MY TEXAS HAPPY PLACE

While any day is good when pies are involved on National Pie Day you have an excuse to eat all the pies and the Houston Life team did just that! From pecan to pizza to an Aussie Staple, the meat pie, Melanie Camp arranged a few samples for Lauren Kelly and Derrick Shore to dig into.

Author Liz Williams is a bone marrow transplant survivor and is using her book "The Junk-Bike Crew & Mattie's Match" to help kids understand what getting a bone marrow transplant is all about. Courtney and Derrick sat down to chat with Williams about her book and how she wants to donate books to children battling cancer.

A jockey’s day starts early. At Sam Houston Race Park, training starts before sunrise. For champion jockey Stewart Elliott, meeting the sun on a race track somewhere across the country has been part of his morning routine for over 40 years. Houston Life Correspondent, Melanie Camp spends a morning on the track with the 2004 Kentucky Derby Winner.

A jockey’s day starts early. At Sam Houston Race Park, training starts before sunrise. For champion jockey Stewart Elliott, meeting the sun on a race track somewhere across the country has been part of his morning routine for over 40 years. Houston Life Correspondent, Melanie Camp spends a morning on the track with the 2004 Kentucky Derby Winner.

Many families in Houston celebrate The Epiphany or Three Kings Day on January 6 with a Rosca De Reyes. This beautifully decorated sweet bread is the centerpiece of a long held tradition that celebrates the end of the Christmas season. Houston Life sent Melanie Camp along to Arandas Bakery in Sharpstown to learn more about, including the significance of baking in a little baby Jesus figurine into the bread.

Move over downward dog and make way for the goats! Goat Yoga is a fun way to boost your endorphins and get in a bit of exercise. Houston Life's Melanie Camp checked out a class through Goat Yoga Houston.

It seems everywhere you go right now, the world is decked out for the holidays. But, what about your home? Is it missing a little something special? Guided through the process by local floral pro, Ace Berry, Courtney and Derrick show you how to wow your friends with an amazing holiday centerpiece that you can make yourself!

All children deserve a safe and comfortable place to lay their heads but so many in Houston do not even have their own bed. Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a group of local volunteers who are doing their bit to make sure no child sleeps on the floor in Houston.

The Round Top Collection Has a New Store in Rice Village

Houston Life's Melanie Camp spotted a Yeti at the Houston Zoo and you can too! Zoo Lights is on now through January 8 and the Yeti will be there hanging out for selfies. It is just one of the many Zoo Lights attractions.

Goodwill maybe a great place to shop but did you know they also offer a number of free courses that help break down the barriers to employment. Houston Life's Melanie Camp has more on Goodwill Houston's EmployAbility program.

The Houston Grand Opera celebrates the return of El Milagro del Recuerdo. This mariachi opera is back on stage by popular demand. Houston Life's Melanie Camp went onstage to talk with the performers about the opera that means so much to many Houstonians.

Bowling and Bocce and Brunch, Oh my! Pinstripes combines the casual elegance of a local bistro serving Italian and American cuisine with the entertainment and excitement of bowling, bocce, and more.

Comcast Texas is investing in Houston communities giving neighbors a chance to reach greater heights by accessing the many opportunities available in our digital world. Their Digital Navigators pilot program is providing a back to basic technology curriculum that aims to close the digital divide

Houston is a diverse city, nearly nearly one in four Houstonians are not born here and this is reflected in our eclectic and delicious food scene.

Splashway Water Park & Campground is a fun place to take the kids for a daytrip or weekend away. Houston Life's Melanie Camp spent the day checking out all the fun things to do. Splashway has exclusive deals for Houston Life viewers. Head to splashway.com/houstonlife.

Houston band the Powell Brothers visited the Houston Life set to chat with Melanie Camp and perform their new song, "Drive" ahead of playing Fan Fest at Minute Maid before the Astro's first game in the 2022 World Series

League City has a lot of beautiful murals and many are painted by Artist Adam Socie. Houston Life's Melanie Camp caught up with Adam for a chat and a bit of live painting.

What is it like to sing the anthem to a stadium of people? Houston Life's Melanie Camp caught up with international vocalist and co-founder of Jazz Houston, Belinda Munro, moments after soundcheck to find out what is it like to sing the anthem at Minute Maid before an Astros Game.

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes ahead of a game at Minute Maid Park. Houston Life's Melanie Camp spent game day morning with the Groundskeeping crew, speaking with Head Groundskeeper, Izzy Hinojosa, about the science and magic of getting the field just right for a great game of baseball.

‘Tis the season for extra oooooo’s at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. ArBOOretum is back. Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Houston’s best fall festival with a number of fun activities that are fun for the whole family. Plus, there will be plenty of candy for all!

Supporting the Astros is a family affair for Gregory & Tonya Dolphin and Kay & Eric White. Melanie Camp learns a cheer or two with the help from Minute Maid security.

The car made famous by the movie ‘Back to the Future’ is headed to the future with its first new model in 40 years. That is right, a new DeLorean has been announced and in anticipation of its arrival, Houston Life headed to Classic DeLorean in Humble to take a look at a bit of the company’s history.

Houston Life correspondent Melanie Camp went back to school to see what it is like to take a class with an award-winning teacher.

The sweetest house in the world is in Houston at Sweets by Belen. This place is a go to for the Houston Life team whether we are celebrating birthdays or satisfying a sweet tooth craving. But the story behind Belen Bailey's journey from Peru to teaching to baking is just as sweet as the alfajors she bakes in honor of her mother and grandmother.

In District 13 6A and UIL Region 2, the Woodlands HS Volleyball teams are the ones to beat. The Woodlands have the depth of a strong Junior Varsity and Varsity team...and two sets of sisters.

In Conroe, there is a group of young people you probably don’t want to mess with. They are the Conroe Scallywags. A Junior Roller Derby team that meets once a week at the Rainbow Roller Rink

Corsicana has gotten a lot of attention in recent months due to the hit Netflix docuseries Cheer, which follows the top-tier Navarro College cheerleading squad. Cheer portrays the town as quaint and sleepy, but for those who know Corsicana outside of the small screen, the biggest draw is the town’s burgeoning art scene.

Whether it’s a road trip to a neighboring city or a resort a few miles away, sometimes you just need to get out of your house.

Many folks think of McKinney as just another DFW suburb, but no matter how close McKinney is to Big D, it’s worthy of a day trip all its own. McKinney has history, a lively square, and plenty of personality to keep a traveler entertained and well-fed all day long. Collin County History MuseumPioneer Collin McKinney was such a pivotal figure that the county took his first name and the town took his last name—an accolade not even Sam Houston or Davy Crockett can claim. This museum sits inside the old 1911 post office and mixes new technology with treasured artifacts to create an interactive history lesson. Heritage Village at Chestnut SquareOn two city blocks sit more than half a dozen historic homes and buildings, including the 1854 Faires House, the oldest house in McKinney.

I’ve booked a night at Hudspeth River Ranch via Explore Ranches, an online platform that offers guests overnight stays at top-tier private ranches in Texas, California, Colorado, and New Mexico. Explore Ranches’ properties tend to run more expensive due to the size of the accommodations and the various optional amenities. As kids, Sarah and Abbey Strunk sipped the waters that bubbled from the limestone creekbed on their family’s Hudspeth River Ranch. Kleberg, Explore Ranches’ co-owner, has a personal connection to this mission. If you want to protect Texas land, you need to collaborate with landowners.

It marked the first rendezvous of the American space shuttle with Russia’s space station Mir. Also on board, Eileen Collins, an American, became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle, and C. Michael Foale became the first British-born American astronaut to walk in space. “I saw that as an avenue for me to go to space,” Harris said. In August 1990, Harris began a year of training and evaluation with 22 classmates at Johnson Space Center. We have liftoffSpace Center Houston, the official visitor center of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, reopened in July after a temporary closure due to COVID-19.

This fall marks the 27th anniversary of the release of Richard Linklater’s iconic, coming-of-age movie, Dazed and Confused. Tapping into the most famous line of dialogue in the movie, Alright, Alright, Alright: An Oral History of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused by Melissa Maerz unpacks everything a dedicated viewer would want to know about this timeless classic. I had just started my first year of high school, and I remember identifying with Mitch. Early on, I’d used Alright, Alright, Alright as a placeholder title in my book proposal. But everyone convinced me to keep Alright, Alright, Alright because it’s so iconic.

“I remind people that javelinas are not dangerous,” says Raymond Skiles, a retired Big Bend National Park wildlife biologist. Over the decades, their range has receded to the South Texas brush county, the western Edwards Plateau and the Trans-Pecos. According to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, which has conducted aerial surveys of javelina populations, Texas harbors about 200,000 javelinas. Despite these threats, “javelinas are doing very well in South Texas,” says Chico Barrera, a Kingsville-based TPWD natural resources specialist. The javelina is also a cultural icon in South Texas, starring as the official mascot for Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s athletic programs.

Down a rural farm road on the outskirts of Bergheim, 40 minutes north of San Antonio, lies the green pasture nurturing Texas' first legal hemp farm. The Ruples primarily focus on cannabidiol, or CBD, a naturally occurring extractable compound found in hemp plants. Through their company, Pur IsoLabs, they have been formulating custom CBD products with hemp from Kentucky and Oregon. Now, this farm gives them a chance to grow and manufacture purely Texas products. It will likely be the first fully vertical hemp and CBD operation in the state that grows, harvests, dries, extracts, formulates, and manufactures CBD and hemp products in one place.

It’s a late October morning in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, and Molly Cummings is atop a scaffold, foraging alligator juniper berries from a wild tree. The spirits company produces two gins, WildBark and WildJune, which are both distilled from rye and malted barley and infused with juniper berries native to the Davis Mountains. A fellow scientist told her where to find alligator juniper, also known as checkerbark, which grows above approximately 6,000 feet in the Davis Mountains. While she was collecting alligator juniper berries, she found another type of juniper that wouldserve as the backbone for WildJune. The plant, red berry juniper, is a rare species mainly found in parts of West Texas and the Panhandle, with the richest concentration in the Davis Mountains.

It takes tenacity to live on the Texas coast, and perhaps nobody knows that more than the people of Palacios (pronounced Puh-lash-iss). This bay front town, halfway between Houston and Corpus Christi, has weathered many storms in its day. When you’re finished, grab a cone of Blue Bell ice cream for the road and visit the neighboring shops on Main Street. My favorite spot to fish is the public pier of South Bay Park in front of the Luther Hotel. To view the Taylor episode visit thedaytripper.com.

“That’s the tiny town in the middle of the desert with a Prada store, right?” Well, yes and no. Prada Marfa is not in Marfa proper, but instead a 40-minute drive west, outside Valentine. Built 15 years ago, Prada Marfa borrows elements from pop art, minimalism, and land art. “Pre-social media, it was left to its own devices for a long time,” Elmgreen told Ballroom Marfa in an interview celebrating the piece’s 15th anniversary. Instead of collapsing back into dust, Prada Marfa became a destination in its own right.

During that time period, Texas women formed suffrage clubs in cities like Denison, Taylor, Granger, Dallas, and Fort Worth. Hobby called a special legislative session to discuss granting women the right to vote, and on March 26, 1918, he signed the bill into law. White women knew white men would not support any measure that allowed Black women to vote—or that encouraged interaction between white women and Black men at polling places—so they excluded Black women from their suffrage organizations. Game-ChangersThese prominent activists changed the way Texans thought about women’s right to vote. As a journalist for Laredo newspapers, she supported women’s suffrage and urged women to participate in the public sphere.

If pondering whether to head to the renowned Round Top Antiques Show, which is currently underway, and wondering what you might find there, the answer is pretty simple: Little has changed in the age of COVID-19, other than the obvious. There’s a similar gathering in the spring, but this year’s event was canceled with the pandemic’s onset. Scattered across roughly 65 venues around Round Top, a burg measuring some 610 acres and famously boasting a permanent population of fewer than 100 people, the antiques fair also casts its net over other towns and communities such as Fayetteville, Carmine, Burton, and Warrenton. All venues agreed upon adjustments with an eye toward “putting together a show that feels safe and healthy to everyone—and there’s a lot of fresh air at all the venues,” says Katie Stavinoha, publisher of The Round Top Antiques Show Guide and Round Top Register. The antiques fair doesn’t have a way to police the landscape, leaving everyone to mind the honor system of being a good neighbor, Plant explains.

With COVID-19 pushing many people to seek respite in the outdoors, state parks across Texas are more popular than ever. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has worked to control crowds by limiting capacity and requiring advance bookings. If you’re looking to steer clear of the most popular parks and find an outdoors escape, consider these seven state parks, which according to TPWD are some of the least-visited in the system. Annual visitors: 5,929Located near Devil’s Sinkhole is Kickapoo Cavern State Park, characterized by scrub-covered limestone hills and plenty of wildlife. At the edge of the Big Thicket just 10 miles north of Beaumont, the state park features fishing, biking, birding, and camping opportunities along the free-flowing creek.

Ask three vintners what it means to make “natural wine” and you’ll get three different answers, probably accompanied by a shrug. And yet, natural wine production is on the rise across the country. Think of natural wine as less is more. By forgoing those tools, natural wine producers leave themselves more exposed to nature’s whims, making their own jobs harder. 512-829-1650;southoldfarmandcellar.comRobert Clay VineyardsTry the pétillant naturel, a crowd-pleasing entry into natural wine for lovers of rosé and bubbles.113 Austin St., Mason.

The Texas Kolache Trail has made these Czech treats destination-worthy, but outside of towns such as West and Ellinger, you can still find some excellent eats, say along the Austin-to-San Antonio Interstate 35 corridor. Dos Gatos Kolache Bakery in San Marcos divides its menu into “Texas Kolaches” (the ones with meat or savory veggies) and “Czech Kolaches,” those with fruit, cream, or cheeses. While some bakeries serve klobasnek that look like pigs in a blanket, they are more like puffy pastry rolls. There will be no powdered sugar spilled, no grease from a fast-food burger, no unseemly shirt stains, unless you somehow topple a blueberry kolache onto yourself. Appreciate the travel-worthiness of road kolaches.

The fall foliage season is upon us, providing colorful scenery in every region of Texas. The latter park’s website notes fall color is coming slightly earlier this year because of cold weather in September. East Texas provides plenty of opportunities for fall foliage lovers, with its heavily wooded areas. David Creech, director of SFA Gardens, notes the best time to see the Japanese maples in fall color is the end of November and early December. Finally, fall foliage in the Lower Rio Grande Valley usually doesn’t arrive until December and goes into January.

A trip to Taylor provides the essentials of any Lone Star diet: slow-smoked bar­becue and cold local beer. Louie Mueller BarbecueKnown as the “Cathedral of Smoke,” this spot is one of Texas' most beloved barbecue joints. Since Louie Mueller first started serving barbecue in 1949, it’s been a no-frills kind of place. The separate bars and jukeboxes tell the story of segregation in Taylor, but also how the community found common ground in great local barbecue. Davis Grocery and BarbecueCheck out this under-the-radar grocery store and barbecue stop if you’re still in the mood for a snack.

They’re from India and Pakistan, so the sight of them grazing along the coastal prairies of South Texas may seem incongruous. The vast majority of these nilgai are descended from animals introduced on the legendary King Ranch in nearby Kleberg County. In 1924, Caesar Kleberg, the head of King Ranch, was deep into a long-term wildlife restoration project on his range. King Ranch is a vast collection of land—at 825,000 acres, it’s larger than Rhode Island. “We do roughly 400 commercial hunts a year.”After decades in South Texas, the animals have left their mark on the ranchlands.

Today, we’re featuring the iconic Texas-born ice cream company who some say makes the “best ice cream in the country” — Blue Bell Creameries. Ice cream flavors include 25 classic year-round options like homemade vanilla, cookies ’n cream and moo-llenium crunch. It wasn’t until the 1980s when Blue Bell ice cream was available in stores outside of Texas. However, the company says it was quick to claim a spot as one of the country’s go-to ice cream brands. What’s your favorite Blue Bell ice cream flavor?

It wasn’t until I was driving out of the parking lot that I remembered the fried Oreo. Lucky for me, organizers replaced the fair as best as they could with the Big Tex Fair Food Drive-Thru. It felt good to see the 55-foot-tall iconic Big Tex, even if he wore a face mask and the usual crowds didn’t surround him. It felt good to taste food that, even if you can get it elsewhere, somehow tastes better at the fair. When baseball season ends, football begins, and the State Fair of Texas hosts the Red River Showdown between Texas and Oklahoma.

First stop, Gonzales, the South Texas town on the Guadalupe River where, in October 1835, the first shots of the Texas Revolution were fired. At Rochelles Canoe Rental in Graford, 19 miles west of Mineral Wells, you can rent canoes and kayaks for a 10-mile journey down the gentle Brazos River. The tour ends at historic San Pedro Springs in San Pedro Park, the oldest public park in Texas. The fort was originally built to protect West Texas settlers in the mid- to late-1800s. Its only another 15 miles south to Albany, where I take half a day to explore The Old Jail Art Center.

By then, I had developed a pretty good eye for spotting Texas wildlife and my newly acquired skills translated surprisingly well to the East African landscape. The Texas terrain was just as beautiful and mysterious as the Serengeti; only the animals had changed. The state offers many places to view wildlife, including state and national parks, state wildlife management areas, national wildlife refuges, and Nature Conservancy lands. The good news is theyre finally repopulating Texas waters.The green turtle is just one of five sea turtle species that regularly visit the states coastline. Prairie dog populations once spread across most of West Texas, including a 25,000-square-mile town with over 400 million prairie dogs.

As the author of the popular Hank the Cowdog series of childrens books, Erickson and his wife, Kris, regularly visit schools across the region to read Hank stories and perform music. The first episode features The Boxer, a story from The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, the very first of the 74 books in the series. The Hank the Cowdog stories provide innocent humor and laughter, Erickson says. There is an innocent, timeless quality in the Hank stories and we need that right now. Well provide gentle entertainment to people in any form that works, and right now that includes YouTube videos.

Shelly Wilfong, a Dallas-based wine educator and host of the forthcoming podcast This Is Texas Wine, says the states wineries are crafting well-regarded, award-winning products that deserve attention. If you havent given ros a chance, spring and summer months are the perfect time to try a chilled glass. Though most Texas grapes are grown in the High Plains near Lubbock, there are nearly 500 wineries scattered around the state producing all manner of pink wine. 2019 Dandy RosProduced by Austin-based winemaker Rae Wilson, this lovely, light-bodied, dry French Provenal-style wine is made primarily from grapes grown in the Texas High Plains. 2019 Lewis Wines Round Mountain RosThis new wine is unique because its made entirely from grapes grown in the Texas Hill Country.

Heres a collection of Texas movies to watch in the comfort of your own home. Also see: The Last Picture Show, The Tree of Life, RushmoreHorror / Action: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974Few horror movies are as iconic as the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Varsity Blues isnt as bad as The Room or Troll 2, but if theres any Texas movie worthy of the Mystery Science Theater 3000treatment, its this one. Also see: Holes, Glory RoadRomance: Days of Heaven , 1978Terrance Malick is the elder statesman of the essential, canonical Texas movie directors. Days of Heaven, his second feature, is a lyrical meditation on pastoral life in the Texas Panhandle in the early 1900s.

While the Houston zoo is closed to the public, its creating and sharing educational videos and virtual entertainment. While the Houston Zoo has used webcams for years, the number of people watching them has skyrocketed since the zoo closed to the public. Each week we had hundreds of thousands of viewers, but since weve closed, weve had 1.3 million folks visit the webcams, says Lauren Wappler, the zoos public relations manager. The Facebook Live videos have also been a success, featuring different animals every weekday. The live videos have been great for the zookeepers to interact with guests, Wappler says.

While the Houston zoo is closed to the public, its creating and sharing educational videos and virtual entertainment. While the Houston Zoo has used webcams for years, the number of people watching them has skyrocketed since the zoo closed to the public. Each week we had hundreds of thousands of viewers, but since weve closed, weve had 1.3 million folks visit the webcams, says Lauren Wappler, the zoos public relations manager. The Facebook Live videos have also been a success, featuring different animals every weekday. The live videos have been great for the zookeepers to interact with guests, Wappler says.