weathered dining room looks like a bunkhouse (it was). The cooks look as if they should be tending a chuck wagon (they have). Owner Tom Perini, wearing boots, pressed jeans, and a white Stetson, looks like the gentleman rancher he is. The only meats Perini Ranch Steakhouse serves are ribeye, strip, filet, and prime rib, but that lineup has been satisfying customers for 27 years. Wet-aged, butter-tender, and extravagantly marbled, the USDA Top Choice meat is seasoned with Perini’s dry rub (salt, pepper, garlic, beef base, and a touch of oregano). Then it is expertly cooked over mesquite coals. Yes, there may be steakhouses with fancier equipment and decor, but I’ll gladly take the limestone fireplace at Perini’s. For a steak that tastes the way God intended, there’s not a better place in Texas. 3002 FM 89, 325-572-3339. PS
15. Take in the River Walk at Christmas, in San Antonio
The Alamo and the Buckhorn Saloon are only steps away, but the real action is down by the water, where enormous strands of oversized blue, green, orange, and red lights dangle from the trees and everyone seems thrilled to be celebrating the holidays in San Antonio. As our family stood on a footbridge just west of Navarro, a boat full of carolers approached and slipped beneath us. We all waved, and a singer called out to my four-month-old son, “Merry first Christmas!” Such are the simple yet unforgettable memories we will treasure every holiday to come. BDS
16. Climb Mount Cristo Rey, near El Paso by Bobby Byrd
You haven’t been to El Paso until you’ve made the pilgrimage to Mount Cristo Rey on a feast day. Sure, its peak is in New Mexico and its roots boil up out of Mexico, but it’s still El Paso. Thousands will visit the statue of Christ the King. It’s 4.4 miles round-trip, with huge vistas of the Chihuahua Desert, the Franklin Mountains, and the Rio Grande. Get lost amid a river of brown faces, some gringos, abuelitos, cholos, pretty girls, and barefoot penitents, like the monk in a white robe with bleeding feet. Spanish is in the murmur of prayers and Hail Marys, voices giving thanks and asking forgiveness, the promises of love, the secrets and gossip. At the top the 42-foot Christ welcomes everybody. The pilgrims light candles, weep, pray, take photos, laugh, sing. But eventually they must come back down—legs aching, feet sore, happy and at peace. Byrd is the co-founder of Cinco Puntos Press.
17. Dive in at Dolan Falls, along the Devils River
The Devils River may be the state’s greatest natural wonder. Running southward from its headwaters near Ozona to Lake Amistad on the Mexican border, it is one of the most remote rivers in the country. The first thing you notice is its color: Dazzling turquoise pools call to mind travel posters from Tahiti. Then there is its purity: It tastes like expensive mineral water. Then there is the wildlife that abounds everywhere: hawks, falcons, and belted kingfishers in the air and beavers, spotted gars, and smallmouth bass in the water. The most spectacular feature of this spectacular river is Dolan Falls, which lies a mile or so south of the Devils River State Natural Area, near Del Rio. Here water cascades into a thirty-foot-deep, crystalline pool that is probably the best place in the state to go for a swim. Climb the limestone rocks on the downstream side of the falls, then dive into the swirling water. There is no other experience like it. SCG
18. Drive the River Road, near Lajitas
It doesn’t have a name, there’s hardly a sign or marker, yet it’s one of my favorite vistas in the entire state, with an amazing view across time itself. Take FM 170 from Terlingua past Lajitas, and you’ll suddenly find yourself driving along the Rio Grande. The road twists and curves sharply as it rolls west. In a few miles, you’ll pass a rest stop with three tepees, and right away, you begin a steep climb up the two-lane road. At the top, pull over. Scramble over the giant rocks, but scramble carefully: It’s a long way down. The only other sound will be the wind. You can see for miles. That’s the dark and impenetrable Sierra Rica mountains, in Mexico; on our side, to the east, are the Chisos Mountains. Look south at the river as it snakes through Big Bend. Though the Rio Grande is narrow and small or all trickled out through most of the state, here you get a sense of how mighty it is—the river seems to split this whole rugged country in two even as it gently flows along, as it’s been doing for millions of years. Michael Hall
19. Drink a Free Beer at the K. Spoetzl Brewery, in Shiner
Prosit! That’s what ought to come out of your mouth before the refreshing goodness that is a free beer goes into it. It’s a toast that means “good health.” The K. Spoetzl Brewery has been in operation for more than one hundred years and offers tours every weekday. Included in the price of admission (free!) is a visit to the hospitality room. There you can pay homage to the state’s German and Czech heritage with a fresh-poured cup of one of the six or seven beers brewed on-site. The first one comes with three wooden nickels that can each be redeemed for another free beer. Prosit, indeed. 603 E. Brewery, 361-594-3383. DC
20. Fish with your kids at Caddo Lake
Did you know that Caddo Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in the South? Or that it contains the largest cypress forest in the world? Or that this bald cypress wetland, home to four-hundred-year-old trees and some nine hundred species of plants and animals, is the only natural lake in the state? Well, your kids probably didn’t either. So grab your children and your gear and go fishing. Spring is the best time to