidentally made the first dish of its kind in 1911 when he misinterpreted an order for chicken and fried steak at a small restaurant called Ethel’s Home Cooking. Instead of making two separate items, he thought the customer wanted a steak battered and fried like a chicken—and what a delicious mistake it turned out to be.

One hundred years later, the Texas Legislature gave Lamesa official recognition in 2011 as the “Legendary Home of the Chicken-Fried Steak,” and the first Chicken-Fried Steak Festival launched the same year. Now held annually on the last weekend in April, the event features a Friday-night CFS dinner, the chicken-fried cook-off Saturday, a classic car show, live music and lots of food. The Crossroads Hot-Air Balloon Rally helps turn up the heat with a “fire concert” (accompanied by the balloons’ burners) Saturday night, plus balloon lift-offs Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Also on the events menu this weekend are major annual events in Houston, San Antonio Corpus Christi and Port Aransas. The final weekend of the Houston International Festival, April 27-28, celebrates this year’s Brazil theme with cultural performances, food, music, arts and crafts, and concerts by Los Lobos and Aaron Neville.

Fiesta San Antonio offers one last chance to revel in the diverse cultures of San Antonio and get confetti in your hair at NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio), which takes over La Villita from April 23-26.

In Port Aransas, art takes shape right before your eyes this weekend at the Texas SandFest sand-scupting competition, April 26-28. The event includes master and amateur contests, as well as live music, children’s activities and food for spectators–and, of course, the opportunity to spend the day at Mustang Island Beach.

And just across the bay in Corpus Christi, there’s still time to swing by the Buc Days festival and carnival (pronounced “caarrrrnival” if you’re truly in the buccaneer spirit), which runs through May 5. Next weekend’s events include an Art  Walk on May 3 and the Illuminated Night Parade on May 4.

Other events this weekend include:

Mesquite: Real. Texas. Festival., April 26-27

Waxahachie: Scarborough Renaissance Festival, through May 27

Bastrop: Yesterfest, April 26-28

Muenster: Germanfest, April 26-28

Hallettsville: Texas State Championship Fiddlers Frolics, April 25-28

It’s shaping up to be a beautiful weekend, with the weather cooperating just in time for several wildflower festivals and peak blooms still to come in some areas.  

On April 13-14, Chappell Hill hosts its 49^th annual Bluebonnet Festival, named the Official Bluebonnet Festival of Texas by the Texas Legislature. The event features live entertainment, historical tours, food and vendors from 9 a.m. until the early evening, when you’ll want to get out for a sunset drive of wildflower country. The surrounding area tends to put on an impressive show  each year, and the area visitor bureau’s Wildflower Watch shows lots of ongoing blooms.

Indian blanket, coreopsis and a few bluebonnets put on a colorful show between Brady and Llano last year along SH 71.

Not to be outdone, Burnet and Llano counties share the title of “The Bluebonnet Capital of Texas”—and Burnet is where you can also find this weekend’s 30^th annual Burnet Wildflower Festival. Visitors can enjoy an air show, grand parade, carnival, car show, live music and entertainment, street dances, a pet parade, doghouse races, wiener dog races and vendors from April 12-14.

Also in the Hill Country, the Wine and Wildflower Trail makes a great case for visiting some of the region’s wineries at the height of spring scenery. Through April 14, visitors can sample wines at any of the area’s 32 participating wineries (remember to bring a designated driver!), get discounts on wine bottles and take home a packet of wildflower seeds as a reminder of the trip. Tickets are available on the Texas Hill Country Wineries website. If your journey takes you to Fredericksburg, also plan to make a stop at the Wildflower Celebration at Wildseed Farms or join the fun at the  Bluebonnet Tractor Ride on April 13.

In Ennis (which claims the official Bluebonnet City title), Texas Bluebonnet Trails season has begun, with the estimated peak for bluebonnets coming next week. Last year there was a breathtaking field of bluebonnets just east of town, which you can see in this video–there’s no guarantee that area will give an encore performance this year, but you never know!  Maps and updates on the best current driving routes in the area are available from the Ennis Convention and Visitors Bureau website. The city also hosts the Bluebonnet Trails Festival on April 20-21.

Resources for wildflower sightings

Visit TxDOT’s Drive Texas wildflowers page at  or call the 24-hour automated hotline at 800/452-9292 for reports on the locations of scenic spring wildflowers.

User-submitted tips and maps on wildflowers also are available at www.texasbluebonnetsightings.com.

We may be hard at work finishing up the summer edition of the Texas Highways Events Calendar, but our eyes are always on what’s coming up next weekend. Now that spring is officially here, there are great annual events popping up all over the state, plus plenty of Easter activities happening this weekend.

Wildflowers are starting to bloom along Texas roadways, but if you’re in East Texas, don’t forget to look up in the trees. In Palestine, the dogwood trees are putting on their best show for the last weekend of the Dogwood Trails Celebration, which features a lively roster of activities including wine tastings, cooking classes, historical tours, train rides, a gospel music festival and Easter celebrations. Tips on the best places to see dogwood blooms can be found at Dogwood Bloom Watch, or find the local visitor center at www.visitpalestine.com for more information.

About an hour northeast in Tyler, the Azalea and Spring Flower Trails is another great place to see a Texas spring in bloom, with additional events through April 7.

This weekend also marks the final days of the South Texas State Fair in Beaumont, which features a carnival, midway, live entertainment, livestock shows, and car and boat displays. Saturday is Kids Day, so all children age 17 and younger get in for free and pay only $1 per ride on the midway between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

It’s also Easter weekend, and there are plenty of opportunities to make the holiday special (and get in some extra egg-hunting practice for the kids). Here are just a few:

Amarillo: Easter EGG-citement, March 30

Beaumont: The Last Days of Christ Outdoor Passion Drama, March 28-30

Fairfield: Annual Easter Eggstravanganza , March 30

Fredericksburg: Easter Fires of Fredericksburg Pageant, March 30

Mount Vernon: Easter in the Park and Community Egg Hunt, March 30

Stonewall: Easter at the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm, March 30

Photo courtesy of Best Maid

 

What goes great with a green shirt and green beer on St. Patrick’s Day? If you’re in Mansfield, the answer is simple—pickles.

This city on the southern edge of the DFW Metroplex, birthplace of the Best Maid brand of pickles, thought their local product was a natural when it came to the wearin’ o’ the green. Thus, the World’s Only Best Maid St. Paddy’s Pickle Parade & Palooza was born last year.

“We hope to make it an annual tradition in Mansfield,” says Isabel Lamb, the brand manager for Best Maid. “Last year we had about 7,000 people, and this year we hope to have about 10,000 to 13,000.”

Lamb said the idea for this event took root when Amanda Rogers, the editor of the Mansfield News-Mirror, approached Best Maid to write a historical piece. Rogers presented the idea of tying the pickle purveyor into a family-oriented event, and the company became the main sponsor.

This weekend’s festival on March 16 starts with a parade at 2 p.m. It also includes some unique touches, like pickle-eating and pickle juice-drinking contests, “Wheelie-ing Elvi” (the plural of Elvis, I think) and the Pickle Queens–a group of women in red wigs and green gowns who appear in the parade and represent the event at special occasions year-round.  (There may even be a giant papier-mache pickle this year, at the suggestion of some amusing commentary  about last year’s event.) The street party begins afterward.

Other St. Patrick’s Day events across the state include:

Dublin: St Patrick’s Day Festival

Shamrock: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

Wichita Falls: St. Patrick’s Day Downtown Festival

Surfside Beach: St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Growing up in Texas and learning about how this state became a nation for a time, I always wondered why people didn’t make a bigger deal out of Texas Independence Day. It seems like a great time to celebrate what’s great about Texas, doesn’t it?

This year is an excellent chance to do just that, since the March 2 anniversary of the adoption of a declaration of independence falls on Saturday. Celebrations in Granbury, Gruene and Washington-on-the-Brazos offer a fun way to mark this historic occasion and show your Texas pride.

This sculpture of William B. Travis is part of the cenotaph in front of the Alamo in San Antonio.

This year also marks the return of William B. Travis’ famous “victory or death” letter to the Alamo, where he and about 180 others made their historic last stand against Mexican Gen. Santa Anna’s army. The 177-year-old letter is normally kept in the Texas State Library and Archives in Austin to protect it from fading and damage, but it’s making a rare appearance from Feb. 23-March 7 at the place where it was written to coincide with the dates of the siege.

Other independence day celebrations and observances include:

Huntsville: Gen. Sam Houston’s Birthday Celebration, March 2

Seguin: Toast to Texas at Sebastopol State Historic Site, 1:30 p.m. March 2

Woodville: Toast to Texas Independence at Heritage Village, 2 p.m. March 2

Luckenbach: Texas Independence Day Celebration, March 2 noon-5 p.m.

Fat Tuesday isn’t until Feb. 12, but why wait until then to let the good times roll? Mardi Gras events are popping up across Texas this weekend, complete with parades, costumes, and Cajun-style food and music. Festivities include:

Krewe members interact with the crowd at Mardi Gras in Port Arthur.

Galveston: Mardi Gras Galveston, Feb. 1-12

Bandera: Cowboy Mardi Gras, Feb. 1-3

Port Arthur: Mardi Gras Southeast Texas, Feb. 7-10

Jefferson: Mardi Gras Upriver, Feb. 8-10

Lamar: Lamardi Gras, Feb. 8-9

Crystal Beach: Bolivar Peninsula Lighthouse Krewe Mardi Gras Parade, Feb. 9

Kemah: Yachty Gras Boat Parade, Feb. 9

Nocona: Mardi Gras Nocona Style, Feb. 9

Waxahachie: Mardi Gras on the Square, Feb. 9

McKinney: Krewe of Barkus Costumed Dog Parade, Feb. 10

Kerrville: Mardi Gras on Main and Fat Tuesday with Jo-El Sonnier, Feb. 12

Since Texas is a melting pot of so many cultures, there are some other flavors of this pre-Lenten celebration to try. In Austin, there’s Carnaval Brasiliero on Feb. 2, which is one of the largest such celebrations outside of Brazil. You can also experience the German take on the festivities at Fasching Week, Feb. 2-12 in Fredericksburg.

Now, who can help me translate “let the good times roll” into Portuguese and German? I try to be prepared for anything.

It’s shaping up to be another busy weekend in Texas for Santa with dozens of events to get people jingling all the way to Christmas. If you’re looking for a place to get in the holiday spirit, check out the list below for tips on what’s happening this Friday and Saturday, or browse all the December listings here.

Do you have a favorite event that you’re planning to visit soon? Let us know in the comments, or better yet, share your holiday photos with us on Instagram. We’d love to see Christmas light displays, little ones meeting Santa (whether happy to or not), live nativity scenes, Texas-sized menorahs, luminarias, ice skating in short sleeves–anything that says “holidays in Texas” to you. Just be sure to post your photos with the tag #TxHwysHolidays, and they’ll be added to our slideshow. We’ve posted a few already (above) just to get started. For more details on how it all works, check out the previous blog post.

Holiday happenings this weekend include:

• Baytown: Christmas on Texas Avenue Street Festival, Dec. 8
• Belton: Old-Fashioned Christmas, Dec. 8
• Burnet: Christmas on the Square and Christmas at Fort Croghan, Dec. 8
• Caldwell: Old-Fashioned Christmas on the Square, Dec. 7-8
• Chappell Hill: Holiday Home Tour and Teddy Bear Parade, Dec. 8
• Conroe: Annual Christmas Celebration, Dec. 8
• Fredericksburg: Lighted Community Christmas Parade, Dec. 7; and St. Nikolausmarkt, Dec. 7-8
• Kemah/Clear Lake Area: Annual Christmas Boat Lane Parade, Dec. 8
• Kilgore: Snow Hill Festival, Dec. 7-8; and Holiday Happenings in Historic Homes, Dec. 8
• Lubbock: Candlelight at the Ranch, Dec. 7-8
• McAllen: Candlelight Posada, Dec. 8
• Mesquite: Christmas in the Park, Dec. 6-8
• Round Top: Christmas in Winedale, Dec. 8
• Tomball: Christmas on Commerce, Dec. 8; and the German Christmas Market and Festival, Dec. 7-9

And don’t forget these ongoing events:

• Burnet: Christmas Trail of Lights, Dec. 1-31
• Grapevine: North Pole Express and Christmas on Main, weekends through December
• Johnson City: Lights Spectacular, Hill Country Style, through Jan. 1
• Marble Falls: Walkway of Lights, through Jan. 1
• Midland: Christmas at the Mansion, Dec. 1-29
• Nacogdoches: Nine Flags Festival, through Dec. 8
• Spring: Home for the Holidays, weekends through Dec. 23
• Wichita Falls: ElectriCritters (weekends until Dec. 22) and Fantasy of Lights (through Jan. 1)
• The Woodlands: Winter Wonderland and Woodlands Ice Rink, through Jan. 21

Families enjoy the big sleigh at Lubbock’s Winter Wonderland at Vintage Township. (Texas Highways photo/Kevin Stillman)

Tomorrow it will officially be December (though I could have sworn it came a few days earlier judging from how much Christmas music I’ve heard already), and cities across the state are ready to spread the holiday cheer with a huge weekend of Christmas festivals and parades. Check out the list below for a small selection of events—or you can find more using the event search tool.

While you’re out and about at holiday events this year, we’d love to see what fun you find! Just share your favorite holiday photos with us on Instagram by tagging your pictures with #TxHwysHolidays. Your pictures will then show up on a real-time slideshow we’ll post next week at TexasHighways.com.

Not an Instagram user yet? You can join in the fun by downloading the Instagram app to your mobile phone or tablet. Then create a free account and take a photo (or choose one you’ve already taken from your mobile photo library), choose a filter to stylize your image, and upload the picture with the #TxHwysHolidays tag in the caption box. (Also make sure your photos are public so we can see them!) More tips on using Instagram can be found here.

You can also click this button to see what Texas Highways is up to on Instagram from your web browser:

Here are just a few of this weekend’s offerings to get you started:

• Alvin: Home for the Holidays Christmas Festival, Dec. 1
• Athens: Holiday on the Square, Dec. 1
• Austin: Chuy’s Christmas Parade and the Holiday Sing-Along and Downtown Stroll, Dec. 1
• Bellville: A Small-Town Christmas, Nov. 30-Dec. 1
• Corpus Christi: Harbor Lights Festival, Dec. 1
• Galveston: Dickens on the Strand, Dec. 1-2
• Huntsville: Huntsville for the Holidays (several events on Dec. 1)
• Lampasas: Carol of Lights, Dec. 1
• Llano: Christmas Market Day, Lighted Christmas Parade and Home Tour, Dec. 1
• Monahans: Christmas and Chili Market, Dec. 1
• Quanah: Christmas Festival and Lighted Parade, Dec. 1
• Rockport: Rockport Tropical Christmas Festival, Dec. 1
• Rosenberg: Christmas in Rosenberg, Dec. 1
• San Antonio: Tamales! At Pearl–A Holiday Family Festival, Dec. 1
• South Padre Island: Christmas Lighted Boat Parade, Dec. 1

And some ongoing events through the end of the season:

• Burnet: Christmas Trail of Lights, Dec. 1-31
• Grapevine: North Pole Express and Christmas on Main, weekends through December
• Johnson City: Lights Spectacular, Hill Country Style, through Jan. 1
• Marble Falls: Walkway of Lights, through Jan. 1
• Midland: Christmas at the Mansion, Dec. 1-29
• Nacogdoches: Nine Flags Festival, through Dec. 8
• Wichita Falls: ElectriCritters (weekends until Dec. 22) and Fantasy of Lights (through Jan. 1)
• The Woodlands: Winter Wonderland and Woodlands Ice Rink, through Jan. 21

Tearing up the floor at Wurstfest. If you can’t polka or two-step, just wait for the next Chicken Dance.

It’s become a yearly tradition for us to head down to Wurstfest in New Braunfels to share the joys of beer, sausage and polka with a few friends. Both the Longhorns and the Aggies had won football games when we went this Saturday, so the grounds were extra-packed with jovial fans–and a few in burnt orange even offering congratulations to those in maroon after their team beat No. 1 Alabama. Usually we’d park somewhere in town and trek on foot to the festival, but this time we caught the Wurst Wagen from the park-and-ride at the New Braunfels VFW, which was worth the money: $20 each for parking, admission, a ride to the front gate and some drink tickets, which saved us from standing in a couple of long lines at the event.

Once inside, we headed to the food pavilion for dinner. I went in with a strategy to try at least a little of a lot of different offerings: a Wurst-kabob (with five different types of sausage and a dinner roll), bratwurst hot dog, fried sauerkraut, fried pickles, fried cheesecake, and a kolache. These went fast among our group of six people, and when we were full, we agreed that we should come back next year to try the things we didn’t get around to (I’ll get you next time, apple pancakes…next time!).

Aside from the food area and the dance hall, another popular stop for a lot of people was the hat vendor. I think this photo of my new headgear is a perfect testament to the great time we had. Yes, the wings actually flap. Even the cashiers at Buc-ee’s on our way home were impressed.