Oil's cheap in Texas, so it'll be easy to keep your chainsaw lubricated...when you visit The Best Little Whorehouse !!
Cheers for the replies. It's appreciated. It was more a passing whimsy, but there's certainly food for thought.
Depends what you are looking for: Music/Film - Austin hands down winner but driving is a bitch Food - Houston probably most diverse city and reflected in quality and variety of cuisine on offer. Quirky - Marfa middle of the desert in West Texas, where Giant was filmed; relive James Dean speeding down straight roads going on forever Scenery - Big Bend state park, walk over the Rio Grande into Mexico, (well we used to until the narcos took over) Hill Country, north and west of Austin, Enchanted Rock Personally, never been a big fan of San Antonio. All looks very glamorous at night, but like a gigantic concrete ditch filled with mucky water during the day. Just remember it is a huge state 830 miles from Beaumont on the East to El Paso on the West and is probably best to visit between October and April
Listen to Texas Tiger, he's spot on. I've lived in the DFW area for 29 of the last 30 years and agree that Austin would be a good base for a prolonged visit to the state. Let me add some things to TT's comments: First, San Antonio has a lot to offer. The Alamo is an interesting place to visit, but it is small and in the heart of a bustling area. Go see it for the history but if you want to see what an old Spanish frontier mission was like, visit Mission San Jose in the south part of town. Next door to the Alamo is the Menger Hotel, a classy and historic place which is the oldest operating hotel west of the Mississippi. If you don't stay there at least consider having a beer in the bar. Other than the plumbing and electricity it hasn't changed much since Teddy Roosevelt used it as a base to recruit local ruffians, roughnecks, and adventurists for the Roughrider regiment during the Spanish-American war. Houston has quite a bit of culture, whose museums, symphony, opera, and ballet companies rank among the best in the states. Few people think of Houston that way. Houston has great restaurants and ****ty traffic. On the way south to Galveston lies the Johnson Space Center, where you can tour the old Mission Control Center from Apollo days and see a lot of the old rockets, including a complete Saturn V. Galveston was a "poor man's New Orleans" before Hurricane Ike, but it ha bounced back and has regained some of the old gulf coast charm. It's worth a visit. Personally, I don't think Dallas is a particularly interesting city for the tourist, unless one has a particular fascination with the Kennedy assassination. Don't waste your time with Southfork Ranch unless for some reason you really think you have to. Fort Worth has more of the western culture than does Dallas. The Stockyards are quite "touristy" but still worth a visit if in the area. Sundance Square in downtown is a nice base from which to see the city. The Reata restaurant has some of the best Southwestern fare you'll get anywhere. West Texas is ranch country. It is vast and sparse so how you see it, if you see it, depends on what else you want to do. Big Bend National Park is beautiful but way south. Further north you have the Davis mountains and McDonald observatory, if you are into science. Further north still is Lubbock. Not much to say about Lubbock other than it is centrally located . . . 200 miles from anything you'd want to see. Further north is the Texas panhandle anchored by Amarillo, a real western town. You get great steaks there, and just outside is Palo Duro Canyon park, naturally known for the Canyon. It's a poor man's Grand Canyon. To the extreme west lies El Paso. I'm not a big fan of El Paso. It is a Mexican-culture influenced city like San Antonio but without all the tourists. If you are a culinary adventurist, you'll find a lot of good things in Texas that are difficult to find anywhere else. You'll find plenty of good Texas BBQ all over the state, but the best place in my opinion is about an hour southeast of Austin in a town called Lockhart. Kreuz Market is as Texas as Texas BBQ gets. I took some visitors from Milan there about 5 years ago and they still talk about it. Every city will have outstanding steakhouses, and every city will have Tex-Mex out the wazoo, both good and bad. Ask the locals about that. Of course you'll find good gulf seafood in the Houston/Galveston area, but you'll also find good Cajun food. I doubt those in the UK have many opportunities to eat alligator. Get some fried alligator while you're here - you'll be glad you did. One of my favorite restaurants in DFW (Love & War in Texas is the name, located in Plano) serves up wild boar, pheasant, and other game food found in the state. Wild boar is another unusual food item which is worth a try. Lastly, Texas Tiger is steering you right on beer. Shiner is the best stuff in the state. I don't know what time of year you are thinking about, but if you are looking to take in some sport I have some recommendations. If you want to see an NFL game, pick the Cowboys over the Texans. The Cowboys stadium (locally known as the Death Star) is one of the best, if not the best stadium in the NFL. If you are wanting to take in an American football game in general, I would recommend a college game over a professional game. It is a much, much better live experience. Some of the better gameday experiences are in Austin (University of Texas), Fort Worth (Texas Christian University), and in Bryan-College Station (Texas A&M University), but you can't go wrong at any of them. Texas is also known for its high school football, which can be found anywhere on Friday nights in the fall. If you are here in the spring or summer and want to take in some baseball, you have the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros, both of whom stink. I prefer the minor league games myself. AAA, the tier below the major leagues, has a team just north of Austin in Round Rock, Texas. The next lower tier, AA, has a Texas league with teams all over the state. Finally, if you want to see some football (soccer), I'd recommend Houston Dynamo over FC Dallas for the experience. I follow the latter and attend several matches a year but the atmosphere is better in Houston (the bastards). Anything else just ask.
So we're not going then?? [video=youtube;S8Qn7xOG8nk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Qn7xOG8nk[/video] [video=youtube;DtoCw2iOTSc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtoCw2iOTSc[/video]
