Squeeze Play
Expect the young accordionists at the Big Squeeze contest to bring their A games, not only to win but also to impress Flaco Jiménez, a maestro of the instrument, who will be performing. Latino Cultural Center, March 24,
dallasculture.org
Day 1
Shop Till You Drop
Ten Texas films—selected from over 12,000 submissions— were screened at Sundance this year, so it’s no surprise a Texas-size celebration was held to honor these filmmakers and their films. The Texas party, hosted by the Austin Film Society and Texas Monthly, attracted a large and avid crowd of filmmakers, celebrities, and moviegoers at Cisero’s Ristorante on Main Street.
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In Texas Monthly’s inaugural issue (forty years ago this month, in February 1973), writer Richard West exhorted “weekend wanderers” to pack up and embrace the three-day vacation. “With a little imagination, planning, and a basic Texas road map,” he wrote, “a very real quality of leisure and excitement can punctuate your work weeks.”
It’s no surprise that, as a recent study revealed, Texans prefer to vacation in Texas. Given the state’s size, we have more than enough staycation options. But since our last roundup of the most notable Texas lodgings, in 2004, there have been some significant shifts. Design-driven boutique hotels are now ubiquitous, and with the explosion of real-time online reviews, fancy extras like designer toiletries are quickly becoming obligatory.
A mere fifteen minutes after being buzzed into this secluded wellness resort about thirty miles northwest of downtown, I was floating in an infinity-edge pool with a margarita in hand. As I looked out over the wooded hills surrounding scenic (if drought-depleted) Lake Travis, I struck up a conversation with a fellow guest. A professor from Pittsburgh (by way of Italy), he had been at Travaasa for almost two weeks and had a couple more days to go.
Situated on a six-hundred-acre spread thirty minutes north of downtown, this 1,002-room resort has half a dozen restaurants, a six-acre water park, a 36-hole golf course, and a 26,000-square-foot spa, as well as its own Starbucks and FedEx shipping center. It’s larger than many Texas towns, not to mention every other Marriott resort in the world. But before you run screaming for the nearest boutique hotel, let me assure you that staying here doesn’t feel like being trapped on an overcrowded cruise ship.
This secluded country escape roughly halfway between Austin and Houston should have a warning posted at its entrance: “Caution: Guests may become incurably spoiled. Stay at your own risk.” Once inside its gates, you’ll wend your way along a narrow road through acres of bucolic farmland, passing organic gardens, pastures of grazing horses, and a sizable pond encircled by white Adirondack chairs, two of which are so laughably oversized they’d make Shaq look like Edith Ann.
