Category Archives: Texas

Things I Love About Texas – Beer Barns

Beer Barns
They are fantastic.
You don’t have to get out of your car to get into the hot Texas heat.
Then walk inside to the freezing cooler aisle.
Step 1: Drive in.
Step 2: Tell them what you want.
They hand it to you, you don’t even have to get out!
Step 3: Pay for it (important)
Step 4: Drive on out! 
If this was back home in Franklin County, it would be a dangerous thing.
The greatest part – they had this:
Beer Barns – One of the greatest things since sliced bread!
  

June Dairy Days – Sulphur Springs, TX

Back in Franklin County, VT, June Dairy Day is a big deal. Frankin County is filled with nothing but dairy farms really. Growing up, June Dairy Day weekend was almost like a holiday, there was a parade, rides, a pageant, tons of events. Here in Texas, I’ve realized that they have cows for meat, not so much milk but I was still curious to search around and see if there were any festivities that I could attend and of course compare. Smiles!

Last June, I found Dairy Days in Sulphur Springs out in East Texas. I realized that this Dairy Festival was not as big as the one back home but it did it’s job.

They each had a parade. (I missed the one in Sulphur Springs.)

Sulphur Springs not only has a Dairy Museum but giant cows (+1 Sulphur Springs).
You have to have old cars…. in Sulphur Springs it was specifically Corvettes. Can’t say I’m a huge fan but this one was nice to look at.

Like the festivities back home, there is a pageant, however when I was in the pageant, we did not have to milk cows like these Southern ladies did.

Obviously, these were not the ladies in the pageant.



Something that I liked about Sulphur Springs was that everything was held right outside the arena. Inside, you could escape the heat, use an actual bathroom and watch some horse competition.
There was also a Dairy Queen right down the street that was pretty convenient.

Although, this was not nearly as big as the festival back home it was nice attending an event which reminded me of Vermont. It’s nice taking part in something that celebrates dairy farmers, something that is part of my family history as well as many others. 
The Dairy Days is going on all this week out in Sulphur Springs – check it out if you are curious.

Turnpike Troubadours, Arlington, TX 2011-06-11

Another Saturday, another show at Levitt Pavilion on Arlington, TX and it couldn’t have been a better night. Low and behold, this band was referred by a couple friends and they are now my new favorite band. I love it when you randomly come across a new act that just blows you away. For me it’s one thing just hearing a good song on the radio but seeing a group perform on stage is really where it’s at.

We grabbed a few chairs, a cooler of nice cold drinks and met some friends out at the Levitt. The place was pretty well packed. At 8pm, Turnpike Troubadours came out on stage and it couldn’t have been more perfect for me. This is the music that I love listening to at outdoor shows. If you mix in some Southern Soul, Bluegrass, Country and some Americana roots music, you’ll get the Turnpike Troubadours. They put on a great show, coming on stage around 8pm and playing until 10-10:30pm.

 

Give ’em a listen…
 
Something else that made me just as happy is this man…

I remember seeing him last fall at the music series at the Levitt. He brings his lasso out and teaches the kids how to lasso as well. It’s like as soon as he’s there the kids just come running, they all want to learn. Heck, I wanted to learn and Sy said “it’s just for the kids.” … I like to think he would’ve shown me, maybe next time. haha. I think I could just sit and watch him ring that lasso around for hours. Just one more thing I love about the South. It’s simple, it’s graceful, it’s the heritage and part of the way of life.