Summer vacation is right around the corner, but that doesn’t mean you should panic. We’ve rounded up 68 of our favorite things to do with your toddlers, teens, and every kid in between. Dance the hokey pokey. Rope a horse. Eat way too many hot dogs. Zip down a waterslide. And yes, feed the animals.
Urban Adventures• Tower of the Americas San Antonio 600 Hemisfair Plaza Way, 210-207-8615 or toweroftheamericas.com• Cowtown Cattlepen Maze Fort Worth 145 E. Exchange Ave., 817-624-6666 or cowtowncattlepenmaze.com• Bat Watching Austin and Houston Austin: Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge at Lady Bird Lake. Houston: Waugh Drive
Karl Gebhardt and Gary Hill, two astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin, are racing to solve one of the greatest mysteries in science: What is dark energy? How does it work? Can it explain the origins of the universe? There’s only one problem. Dark energy may not actually
On April 19, 1993, the world watched as the Branch Davidian compound, outside Waco, burned to the ground after a 51-day standoff. Fifteen years later, witnesses and participants—from federal agents to loyal followers of David Koresh—remember what they saw during the deadliest law enforcement operation in U.S. history.
Ten years ago I was shot in Mexico City by a street thug who wanted to kill me. Since then, I’ve endured unbelievable pain and learned how to walk again, and I’m thankful for what I have: a new outlook on life, time with my family, and a chance to
Roger Clemens may be worthy of the Congressional testimony Hall of Shame, but should we really be so freaked out about his supposed steroid use?
When a UFO streaks across our skies— c’mon, the truth is out there!—Ken Cherry gets to work.
Thirty years later, we still don’t know who murdered Border Patrol agent Jose Gamez. Or maybe we do.
The best-selling Houston-based writer sets her new novel, The Palace of Illusions, in the fifth millennium BCE. Based on India’s epic Mahabharat poem, it examines love and war from the perspective of Princess Panchaali. (Read an excerpt.)What concerns did you have in tackling such a beloved
Stefan Merrill Block is a talent. Though his debut novel, The Story of Forgetting, sings a bit from the Jonathan Safran Foer hymnal (a precocious teen trying to unravel his family’s tragic history), the Plano native distinguishes himself with inventive plotting and an urbane Texas voice. High Plains
The first time nine-year-old Booger Red got drunk on beer, he decided, “I had already fucked up more ways than God was going to put up with . . . so I had in mind, the sky’s the limit from here on, I mean I can’t go to hell twice.”
There’s a short roster of rock and roll performers (Jagger, Springsteen) who can rivet your attention every time they step onstage. If you grew up in Texas, here’s a name on that list: Joe Ely. Those who have seen Ely give his all, particularly with his early Jesse Taylor/Ponty
The title track may lament the fact that even arrested adolescents grow old, but, if anything, James McMurtry sounds more energized than ever. On Just Us Kids (Lightning Rod), he and his longtime rhythm section—Daren Hess, Ronnie Johnson—have solidified their sound into a low, tribal rock growl, with
Like Joe Ely, Jo Carol Pierce grew up in the dusty vacuum of Lubbock, and though she was part of the town’s famed clique of talent, only in her late forties did she begin to take her writing seriously. She penned and performed Bad Girls Upset by the Truth,
He writes their songs, records their music, and gets the fifty-plus kids from Austin’s Palm School Choir onto high-profile stages such as NBC’s Today show and the South by Southwest music festival. Needless to say, this is not your typical school choir. The group has just released its sixth album,
“Just because you played the game doesn’t mean that you’re confident enough to coach.”
Help! My campsite neighbors are making love. Loudly.
Wayland grew up in Midland and has worked in the oil industry for nearly a decade. He is now a mud engineer for Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids in Victoria.When I was growing up in Midland, I didn’t want anything to do with the oil field. In junior high, you learn
J. M. W. Turner in Dallas; Discovery Green in Houston; Fiesta in S.A.
The best-selling Houston-based writer sets her new novel, The Palace of Illusions, in the fifth millennium BCE. Based on India’s epic Mahabharat poem, it examines love and war from the perspective of Princess Panchaali. (Read an excerpt.)The Palace of Illusions is a re-imagining of the
I have a very clear memory of returning from a birthday trip with my wife to Paris, where we were blissfully unaware of the awful happenings back home. This was in late April 1998, when cell phones weren’t ubiquitous and BlackBerrys didn’t exist—even e-mail was in limited use—so my first
I have been in the water business for more than 28 years. “The Last Drop” is the best article I have ever read about the state of water supplies, planning, and history of supply development in Texas [February 2008]. This article should be considered a great public service. However,
