You’d have to try pretty hard not to have a good time at the island city just down the road from Houston. Galveston Island always oodles of options for fun, and my favorite for this weekend is the monthly installment of Movies on the Strand. This free outdoor movie screening happens on the first Saturday of the month at Saengerfest Park, 23rd Street at the Strand. This Saturday, it’s one of my three all-time favorite flicks: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the classic starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. On June 7, it’s National Lampoon’s Vacation; Aug. 2, Grease; Sept. 6, Casablanca; and Oct. 4, Psycho. All you have to do is bring a blanket or some lawn chairs. When I’m on the island, I love to eat fish at one of the places along the seawall – who doesn’t? – but I also make a point on each trip to make a stop for breakfast at the Mosquite Café (628 14th St.), for the mosquito benedict – that’s a fresh scone piled with portobellos, shrimp, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, asparagus, poached eggs, and Serrano-spiked hollandaise sauce. Check it out at www.mosquitocafe.com. For a little romance, I like staying at the Tremont House (www.wyndham.com), a beautiful historic hotel on the Strand; for luxurious digs, a spa and fast access to the beach, it’s the San Luis (www.sanluisresort.com). If you can nab one of the poolside cabanas there, you’ll start looking for someone to peel some grapes for you. You know that’s what Holly Golightly would have done.

I could have told you that two exceptional museums exist in and near Amarillo; recognition of this now comes from a source outside the state. In its May issue, True West magazine reviews the top 10 western museums and ranks the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum (PPHM) in Canyon its No. 1 Most Loved Museum. What’s more, True West included the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum on its honorable mention list, too. Personally, I could visit PPHM again and again, if nothing else than just to see the rotating exhibit of selections from the collection of 700 works by Frank Reaugh (1860-1945), known as the Dean of Texas painters. But if I needed an extra excuse to go this summer, it would be to see Samuel Colt: Arms, Art and Invention, opening May 24 and continuing through September 1. Colt was much more than a gun-maker; he actually came up with the advertising tag, “new and improved.” And as an inventor, he introduced production lines and created interchangeable parts for firearms. Among pieces in the exhibit are gifts and awards from global admirers, including Russian Czar Alexander II and Japanese shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. See more at www.panhandleplains.org. If I’m staying in Canyon, the best overnight is at the Hudspeth House (1905 Fourth Ave.), an easy walk from the museum. Georgia O’Keeffee, who taught here at the university, was a former resident. There are eight comfortable rooms in the beautifully renovated 1909 house. Find it at www.hudspethinn.com. Additional Amarillo info can be found at www.visitamarillotx.com.

Roaming around Marfa sounds like something that could take place in five (or fewer) minutes, but you’d be surprised. The town gets new things to see and places to shop all the time. As you’d expect in a town with a great collection of art galleries and a major art center like the Chinati Foundation, the new businesses in town have a sophisticated edge to them. I found plenty of great shopping for home decor and jewelry at the little shops opened off the lobby at the Hotel Paisano. And I’m still thinking about the great dinner I had two Saturdays ago at the Blue Javelina, a very cool café on the west end of town. The garbanzo fries dusted with cumin salt were the perfect starter, and my entrée of pollo bravo, or crispy-skinned baked chicken with Spanish-style potatoes, was pretty darned wonderful. At breakfast, the Brown Recluse coffee shop (where they roast their own beans) has expanded offerings to include pancakes, bountiful burritos, and luscious lemon-blueberry muffins. And if you’re blessed with a friend out there who will loan you her vacation house, you’ll be happy to know that there’s now a place to shop for food provisions so you can make meals at home. Maiya Keck, owner of the famous Maiya’s restaurant in Marfa, knows that foodies can’t live on the meager offerings at the old-fashioned grocery store in town, so she opened a terrific little market called the Get Go (208 S. Dean St.; 432/729-3335; www.thegetgomarfa.com). This is where you can find imported cheeses, organic eggs, meats and produce, lovely chocolates, Asian foods, a good wine selection, and more.

My favorite time to hit some of Texas’ hot vacation spots is right now. During this magical time between spring break and summer, it’s quiet – at the beach and out in Big Bend. Last week, I traipsed all over the Trans-Pecos region and found a lot of solitude, which is the reason for going, of course. But I also made a few fun discoveries, some new things that I want to go back and experience a bit more. One is the Eleven Inn, a new lodging in Balmorhea. This is a fabulous option for people who find the cool, old San Solomon Courts cabins in Balmorhea State Park are booked up. There are – you guessed it – 11 rooms in this renovated motor court, all spanking clean and updated with iron or wood beds, cool antique or retro furnishings, and flat-screen televisions. No two rooms are alike; two have microwaves and mini-fridges. The grounds have picnic tables, grills, a fire pit, and clothes lines where scuba divers hang their wetsuits after exploring the depths over at the park’s spring-fed pool.

Eleven Inn is at 504 S. Main St., 432/275-2263; www.eleveninn.com.

I keep hearing this isn’t a great year for wildflowers, but I’ve seen plenty of pretty roadside displays in the past few days. A few days ago I drove from Houston northwest through Aggieland toward Waco and saw magnificent pastures swept in bluebonnets, particularly around Hempstead and Navasota. Seriously gorgeous vistas of flowers atop lush meadows, for sure. Shortly after that, I was driving around the Trans-Pecos area and saw patches of bluebonnets along highway shoulders, but the most impressive displays near Marfa, Alpine, and Fort Davis were yellow blooms atop prickly pear cactus and brilliant red flames sprouting from the tips of ocotillo. And just this past Sunday, cruising between Dallas and Fort Worth on I-30, the biggest traffic hazards were cars pulled over while people jumped out to take pictures of the dense expanses of bluebonnets punctuated by Indian paintbrush, evening primrose, and Mexican hat. These displays were truly stunning. Yet, officials report this is a below-average year. I’m not getting it! If you’re headed out for a drive, you can call the highway department’s hotline – 512/452-9292 – for recorded information about which highways in Central Texas are reporting the best wildflowers. Even better, you can hear about wildflower festivals, such as those at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin and at Wildseed Farms, near Fredericksburg.

They’re not kids anymore, but they bring the laughs in quantity and quality better than ever. The inventive, outré, five-man Canadian comedy sketch group, The Kids in the Hall, played a two-night stand at Austin’s Paramount Theatre on April 10-11. I was lucky enough to catch the cast’s Thursday night performance. Fabulous stuff—very much like watching a live staging of a production in the realm of SCTV, Saturday Night Live, Tuna Texas, Monty Python, The Carol Burnett Show, Mad TV, or the days of Sid Caesar (from whom The Kids in the Hall purportedly got its name). Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson bring an outrageous, paradigm-busting sensibility to their comic craft, combining fresh, new material with old character favorites from their syndicated CBC/CBS/HBO show, such as The Time Machine, Buddy Cole, Mr. Tyzik the Headcrusher, Chicken Lady, and plenty of gender-bending cross-dressing, a troupe trademark. They’re coming back to Texas on April 23 at Grand Prairie’s Nokia Theatre. New fan or old, you’re sure to enjoy. Funny is a priceless gift that’s always worth the trip.

You know, some folks just don’t want to fool with a festival unless it’s got that one truly essential element: clogging. Seriously. And really, when you think about it, isn’t the point of going to a small-town festival the hope of recapturing a simpler time? Clogging – or watching clogging – would certainly do that. People who can appreciate clogging also understand what’s served at a cowboy breakfast, and they remember when two-steppin’ to an old Hank Williams tune at a street dance was the perfect way to celebrate a fine Saturday evening in spring. These are just the folks who will have a keen appreciation for this weekend’s Bluebonnet Festival in Burnet, the Hill Country town on U.S. 281 that is righteously and officially known as the Bluebonnet Capital of Texas. There’s lots more going on at this hoedown, such as a pet parade, golf tournament, rides on the Hill Country Flyer train, a bicycle tour, car show, arts and crafts sale, and a carnival. So even if clogging’s not your thing, there’s lots to enjoy – in addition to the bounty of wild blooms. Find details by calling 512-756-4297 or go HERE.

If 1500s role-playing is your idea of a good time, better head out to the Scarborough Renaissance Festivalin Waxahachie, underway now through May 26. I’d bet on seeing lots of the Other Boleyn Girls, as more than a few people show up in costume for this annual outdoor shindig. But you’re welcome to come as you are to frolic around this 35-acre village from the olde English countryside – just expect plenty of company, because the attendance each year numbers around 200,000 people. Folks are there to spend money in the 200 shops and on wagonloads of food and drink, as well as to enjoy entertainment by strolling musicians, court jesters, fair maidens, and so forth. Check out the schedule to find out when jousting tournaments and falconry demonstrations are planned, and to see who’s playing on the 21 stages with live entertainment. For ticket and other information, call 972/938-3247 or go HERE.

Didn’t score tickets to the NCAA Men’s Final Four in San Antonio on Saturday (semi-finals) and Monday (championship game), but I did trek down I-35 for the free (including parking) Friday team practice sessions with Memphis, UCLA, North Carolina, and Kansas at the Alamodome. With a crowd of around 5,000, it was quite a thrill within a relatively relaxed and informal environment. Fans were able to get very close to the assemblage of players, coaches, and media for snapshots, autographs, and an intimate view of the proceedings. The four practices were followed by an entertaining all-star game (final score: 106-100) with participating college seniors from across the nation. It was a lovely day in the city, which was buzzing with excitement surrounding the event.

Beyond seeing so many of the game’s celebrity players, coaches, and media all in one setting, as well as the teams’ avid fans, perhaps my favorite moment was noticing two older women in a Buick with large KU Jayhawk magnets on either side of their vehicle. Their devoted loyalty would later be rewarded with a Kansas national championship. Breakfast at north San Antonio’s terrific Magnolia Pancake Haus and dinner at famous Henry’s Puffy Tacos in northwest San Antonio, completed a perfect, fun, spring day trip.