How have I missed this thread???
I'll tell you it makes my day to come home and find a Texas Monthly sticking out of my mail box, if for nothing more than the pictures.... I was raised in DFW, went to college on the edge of the hill country & found myself in the plains of West Texas. I love every place for its uniqueness, and hope to never leave this state!!!
Lifesaver-your rambling description from months ago made me homesick for so many things-and I haven't left the state!!! I need a road trip....
My answers to some of the short lists:
Best BBQ Joint:
The County Line, Lubbock, TX
Best Way to waste an afternoon:
Hit the Dallas Arboretum & wander around the flowers...take your kids to Cadillac Ranch and tell them it really is a car farm & those cars really are growing up out of the ground...
Best way to get away from it all:
visit Palo Duro Canyon & hike or bike to your heart's content...
Best way to experience Old Texas:
3 words: Bed & Breakfast in Fredricksburg (you can tell I'm older than most of the posters here) or any other little hill country town w/antique shops...better yet, hit New Braunfels & get some antiquing & tubing in...
Best Drive to haul ass, going 110mph w/out fear of getting caught:
We used to refer to the stretch of the Dallas North Tollway from Stemmons to LBJ as the "Dallas Autobahn" I think the traffic there has gotten too bad though....
Best free show:
I'll go with the West End....
Fastest Drivers:
Dallas maniacs
Best strip of Clubs:
I'll go with what's been said, but I think the Lubbock Depot District probably rates up there....
Best City Park:
River Legacy Park in Arlington
Best Place to feel lost:
Lost in a good way? Dallas Nature Center--when the blue bonnets are in bloom.
Lost in a bad way? Anywhere in Houston. Blech (I'm a native Dallasite...it's in my blood to love all things Texan, except for Houston....
Best day trip:
First Mondays in Canton, TX!!! I'm such a girl.
Other...From Dallas? Gainesville or Hillsboro for some shopping...or to Glen Rose to visit Dinosaur National Park
From Lubbock? Palo Duro Canyon to see "Texas" the musical in the amphitheatre at the bottom of the canyon
Best city-wide festival:
I'm going with the State Fair, but I've never been to Fiesta.
Most Romantic Scene:
Absolutely the River Walk
Best weather:
I know I seem biased, but Lubbock has great weather (with the exception of the handful of horrid dust-storms you'll see each year).
Add categories to the short-list:
Favorite flowers
The yellow rose & blue bonnets.... We don't get many bluebonnets in West Texas, so I need to get a fix. Are they out in Dallas yet?
Favorite Musician:
Willie, Willie, Willie. I like Pat Green, but Willie rules.