Texas Noteworthy

I started thinking about a sort of list of noteworthy things about Texas based on our limited 11-month visit here. You will find more details about some of these if you look back through my blog entries.  I will probably edit/add to this over time.

best barbeque - Salt Lick
best pizza - Mellow Mushroom - good crust, groovy atmosphere
best TexMex - Chuy's (honorable mention Taco Shack breakfast burrito, and some of us like Taco Cabana)
best ice cream - Amy's (honorable mention Bluebonnet Ice Cream)
best ice cream within short walking distance - Sonic
best burger - Five Guys (but Mighty Fine is a close second)
best Chinese - Little China
best soda - mix-your-own machine at places like Jack in the Box
most notable chips - HEB Texas-shaped corn chips

best water park - Schlitterbahn
best swimming hole - Krause Springs (Hamiton Pool and Barton Springs are honorable mentions)
best beaches - Galveston Island

best view (Austin area) - Mt. Bonnell
best view (central Texas hill country) - hilltops to east of Lake Travis dam (e.g. The Oasis, St. Lukes on the Lake)
best view (west Texas) - Guadalupe Mountain National Park area

best local TV programming - tie: Daytripper, Biscuit Brothers
best apartment complex - Renaissance at North Bend

best zoo - Houston Zoo
best childrens museum - Houston Childrens Museum
best fossil exhibit - Texas Memorial Museum
best place to learn Texas history - Bob Bullock Texas History Museum

best choir - Christian Choral Society
best elementary school - Pillow Elementary
best Kindergarten teacher - Mrs. Fickett

best music (TexMex) - Grupo Fantasma
best music (childrens) - Biscuit Brothers
best waterfalls - McKinney Falls State Park
best fossil hunting - Walnut Creek, east of Walnut Creek Metro Park
best hiking/biking - Walnut Creek Metro Park
best city park - Zilker Park (honorable mention to Walnut Creek Metro Park)
best church - St. Albert the Great Catholic Church

most notable building - Frost Bank Building (honorable mention to UT tower and the moon towers)
most notable news event - Bastrop wildfire (for a sort of touristy update see: http://thedaytripper.com/episodes/episode-310-return-to-bastrop-tx)
most notable weather - the drought (the occasional rains & few snow pellets only served to provide contrast)
most memorable animals - grackles (honorable mentions to fire ants, geckoes, Mexican free-tail bats, mockingbirds, and (flat) armadillos)
most memorable plants - prickly pear cacti (honorable mentions to live oaks, ball moss, cedars, yuccas, bluebonnets, and Indian blankets)
most notable free Austiny thing to do - watch the bats fly out from under the Congress Avenue bridge