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Recovered from SXSW Hangover? Bring on Hill Country Wine and Food
(Ground beef guru Josh Ozersky, from a 2008 Nightline appearance) Wednesday at approximately 4 p.m., culinary event planner Mike Thelin was driving around Austin in search of hardwood briquettes,...
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Head for the Hills
Each year thousands of vacationers flock to the Hill Country, the Central Texas destination that often draws comparisons to Tuscany for its tree-covered hilltops and rolling valleys. Fredericksburg is...
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TMBBQFest, “23 Pitmasters in 23 Days:” Louie Mueller BBQ
Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter...
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Eat, Prey, Love
In the old days the season started in mid-November, around the peak of the rut, but for a long time now opening day has been moved back to the first Saturday. Some years we need the woodstove, other...
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Franklin BBQ Takes Manhattan
Long lines out the door? Check. Running out of meat within three hours? Check. Just another night for Aaron Franklin of Austin’s Franklin Barbecue, except it happened on W. 26th St. in New York City....
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Roadside Attraction: Wild Boar Farms
WHAT: Wild Boar Farms, a roadside farm stand worth pulling over for. WHERE: Stonewall, at the northeast corner of Hwy 290 and Luckenbach Road. WHY: For starters, the head farmer’s name is Daniel...
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America’s Fastest Toll Road Crosses a Known Pig Route
Texas State Highway 130 bisects an unremarkable and scrubby stretch of country, giving drivers a route to San Antonio that bypasses the notoriously clogged I-35. The state’s newest toll road attracted...
View ArticleStop and Smell the Lavender
IT HAPPENED THE FIRST TIME I visited the South of France. My boyfriend and I were nuzzling our way through the countryside in a rented Renault when suddenly the same idea struck us like a bolt of...
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Ghost Writer
When I heard the rumor that the University of Texas regents were thinking of selling J. Frank Dobie’s storied Paisano Ranch to developers, I assumed that this was another example of the sort of...
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One for the Road
Believe it or not, you won’t have to venture outside Texas to sample deep-fried pork intestines, a Malaysian delicacy. Or visit a historic Hauptstrasse. Or lie blissfully alone on a beach that...
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The Not So Happy Campers
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include three corrections: (1) George and Philip Stacy did not sue Dick and Tweety Eastland in January 2007, as previously reported. (2) Stacy Eastland and...
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Weekend at Boerne’s
Day 1 When I mention to friends that I’ll be spending the weekend antiquing and eating German food along the historic hauptstrasse of a small Hill Country town, they assume I’m heading to...
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Ask the Wanderer: Best Texas Town to Live In? (The Votes Are In!)
Last week, I asked for a little help answering a California reader’s query about where in Texas he and his family should relocate. I was very happy to read all of your thoughtful comments, as well as...
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Trip Guide: Travaasa Austin
Read Pamela Colloff’s account of recovering at a luxurious (and kid-free!) adult summer camp from our May 2014 issue. STAY Travaasa Austin // Situated on a secluded, densely-wooded area that feels far...
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Song Premiere: “Sweet Loreen,” From Hal Ketchum’s First Album in Six Years
I’m the Troubadour is Hal Ketchum’s first record in six years, but the longtime country hitmaker (“Small Town Saturday Night,” “Hearts Are Gonna Roll”) and Grand Ole Opry member can’t really discuss...
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The Great Pyramide
In the tumultuous years between 1830 and 1860, about 20,000 Germans immigrated to Texas. They left their homeland because of its poor economic conditions, and they were drawn to Texas by the...
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Buying the Farm
In the early 1850s a small contingent of German immigrants journeyed into the heart of the Texas Hill Country, claiming a piece of land a few miles southwest of the recently settled community of...
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Where to Wander To Next: October 2016
“Once you are in Texas, it seems to take forever to get out, and some people never make it.” I’ve underlined that particular zinger of John Steinbeck’s in my much-dog-eared copy of Travels With...
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Where Has All the Hill Country Barbecue Gone?
It’s not extinct, but the Hill Country style of barbecue certainly belongs on the endangered list. Sometimes called the West Texas style, this method of cooking directly over coals–once pervasive–is...
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A Hill Country Hideaway at Contigo Ranch
This article originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “Guest Ranch Redefined.” A piece of land can be the glue that keeps the family together,” says...
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The Best Thing in Texas: An Escaped Kangaroo Takes a Wimberley Walkabout
WHO: A kangaroo who lives in Wimberley WHAT: This escaped fugitive remains at large in the Hill Country WHY IT’S SO GREAT: On Wednesday afternoon, consternation spread through Wimberley after a...
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A New Pipeline Through the Hill Country Is Pitting the Oil Industry Against...
On the day of the explosion, Randy Zgabay’s grandmother kept him inside. His grandfather would usually hold Randy, who was only eighteen months old, while his seven-year-old-sister, Laura, played in...
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Meet the Unruly Clan That Once Ruled the Hill Country
Today, expensive homes dot the hills west of Austin, but there was a time not so long ago when the same rugged terrain was ruled by an infamous clan of rough characters known as the cedar choppers....
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How a Small Hill Country Town Became a Hub for Traditional Country Music
On a fall evening in Brady, a town with about 5,300 people tucked in the Texas Hill Country, Tracy Pitcox helms the control board at the local station KNEL-FM 95.3, airing his Hillbilly Hits radio...
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Going With the Flow at Guadalupe River State Park
Sometimes the easy park gives you the most trouble. You expect challenges at a place like far-flung Bentsen–Rio Grande Valley State Park, at the very southern edge of the state, where I and my trusty...
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