The semi-annual Antiques Week fair (Oct. 3-6) is almost underway at Round Top, a cool little German-settled burg about halfway between Houston and Austin. But, if you’re like me and can’t deal with the wild ‘n’ woolly crowds, you can cruise out that way this weekend to catch some early-bird deals. Lots of dealers set up a week in advance - look for the giant tents set up along roadsides on the two-lane roads reaching in every direction from RT. If shopping isn’t your thing, no worries: You can explore the way those early settlers lived by prowling around the collection of homes and other buildings from almost 200 years ago at Henkel Square, just off the main plaza. And, just four miles north of town, the University of Texas’ Winedale Historical Center gives you another view into the past, with beautifully restored plantation homes, a smokehouse, a barn and log cabins. For a good night’s sleep, I heartily recommend Anderson’s Round Top Inn, www.andersonsroundtopinn.com, where I stayed in the Farm House, a two-bedroom, two-bath period home with a big front porch and comfy rockers where I whiled away a happy afternoon with my mom and her friends. Just down the road toward Brenham, there’s a newer collection of lodgings called Scenic Hill, all rustically comfortable and thoughtfully outfitted with nice kitchens (www.scenichillvacations.com.) At mealtime, you won’t find a friendlier place with a better (and affordable) menu than the Oaks, a very casual spot with good salads topped with shrimp and avocado; killer chicken-fried steak and beer-battered onion rings; and bodacious burgers. It’s just outside of Round Top at Warrenton, on the highway to La Grange. If you sit on the restaurant’s porch long enough, you’ll see all the shoppers and their purchases passing by.

For more information on Antiques Week, go HERE.

One of the nation’s largest arts districts, the Fort Worth Cultural District, will host a big open house this Saturday. Called A Day in the District, this annual event showcases its riches with temptations you can’t resist. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the celebration means free or reduced admission, with lots of free performances (in and around museums) by various cultural organizations. More than 7,000 people came to last year’s inaugural event, and plenty are expected this year. You’ll get to see the almost freakily lifelike Sculptures by Ron Mueck at the Modern Art Museum; the magnificent permanent collection at the Kimbell Art Museum, home to works by Picasso, Matisse, Goya, Cezanne, El Greco, Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Mondrian; Chimneys and Towers: Charles Demuth’s Late Paintings of Lancaster and Accommodating Nature: The Photographs of Frank Gohlke at the Amon Carer Museum; as well as Harvest Homecoming at Log Cabin Village. The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, which has closed to make way for a new and fabulously expanded version of itself, has its ExploraZona exhibits at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, the latter an always wonderful place to visit and experience Western culture.

There will be dozens of performances by groups like Contemporary Dance-Fort Worth, Fort Worth Classic Guitar Society, Fort Worth Opera, Texas Boys Choir, and on and on. It’s supposed to be very warm on Saturday, but fear not - there’s plenty of shade on the lush green lawn between the Kimbell and the Carter, a perfect place to throw a Frisbee or just hang out and do some people-watching. If you’re in the area and hungry, pop into the Kimbell or the Modern for a lovely lunch, or roam nearby to good noshing spots, such as J&J Oyster Bar, Fred’s Texas Café, and Gloria’s, a place for Salvadoran and Mexican eats.

For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by everyday objects made jumbo sized. My first brush with the world of oversized things was during a family vacation to Universal Studios when I was about 10 years old. One of the theme park’s gift shops specialized in anything and everything ginormous, such as clothespins, utensils, pencils, playing cards, you name it. I remember zeroing in on a colossal-sized toothbrush that, no matter how big of a mouth some might say I have, I can’t fit inside (yes, I tried—I was 10 after all). To this day, I have it prominently displayed in my bathroom. In my mind, it’s a work of art. So, it’s no surprise how excited I was to view EXTRA-ORDINARY: The Everyday Object in American Art at the Austin Museum of Art-Downtown this past weekend. The exhibition features works by artists known for their ability to play with scale, such as Claes Oldenburg, a Swedish sculptor who fashioned a belly-busting BLT sandwich out of vinyl, kapok, and wood back in 1963. Claes is also the mastermind behind a stack of pillow-soft French fries covered in a satisfyingly large plop of red-vinyl ketchup. (Other notable works include Andy Warhol’s iconic painting of a Campbell’s Soup can, his faux Brillo-pad boxes, and a 5-foot-tall fiberglass paper lunch sack by Alex Hay.) The exhibit, whose goal is to force us to examine things around us in a new light, is on loan from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and continues through November 4.

AMOA-Downtown is at 823 Congress Ave. in Austin. For more information, call 512/495-9224 or go HERE.

Claes Oldenburg, Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich), 1963, Vinyl, kapok, and wood painted with acrylic, Overall: 32 x 39 x 29 inches, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2002.255a-n. Photograph courtesy of AMOA.

You love him on the “Late Show With David Letterman,” so now you can see animal-expert Jack Hanna in person here in Texas at next Thursday’s (September 27) Zoobilee, a fund-raising gala for the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville, which suffered damage in the terrible early summer floods. As he does on television (he also has a syndicated show, “Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures”), the zookeeper emeritus from the Columbus Zoo will do demos with wildlife, featuring critters from the wonderful Gainesville zoo. And you know it will be fun: Every appearance on the “Late Show” is a scream; just last week he and his flamingo got stuck while squeezing through the security turnstile at Ohio State University Airport as they returned home from another fund-raiser. (He later quipped to the media that next time, he won’t travel with anything larger than a gerbil.)

Tickets are $75, and the event starts at 7 p.m. at the Gainesville Civic Center, 311 S. Weaver St. But if you can’t attend, be sure to visit the zoo anyway. Grown from the long-defunct Gainesville Community Circus, the zoo is named after Frank Buck, who began traveling around the world to find exotic beasts in 1911. His project now features more than 130 animals from four continents. A favorite feature is the African Savannah exhibit, where you can feed the giraffes at 10:30 a.m. daily.

Frank Buck Zoo is at 1000 W. California St. in Gainesville. For more information, call 940/668-4539; HERE.

Want to support Texas authors and musicians? Then hurry – there’s still time to snap up tickets to the West Texas Book & Music Festival in Abilene. The seventh-annual gathering (September 25-29) will celebrate “Texas History, Mystery, and Mystique” in a series of parties and events, many of which benefit the local library. One of the Brown Bag programs (noon, Thursday) features Barry Shlachter, publisher of Fort Worth-based Great Texas Line Books, and Elizabeth Alvarez, editor of the Texas Almanac, who will discuss the “Texas Mystique.” That evening, the Texas Cookbook Gala will present wines from Texas vineyards, such as Becker, La Buena Vida, Messina Hof, and Brennan to pair with food from Texas authors John DeMers (Tropical Latitudes), Paula Disbrowe (Cowgirl Cuisine), Nancy Wood Moorman (To Many Cooks), and others. On Friday evening, there’s a Texas Songwriters Concert, and at noon on Friday, the Boots & Books Luncheon will honor Elmer Kelton and Carleton Stowers. Don’t miss the Hall of Authors on Saturday, when more than 100 Texas authors, publishers, and musicians display, sell, and autograph books and CDs. Some events require tickets, so make plans now. For more information, call 325/676-6017; HERE.

Fall in Texas has one all-important ritual in my family – that of Friday-night football. My dad coached high school ball for more than 40 years, mostly in Fort Worth, but also in Dallas, and my brother now coaches in Fort Worth. (My sister married a football coach, but they’re in Alabama; we’ve forgiven them for leaving, though it took a few years.) When the temperatures begin to drop a little, I still get excited about heading out to the stadium to watch the game and take in the giddy, hopeful socializing that goes on all over the place. In general, the marching bands are far better now than they were in the past – I really love a good half-time show. And at some stadiums, you can still find good, homemade food, thanks to active PTAs and booster clubs. At some stadiums you can find busy parents manning the hamburger grills and dishing up chili to go on hot dogs and nachos. But my favorite is Frito pie, a Texas autumn tradition if there ever was one. My late editor and mentor, Jerry Flemmons, wrote this about that in the Star-Telegram:

“Frito Pie is our fall food and Texas’ salute to Vermont’s autumn because it contains all of New England’s fall foliage tones – the brown of Fritos, the mahogany shades of good, rich chili, the white of finely chopped onion, the glossy yellow of shredded cheese – it’s an opulent palette of nature’s colors.”

Where’s the good high school stadium food in Texas? And what about Frito pie?

After much anticipation, it’s finally time for the grand opening of the Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin. The fun starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday at 600 River St., but you can catch shuttles from Krieg Fields at 517 S. Pleasant Valley Road. The reason for the excitement? Here’s a place where you can explore and celebrate art and entertainment from Chicano, Native American, and myriad Latin cultures, and it’s the place where this heritage will be preserved. The MACC has a large, 800-seat theater and a 300-seat theater, a big building for exhibits, education, and rehearsal space, plus a lovely outdoor plaza. At Saturday’s festivities, you’ll see Aztec dancers, ballet folklorico, mariachis, Navajo weavers, storytelling, and more on numerous stages. There will also be gallery talks and plenty of refreshments. For more information, call 512/478-6222.

Oftentimes when I travel, I spend the night someplace that’s cheap and efficient and serves a complimentary continental breakfast. Someplace like LaQuinta Inn and Suites or the local HoJo. However, during a recent trip to Waco, I threw my need for a standard king-size bed and satellite TV out the window and aimed for a place far cozier: The Judge Baylor House.

Tucked underneath a canopy of trees just a few blocks south of Baylor University, this two-story, red-brick cottage was once the home of Judge R.E.B. Baylor, the school’s founder. Today, it’s a five-bedroom B&B decorated with Victorian touches and other accommodations that you won’t always find at a chain hotel, such as a library filled with poetry books and travel guides, and a full breakfast served on china. (During my stay, owners Bruce and Dorothy Dyer served a delicious meal of raisin-bread French toast sandwiched together with cream cheese and a flute of blueberry yogurt sprinkled with oats.) Despite my not knowing any of the other guests, we all enjoyed breakfast at the same table; the conversation was as free flowing as the fresh-brewed coffee.

Guests can spend the night in one of five rooms, each of which has its own private bath. I stayed in Anne’s Room, which has a claw-foot tub, stained-glass window, and hardwood floors. Each room is named after one of the Dyer’s children. I enjoyed my two-night stay so much that I’ll think twice before I make plans to stay in a regular hotel.

The Judge Baylor House is at 908 Speight St. Rates start from $78/night. For more information, call 254/756-0273; or go HERE.

Hey, you weekend warriors: You know who you are – you work hard all week at your computer or driving carpools and keeping the school cafeteria running smoothly, then you spend the weekend trying to get caught up on the fitness stuff. And while you may get in some good yoga classes or long runs, sometimes it’s not enough. If you ache for a huge experience in the outdoors, something that will leave an impression to last your whole life, a challenge that will show you what you’re really made of, book a weekend at Big Bend Ranch State Park, October 4 through 6. That’s when you’ll spend the weekend in a saddle, working alongside cowboys and cowgirls at the annual cattle drive and roundup.

You and other wranglers will roam on horseback through the rugged cattle pastures of the Chihuahuan Desert, learning how to move the historic Texas Longhorn Herd to stock pens near the ranch headquarters. You can participate in branding and vaccination of calves, learning how the Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo cowboy traditions evolved. Evening meals will be served from a chuckwagon, and you’ll listen to cowboy music and poetry around a campfire. You can sleep beneath the stars or head over to the bunkhouse for some shut-eye. Up to 25 participants can join the experience; guests typically come from around Texas, as well as Colorado, New York, Australia, and England. The cost is $975, which covers horse and tack, park entry and lodging/camping fees, meals, and wrangler/guides. See details HERE, or call Big Bend Ranch State Park at 432/229-3416 or the Sauceda Ranch Headquarters at 432/358-4444.

For a few weeks I’ve been seeing T-shirts around North Texas that can’t help but get your attention. They’re royal purple with giant white letters offering the message: BEAT TEXAS. At the TCU bookstore, I found these T-shirts, along with others that read: “Your have your Horns, We have ours” (with a menacing Horned Frog image). I realize there are plenty of people who are thinking, “As if.” But then today I’m seeing a repeating story on ESPN about the big showdown on Saturday in Austin between the Horned Frogs of TCU (the alma mater of yours truly) and the Longhorns of UT. Tickets on www.stubhub.com are starting at $137 each. I’ve seen some on Craigslist for $200. Maybe the Orangebloods aren’t underestimating the power of purple, after all. The football coaches in my family (yes, it’s an epidemic, and yes, they’re actually employed as football coaches) think TCU has a real shot for this big upset. We shall see. I’m watching it with family, who are an even split of Frogs and Horns. In Fort Worth, the hot spots for watching the game are Dutch’s and Pappas Burger, both near TCU. In Austin, I’m assuming it’s every bar with a TV.