Texas Bucket List

Texas Bucket List

Simmons Bank

The Texas Bucket List – Davy Crockett National Forest

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Whenever you find yourself in East Texas, you never really want to peel back the preverbal pine curtain.  Instead, you want to get lost in it.

Texas is home to four National Forests and in between Crockett and Lufkin, you’ll find the Davy Crockett National Forest.  “This area serves the public I think in so many different ways,” said Jimmy Tyree.

Jimmy is the District Ranger for the Davy Crockett Davy Crockett National Forest and doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to his favorite forest in Texas. “Oh, it’s Davy Crockett. A little bit small, 160,000 acres, but does a lot of work,” said Jimmy.

At the center point of the Davy Crockett National Forest, you’ll find the Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area.  Built by the Civilian Conversation Corps in 1936, it’s a great place to set up camp. “[There] really is not a bad campsite in the whole place,” said Jimmy.

The sights, the smells, and the sounds are what set this park apart. “A lot of people enjoy the quietness and the birds,” said Jimmy.

Simply sitting back and letting the songbirds serenade you is something that’s good for the soul. “Well, nobody gets a chance to be quiet anymore. Not enough people are quiet. There’s something to be said about that,” said Jimmy.

This place is so peaceful that no matter what the season, people like to come here. “We are full almost year-round, even in the summertime when it can be brutal. People are still coming out here enjoying it and that says a lot,” said Jimmy.

Before this park of the National Park became such a safe haven for trees that can touch the top of the Texas sky, it was surprisingly home to a sawmill.  “1902 to about 1920, the Central Coal and Coke Company logged here. And then in 1930, the Texas legislature at that time identified this area as something they wanted to go ahead and put into the National Forest system. And then in 1936 is when Roosevelt actually designated the Davy Crockett National Forest,” said Jimmy.

“So, these are the ruins from the old sawmill from 1902 to 1920 and this whole area had at that time, up to 30,000 people. You wouldn’t know it now,” explained Jimmy while walking around the ruins that have forest surrounding them now. “Nowadays the population’s probably less than 500 for both areas. The amount of timber that was produced from this mill back then is just amazing. And one of the biggest, at that time, this mill was one of the biggest in the nation,” said Jimmy.

I can’t get over the fact that so much of the old factory is still there, from formed foundations to massive metal pieces sticking out of stone columns.  “Artifacts are always being discovered, different things. It isn’t a very active site as far as anytime anything happens here, anytime any work is done, we always have an archeologist on site monitoring it, because something is usually always dug up,” explained Jimmy. “A lot of folks look at the pictures from the 19 hundreds, 1920s, 1930s, and they don’t recognize that this is the same place because back then you could see miles, there were zero trees. They had cut everything down.”

It’s amazing to see what can grow in a hundred years. To this day, logging is still a vital part of the national park.  “We’re still able to provide a tremendous amount of timber. In fact, the output here in the southeast region, we’re one of the tops of the nation even though we’re down in the southeast. A lot of folks think of the big timber production being up in the northwest, Pacific Northwest, but we actually compete with them down here very strongly,” said Jimmy. “The quickness that the timber grows here is nothing like I’ve experienced in other places. This area is very unique in that respect.”

American poet Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”  Well what tall Texan doesn’t want to be just a little bit taller. So, take a little time to breathe in the pine or maybe search for the hide and seek champion of the world, because I don’t have to go out on a limb to say that this is well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. “It’s a little jewel for this area. It absolutely is,” said Jimmy.

The Texas Bucket List – Hummer House in Christoval

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San Angelo –When it comes to birding across the Lone Star State, the Rio Grande Valley is usually the place folks fly the coop for.  Being on the search for a certain songbird brings all sorts of seekers to south Texas all with binoculars in hand.  But if you’re looking for an easier way to see some flashy feathered creatures, a trip to The Hummer House near San Angelo should be high on your list.

Dan Brown and his wife Kathy own The Hummer House and on the day we visited it happened to be Dan’s 91st birthday! “Life is an attitude. You got a choice. Mine is mowing forward,” said Dan with a big smile.

Now mowing isn’t first most on Dan’s mind on most days because if he did that, he’d scare away the birds. The Hummer House is Dan’s happy place. This small, quiet spot in Christoval sits on the south Concho River and has been in his family for 100 years. It offers people a place to peek in on Hummingbirds, Cardinals, and the occasional, Black-crested Titmouse, all in an air-conditioned room with some huge windows for observation. “If you sit down and watch birds, you focus your mind on something that’s nature and not yourself or other people, so it’s a form of relaxation, bird watching. Call it what you want to, but it is nature and enjoying it.”

Filling feeders is still on Dan’s to do list and during the migrating season, from April to September, you’d be amazed how much they handout to the hummingbirds. “We feed about 1500 pounds of sugar every year to these little hummingbirds. One feeder at a time,” Kathy says.

But there is another big draw at the Hummer House, the painted bunting. This is a beautiful bird that nests here on the ranch.  “There’s probably more painted buntings here than any localized place in the United States,” says Charles Floyd. Charles Floyd has been friends with Dan for 20 years and the former science teacher is a federally permitted master bander.  “We have banded roughly 55,000 individual birds here at this location,” said Charles. “We have banded 162 different kinds of birds, that species of birds that are different.”

While the research is important, the most enjoyable part for anyone that happens upon the Hummer House is simply sitting and staring at the birds. This is the perfect way to de-stress and be at one with nature. If you ever find yourself in need of some birdwatching and peace, a stop at The Hummer House is well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List!

The Texas Bucket List – Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin

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When it comes to the animals at the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, things can get pretty wild. And when a TV crew shows up to see what all the fuss is about, the peacocks are the first to make sure they get their 15 minutes of fame.  Before we could even start our interview, the Zoo’s peacock started peacocking around our cameras making sure their massive feather fans were in the background of shots, much to the shagreen of zoo director Gordon Henley.

Gordon is the wild but not so crazy guy whose lead the charge at the Ellen Trout Zoo for a very long time. “Well, we have about a thousand animals from all around the world, from tropical and warm temperate areas. We don’t have anything that’s from the north that can’t take our heat,” said Gordon. “We have a lot of birds, mammals, reptiles.”

In between the proud peacock calls, Gordon let the cat out of the bag when it comes to why the zoo in Lufkin is so popular.  “I think it’s the variety that we have to offer. A lot of people are surprised when they see the quality of the zoo here and just enjoy it. Let us help them connect with the natural world,” said Gordon.

Now Gordon isn’t the type of person to put a feather in his cap, but he should get the lion’s share of the accolades for the success the Ellen Trout Zoo has had over the years. Gordon has been the director of this zoo for an astounding 46 years! “It’s not like work. I like what I do, so I get paid to do what I like and that’s… can’t beat that,” said Gordon. “That’s all I ever wanted to do from 5 years old to now.”

Over the years, Gordon has gotten to see a lot of change.  “It’s exciting. It enables us to offer more to our guests and participate in more conservation programs. It’s just very nice to see it grow,” said Gordon. “We get tremendous support from the city and the community. The two, the city and the community working together is what makes it happen.”

Surrounded by trees on The Ellen Trout Zoo is thanks to local businessman who had a vision for this place back in the 1960’s. “It was the concept of Walter Trout, who, at the time, was president of Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company, and he thought that Lufkin should have a zoo for kids so that they didn’t have to go to Houston or Dallas to see the animals,” explained Gordon. “During that process, one of his friends got a hippopotamus from the Dallas Zoo and they brought it to Lufkin and gave it to him as a Christmas present in 1965.”

I guess someone really did want a hippopotamus for Christmas! And this big guy even came with a Christmas card. “Merry Christmas, Walter. May all your troubles be big. That was a catalyst that really kicked it off,” said Gordon.

Today you’ll find a couple of hippos at the zoo. “One of the things about hippos, in a way, they’re like crocodiles because you can sit right there, and you can’t tell how big that animal is. All you see is that,” explained Gordon while showcasing the hippos. “That’s called an aquatic profile and that’s the same thing with crocodiles and alligators. Their nose is up, their eyes are up, and their ears are up, and the rest of them can be submerged so they can see, smell, hear and breathe without exposing the rest of their body.”

“It’s a better method of actually being able to see the animals than on programs or in books. You can’t appreciate the size of some things if you can’t see it. And there’s also smells and sounds and a lot of other subtle characters of these animals that you can see and appreciate,” said Gordon.

From big to small, Gordon knows every animal here and they seem to know him too.  Only Gordon could get a jaguar just enjoying his day to jump down and say hello. “They recognize the sounds and some voices of people that are around them all the time,” said Gordon.

Gordon said working with people and the community is his favorite part of the job.  “This community is really what drives the zoo. We are about 35,000 population and they all support the zoo,” said Gordon.

Seeing school kids getting a firsthand look at these curious creatures is what means the most to Gordon.   Being in the middle of the piney woods, many of these little ones won’t get a chance to go to a big city zoo, so Gordon brings the world to them and helps create a memory that lasts a lifetime. “It’s just fun to watch kids like that and to know we’re trying to offer them something, a connection to wildlife so that they may not ever be a zoologist or may not ever work in a zoo, but they’ll have an appreciation for the animals that inhabit this planet. And if we can do that, then we’ve done something.”

The Texas Bucket List – The Summit at Big Bend in Terlingua

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The vast expanse that is the Big Bend region of Texas is one of a kind. Soaring peaks, stretches of desert and the Rio Grande cutting its way through the region makes for one of the most incredible sites in the entire Lone Star State.  In the middle of all this nothingness is the tiny town of Terlingua.  With a population of 110 folks, it’s fascinating how many people are drawn to this desolation destination.  But when you see a glamping destination like The Summit at Big Bend, you understand the draw.

“This is unlike any other place in Texas,” said Billy Bartko, creator of The Summit.

Billy and his wife, Jess, created The Summit in 2021 and in that short amount of time, they’ve built so many domes for folks to stay in, that their little corner of the desert looks like a space outpost.  These domes have king-sized beds and beautiful views of Big Bend, but if you want to lay your head down on something as hard as a rock, the caves at the Summit have proven to be quite popular.  “The two caves really are built for a romantic reconnecting trip,” said Billy.

Billy and Jess both used to be commercial pilots, but they came to Big Bend to start a new life on the ground.  After one successful venture in glamping, they came to this piece of property looking to buy a jeep, but it turned into so much more. “For me, I was like, ‘Wow, I never knew this part of Texas existed!’ Born and raised Texan. Never knew it,” said Jess.

“So, this place has been special to me since the minute we got here. The previous owner just told us to drive up the hill and drive around the ranch, and it was just nothing but one spectacular view after another,” explained Billy. “Fifteen minutes into it, I very jokingly said, ‘I want to buy the ranch,’ and the next day we offered to buy the ranch, and about three weeks later we had a deal on it, and about two months later, we owned it.”

“I knew when I first met him, he was going to be a lifetime of adventure,” said Jess.

“You’re looking at Old Mexico to the south, directly behind you is the Lajitas Hills. And then off to the west is you’re totally looking into the state park. So, it’s just incredible,” said Billy.

Construction began and when Billy came across the caves, he knew exactly what to do with them.  “The holes in the rock were already here. One of them was basically being used as a storage bunker and the other one is a garage,” he explained.

Complete with a shower, bed, a fridge, a fantastic view and even Wi-Fi, this cave is the kind of place where anyone would be happy to hibernate. “What we really did here was we wanted to bring the outside in,” said Jess.

“It was distorted as least as possible, so that we could really just kind of capture when you walk in, you’re not walking into a room, you’re literally walking into the earth,” explained Billy. “It’s either very comforting to you or it’s not your thing. We respect both, but for us, it’s just a very comforting place to be.”

“So, this is our crystal cave. We named it that. As you can see, the crystal is all through the top here over there,” explained Jess.

These caves date back nearly 100 years when mercury mining was still going strong here.  “The entire 1,000 acres here has multiple old cinnabar mines on it. They were mined early 1900s all the way up through mid-1900s, ’50s and ’60s, somewhere in there they were closed down, but these are actually mining starts where they dug in about 100 feet, didn’t find any cinnabar, so they abandoned the holes,” said Billy.

“So, what they would do is they would come in and they would chisel out just enough to put the stick in there, and then it’d blow it, and then they would just take the pieces right on out of here,” said Jess.

“Hand drilled holes, packed with dynamite, blow off a chunk of rock, hole it all out by hand, mules. Several of the mines still have a narrow-gauge rail car. The tracks are still there, so they would haul it out on rail tracks. Just a crazy lifestyle,” explained Billy.

As you can imagine, building this in a place where the closest major retailers are two and half hours away, isn’t easy. “On one hand, it is the most friendly area to ever build anything in, and on one hand it is the hardest area to ever build anything in,” said Billy. “It’s the hardest place because you can’t get any materials. There’s one plumber in South Brewster County, there’s one electrician in South Brewster County. You may wait a year for the electrician to do anything for you. The plumber’s $300 an hour.”

What makes the stay in these caves so incredible is what makes this entire area so fantastic. The night sky. “The really crazy thing is the amount of stars that you can see at night. A lot of people, that’s really the whole reason why you come out here, right? Is the night sky. It’s the darkest sky in the lower 48,” said Jess.

“We believe in the power of the place and it’s certainly not us. And it’s not anything that we’ve built or anything like that. We have some cool stuff here, don’t get me wrong, but really and truthfully, if you come out here, it’s about the views. It’s about the stars,” said Billy.

“You lay in bed, you wake up in the middle of the night, and that Milky Way is just in your face. It’s pretty incredible,” said Jess.

Coming to Big Bend is one of my favorite stops in the Lone Star State and if you happen to be coming this way, caving in and booking a stay at The Summit is well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List. “If you are a true Texan, you were born in Texas, you vacation in Texas and you die in Texas, why in the world would you not want to see all Texas has to offer?” asked Billy.

“You do it so people can come out here and make the memories,” said Jess.

“Take it in, breathe it, live it, relax with it. It’s just so fantastic to be out here.”

The Texas Bucket List – Check It Twice – McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis

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When I first started The Texas Bucket List in 2013, there was one spot on the top of my list that I knew I had to check off. The McDonald Observatory in the Fort Davis mountains. Not only is this destination distant to most folks in our state, it’s also extremely isolated. The drive takes a while but once you make your way to Fort Davis, the closest town to the observatory, you still have to make your way up mountain roads to reach it! But there’s nothing like seeing the domes from a distance as you finally approach the area with one of the darkest skies in the country.

Rachel Fuechsl is the Programs Manager at the McDonald Observatory, and she showed me around the facility that hasn’t seen too many changes over the years, but still has some of the best views in the Lone Star State. The last time I visited, back in 2013, we took in a star party; a chance to learn about the insane number of stars you can see out here.  “It’s a very different experience sitting on a back porch and seeing three stars, versus sitting on a back porch and seeing all these constellations and these patterns and these faint objects, millions of light years away. Seeing things like that, I think it’s a very different experience,” Rachel said.

But that night, we got an added experience as we got to bust out the big guns! “What you’re doing different this time, I understand, is visiting our 82-inch telescope tonight,” Rachel said. “We are looking through our original 82-inch or 2.1-meter Otto Struve telescope. This is an 83-year-old telescope now that has, in my opinion, unparalleled views through an eyepiece.”

It is mind-blowing that the original telescope is as old as it is, and still works and does the job. “It’s still doing valuable science pretty much every night of the year. It’s been upgraded a little bit throughout the years. Instrumentation is the main thing that changes on a telescope like that, but the instruments that we attach to it to do the science have advanced with the times,” Rachel explained.

Getting a chance to peer into the heavens behind this huge telescope is nothing new for regular folks like you and me.  It’s something they’ve been doing at the observatory since the 1940’s. “That has been part of the observatory’s public programming pretty much since the beginning,” Rachel said. “There are stories of folks that, you’ll get folks that came out here in the early days and remember standing in a line that went down Mt. Locke. People would come and they would stand in line; and the line would go all the way up the stairs to the dome. And people would look in the telescope, have their chance to look in it, then off they go.”

Today it’s a little bit more of an intimate affair with 15 folks a night able to come in on certain dates and see some stunning celestial bodies with their own eyes.  “The telescope definitely gives us a view, not only over great distances, but over great periods of time that you can’t get any other way,” Rachel said.

Looking up at the heavens, Rachel said, is humbling, but a great feeling. “I think it’s part of the excitement of astronomy is getting that sense of being a part of something so much bigger than just me and my little life. Really, it’s humbling, but it’s also, I think, inspiring,” Rachel said.

Once the first star shines its light here, it doesn’t take long for the entire sky to come to life, and it leaves you breathless. Then the bay doors to the telescope open and Saul Rivera starts pointing the telescope to some out of this world things to see.

From Jupiter to Mars, star clusters to nebulas, seeing these objects through the lens of this large telescope is truly a humbling experience. “I’ve seen people weep when looking at something through a telescope for the first time. Saturn is one that people often get really choked up about sometimes,” Rachel said.

“Getting someone to look through a telescope; sometimes they haven’t looked through one before; getting these things like Saturn or Jupiter or other similar objects and just hearing their amazement of just like, ‘oh, look, this is something so cool,’ It never gets old,” Saul explained.

“I would say the Orion Nebula is probably my top, top pick. It’s just one of the most beautiful objects in the night sky. I’ve been fascinated by it since I first saw it as a kid,” Rachel said. “There’s this world above us that is masked from us when we’re going about our daily lives. But at a place like McDonald, you can see that, be part of it.”

That’s why coming to the McDonald Observatory is one of my favorite stops on The Texas Bucket List.  Seeing this night sky and all the amazing things that surround our small blue diamond in space makes this stop a true jewel on The Texas Bucket List.  “I think the world would be a better place if more people got in touch with science and with the natural Dark Sky and the natural world around them,” Rachel said. “It’s part of all of our lives; it’s everybody’s sky to see.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – Check It Twice – Elissa in Galveston

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GALVESTON – On a dark and dreary April morning back in 2014, we first met the Elissa. Fresh off being repaired from damage by Hurricane Ike, getting to set sail on the official tall ship of Texas was a memorable experience despite the downpour and overcast skies.  It was so memorable as a matter of fact, I had to do it again!  But this time in the glistening sun with an effervescent sea around us!

The glorious sight of the Elissa with her sails unfurled is one of the most amazing things you can see from the shores of Galveston Island.  But being able to be on the ship as it’s pulled through the surf by the power of the whipping winds is truly one of the most remarkable moments I’ve been able to experience on The Texas Bucket List.

“Where else can you go sailing on an 1870 ship in Texas? Nowhere, just in Galveston,” said Mark Scibinico. Scibinico is the Port Captain and Director of Galveston Historic Seaport, and he was his friendly self when we first visited the Elissa in Season 2 of The Texas Bucket List.

A lot has changed since we first boarded back then, when only volunteers and invited guests got to feel the wind go through their hair before it hit the sails.  Today a few more folks get to experience it. “We changed our federal status with the US Coast Guard and we’re now taking people out sailing with us as sail trainees. So, a lot of the people that you see around here have purchased a ticket to come sailing with us, to get the experience onboard the vessel what it was like back in the 1870s,” Mark said. “It’s something we’ve been working towards for a long time. The historical foundation put a lot of time and effort and probably five years’ worth of just every piece of that puzzle in order to make that happen.”

At over 200 feet long with a mast that stands 100 feet above the deck, the Elissa is a magnificent mode of transportation and has been since 1877.  Originally built in Scotland, she’s older than the Statue of Liberty and has seen ports of call all over the Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Elissa has seen the sunrise over 52,000 times and none of it would be possible without the crew of volunteers that make this sail possible. “We usually are a crew of about 42. It’s about 30 or 31 of the volunteers, plus the officers and a few of the staff that make up the compliment,” Mark said.

These sailors are in charge of raising the sails and making sure the 4 and half miles of rope in the rigging is where it’s supposed to be, but they also get to experience one of the best views on the ship. “It’s an exhilarating feeling for sure. There’s no view like it, they say that that’s as close as sailors will ever get to heaven,” Mark said. “It definitely puts your adrenaline up, but you train for it, you practice for it, and then you get to experience it underway. It’s one of the unique rewards of being a crew member.”

Being on the deck was fine by me, despite a bit of an issue staying upright in choppy waters. But once the ship sets sail it’s all about the sights and lack of sounds. Seeing the skyline of Galveston Island from a few miles out while only hearing the dull roar of a conversation and the uninterrupted gust of wind makes you wonder what it must have been like back in the day, especially when you finally got to pull into port in Texas. “Galveston and Texas, that whole region, is part of the whole reason that state has stood itself up through immigration, through maritime trade, through maritime industry,” Mark said. “One of the things that we forget in the United States is just how valuable the waterfront is today, and then, and that flow of commerce in and out of the state.”

Despite the massive amount of money and time it takes to continuously operate and keep afloat this old boat, the folks at the Galveston Historic Seaport are adamant about keeping the Elissa sailing long into the future. “One of the major reasons to do this is to preserve sailing living history. It’s fine to do it in a vacuum or in a bubble with just yourselves, but what’s the point if you’re not demonstrating to the rest of the world that this is still a vibrant living piece of history?” Mark explained.

This history lesson is well worth a stop and one of my favorite experiences on The Texas Bucket List.  “If you have any kind of interest in sailing or maritime history, you can read about it until you’re blue in the face, you can’t really understand it until you experience it,” said Mark.

The Texas Bucket List – Check It Twice DriveTanks in Uvalde

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When it comes to memorable moments on The Texas Bucket List, the sound and reverberation off a Sherman Tank that I got to shoot is something I will never forget. So, we headed back to the Ox Ranch just outside of Uvalde for another chance to see the amazing animals, enjoy the luxurious lodge and dining facilities, and maybe take another tank for a spin.

“It’s hard to describe how nice it is to see people check their bucket list. They accomplished their dreams,” said Tommy Hartman.  Hartman has been working at DriveTanks since 2020 and he gets out a kick out of working at one of the most serene hunting ranches in the state. “It’s surreal to say the least. I woke up two days ago and there were two giraffes in my front yard,” Tommy said.

A few years back, Tommy saw an ad on Instagram to come work at DriveTanks and he thought it was too good to be true. “Kind of thought it was a joke, so I sent my resume and now I’m here,” Tommy said. “It’s not work, it’s a dream really.”

DriveTanks prides itself on being a hands-on experience were you can drive, shoot, and experience all sorts of historic military machines and historic arms.  Since we last visited in 2017, it’s expanded to offer even more, even a military style barracks for folks to stay on their adventure! “So we’ve added a whole new garage. We’ve probably added right around 10 vehicles, probably a hundred firearms. We got everything from Howitzers, flame throwers, RPGs, all the works,” Tommy said.

Amid the selection of historical weapons was the widely well-known Tommy gun. The Thompson was manufactured originally around 1918, but it was simplified through the years. The particular Thompson that Tommy showed us is the M1928 A1 model, which was one of the first iterations that the US used during World War II. After we figured out it was a little bit too expensive to be issuing to a whole lot of soldiers, we tried to simplify it and that’s where you see the famous M1 version that you see in like Saving Private Ryan and other like video games like Call of Duty and Battlefield. Last time we were here we did the flamethrower. That was exciting. “Oh yeah. The flamethrower is one of those weapons that I always recommend. Because when you see a flamethrower in a movie or a TV show, you’re like, ‘wow, that looks hot.’ But you can’t grasp how hot it is.”

Since I already had a chance to feel the heat, there was another antique firearm that’s been on my bucket list for a long time—the M1 Garand. General George Patton called this rifle “the greatest battle implement ever devised” and it was used extensively in World War II.  “This one was actually manufactured in 1944, so it’s pretty likely that this thing actually did see some combat because we made millions of these things during in the war, and they saw the world over, especially after the war. And then they came back, and they found their way into civilian hands,” Tommy explained.

We headed to the range with the Thompson and the M1 Garand, and I couldn’t wait to test my marksmanship with the M1. “You have eight shots, and as we talked about earlier, when you run out of ammo, you’ll hear that historic ping,” Tommy said.

My first target was at 100 yard.  I nailed it!  Several times in row!  That’s when I spotted a target way out at the end of the shooting range.  I lined up, took the shot and a split second later you could here the ping of the target 300 yards away!

After finishing the clip, it was time to move onto the Tommy gun. “So, this is the M1928 A1, like we were talking about earlier. This we’re going to be shooting full auto only. So, we’re shooting 45 ACP out of these magazines right here, exactly what they were using in World War II,” Tommy explained.  This rapid fire machine gun made popular by old mafia movies made you truly appriciate the brave soldiers who had to use it in combat.

After being home down on the range, we headed back to the barn to get a look at a few new tanks they have on hand. Tommy showed us the M 41 Walker Bulldog. “This tank was produced in the early ’50s. Believe it or not, this one was actually manufactured by Cadillac. It actually says inside on the data plate,” Tommy said. “This one was manufactured in January of 1954.”

Surprisingly many tanks were built by car companies throughout history.  “A lot of your German car manufacturers that are common today, those actually manufactured a lot of military vehicles. So, the tank was actually designed by Porsche and manufactured by MTU, which is an element of Mercedes. So, it is quite literally you’re driving a Benz,” Tommy explained.

I’d be taking a spin on the Walker Bulldog.  Once fired up, the beast was ready to be ridden.  With Tommy taking the wheel, I settled in the commander position to take ride around the Ox Ranch.

Being able to ride these beasts and experience the tools that the veterans of World War II wielded is more than just an opportunity to do something fun.  It’s a chance to learn the history of the greatest generation that ever lived. “I grew up just hearing a couple of World War II stories. Luckily, I was lucky enough to meet a D-Day veteran and he was on wave one and he was really the one who instilled all this passion within me. And I was like, ‘You went through this, and I don’t hear the story being told a lot, why not?’ And so, I kind of took it upon myself to pretty much devote all my time to that field, just so I can tell their story. That way, what they went through hopefully doesn’t happen again.”

 

The Texas Bucket List – BeeWeaver Honey Farm in Navasota

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Navasota – There’s nothing like spring around the Brazos Valley. The wildflowers are always fantastic when things start to warm up around the Lone Star State and that makes this area the perfect place for a little pollination.  Maybe that’s why there’s such a buzz at the BeeWeaver Honey Farm near Navasota, a bee business that’s been around for over 130 years.

Daniel Weaver is the 4th generation of beekeepers in his family and it’s a business that’s been on the same plot of land since the 1800’s. “My great-grandparents moved here after the Civil War, and met and married in 1888. They were given 10 hives of honeybees as a wedding gift by Florence Weaver’s brother, Frank Summerford, who had been keeping bees in this part of the world for about 10 years prior to that. And that’s how my family got started in the bee business,” explained Daniel. “They turned that wedding gift into an enterprise that was subsequently operated by my grandfather, Roy Weaver, Sr., his sons, Binford, my father, and Roy Weaver, Jr., and then subsequently me,” said Daniel.

Daniel’s right-hand man is Roosevelt Robinson and he’s been with the company longer than Daniel’s known about the birds and bees. “I’ve been working here since 1966, when I started here. Seemed like the longer I work, the more I learned and the more I came to love it,” said beekeeper Roosevelt Robinson.

“One of my earliest memories of beekeeping is from right about the time Roosevelt started working for Weaver Apiaries,” stated Daniel.

“They called me King Bee,” joked Roosevelt. Roosevelt gives tours daily and showcases the benefits of bees. “If you got bees, your crop’s going to do better, your fruits going to do better, your garden’s going to do better. Good pollination,” explained Roosevelt.

Being one with the bees must have some stinging perks! So we had to know just how Roosevelt handles that!  “I get that question asked every, every day. You know, the best way I can give that answer, if I had a dollar, the time I been stung, I’d be a rich man. That’s about the best way I can answer that,” joked Roosevelt. “It’s fairly rare for someone to get stung, although anytime you’re around honeybee colonies, that’s a risk you assume,” said Daniel.

Seeing the busy bees doing their best work is fascinating but making honey isn’t the bread of butter of BeeWeaver Farms, it’s actually the breeding. “Our bees are just a little tougher than the rest, if you will,” stated Daniel.

In the late 80’s Varroa mites were found in the United States and these small parasites wreaked havoc on the honeybee population, the varroa mite. “It’s [varroa mite] very much like a tick, if you will, and it reproduces in the brood or the developing baby bees, and then can also be present on adult bees as well. So, it can be quite devastating if the bees that you have are not capable of coping with them,” explained Daniel.

When the parasites found their way to Texas, BeeWeaver Farms wasn’t spared. “Well, we killed thousands of hives, but that didn’t stop Varroa mites from spreading everywhere like wildfire. And it quickly became apparent that the conventional means of managing Varroa mites required constant application of toxic chemicals in the colony and that was an anathema to me. I could not get my head around having to constantly put poisons… They are acaricides, that is they kill mites, but they’re also insecticides and they kill bees at just slightly higher concentrations inside of colonies. I didn’t think that was the right way to go,” explained Daniel.

So Daniel and his father concentrated on breeding a better bee through natural selection. “Over the course of the ensuing seven or eight years, we were able to develop a population of bees that can survive and thrive in the presence of Varroa mite infestation without any application of toxic chemicals. They do it through their behavior and physiology and immunology, which is all a little bit different in our bees than in standard managed stock,” said Daniel. “By 1999, none of our colonies were treated and haven’t been treated since. So, for more than 20 years now, we’ve been completely chemical free and reliant entirely on the attributes of our particular population of honeybees,” said Daniel. “I’m proud of that because I think it gives beekeepers freedom from the constant worry that Varroa mites are going to kill their colonies. It liberates them from the need to put toxic compounds inside their colonies in order to eliminate Varroa mites and reduces the cost of beekeeping too,” expressed Daniel.

With the bees thriving at BeeWeaver, the honey here might actually be a little bit sweeter. “We don’t use chemicals at all in any of our hives, so the honey that comes out of our hives is 100% chemical free,” said Mitzy Camp. Camp runs the BeeWeaver store. “If it’s got to do with bees, we have it,” stated Mitzy.

Mityz gave me a taste of the different types of honey on hand. And of course, they have a spicy honey that we had to try. The Carolina Reaper infused honey definitely gives that kick but blends well with the fresh honey. If you’re looking for something to chew on, honeycomb is an option here. The honeycomb here can go straight from the hive to your mouth! “My mom used to use this as bubble gum growing up. She’s 94 and this is what they used as gum when she was growing up,” said Mitzy.

While you’ll have to bring your own milk, there is plenty of honey to go around at the BeeWeaver Farms and getting an inside look at this family business for the ages is the bee’s knees on The Texas Bucket List. “I was fortunate enough to learn from the best,” expressed Daniel. “It’s just amazing what you can take a beehive and make it do for you,” said Daniel. “I love the people. I love the honey. I love the story,” said Mitzy.

The Texas Bucket List – Port of Brownsville Boat Tour on South Padre Island

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Brownsville – It’s not often you get an extremely foggy day down on South Padre Island but that was exactly the case when I arrived on SPI to take a tour of the Port of Brownsville.  Despite the dense cloud cover, it doesn’t keep James Woodrow Wilson from boiling up some shrimp because he’s busy preparing a feast for a few folks wanting to take a ride on his boat.

Once the crowd is settled, Captain Woody, as he’s called, takes the sightseers on a carefully guided journey through the Port of Brownsville. Woody is the captain of the Breakaway Cruises Port of Brownsville Tour and he has one interesting past, that all starts with his name. “Well, I get a lot of grief about it. And I’m still waiting for my check for Toy Story,” joked Woody. “I was original, boots and all!”

While being a cowboy is every young boy’s dream, being behind the wheel of this ship is where Woody belongs. “Love driving boats. I love being on the water. It’s just been a passion of mine ever since I was little. And just meeting everybody. You meet everyone from all over the world, I’ve met on this boat.”

Shannon Cherrington helps Captain Woody on the tour, making sure things flow smoothly along the waters of the Brownsville ship channel. “There’s so much to see out there and it’s so rich in history,” said Shannon.

While trolling down the port, you’ll see massive offshore oil rig platforms being repaired. There are also ships being built and massive military ships being decommissioned. “This was an old aircraft carrier that, if I’m not mistaken, it was the Bonhomme. It was one that succumbed to arson by one of the crew members. And the damage was worth, basically a total loss.” Oh, wow. “It would cost more for them to repair it than it was worth. And it’s worth more in scrap than it would’ve been for them to repair it,” said Captain Woody.

If space is more your speed, a pass by Space X will light your engines. “Seeing all the rockets, whenever they’re getting ready to launch and all that, sitting out on the launchpad, it’s amazing,” Woody commented. “Watching them take off and being able to land, 40 years ago that would’ve been unheard of. But just seeing technology advance with what they’re doing over here, it’s just mind boggling to me.”

Not only do you get to see some amazing things on the sightseeing tour, but you also get the chance to enjoy some of Captain Woody’s shrimp which is an old family recipe – and it’s delicious.

If taking a unique tour with a unique captain who happens to cook is something you’d like to see, sailing with Captain Woody on the Breakaway Cruises Port of Brownsville Tour is definitely a unique stop on The Texas Bucket List!

The Texas Bucket List – Cypress Valley Treehouses in Spicewood

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Spicewood – When it comes to lodging in the Lone Star State, we’ve seen all sorts of interesting ways to spend the night under the big bright stars of Texas. From see through plastic bubbles, teepee’s, top of the line desolate destinations, to yurts you can call your own. While all these locations were unique there’s one thing they didn’t have. A view from the trees.

“Now you know what I mean when I say this is adult comfort in a tree,” said Amy Beilharz, the owner of Cypress Valley, a central Texas hideaway in Spicewood that specializes in shelters that happen to be suspended in century old cypress trees.

“Our whole goal is to get people out in nature, find really unique places that we can share with people and then provide them something like a tree house that’s so enticing,” explained Amy. Living in the trees?  Who could have come up with such an idea?! “I’m from California originally. And I moved to Austin in 1984,” stated Amy.

Amy purchased this property back in 1997 and wanted it to share its unique central Texas topography with the world. “We kept trying to find a way to share it, because it’s like a little state park, but we didn’t want to destroy it in sharing it,” explained Amy.

So in 2005, she opened a zip line adventure course and according to Amy, it was the first in the continental United States. “It was just a zip line. And then the first year we would do the last tour of the day because our guides would be so tired, we got so popular so fast and we’d do the last tour. And everybody kept asking if they could spend the night in the trees. So that winter we built a treehouse,” said Amy.

Today, the tree houses have taken over her property with 5 different spots to stay on site. “We just decided to refocus our energies on providing people a deeper experience in nature,” stated Amy.

Considering Amy used to work in the technology sector in Austin, she gets a kick out of her more recent venture. “My prior life, I was in high tech and building and designing phones, data communications. And at that time I was looking for ways, this is in the eighties, looking for reasons people would want to use these things, right? And now at Cypress Valley, I’m pretty much giving people a way to stop and get off the screen and enjoy each other,” Amy explained.

The seclusion helps. To get to a few of the more private treehouses, a trek across a suspension bridge is required. “We tell people to pack light. You’re going to go over a suspension bridge that moves a little. It’s part of the adventure. You don’t have a hallway and an elevator. This is not your typical hotel,” said Amy as we walked across this suspension bridge.

Once safely across, you see why these treehouses are so sought-after. “That’s actually an interesting dilemma and we’ve worked with it because everybody does want a treehouse in their heart. They have that childhood dream still. Right? So we want to keep it playful while at the same time you want adult creature comfort,” explained Amy.

“When you’re in a tree house, you’re experiencing the tree, right? You’re not just in a hotel box with a pretty landscape. You’re really out in nature,” said Amy.

The solitude and silence of being up in the trees makes you feel peacefully alone yet brings out the childlike instinct of doing something so cool and out of the ordinary. “We don’t play very often. We entertain ourselves. We stay busy, but we don’t have that real joyful playfulness that we did as a kid and a tree house just lets you do that. It’s like you’re already breaking all the rules, you’re up in a tree and it just opens that party back up,” said Amy.

If a family experience is what you’re looking for, the Nest tree house has a bit more space. That is home to the Swiss Family treehouse that is filled with all of the amenities needed to entertain the whole family!

And of course, if getting married in the middle of the woods is the wedding of your dreams, you can do that here too.

This experience is all about being one with the trees and having a tree all to yourself.  A unique feeling that only a few kids got to experience with their own treehouse but now everyone can get that feeling of having your own private hideaway. “ I think people are calmer and kinder the more time they spend in nature. And I really enjoy the fact that we’ve got something so seductive that people will want to come do it. They don’t have to be a nature lover to want to come do it. I think it gives adults a free pass to actually start to find that part of themselves again,” expressed Amy.