I used to live in apartments across from the Astrodome. February was not my favorite time of year.
More advice for those moving to Texas:
Different parts of Texas are, yes, different. We’re big enough that separate regions can make fun of one another with justification. For example, I love the Central Texas Hill Country. Nicer scenery, more European influenced culture (with whole towns settled by Germans or Czechs).
I used to live near Houston, and I hate going back. The place is FLAT and LOUD and BRAZEN and HOT and MOSQUITO INFESTED.
San Antonio and on southward is more like Northern Mexico.
I’ve never been to East Texas, but it seems more like part of the Deep South than of Texas proper.
Driving up to Dallas/Fort Worth, and God help me, Lubbock and Abilene, is one big yawner. Flat, flat, flat.
West Texas scares me.
You’re right about East Texas, Reilly. Although as soon as you cross the border from Louisiana businesses start naming themselves with Texas or East Texas or E-Tex or something in the name, so you know where you are.
I’ve lived in Atlanta, Ga. No, East Texas is not the same as the Deep South. There are some similarities, but it’s still more Texan (we have oil wells - or at least did before the bust in the mid 80s) than Southern.
Well, from the perspective of a complete outsider - it’s more like, say, Mississippi in a cowboy hat than it is like the popular image of Texas.
Of course Dallas doesnt count, its back east. The west begins in Fort Worth.
I beg to differ, being from west Texas, regardless of what Fort Worth may say.
…and what’s this nonsense I hear about Lubbuck being west Texas?
Only eastern Texans say that…and people from Lubuck.
HA! It is NOT west Texas, not in spirit or geography (says me: the west is the part that sticks out. Lubbock is more panhandle that west Texas)
That’s right folks:
Not only is Texas a country in and of itself, but we’ve also subdivided ourselves.
Everyone knows that the real Texas is out West while the Rhinestone cowboys inhabit the eastern part.
No, no, no, Lubbock and Abiline are benign parts of the state. It just takes forever to get there.
West Texas is where you can stand at ground level and see seventy miles to the horizon, and there’s nothing there. Nothing except a cubic parsec’s worth of scrub brush, rattlesnakes, and bobcats. I have no idea what I’d do if my car broke down there. I don’t think there’s even cell phone towers in range.
Also, the air is so dry there that many people I know who’ve moved there have been troubled by nosebleeds.
Also, “San Jacinto” is “San Jacinto”. With a J. I always think it’s kind of amusing when even Spanish speakers use the Austin pronunciations for these street names.
More advice for moving to Texas: Be able to rattle off names of at least two heroes of the Texas Revolution who were not at the Alamo. My litmus test for knowing a real Texan is asking them who Deaf Smith was.
And this may be more personal, but do NOT talk shit about Sam Houston. He is my honest to God hero.
Indeed–West Texas begins at the Pecos River. If you’re east of the Pecos, you’re in East Texas!
That’d be my great-great-great-(great?)-uncle. Or whoever my great-grandmother’s great-uncle would be to me.
You are right about that. When My brother drives to Pecos from Austin, there is a two hour stretch of the road where his cell phone is dead. Not Roaming… DEAD.
It won’t even pick up Roaming signals.
When I used to drive to El Paso from Fort Worth, it would take about 11 hours.
In that two hours you have two populated areas : Big Spring and Midland/Odessa.
Other than that, its nothing. You see that mountain? good, hope you like it. That’s the point of interest for about 5 hours. Sometimes, the drive isn’t so bad. It’s like meditating I guess.
It reminds me of the time when my uncle flew in to DFW and hopped in a cab and told the driver he wanted to be taken to El Paso! Silly Yankees!
Actually West, Texas is in the Hill Country and home to some of the best Kolaches in the universe (outside of Snook).
Homebrew, I’ll respectfully disagree. The Hill Country is the Balcones Escarpment–Kendall County and the six surrounding counties, more or less. West is at the top of McKlennan County and the land is more like the Great Plains than limestone hills.
Hey!As a Dallasite,I beg to differ! Dallas is just more…modern and furriner influenced than other parts of Texas.
And I LIKE it that way.
My favorite part of the year always revolves around a trip to the State Fair. Last year we got in for 2 bucks each cuz it was Dr.Pepper 2-dollar Tuesday.If you brought in a specially marked Dr.Pepper can,they’d give you a coupon for a $2 entry.How COOL is that?
IDBB
If you’ve put off learning to read…maaaaaybe you need to lower your expectations.
I’m a transplanted Alvin-ite who now lives in Dallas. Instead of having to explain where I’m from and claiming Houston <shudder> as a home town these people know where I’m from! It’s also pretty citified, though I live on a lake so I’m surrounded by trees
Go Mustangs!
These are great, but I’m having to bite my tongue to prevent any “Alaska vs Texas” type jokes/brags from slipping out.
That being said, I almost moved to Texas last year. Still might.
What’s the best city? Here are my 3 choices.
Dallas, San Antonio, or Austin
Most of those Alaska brags are nothing but sound and fury, signifying nothing. Since you can’t run cattle over most the state, those parts don’t count for nuthin’
Whoohoo!Nice one,Homebrew.
And where did those idjets at the PR dept of the Mavs get the idea that a Maverick has anything to do with a horse?
From Yourdictionary.Com:
**mav.er.ick–
n.
An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.
One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter.
adj.
Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence: maverick politicians; a maverick decision.
[Possibly after Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-1870), American cattleman who left the calves in his herd unbranded .]**
IDBB
And real Texans know that Goliad was more important than the tourist trap in San Antonio.