The only good thing about Texas, they told me when I lived in Oklahoma, is that it separates the rest of the country from Mexican drug lords. There’s your next travel billboard right there!
I’ve traveled to and through the Lone Star State on various road trips. Down to Big Bend, along Route 66, I passed thru Pecos, Fredricksburg, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. Got to see the Marfa lights. I loved Balmorhea State Park with the big pool fed by warm water springs. Had a great time camping at Padre Island and Stephen Austin State Park.
My visits to Texas have been, without fail, most enjoyable. I never encountered anything but friendly people. I like Texas and those are the good things I have to say about it.
They’ve hosted several interesting cults. That’s always good reading.
Does that mean we Texans buy up all the drugs? That can’t be true!
Let me start with* The Texas Observer*, carrying the Liberal banner here since 1954; check out the Molly Ivins tribute issue. The Texas Freedom Network, “a mainstream voice to fight the religious right” opposes jokers like the State school board–source of so many embarrassing headlines.
Texas Music has been mentioned; in fact, I’ve mentioned it at length on The Dope. (No, not a reference to that Oklahoma snarker!) The Homesick Texanwrites from Noo York City, but her subject is Texas Food.
San Antonio is a gem of a city. Austin ain’t what it was 20 years ago. But they were saying that 20 years ago. It’s still a pretty nice little city, if a bit full of itself. People can live surprisingly well up in the Metroplex. El Paso is way out there.
Big Houston has a lot of good non-Texan stuff, too. People keep coming from all over the world, keeping parochialism at bay. We even have art! From the exquisite Menil Collection to the loud & rowdy Art Car Parade.
Our famously dreadful summer seems to be ending early; winters are mild, compared to much of the country. And we haven’t had a hurricane this year–so far!
<OliveOyl> It’s large… </OliveOyl>
It has a very pleasing shape. I’m serious. It’s distinctive, you wouldn’t mistake it for anything else but Texas, unlike some other states that are mostly square or ambiguously blobby. It has a nice balance of straight artificially-imposed borders and jaggedy natural borders. Texas is not the only well-shaped state, but it’s definitely in the top percentile.
Ah, amen to that.
Now, you just shut your filthy mouth! 
::knocks on wood::
And… what everyone else said: great barbecue; big, beautiful skies; friendly people ready to hand you a cold beer as long as you keep your liberal trap shut; the Tex-Mex; the brisket and ribs and various other assorted barnyard meats; oh, God, the food…
San Antonio
mild winters
“dry” heat (I hate being cold)
80 MPH legally on parts of I-35
no state income tax
WHATABURGER!!!
Exactly. The good thing about El Paso is that it keeps the violence in Juarez out of Las Cruces.
Texas government does not let anyone fuck with it’s denizens.
The only people who can garnish your wages here are the government itself or child support folks. (and rightly so)
I was joyed to find this out when I got into a dispute over a loan I got many years ago. The bill collector kept calling me and threatening to garnish my wages if I didn’t pay up. He had me scared shitless.
I made a phone call to an attorney to ask what my rights were. He laughed and told me “Don’t sweat it”. Then he went on to tell me why.
Next time that bill collector called I sure gave him what for. I laughed in his face when he threatened again to garnish my wages. He never called back after that.
Junior Brown
I miss home now. 
They took Dubya back.
Good Thing About Texas: it’s far away from here.
its Kinky:D
I almost got a job in Houston (HR got in the way). They speak my two main languages, my sense of humor was compatible with those of the people I met there, the food and weather were pretty nice (I can see how the weather would be too hot for many people but it is similar to “back home”) and housing costs were a lot more reasonable than in Philly, where I was living at the time.
Mind you, I still think they need to put cañizo over their parking lots (keeps the cars from roasting, a little bit). If someone with a huge-UV rips the covering off with his car, not only does he NOT get to sue the company over it, he’s got to pay to replace the covering.
The best part about Texas food isn’t the taste, really. Tasty food is everywhere. The best part is the social style of it. Food is a community production in Texas. A hundred people grilling half a cow on a Tuesday evening would not be an overly strange sight in Texas.
I’m almost certain that no part of Texas got ten feet of snow this winter or last winter. A definite plus in my book.
I went to Texas while on a trip to the US two years ago. I expected to hate it, but I wanted to visit a friend - I adored it. It was the highlight of the trip. Flower Mound, Texas. I was told just to avoid religion and politics and all would be fine, which I did.
First, it is where I held my first tarantula. As a recovered archnophobe, I needed to do that to show I had really done the trick. It was fantastic! Walking down around the lake near Flower Mound - I have never seen so much wildlife. Orb weaving spiders were everywhere. Lots of other critters. Squirrels racing back and forth across a squirrel-freeway outside the kitchen window. We were circled by vultures! Incredible!
I had my first Halloween. Being a spider addict, that was good - all of America decorated for my passion! We went on a hay ride with lots of kids who couldn’t believe this strange woman from Australia knew almost nothing about Halloween, or American candy. They set about educating me. You could not ask for more fun kids. They noticed that I kept looking the wrong way crossing roads, so they always made sure someone held my hand! I ended up with more candy than any of the kids, because they were all so keen to give it to me.
Then I had fried chicken. At Babe’s, Roanoke, Texas. I have never tasted chicken, mashed potatoes or creamed corn so good. Nor had so much fun with Texans being super nice to the foreigner.
I’m going to New Mexico and Louisiana next month for research. Guess where I’ll be stopping off? And guess where I’ll be eating?