Texas Highways

Pop quiz: How many characters wear cowboy hats in the Larry McMurtry adaptation  that has won the most Academy Awards? The movie is Terms of Endearment. The number of Oscars is five. And the number of characters wearing cowboy hats? Zero.

OPEN ROAD An International Student Inspires a Native Texan to Fall in Love with Home Again Tomoa was just shy of 20 years old when his mom suggested he travel somewhere exotic. So, from a Tokyo suburb, he set his sights on Texas. It was 2013, and mutual friends connected him with my husband, Luke, and me. We enthusiastically offered to host Tomoa in Dallas for two weeks, and I couldn’t help but wonder: Why does he want to come here? A few years earlier, Luke and I had almost moved to Japan.

It’s been more than a decade since Dripping Springs was named the “Wedding Capital of Texas” by the Legislature, but the title is still holding strong. With 35-plus wedding venues within 15 miles of downtown, the town of just over 10,000 residents has plenty of options for nuptials. It’s also home to nearly 30 wineries, distilleries, and breweries. A lot has changed since the first settlers arrived in the area in the 1840s.

Long before the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders were synonymous with NFL performances, another Texas team cemented dance as a halftime tradition. Started in 1940, the Kilgore College Rangerettes introduced football fans to the art of precision dance as the nation’s first drill team. For more than 80 years, the Kilgore Rangerettes’ high-flying kicks and precise choreography have been the blueprint for halftime shows across the state.

Every fall, millions of hummingbirds travel south, with many flocks funneling through Texas and hugging the resource-rich coast en route to warmer climes. For birders, this makes for a bonanza of sighting opportunities. For the bird nerds who have escalated their passion from a hobby to something resembling a lifestyle, it means banding as many birds as they can before the flocks peter out. 299 Highway 332 West, Lake Jackson.

This article is part of “New School Barbecue,” our list of 25 barbecue joints worth the drive around the state. Since first appearing at Southern barbecue joints in the early 1970s, banana pudding has become the de facto sweet sidekick to a three-meat plate. Whether because of its ability to complement decadent cuts of beef, its large-batch capability, or a Nabisco-size marketing budget, the Nilla Wafer-layered dessert has had a stranglehold on the category.

By Amanda Albee, Chris Hughes, Robert F. Moss, and Matthew Odam Photographs by Daniela Loera | Illustrations by Mike Reddy As soon as man discovered fire, there existed the rudimentary beginnings of a cooking style that would eventually sweep the modern world. The tradition can be traced back 10,000 years to the Caddo Nation, who would roast venison and other game over an open flame, according to Robb Walsh, author of Legends of Texas Barbecue.

Joel and Jesse Garcia Teddy’s Barbecue, Weslaco Bradley Robinson Chuds BBQ, online educator and product line Layne Milne and Jalen Heard Goldee’s Bar-B-Q, Fort Worth *Michelin awarded

This article is part of “New School Barbecue,” our list of 25 barbecue joints worth the drive around the state. Barbecue is often seen as this rigid tradition in Texas. But anyone who has been around the scene will tell you just how much the cuisine has changed even over the past decade. Today, pitmasters face the same level of Michelin Guide scrutiny as the finest French chefs, and rising costs have turned a cheap lunch into a special occasion meal.

This article is part of “New School Barbecue,” our list of 25 barbecue joints worth the drive around the state. OLIVE LOAF Place of Origin: U.S. As part of his Americana mission at Distant Relatives, owner Damien Brockway created this “poor man’s lunch meat” that peaked in the 1970s. In place of manzanilla olives and pimentos, Brockway stuffs an all-beef sausage with buttery Castelvetrano olives, smoked red jalapeños, and warming spices like mace and grains of paradise.