Texas Monthly March 2019

“CONSUMERS DESERVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THEIR BEER. WE BREW BUD LIGHT WITH THE FINEST INGREDIENTS AND WE’RE HAPPY TO PROUDLY DISPLAY THEM ON OUR PACKAGING.”Andy Goeler, Bud Light’s Vice President of Marketing In an increasingly health-conscious world, consumers are becoming smarter and savvier about what they eat and drink. Most products list out ingredients and nutritional information with one very notable exception: beer. Bud Light is about to change that, highlighting its four essential ingredients: water, barley, rice, and hops. Beginning in February, Bud Light will be the first beer to list nutritional information and ingredients on their packaging. Barley creates the malt character and golden color, rice allows for a crisp finish, hops deliver aroma and bitterness, and fresh, well-processed water maintains the purity of the beer. Producing an American light…

A few years after I moved to Texas, in 2009, my son Sam was deployed to eastern Afghanistan as an Army Ranger lieutenant. I sent weekly care packages to him and his platoon and was always on the lookout for new sources of treats. That’s when I got recruited into the Cult of Buc-ee’s. On my first visit, to the store in New Braunfels, I loaded my basket with a couple dozen kinds of jerky and trail mix (and, for myself, a camo-patterned barbecue apron with built-in beer holster!). The place was packed, and a surprising number of the customers’ cars and trucks displayed the grinning Buc-ee’s beaver on their bumpers. I wondered: How did this quirky business become a Texas icon? As it turns out, senior editor Eric Benson had the…

“TEXAN IS NOT LIVING THERE ALL YOUR LIFE, IT’S A STATE OF MIND, AND IF GEORGE H. W. BUSH WASN’T A TEXAN, NEITHER AM I.” Dunn With Beto I enjoyed reading the Power Issue [“Creating the New Texas,” December 2018] and found the obligatory coverage of Beto O’Rourke humorous and interesting. Beto was a charismatic three-term congressman running against an unpopular incumbent whose support among his own party was tenuous. Beto had advantages of money, momentum, hard work, and a fawning press (including Texas Monthly) who hung on his every word and couldn’t wait to print their daily love letters to the visionary, Kennedy-like official who graced our presence in the Lone Star State. And yet he still lost his Senate race. Can we give it a break and put away the…

A Texas State University nutrition researcher is working on innovative ways to make sure all Texas children have a chance to thrive. While we know that eating healthy — more veggies, less sugar — is great for combating things like childhood obesity and diabetes, there may be other positive outcomes to improving children’s nutrition, says Lesli Biediger-Friedman, associate professor in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at Texas State. “One of the things we’re looking at is how proper nutrition impacts things like the development of healthy behaviors and getting children kindergarten ready,” she said. Biediger-Friedman works closely with San Marcos area Head Start and preschools, public health workers, and parents to determine how big of a role nutrition plays in early childhood development and to get families to be more proactive…

Since the Baker Hotel closed, in 1972, its decaying facade has loomed over Mineral Wells, a de facto memorial to the area’s glory days as a premier spa resort destination. At fourteen stories, the Spanish Colonial Revival structure boasted 450 guest rooms when it opened, in 1929, drawing celebrities such as Will Rogers, Clark Gable, and Judy Garland, as well as famed outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. Now it sits empty, as do many of the buildings in its shadow. The renaissance that some of the state’s small towns are experiencing has yet to happen here, despite its proximity to Fort Worth, about an hour away. ¶ Locals have long pinned their hopes on the rebirth of the city’s most famous landmark. For the past eleven years, developers from nearby Southlake…

LIVINGSTON, MONTANA Stay and play on the banks of the Yellowstone River in an authentic western mountain town where arts and culture are alive and well, and lodging and dining are renowned. Wild adventure comes naturally here—day and night—all year long. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU 303 E. Park St. | Livingston | 406.222.0850 DiscoverLivingston.com BIG SKY, MONTANA Big Sky offers unlimited access to outdoor recreation: the wet and wild whitewater experience, blue-ribbon trout streams, 60+ backcountry hikes, meandering wildlife and widespread wildflowers. As if that weren’t enough, Big Sky is your gateway community to America’s first national park, only an hour’s drive from the west entrance to Yellowstone. 55 Lone Mountain Trail | Big Sky | 406.995.3000 VisitBigSky.com WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA This picturesque, bustling all-American small town is the heart of Yellowstone. Old West flavor meets world-class…