Texas Monthly June 2021

OPENING A SMALL-TOWN BOOKSTORE DURING THE PANDEMIC WAS “THE CRAZIEST THING WE EVER DID” Author Ryan Holiday had braced himself for adversity when he and his wife decided early last year to open a bookshop in Bastrop—but he wasn’t prepared for the delays that COVID-19 caused. TEXAS LEADERS GET COZIER WITH CRYPTOCURRENCY The boom days of Bitcoin are back, and with them prospectors who use high-powered computers to “mine” for the digital currency. Amid the frenzy, Omar L. Gallaga reports, those mining interests are lobbying the Legislature to make the state friendlier to Bitcoin. MEXICO’S ELITE ARE FLYING TO TEXAS FOR COVID-19 VACCINATIONS Mexico’s COVID-19 vaccination rate lags far behind that of the United States. So, as Peter Holley and Maria Jimenez Moya report, many wealthy Mexicans have taken note that Texas does not require…

Senior editor Paula Mejía recently revisited an activity she had tried only briefly as a teenager: skateboarding. She also recently experimented with an art medium she’d never considered before: chain-saw wood sculpting. “I’m not handy in the least,” she says, “and I could barely lift my arms the next day. But it shook something loose in me—a willingness to try something and be bad at it.” Amid these new pursuits, Paula is returning to one she’s long been very good at: writing. After serving as our culture editor since 2019 and enlivening our coverage with a vivid collection of fresh voices and subjects, Paula will begin writing full-time, on music, movies, art, architecture, sports, and whatever else catches her keen eye for emerging stories and personalities. Succeeding Paula as editor of what…

“SELENA DEALT WITH MANY OF THE SAME DEE-ROOTED ISSUES THAT LATIN AMERICANS DO, ON A PUBLIC STAGE. THERE’S SUCH A DEEPER MEANING BEHIND THAT, AND YOU CLEARLY DON’T GET IT. JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE FROM TEXAS DOESN’T MEAN YOU KNOW BEST.” Pedestal Pusher In the piece “Selena, Role Model” [April 2021], why are you trying to say that we’ve put Selena on a pedestal and “maybe it’s time to take her off”? It implies that fans give our allegiance to Selena like she was a cult leader. She was a singer her fans adored. She wasn’t our friend or sister or mom. You know why I loved Selena? Because as a very pales-kinned Latina, I dealt with so many identity issues, not feeling like a “real” Latina. We don’t get many heroes that…

Sometimes the easy park gives you the most trouble. You expect challenges at a place like far-flung Bentsen–Rio Grande Valley State Park, at the very southern edge of the state, where I and my trusty sidekick, Emily, spent a dark night in a lonely tent within earshot of the Rio Grande at an otherwise deserted campground. Or Big Bend Ranch, in far West Texas, where reaching our ridiculously remote campsite required a bone- and nerve-rattling journey through unforgiving desert. But during our most recent attempt at mild-mannered adventure, it was laid-back, family-friendly Guadalupe River State Park that thwarted us at every turn. ¶ A peaceful Hill Country treasure, the park is a mere forty miles north of San Antonio and eighty southwest of Austin. And it couldn’t be more inviting:…

For easy takeout seven days a week, Bergheim Pizza Company (1) is about six miles southwest of Guadalupe River State Park, on the way to Boerne. On the ample menu are calzones, wings, salads, sandwiches, and a full roster of pies, like the Turf & Turf (pepperoni, bacon, salami, and chicken sausage) and the Garden Gobbler (black olives, spinach, artichoke hearts, and more colorful veggies). In the same strip center is a good source of caffeine, at Scooter’s Coffee, a cheerful spot for a latte and a muffin. The ever-growing town of Boerne is fifteen miles to the west of the park, if you’re pining for a little antiques shopping, patio dining, or pampering. For the latter, stay at the Kendall (2), a historic inn on the square with tree-shaded…

Alarge double chocolate milkshake takes eighteen seconds to make at P. Terry’s Burger Stand. At least it does in the practiced hands of Kathy Terry, cofounder of the Austin-based chain. On this bright Friday afternoon, at a recently opened location in New Braunfels, she’s working a shift alongside more than a dozen employees inside the drive-through-only restaurant. Kathy’s shake is handed out the window to a woman with brightly dyed red hair and huge sunglasses. She and a disconcerting number of other customers on this day forgo face coverings as they holler out requests for ketchup packets or extra napkins when they reach the window—despite clear signage asking them to mask up. The customer is frowning, but then she sucks hard on the straw, nods to no one in particular, and…