5 Things About Texas Every Out of Towner Should Know

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So we recently hosted some our most favorite people from Massachusetts. Now while I was born in Texas I was raised in Massachusetts for middle, high school and college but came back to Texas right after. I’m an interesting mix you could say almost like half of both-The North and The South.

I remember when I first moved to Massachusetts. I was probably the first and only person most of them had meet from Texas-much less out of town. They were a tight knit but welcoming crew. Needless to say I was inundated with Texas questions then and even now from time to time when a newcomer comes on down. Of course I live in the Houston area so it’s not like I’m out in the country.

That being said there are some common things every out of towner asks and should know.

  1. Cowboy Hats-NO everyone does not wear them or boots or jeans ironed, starched and tight-these are called Wranglers by the way. We will don our hats for Rodeo once a year and yes there are some people who wear them daily but NO you’re not going to see them everywhere.
  2. Cactus and Tumbleweed-You’re not going to see them. It’s not a dessert-in fact we have just about every climate covered here in Texas. So you’re not going to see cactus and tumbleweed everywhere. You will see beautiful sunsets that can be seen for miles and long long wait wide wide highways.
  3. Our Flag-We fly our flag equally-same height as the American flag and we fly it everywhere-both of them big and proud. Take in the site of those billowing flags everywhere you go. We even say our Texas Pledge in school right after our Pledge of Allegiance. We are the ONLY state allowed to do this.
  4. Pride-It’s not being rude it’s being proud. Texans are proud of their state and we are sad that you’re not as proud of yours. Texas our Texas-so many amazing things have happened here and well we are proud. We teach our children Texas History starting in Kindergarten and know all about our state flower, and bird, and insect as well as our heroes-Houston and Austin to name a few.
  5. Southern Hospitality-It’s real not fake. I guess it’s just how we are raised. You wave when someone lets you in, you say yes ma’am and yes sir without a thought, you open doors. It doesn’t mean we’re all best friends but it does mean we have manners.

I do also have to say while you’re here eat your heart out. I mean it-eat the food. We can chicken fry a steak  and make a biscuit and don’t even get me started about queso. Oh and yes we have Dr. Pepper everywhere!!!!

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Rodeo Houston Family Fun

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Houston,TX

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Rodeo Houston-I received tickets to the Rodeo show in excahnge for my honest and root tooting opinion.

 

It’s that time of year…you know when you’re driving down the road and traffic’s just a going slow because there’s a Chuck Wagon full of actual chuck wagons being pulled by horses, led by Cowfolk, and the bluebonnets pop up and the boots come out. It’s a Texas tradition time and Rodeo Houston is just that! We literally go to Rodeo every year-yes Houston has that world famous, most amazing rodeo and it’s not just for those late concert going people who two step. It’s for the littles too.

 

Houston Rodeo has a livestock show as well-what’s that you ask? It’s where all our local FFA students who have advanced come and show their livestock and sell them to community members who usually donate the animals back to the students along with some money for college. It where folks from all over can come and learn about livestock and the different types of animals raised in Texas.

 

Houston Livestock show and rodeo is the place to come dressed in your best cowgirl wear and support local vendors by buying your little an authentic but has to be pink cowgirl hat.

 

It’s where you get to see real live Longhorns up close and in a most friendly kind of way.

 

It’s where you get to collect cards with animals on them-every child’s dream!

 

It’s where you can walk around and find an amazing carnival full of fun filled rides-except it was mighty windy that day and our cowgirl hat blew off and our littlest Texan wasn’t having any of that.

 

It’s where you can try your luck at fun carnival games and win not one but four new stuffed animals just by fishing without bait.

It’s where you can eat cookie dough, and cotton candy and sausage and BBQ all in one place.

You can literally spend a while day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo-playing games, learning new things, planting, petting animals, seeing local high school art exhibits. If you get tired of the exhibit hall you can head outside where there’s a full fledged carnival with games, rides and food all in the shadow of our beloved Astrodome.

 

Houston is an amazing cultural city and the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo is a Texas tradition for young and old. Yeehaw. Add this one to your bucket list!

Battle For Texas the Experience-San Antonio

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San Antonio,Tx

This post is sponsored on behalf of Battle For Texas the Experience-all Texan statements, big hair, and ya’ll’s are completely my own.

This past week we did a little road tripping and made our way from Houston to San Antonio to fill ourselves with Texas pride. I was excited to check out the Battle For Texas The Experience museum since-shocking-I have never been!

Battle for Texas boasts OVER 250 ARTIFACTS TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Bowie, Travis, Crockett, Sequin and Santa Anna. They’re all represented in this incredible collection of many never-before-seen artifacts. This unforgettable, curated exhibition provides views with an in-depth perspective on the stirring story of the Battle of the Alamo. You’ll come away inspired by the historic battle and beaming with Texas pride .

Battle For Texas is actually located in the Rivercenter shopping area and is literally across the way from The Alamo. We opted to upgrade and take the immersive tour which allowed us to get a portable device and headphones that told stories and facts about each item we saw and events as they happened. This experience was complete with immersive reenactments on the device-pretty cool!

Now we went in the dead of summer so I must admit this was a nice little air conditioned break! Oh and check this out (I’m a history geek) when Santa Anna raised the red flag symbolizing that they would be taking no prisoners-death to all….do you know what Travis did? Shot this cannon ball at him! THIS IS THAT CANNON BALL-SO COOL!

They also had all of Santa Anna’s belongings once they took after the defeat-Remember the Alamo!

 

Check out Sam Houston’s boots!

Oh and the oldest Texas flag-known-hand made and awesome. See because Texas was it’s own country! The stars at night are big and bright….This museum was so much fun. The kiddos got paper coon skin hats to wear and we loved seeing all the artifacts. There was also a section which made you feel like you were actually in The Alamo during the siege-hits home. If you’re planning a trip to San Antonio add this one to your list!