A Christmas miracle in the Lone Star State as millions of Texans got to see snow in some of the most southern reaches of our state! Here’s a look at the snow in College Station, home to our little production known as The Texas Bucket List! ENJOY!
The Texas Bucket List – The Devastation of Hurricane Harvey
PORT ARANSAS, Texas – Along the Texas Gulf Coast, the destruction from Hurricane Harvey is still clearly evident and hard to comprehend.
Friday, August 25th, 2017 is a night the people in this part of Texas will never forget. It will be remembered as the night Harvey came ashore.
Just 24 hours prior, Hurricane Harvey was only a category 1 hurricane and wasn’t expected to be much of threat. Then, it strengthened.
“Wednesday we went into the meeting thinking, ‘Hey, we think it’s only going to be a one,” said Jeffery Hentz, president and CEO of Port Aransas Tourism Bureau. “We should be okay, but let’s all be prepared.’ In the next 24 hours we went from we should be okay to evacuate. We had about six hours to evacuate the city.”
For hours the coast was battered by 130 mile per hour winds, heavy rains, and a massive storm surge.
“You couldn’t even hear yourself think it was so loud and so strong,” Johnnie, a brave Texan who rode out the storm, shared.
The winds died down, the rain eventually went away, and the cleanup began.
“Doing what people are supposed to do in situations like this,” Johnnie said about those helping clean up in the after math of the storm. “Forget about all that other bologna and stuff and pitch in and help one another. Get things straightened out, and then you can go back to raising hell with one another after it’s all over with.”
The Port Aransas marina, a crucial part of the local economy is slowly rising back out of the sea.
“This is one of the greatest fishing towns, to me, in the country, let alone the world,” Jeffery said. “Our marina was virtually shut down. We had 60, 70 boats that were down sunk below. We’re still several weeks away to where we could have a fully operational marina. Even then we have millions and millions of dollars of damage from here all the way down into the channel of work that is going to have to be done.”
Homeowners continue to rebuild, restore, or tear down their homes.
“The ones that didn’t get a direct hit; a lot them got roof and water damage,” Sandy, a Rockport resident whose home was destroyed in the storm, says. “So, even the ones that you see from the outside that might look like they’re unharmed, some of them are totally devastated inside, so they have to be torn down. A lot of people are still living in tents. We have people that are living in parts of their house, me.”
All the debris in the Port Aransas area is being moved to staging area just south of town, known as Mount Port Aransas.
“There’s a massive amount of debris,” Jeffery explained. “Obviously when you 80 to 90 percent of your town blown up the way Hurricane Harvey did to our destination, there’s a lot of debris, as you can see around here. That’s everybody’s homes and businesses out there, including ours.”
With every brush stroke, every hammer strike, and every load of debris Rockport and Port Aransas are slowly but surely on the road to recovery.
“Our situation is dyer, but we’re getting ourselves out of it,” Jeffery said. “The greatest chapters of Port A have yet to be written.”
To help our fellow Texans get back on their feet, visit the Rebuild Texas Fund at www.rebuildtx.org or the following local sites for Port Aransas www.newdayportafund.com and Rockport www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/2421485.
This Weekend on The Texas Bucket List – Chico’s Tacos, a Burger in Cleburne, Texas Fire Museum
On this episode of The Texas Bucket List, we’re checking out a hot museum, chowing down on an award winning bacon cheese burger, and drowning in a sauce so good it steals the show from the unique tacos it smothers.
First up we head to Beaumont to explore the Fire Museum of Texas. If walls could talk, this historic building and its contents would have some Texas sized tales to tell.
Next up we sink our teeth into a burger given the seal of approval by another big guy who enjoys a good burger, Guy Fieri. This may be a simple burger, but it’s flavor is flavor packs a real punch.
We end our travels this week in El Paso where we try a sauce so good people order it by the bowl and tacos so unique you may not recognize them as tacos.
So get ready to chow down on some amazing Lone-Star State eats and learn about the history of fighting fires in Texas
The Texas Bucket List – Checking On A Few Friends After the Storm
ROCKPORT, Texas – Back in 2015, we featured Shempy’s in Rockport where we met Bill and Jason. Known for their famous seafood and crab burger, these fun-loving guys from Boston and Louisiana came to Texas during the oil boom in the 80s. In 2006, they opened Shempy’s. Things were going great until Hurricane Harvey hit on Aug. 25.
Shempy’s is back in business on the Coastal Bend, but the night Harvey hit was one they’ll never forget.
They’re restaurant suffered major damage, but Bill and Jason couldn’t get to the restaurant. That’s when a customer from Central Texas stopped by to check on things and took it upon themselves to repair the restaurant’s roof.
“Larry, God bless him. Good man,” Bill and Jason said. “He says, ‘I don’t have to do the work, but I’m going to go down there and tar the roof.’ In about two and a half days they had everything completed. They don’t make people like that there.”
Larry is just one of thousands of volunteers that are helping rebuild Rockport.
“It renews my faith in humanity,” Billy said. “People come out of the woodwork that you’d least expect. Sometimes they say the people you know, they don’t do nothing. Then you’ve got these people you don’t even really know, and here they come. I call them our knight in shining armor.”
Shempy’s reopened shortly after, bringing business back to the area.
“Getting our employees back to work so they can have money and give service to the people around here.” “Yeah. That was important.” “That was very important, yes.”
In Houston, our friend Theresa Fong’s restaurant, Stanton City Bites, was spared, but business around the area weren’t as lucky.
“I see the rain dropping, and I look at the window,” Theresa said. “I’m looking, I’m looking, I’m looking. I’m like oh, it’s getting higher.”
During the storm, as the water rose, Theresa had a horrifying revelation.
“If I packed everything, where should I go?” Theresa asked herself.
Trapped, all she could do is watch.
“This is the freeway?” Theresa remarked. “This is completely covered all the way to the top of what you call the bridge or the cross over. I said, ‘This is not the same place.’ I’m like… I cannot believe it.”
Down the road in Anahuac, our friends at the Crawfish Place weren’t as lucky.
Marisa Kudro has worked here since the Crawfish place opened in 2013, this was the first time in four years the restaurant closed. With hard work and help from neighbors, they opened back up for business just two weeks after the storm.
“I want to say we had two feet six inches in here,” Marisa said. “We had people from Dayton, Liberty, Crosby, Mont Belleview just come in. Weather it was just come in for an hour or come in for a full day of work, people still came in and devoted their time to us.”
Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange were also hit hard.
Tristan Barnes with the Beaumont Fire Department helped rescue the stranded in boats.
“They were going over street signs, and when you see stuff like that it really sinks in of the magnitude of this type of an event,” Tristan said.
The things the people of our great state lived through and are recovering from will forever be part of who we are; a scar we’ll wear with pride while striving to get our state back to its strong self.
“We are Texas. Every Texas blooded person from El Passo to Orange, Northern to Southern,” Tristan says. “ We all help each other in a time of need. We open our doors and give the shirts off our back. We’re always going to find a way to push on and rebuild.”
The Texas Bucket List – Shorty’s Place and Hurricane Harvey
PORT ARANSAS, Texas – There’s nothing like partying in Port A. Since 1946, this small shack with an even smaller porch has been the place to forget about your problems. When we visited the oldest and friendliest bar on the island during the summer of 2017, things were A okay in Port A.
Owner Edwin Myers is a bit new to this bar businesses. Edwin purchased this pillar of the community back in 2012. He embraces its long-tenured history on the Texas Gulf Coast.
“You don’t get the opportunity many times in this business to be able to run something that’s been around and open for 70 plus years,” Edwin says.
The story of this saloon started with woman named Shorty, Gladys “Shorty” Fowler.
Brian Underwood is in the fourth generation of Shorty’s family to work at Shorty’s, he started here in 1991.
“You would not believe the things that you see or hear if you work in a bar on a regular basis,” Brian said.
Brian was hired by his grandmother, Ms. Rose, who operated the business after inheriting it in 1978.
“She kept everybody in line,” Edwin explained. “Nobody got crossed with Miss Rose. If you did, you knew the consequences real quick.”
Shorty and Ms. Rose made this hole in the wall what it is today. With both of them gone, Edwin is simply trying to keep their memory alive by keep Shorty’s as simple as it’s been since the start.
“I enjoy doing this,” Edwin shared. “I came up in the restaurant business. I’ve always been an outgoing person, always enjoyed talking to people. That’s what you have to be to be in this business in a sense. When I took it over, there were all these expectations. I just let Shorty’s be Shorty’s. That’s all you had to do. It didn’t need anything. It just needed to be taken care of. Shorty’s has taken care of itself.”
It feels like home to so many parched people, that many like to leave a hat hanging.
“It’s there until it falls down or falls apart, one,” Edwin shared. “Some of them are pretty old.”
Some folks will even use the hats to help pay for a round.
“They’ll put a 10 dollar or 20 dollar bill in the hat, and when their friends come down here they’ll go, ‘Hey go find my hat. There’s a 20-dollar bill in the rim. I’ll buy y’all a drink,’” Edwin said.
No one knows for sure how long this hat heritage has been hanging here, some say it started in the 70s. Regardless of when it started, it’s worth crossing off the list.
Over the years, Shorty’s has seen its share of major storms. In 1961 Carla came through and in 1970 Celia caused an incredible amount of damage to the building.
“This place has survived hurricanes and all kinds of stuff,” Edwin informed us. “I believe Celia washed it off, and they rolled it back over here is what I’m told.”
While talking about the history of hurricanes around here, none of us knew that just a few weeks after this interview, Hurricane Harvey would wreak havoc on the island.
We returned a month after the storm to find Port A slowly recovering. Most of the business along Tarpon Street are heavily damaged and months away from opening, except one.
Bartender Jo Cross was back behind the bar, the place she feels she needs to be.
“We need to get some normalcy back into the island,” Jo said. “People like to drink.”
For some, coming here is another part of the recovery process; pondering the predicament Port A is in.
“It was a real mess; still is,” Jo shared. “We stayed. We got some buckling and we lost our walk-in. Beer coolers, we got them replaced. We’re going to go through it. Port A strong.”
Like the great Gary P. Nunn says in his song, My Kind of Day on Padre, stop by Shorty’s, have a round, and help a town recover from this once in a lifetime storm.
“Give us your business,” Jo requested. “That’s the main thing. The bar tenders need the business, the restaurants. We just need to get it all back working and right.”
Like Edwin says, “It’s a great place to experience Port Aransas.”
The Texas Bucket List – The Leona General Store in Leona
LEONA, Texas – When it comes to featuring Texas beef here on The Texas Bucket List, burgers are usually our forte. But a big steak in the middle of nowhere got us to pull off the road to try something a little different at a hole in the wall in Leona.
Smack dab in between Dallas and Houston, you’ll find the little town of Leona. Not much happens in this small community about a mile off Interstate 45 but every Friday and Saturday afternoon people start lining up outside the old Leona General Store.
Conversation usually revolves around food, because that’s what people are here for, steaks to be precise.
Jerry House bought the Leona General Store in 1998 and he was very familiar with what he was getting into. Jerry’s family has some lineage in Leona, going all the way back to his great, great grandparents.
“Leona was so important to our dad growing up and to the House family,” Jerry explained. “So this is how we look upon our contribution to making Leona a little bit better place than perhaps it was.”
Jerry and his family turned the old general store, that was built in 1921, into a must stop steak spot that only serves up ridiculous sized rib-eyes on Friday and Saturday nights.
“We don’t have linen table cloths, we don’t have the best salad bar in the world, but it’s a place that if you want a steak and a good rib-eye steak cooked on charcoal outside like you would at home this is the place to come,” Jerry says.
Being in the business of beef was a new endeavor for Jerry. Prior to his pursuit of the perfect steak, his place in the world was on a pulpit.
“Its kind of like being a minister of a church,” Jerry informed us. “You work hard to prepare your sermon. So, you get up and you go to church Sunday and you say to yourself, ‘I wonder if anybody’s going to show up today, because nobody has to.’ I feel the same way here. What if nobody shows up?”
But people do, and when they arrive they are greeted by just about the whole House family.
“I couldn’t do this without my wife,” Jerry says. “It is a family thing. Cynthia runs the cash register, our daughter Laura is a cook, our son-in-law Don runs the cook shack, and then we have a daughter Emily who comes in every other week and is a waitress. Then we have a son who is the senior minister at Christ United Methodist Church in College Station, and he prays for us. So that’s his contribution. It’s a family deal.”
Even the Mayor of Leona comes to the General Store, but not to eat. He works here.
Mayor Bubba Oden has been cooking rib-eye on these oak pits for 19 years.
“You can’t go anywhere and get the mayor to cook your steaks,” Mayor Bubba says.
Now when it comes to ordering your steak in Leona, first you select your size.
“We don’t have a menu,” Jerry explained. “Our philosophy, really when we started, is to do something like we would do at home if we had guests at our home.”
Basically, you order by the ounce and trust me, it’ll be bigger than you think thanks to the steak houses unique method of measuring.
“We never weigh them,” Jerry says. “We just hand cut them, and we cut them about that thick. As a matter of fact, we finally weighed one about a year ago, and our 10 ounce steaks are actually 16 ounces.”
Keeping that in mind, we ordered a nice big cut of beef, asked that it be prepared medium rare, and headed back to the grill to watch this meaty Texas sized treat heat up to perfection.
“Over the course of the year it comes out to something like 46,500 pounds of rib eye,” Jerry informed us. “We’re doing our part to help the cattle industry, I guess.”
After just a few minutes, it was time this beef to get in my belly. We ordered a 12, but it looks like we got about 20 ounces of a true Texas treasure. When we cut into it, we found that the steak was cooked just like it should be here in the Lone-Star State, and the smell was absolutely amazing as it came straight off the oak charcoal.
“It’s the country,” Frances, a regular here, says. “It’s what country folks love to eat, and it’s done well. It is fantastic.”
If you happen to be driving between Dallas and Houston and looking for a big ole steak, Leona is well worth a stop on the Texas Bucket List.
“Texans eat steak, and if you want a good steak you better come here to get you one,” Leona Steak House regular, Joe says.
The Texas Bucket List – Hurricane Harvey Relief Show
On this special episode of The Texas Bucket List featuring friends, new and old, hit by Hurricane Harvey, we see what it means to be Texas tough, open our hearts, and experience life in the aftermath of a disaster first hand.
First, we explore the ongoing clean up in the cities hit by the eye of Harvey, Rockport and Port Aransas. Here we find Texans from all over the state doing their part to help their neighbors get back on their feet. If this clip doesn’t make you proud to be a Texan, I don’t know what will.
Next we check in on our costal business owning friends to see how they weathered the storm and are navigating the cleanup process. To our delight, we find some already back in business, though there is still plenty of work to be done.
We close this week with a stop that’s new to us, but has been a haven for thirsty people for quite some time. Shorty’s in Port Aransas is helping keep the moral of many Texans up during the cleanup process by simply continuing to be the Shorty’s many have come to know and love. After our visit, we too realized that we had a new spot to hang our hat up and call home.
This episode leaves no doubt that Texans are strong, but also makes clear the extent of the need our friends and neighbors have thanks to Hurricane Harvey. To help our fellow Texans get back on their feet, visit the Rebuild Texas Fund at www.rebuildtx.org or the following local sites for Port Aransas www.newdayportafund.com and Rockport www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/2421485.
The Texas Bucket List – Prairie Dog Town in Lubbock
LUBBOCK, Texas – Home to Texas Tech, windmills, and wineries, this part of the panhandle has a plethora of pleasant things to do. One of the most popular stops in this place involves a particular field full of prairie dogs.
Stewart Gerhart is the Park Operations Manager for the city of Lubbock. He’s in charge of 80 outdoor areas around town but his favorite particular place of refuge involves these crazy little critters at MacKenzie Park known as Praire Dog Town.
“People always say, ‘Oh, you’re from that town that has the prairie dog town,’” Stewart says. “It’s not Texas Tech. It’s not Lubbock. It’s the town where the prairie dog town is.”
Today, hundreds of prairie dogs have planted roots in the park, but it all started with four of them in 1935. That’s when Kennedy N. Clapp established this refuge for rodents.
“We were seeing the prairie dogs becoming extinct because of governmental poisoning and wanted to come up with a way to keep the prairie dogs,” Stewart informed us.
Surprisingly, the prairie dog population is minuscule to what it was when pioneers crossed the plains. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas used to have prairie dog colonies that covered 25,000 square miles with around 400 million prairie dogs. Today, less than one percent of that prairie dog population remains.
“There’s just a joy in seeing new things, different things,” Janet, a park visitor, shared. “To some people it might be just an old whoopee, a little rat like animal wondering around. What’s the fun in that? But still, they’re God’s creatures and sometimes they cause havoc with farmers and ranchers. They handle that situation, but it’s just nice to see something that you don’t see at home.”
These little lovable looking little guys are actually pretty fierce fighters but if you have something for them to snack on, they’ll be happy to get a bit closer than normal.
“They like to eat corn, chips, anything people will feed them,” Jerry said.
Unfortunately for the prairie dogs, they’re the food source for big birds, hence the reason there aren’t any big trees near the borough. The small wall surrounding the town usually keeps them safe and secure but not always.
“They don’t like to root where they can’t see,” Jerry explained. “They’ll stay, for the most part, in the prairie dog town behind that wall, but there are the Marco Polos of the world that get out and run. They get on the golf course. They get on the ball fields. They go everywhere.”
The best part of visiting this park is hearing them communicate with each other.
“When they start barking, the other ones stand up and look to see what’s he barking at,” Jerry says.
It’s been said that the prairie dog language is so complicated these creatures can tell each other about approaching danger, where it’s come from, and even what it looks like.
So come hear the whisper of these whiskered wild animals because getting a good laugh and a big smile are always well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.
“It’s fun to see people coming in and wanting to be a part of Prairie Dog Town,” Jerry says.
The Texas Bucket List – Danny Boy’s Burgers in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In the northwest neighborhood of Keystone, you’ll find a fine establishment run by one of San Antonio’s finest.
Daniel Uranga bought this burger business back in 2011, and he’s continuing its carnivorous cause after giving it a more appropriate name for the police patrolman.
“This was like the north side of San Antonio back in the 30s, so it’s always been a hamburger beer joint,” Daniel explained.
Being a sixth generation Texan, Dan loves his beef along with a smorgasbord of things like God, country, rock n’ roll, and living the American dream. But that’s not all this law enforcement officer likes. In fact, you might say Daniel Uranga is a complicated man. With Hispanic heritage, a love for the Irish, and an affinity for Italian food, Daniel is anything but plain.
With such a wide array of interests, you might be wondering where this restaurant owner got the nick name displayed in the restaurant’s name, Danny Boy.
“That was the name that was given to me by my first grade teacher, Mrs. Harold at Woodlot Elementary School,” Daniel informed us. “There’s her picture up there. That’s Danny Boy up there. She would call me Danny Boy, and it kind of stuck.
Being a full time police officer, Danny is only able to open his burger business at night. No matter which hat Daniel is wearing, some parts of his regular job that sticks with him, like keeping his firearm by his side.
“It’s just part of being a policeman,” Daniel said. “It’s like having your wallet on you. You never go anywhere without it.”
Well, we never go anywhere without knowing where the best burger is, so our boy Danny got things started on an offering as big as the Emerald Isle, the double bacon cheeseburger.
Dan starts off with two half pound patties that are seasoned and grilled. Bacon and a buttered bun are also added.
“This is the way my mom used to prepare them,” Daniel said.
Mayo and mustard are added and the burger gets some white cheese. Once the cheese is melted, Danny puts his masterpiece together. Typical toppings are added. We end things with some extra veggies, and just like that this simple burger is ready to be devoured.
With the cooking complete it’s time to eat and check out the burger Officer Daniel has prepared for us. So, does this burger have an arresting flavor? There’s only one way to find out, and fortunately you don’t have to go to the pokey.
It’s safe to say Dan takes the serving part in the servant protect to a whole new level. This burger, though simple, had us chained after just one bite. When it comes to tasty burgers in San Antonio, I have to plea the fifth on this one.
“Any other burger joint, they don’t got nothing on Danny Boy’s. For real, they don’t,” Roland, a Danny Boy’s Hamburgers regular, says.
Just follow the rainbow to the Alamo City where you’ll find a little pot of gold called Danny Boy’s Hamburgers serving up grub that’s well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.
“I give all the credit to being a police officer. Without being a police officer, I wouldn’t have this place. There’s just no way. All the thanks goes to my job as a police officer serving the citizens of San Antonio.”
This weekend on The Texas Bucket List – Steaks, Burgers, and (Prairie) Dogs
This week on The Texas Bucket List we’re filling our stomachs with huge cuts of Texas beef, sinking our teeth into a good ol’ fashioned burger, and conversing with some of the cutest critters in the Lone-Star State.
First, we find ourselves in Leona where the line for dinner is out the door and around the corner of Leona Steak House. So what makes this beef worth waiting for? Well, you’ll have to see it to believe it!
Next we head on over to San Antonio. Here we find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in Danny Boy’s Hamburgers. These good old fashioned hamburgers are cooked the way momma used to make them.
We end this week’s travels in Lubbock. The critters we find here resemble a famous Disney meerkat known for singing Hakuna Matata, but don’t let the resemblance fool you. These little cuties known as prairie dogs are truly a Lone-Star State site to be seen.
So, set your sit back, relax, and get ready to experience some Texas gems that are well worth a stop with us on this episode of The Texas Bucket List.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- …
- 81
- Next Page »