Happy Holidays!
The holidays have come upon us. I don’t know about you, but this year seemed to go by slow up until Halloween time. Ever since then everything feels to go by so fast. I’m currently in school, and I’m at the end of the semester. It crept up on me. I have so much school work to finish. That’s why this site has been neglected some. I apologize to those who have visited recently.
I would like to show you some Holiday Events around my side of town. I will work on getting some for the other big cities of Texas. The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of year. Cool weather shows up this time of year (It doesn’t get cold in Houston).
Greater Houston Area Holiday Events
The Woodlands – Check out Holiday in the Woodlands.
- Ice skating rink
- Winter Wonderland
- Holiday Market
Galveston
- Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens - check out the website for the current schedule. The lights are a nightly event, but there are other events such as the Magical Christmas Dinner.
- Dickens on the Strand – This has to be one of my favorite places to go during the holidays, but due to my schedule I was not able to go this year. You will travel back in time to the era of Charles Dickens. You will see people dressed up in the Elizabethan era clothing. You will hear choirs caroling up and down the Strand District. A must see. Only comes to town for one weekend a year.
Houston
- Discovery Green – Ice skate in downtown Houston at discovery green. Check it out at ICE at Discovery Green.
- Memorial City Mall Light Show – do a little Christmas shopping then catch the daily light show.
- Houston Zoo Lights is the newest attraction this year. Check it out this holiday season.
More to come! Hopefully
Merry Christmas to all!
A Few of Upcoming Events
I have not been able to dedicate myself much lately to this blog. BUT I have been coming across some events that are occurring soon in a few cities around Texas.
DALLAS
The Texas State Fair begins. The theme this year is BIG & BRIGHT. I have never been, but I hope to do so one day. There are concerts and fried food. It is Fried Food capital for about a week. This year they have created Fried Jambalaya. mmmm…Good! I think. Anything fried you can think of the people at the State Fair may have tried to fry. Other things to check out at the fair are the museums and theater events. The Addams Family musical will be playing this upcoming week starting Oct. 2. Visit the Chinese Lantern Festival. If you like college football, then try to get tickets for the UT Longhorns vs. OU – Sooners game — AT&T Red River Rivalry. Check it out if you will be in the Dallas area anytime this week. You can find more information on the Texas State Fair website.
AUSTIN
Austin will be holding its annual Austin City Limits Music Festival. For the music enthusiast, this is a weekend-long festival filled with music of all sorts. People from across the country venture to Austin to partake in the amazing festival. The only problem is – it appears that the tickets are sold out for this event. I’m sure if you look hard enough or have connections then you will be able to get in. This is a must see event if you ever get the chance. KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD!
HOUSTON
A couple of upcoming events in Houston are: The Greek Festival and The Italian Festival. These two events are separated by about a week.
The Greek festival begins Oct. 4. Enjoy everything Greek – Food, music, people, etc. 1-Day tickets are $20 and it includes: admission and dinner plate (excluding gyros….sad I know). This event takes place at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Houston. You can find more information — food choices, event info, etc. on their website.
The Italian Festival, or FESTA ITALIANA, begins Oct. 11, taking place at University of St. Thomas, in the montrose/neartown district of Houston. This event is one of my favorite because I like the Italian culture. The italian cultural center has host mini cooking classes with one of the local italian chefs. There is a pasta eating and grape stomping contest. Play in a Bocce ball tournament. If anything else just come for some food. The money raised help the Italian cultural center give out scholarships to Italian studies students and other educational programs. More information is found on their website. If anyone goes, let me know. I may be around one of the days.
Trip Down the Trinity
State parks are always a good bet when you want to go camping. They have pre-planned places where you can set up camp with a bonfire, have water and electricity, and access to bathrooms. They make it camping an enjoyable trip, convenient too, for those who are not all that into the outdoors. The parks offer a variety of activities such as bird watching, water sports, fishing, horseback riding, hiking, etc. All you have to do is search for it on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the perfect park for you.
Texas has more to offer than just the state parks. There are plenty of lakes and rivers to enjoy water sports. There are different terrains to traverse, i.e. hills, mountains, rocks, beaches, plenty of places to enjoy the real outdoors. Recently I took a trip with some friends to a place about an hour outside of Houston. We traveled to Cleveland, TX. Well we went to a spot a few miles east of Cleveland on F.M. 787. What’s there you ask? The Trinity River.
Texas has many rivers and lakes. The Trinity River is a long river than goes from north Texas to the Gulf of Mexico (Trinity Bay). Want to see some beautiful scenery; all you have to do is go down a river. I took my camera on the trip, but was not equipped to take pictures; did not want to get my camera wet.
Our Trip
Camping at Lake Somerville
The spring season arrived early in Texas this year. We have had amazing and unusual weather. Clear blue skies, cool breezes, and sun that will make you want to find some shade. I decided to take advantage of this weather to plan a weekend trip to Lake Somerville State Park – Nails Creek Park.
Lake Somerville is just a short drive away from the small city of Brenham, nestle in the Hill Country of Texas. It is about a 2 hour drive from Austin or Houston. The roads take you through some beautiful ranches along the way. The fields were covered in wildflowers and Bluebonnets, the Texas state flower.
With the abundance of rain that we have received in Texas this year, Lake Somerville is a perfect weekend getaway for fishing and boat riding. Camping is the main activity that people do at this park. The state park fees are reasonable. The fee for camping for 2 nights is about $20. Some of the other activities to do at this park include hiking the trails, bird watching, horseback riding, and you can do a little off-the-trail/primitive camping.
First Post
I’m sure I could have started with the big cities, but there is so much I have not yet seen, experienced, tried, participated in. Therefore, for my first few post I will present to you a couple of small towns.
