Do I Dare to Eat a Peach?
As a kid I was the pickiest eater you have ever seen, and family meals gave new meaning to the words “food fight.” But I gritted my teeth and overcame it—one disgusting tomato at a time.
July 2011 Issue
Features
The Margarita Variations
On the rocks or frozen? Salt or no salt? And what tequila is best? So many questions, but these four recipes make it easy for you to shake up the best margaritas around.
Hall of Fame
Hugo Berlanga D–Corpus ChristiTenure: Representative from 1977 to 1999Number of times on the Best list: 3I was the first Hispanic speaker pro tempore in the history of the House. I served under Gib Lewis, and he later told me that the reason he selected me is that…
2011: The Best and Worst Legislators
For the Eighty-second Legislature (our twentieth at the Capitol), everything old was new again: the state faced a budget deficit; the governor harbored presidential ambitions; the members of the Best list were hard to find; and the names on the Worst list picked themselves.
Feature
The Not So Happy Campers
For more than seven decades, Camp Mystic has been one of the prettiest, happiest, and most exclusive destinations in Texas. But after a bitter, multimillion-dollar legal battle, the very thing that the owners cherished—family—may be the force that tears the camp apart for good.
Columns
Offering Fine Advice Since 2007
Spousal adjustments, fly abatement, soccer parenting, and the truth about creased jeans. …
Capitol Affair
How architecture changed the balance of power at the Legislature and other observations from my three decades covering Texas politics.
Sarah Bird
Sink or Swim
In an excerpt from Sarah Bird's new novel The Gap Year, a single mom prepares to send her only daughter off to college. Guess which one is a wreck.
Letter From Cleveland
The Worst Hard Time
My hometown of Cleveland has become the most disgraced community in America because of a brutal, unspeakable crime that has set everyone against one another.
Reporter
San Antonio’s North River Walk
The two-year-old extension of the famed promenade offers Roman antiquities, Roman delicacies, and plenty of opportunities for roamin’.
How to Cut the Herd
When Sam Graves and his 22-year-old bay gelding, Old Hub, beat ten other cowboys to win $150 in the first advertised cutting competition, in Haskell in 1898, he could not have imagined how the sport would evolve. Today the National Cutting Horse Association, which hosts the World Championship Futurity, in…
Jason Macias, Night Police Officer
Macias has served as a patrolman with the San Antonio Police Department for the past seven years. He works the shift that runs from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. (known as the “dog watch”) and is based out of the Central Substation, which oversees downtown and its surrounding area. A…
Web
The Drop Everything List
All-American Burger Festival, Urban Cowboy Musical, Offshore Fishing, Bill Callahan, Christmas in July, and seven-on-seven football . . .
Marquee Grill and Bar
Many things can be learned by butting heads with other chefs in a reality-TV cooking show. But the biggest lesson is this: If the judges ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. And what does that translate to in real life? Substitute “clients” for “judges” and you’ve got it. Which is why…
Beachy Keen
Grab your swimsuit, hop in the car, and drive to one of these four coastal getaways to beat the heat.
A Q&A With Bill Broyles
The founding editor of TEXAS MONTHLY on the magazine’s first Best & Worst Legislators list.
A Little Bit Country
Robert Ellis's new album, Photographs, is influenced by both his folk and country roots.
The Drop Everything List
Parker County Peach Festival, History on Tap, Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game, and the Buddy Holly musical . . .
The Drop Everything List
Little Joe's Picnic, Fireworks on the Brazos, Steve Earle, Star-Spangled Spectacular, Dock Dogs and Josiah Media Fest . . .
Web Exclusive
Rick Perry v. Forensic Science
Larry Swearingen has ten scientists and doctors who say he isn't a killer. He also has a new execution date.
The Drop Everything List
Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown, the Texas Shakespeare Festival, Blue Lapis Light, and Lyle Lovett . . .
A Q&A With Courtney Bond
The associate editor on classic margaritas, tequila, and writing about food and spirits.
Web Exclusive
A Q&A With Mimi Swartz
The executive editor on writing about Camp Mystic, legal battles, and lawyers.
Web Exclusive
21st-Century Slacker
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Slacker, a couple of dozen filmmakers remake Richard Linklater's indie flick.
Miscellany
The Usual Suspects
There’s an old joke that goes like this: A girl is out milking the family cow one morning when a stranger rolls up and asks if her parents are at home. The girl yells out, “Mama, there’s a man here to see you!” Her mother peers out the door and,…
Roar of the Crowd
Roar of the Crowd
Spoiled Sports I have yet to open my May issue because every time I see that cover, it shocks me. America’s Team?! How can you call any team that has never won a championship “America’s Team”? Please keep in mind that the firing of Wade Phillips was a bigger news…
Cover Credit
Cover Credit
Composite photograph by Randal Ford. Styling by Lauren Smith Ford. Hair and makeup by Franchiska Bryant. Wardrobe courtesy of Allens Boots, Julian Gold, Neiman Marcus, and Sheplers.
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