kimrachell said:

You're welcome, dahlin'

SoulAlive said:

Yeah, there ain't nuthin' cute about Beaumont. But Galveston island is not far and it's got a decent beach. But much of it was damaged by the hurricane. I spent some great Spring Breaks down there.

Again, Texas is huge so the terrain is vastly different in different areas. Just like the map DP posted. The Hill Country and East Texas are the most picturesque parts IMO.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Are you kidding, Houston people are some of the most rude stuck up people in the country.

fluid said:

Not as bad when compared to Miami or Atlanta. In Miami, the people there redefine rude. Even Orlando has the same issues. In Atlanta and its outlying suburbs, they (people) try too hard to be noticed, especially in Alpharetta, Roswell (where I lived),or Buckhead.

Over half of my life was spent in one of those three places and Houston, while not perfect, is an upgrade for me in terms of how people are.

kimrachell said:

You are very welcome.

My husband is from SA so we go there every few years and have been for the past 20 years. SA and the Tidewater area of Virginia (VA Beach etc) are the only two places where I have NEVER been able to figure out direction. For me in SA there is nothing geographical to get directional bearings so I am LOST ALL THE TIME!!

Well there are loops everywhere in Texas. San Antonio has a loop. Dallas has a loop. Ft.WOrth has a loop. Houston has 3 loops, Loop 619, Neltway 8, HWY99/Grand Parkway, HWY6 1850 and 146 make an almost loop around Houston too. If they ever became freeways and went arounnd completley we'd have 4.

btw,I think this has been one of the best threads I've seen in this forum.I like it when we discuss different cities or states.If I was ever gonna go to Houston,I would search for this thread and print it out Lots of great info.

SoulAlive said:

yep, it's been very helpful to me! there are some great people on this site!

SoulAlive said:

Well there's even more infor. We once had an amusement park called Astroworld.
A Six Flags theme park is showcased the world's number 1 rollercoaster The Texas Cyclone for many years and many experimental rides never seen liek Skyscreamer(like Freeball-Majic Mounstain), XLRA(The Ninja), and UltraTwister(only other in Japan).

DUe to property being mroe valuable than ticket sales they sold it. ANd it was going to crap. Earthquest Adventure is a new disneylike themepark being built in New Caney. It's going to be centered around a giant volcanoe and take you back to pre-historic Earth with animitronic dinosaurs around you.


Houston is also the world's largest gamma city. Beta being the biggest world class cities i.e. London,Sydney,Paris,Tokyo,New York, Los Angeles. Houston is one notch from being a Beta city. Texas is also the 3rd most populated state.
[Edited 2/17/09 19:56pm]

kimrachell said:

My aunt told me today that her whole family, my cousins and their respective rugrats are taking their annual trip to San Antonio for spring break. They always have a great time. I'd go to but I have a house full of recovering furry rugrats to take care.

SCNDLS said:

That really sucks. Maybe you can take the trip later. It's always fun to shop in Round Rock and in San Marcos on the way to San Antonio....ESPECIALLY SAN MARCOS!!! Every known-to-man company has an outlet store there.

I've never been to Texas. I would like to come there someday, but being the upper Midwesterner that I am, I always envisioned Texas to be, while Southern, a whole geography and culture unto itself. And I always thought that the certain regions of Texas were very unique like NoCal and SoCal, or NYC compared to northern New Jersey and upstate New York. The only similarity each place in Texas has to each other is that it is HOT and humid all over the place.

Growing up I thought about whether there were a lot of rednecks in Texas, but I think more about the whole "Friday Night Lights" culture down there. I remember that the cheerleader mom who put out a hit on her daughter's cheerleader rival was from Texas, and I kept wondering how wacko someone would have to be to try to assassinate a high school girl over a cheerleading spot, but knowing a little bit more about the football culture in Texas, I can see why it is so important to people (though it still makes no sense to me ).

For all of you Texas Orgers, what do you think of King of the Hill? I know the cartoonist who created that show is from Austin, so does it capture life down there fairly accurately or is it as goofy and strange as The Simpsons or Family Guy?

Been to Houston on several occasions. It's not bad for a town in Texas. Not quite as charming as Austin though. But Houston and San Antonio are both more charming than Dallas to me. Dallas is just one super giant shopping mall.

728huey said:

Mike Judge, the King of the Hill creator, is from Garland. That's why the town on the show is called Arland. A lot of the places he used on the show are real. The settings are pretty real also. I like the show. It gives a pretty good idea of what a lot of the people are like in this state. I find it amusing, especially since I know a lot of people like Bill and Hank.

As for the weather here, it is soooo unpredictable. Especially in the northern part. Living in Dallas, you get some of all kinds of weather. We get rain, sleet, snow, humidity, 100 degree weather, and 15 degree weather. There is an old joke here that if you don't like the weather, just wait a little while and it will change. Central, South, and West Texas get similar weather patterns, but Central and South hardly get any snow or ice (but have been known to. As a matter of fact, most people wear shorts and sandles year round here.

High school football is BIG here. Especially in the smaller towns. I grew up going to a small school in a small town (1200 people in the town). They are passionate about football. On any Friday night in the Fall, you will find almost everyone at the game. Sometimes, the entire town is a ghost town (depending on how big the game is). My old high school has spent so much money on players and building their athletic departments. I graduated in 1991. I have been through the old campus several times since graduating. They have built so many different facilities, tennis courts, field houses, etc. The football uniforms look so much like the Philadelphia Eagles (helmets and all) that its sad. My parents are always griping about the amount of school taxes they pay and how the district wastes sooo much money (which I agree).
http://www.tatumisd.org/i...Itemid=190

With me growing up in East Texas, everything about football is big. If certain people aren't into the game, they are into enjoying the drill team, cheerleaders and marching band. I grew up close to the Kilgore College Rangerettes and our drill team was modeled after them. Those girls and parents literally will KILL for a position on the squad. I have seen cars get keyed and hair pulled out over drill team and cheerleader spots.

BSOD said:

Yeah....Dallas is a "fake" city compared to other cities. I took Government at a Dallas community college. The teacher explained how Dallas was an artificial city. They re-routed the Trinity river in order to build Downtown Dallas where it is. That is one of the reasons why certain parts of the city flood when there is a heavy rain. It doesn't do it as much, but it used to be really bad.

Also, Fort Worth is a very nice city. People always want to group it with Dallas, but Fort Worth has a personality of it's own. As a matter of fact, most people in FW HATE to be associated with Dallas people. I know people that won't drive past the DFW Airport simply because they don't want to interact with Dallas people at all.

daPrettyman said:

I don't watch King of the Hill but I'd venture to say there are people like that all over the south. Again, not anything that is unique to Texas. And once again you were on point about the football culture, which I love. My Allen Eagles are state champs BTW.

Plus, I was on Drill Team and our squad won state many times so when we'd go to competitions or camps at SMU we always got daggers thrown our way. Also, the director was a former Kilgore Rangerette and made sure we knew how everyone should want to aspire to be a Rangerette. Despite being the only dark spot on a team of over 50 girls, I loved drill team. I got to travel all over the country and dance in a couple Superbowls, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parades, and the Rose Bowl. I had a great upbringing in Texas.

And you're also right Huey, Dallas has tons of shopping but there's a lot more too. We have our Fashion Week now too. But because it is such a huge city geographically you have to have the right person showing you around.

SCNDLS said:

My biggest complaint about the DFW area is that NOTHING is really convenient. When I say that, I mean that if I wanted to go shopping then out on the town, I would have to drive about 20 to 30 miles to do that. I really wish Dallas would take some notes from New Orleans or DC on that. I really think that Tom Leopart is trying to improve Dallas' image....especially since we don't have the Cowboys here anymore. At least you used to could say they were in Dallas county, you can't anymore. The public transportation is horrible (though they are really trying to improve it).

We also need a convention center/hotel. I work in the hospitality industry. Lots of companies don't want to do tradeshows here because it is not convenient for them. They have to spend lots of money on transportation as well as hotels.

daPrettyman said:

I think that totally depends on where you live. Even though I'm in Allen which is 25 miles from downtown Dallas, I can be downtown in 20 minutes. Plus, my friends and I tend to do our nights on the town downtown anyway. So, we eat and party in the same area. I like to drive so the distance isn't a big deal to me.

But for the most part, there are a lot of restaurants and shopping areas and mixed use properties in my area so I don't really have to drive far.
[Edited 2/18/09 12:03pm]

SCNDLS said:

Yeah, Allen has a lot. Especially if you factor in Plano, Frisco, McKinney, etc. I live in South Dallas (off of I-20 and 1382 near Cedar Hill and Grand Prairie). I'm not that crazy about the shopping options that I have. I love my house and the location, but in order to do any decent shopping, I have to go to Arlington (which is sooooo crazy on the weekends). I also tend to go to Bedford, Euless, and north Dallas. I try to avoid Cedar Hill at all cost. They have put a lot of nice stores there in the past few years, but I don't find the area appealing. I tend to really get bad customer service. It doesn't matter where I go.

The Wal-Mart is the worst. I am not a fan of Walmart in any area, but this one is the worst. I went in a few months ago (at 4am) to get a few items before going to work. There was no one at the registers. I asked an associate if there was anyone working the registers and she ignored me (u know that pissed me off). I have contacted the customer service department, but they don't seem to care. Very sad.

daPrettyman said:

You couldn't pay me to go to Arlington on the weekends. I have some cousins that way and as far as I'm concerned it's another state. I was soooo happy to hear that only the all-star game is going to be at the Cowboys stadium while the Friday and Saturday events will be at AAC. Guess I ain't going to the game.

But yeah the new thing in our area is all these mixed use properties. Allen just got a really cool one called Watters Crossing and the one in Plano is gorgeous too.

SCNDLS said:

Arlington is HORRIBLE now. Can u imagine what it will be like once the stadium is complete? Especially since the roads aren't meant for an extra 50,000 people to be on them...not to mention parking

daPrettyman said:

Allen is also building a convention center/hotel complex with an open air mall, around the corner from my house, kinda like Firewheel in Garland but better. It's unbelievable how much major construction is going on around here.

daPrettyman said:

You know the stadium can hold 100,000, right?

Laura Miller fucked up when she let the 'boys go. They shoulda built the new stadium where Reunion is now. It doesn't get used at all since the AAC openend and it woulda been close to all the development in Victory plaza. Dumb asses.

SCNDLS said:

Yeah, I know the stadium can hold 100,000. I was considering that probably about 50,000 can park and drive through there now. They are pretty much doubling the amount of traffic (maybe trippling).

daPrettyman said:

And it's right there by Six Flags and the Ballpark, huh? Yeah, really smart.

Did you hear George Strait is gonna be the first musical act?

SCNDLS said:

Yeah, I heard about George. These people love him in Texas. Wasn't he the last big performance in the astrodome? He's ok, but I'd rather see Garth or someone like that do the first concert.

daPrettyman said:

You know I was hoping Prince would get things poppin' like he did at the O2. Yeah, I know. . .

SCNDLS said:

U know these country folks wouldn't let him do it. I would rather The Eagles do it. At least you could justify it by saying that Don lives in Dallas.

daPrettyman said:

The Eagles woulda been great too.

I coulda swore Houston was bigger. Even though Dallas is higher populated Houston goes out about 30 miles. 40 with Conroe. WHen I lived there it seemed to be more than a slight tad more small or compacted.We have as many or even more malls, Throughout it's history Houston has hd 24 malls. 18 are still open.

Yes Texas has it's regions.lit's so big you couldn't possibly call it one state. Most mjor european countries Germany,France,Spain,UK,Italy could all fit into Texas with extra room. From East to West the driver is longer than from New York to Chicago. We have about 5 distinct regions..culturally. The East which is southern by mentality, South which might as well be Mexaci, West Texas is The Southwest and more related to New Mexico and Arizona. Now The Panhandle is North Texas, the lowest populated it almost Midwestern in mentality. And the 5th area Central Texas is the most Texan of all. It is not very interesting but has a mega amazing place called Austin in it. It's known for crazy people, Klansmen,Ft.Hood,The Bush Ranch and Branch-Davidians. Those are the 5 regions of Texas. FUnny even they are fuckin big and are bigger than what's considered larger states leik Pennsylvania Florida, and Illinois. Not only is the state hughe but it's right in the center of the country which put's it between 2 regions and at the bottom of the country is on an international border.


Rednecks and cowboys are a withering and almost gone species. 2 funny stores happened at the rodeo. Rodeo Houston happens once a year during Go Texan time. It's when half the people give uo their Calley Accents, suburban homes, Suits,Abercrombie, and SUVs and wear cowboy hats,boots,ride horses and eat BBQ.
Well most of that isn't all over Houston. Outside the wagon trail it's all at Reliant Park which holds The Astrodome. Hapening in a few eeks they usually pack a bunch of people in Reliant Stadium now and at the end they watch a country performer.

There's also a big fair, side shows,, food, and a petting zoo. Like too many Houstonians I'm not a old skool Texan. SO we were sitting next to this long horn steer and this "true texan" was also there. So I decided to ask him whata steer was since I can't tell the difference from a bull. He responded"Are you a Texan?" looking and me crazy. I'm like yeah but I'm a modern texan I didn't grow up around cows and horses. Well he told that steers are bulls with their balls yanked off. I was shocked.

As I mentioned it's about a 2 week festival and each nigh at the stadium there's a performer at the end. Since we are a big modern international city we have noncountry artists perform. There's 3 days. Rock-Pop day for the genereal music fans. Black heritage days where there's an R&B singer and/or a rapper. ANd Go Tejano day where there's a mexican or latin act playing. I went for Rock-Pop day cause Fergie was performning. I got of the light rail and when I got into the parking I noticed people with black hats on,leather jackets with fringes, and boots. I felt geeks out of place cause I thought this was some new fashion statement that I wasn't into. Then I tough"Aww Fergie is performing , it most be some Fergie thing." since people dress up like the artist they're going to see often. FOr instand you going to see Michael you wear one glove,a Beat It Jacket, and white socks. Hoing to a Prince concerts you wear a ruffled shit,a trenchcoat, a bikini, permed hair, sunglasses or some high heels. SO this has to be some kinda Fergie outfit. Infact she did wear a cowboy hate while performing. Then it dawned on me 2 days later I was at Rodeo and it was Go Western wear.

We rarely wear western wear.
[Edited 2/18/09 14:12pm]
[Edited 2/18/09 14:27pm]