Texas Highways Magazine October 2020

AN ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT BROUGHT VIRGINIA NATIVE CHARLEY PRITCHARD and his wife, Holly, to Texas in 1999, when they purchased the historic Mission Ice manufacturing plant to establish Luling Icehouse Pottery. Charley developed an interest in clay as a student. After “taking to the wheel” in an elective course, he found his calling in the 200-year-old pottery making tradition of this area and changed degrees to reflect his new passion. “Out of all the types of pots that we make, the coffee mug can be the most humble and intimate. It has to feel good in the hand and comfortable. We love traditional stoneware and create every piece of pottery with intention and gratitude.” Shop more Luling Icehouse Pottery products at shop.texashighways.com. Blue Star Chip & Dip Server $60.95 ITEM 37776 Order Online shop.texashighways.com…

A quote from one of our stories this month struck me as an apt metaphor for creating a travel magazine during a pandemic. Texas A&M professor Andreea Botezatu describes the qualities of natural wine as reflecting “a sense of place, of time, the conditions of the year … They’re an expression of the moment.” Typically, our goal is to share stories that are rooted in place but unbound by time, so a reader can pick up any issue at any moment and be inspired to take a trip. In a normal year that means planning most of our content about 12 months before it publishes so we can capture seasonal photography and allow writers the time to travel, research, and fine-tune their stories. Perhaps more than any other 2020 edition, our…

The first note illustrator Mike Lowery made in his sketchbook after arriving at the 2019 Texas State Fair was about the event’s signature gooey fried foods. “I got nacho cheese on my shirt within the first six minutes of getting inside the gate,” says the Atlanta-based artist, who wrote and illustrated “The State Fair of Texas: A Collection of Weird (And True!) Facts” (Page 38). “It set the tone for the entire day.” What he really struggled to grasp, even after exploring the fair for a day, is the sheer size of the 277-acre event. “I’ve been to state fairs,” says Lowery, who grew up in a small Northeast town. “Everything was the extreme of what I knew from state fairs I’ve been to. If my county fair would’ve had…

Thanks for the great article about Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel. I learned about the band from Ray’s brother Hank who lived near me in Pennsylvania and who I am proud to call a friend. I have been a fan since my teens. I took up playing fiddle because of them. Hugh McGinley, Machiasport, Maine The Arts Issue My husband and I have subscribed to the magazine since the 1970s. My husband, Jim, actually wrote for the magazine from 197577. We have seen the magazine go through many phases over the years, but the [September] issue is outstanding because what makes Texas unique is its diverse creative people, and your issue highlighted just that. The article by ire’ne lara silva and the associated artwork were excellent and very moving. Also loved…

Photographer Theresa DiMenno encountered this scene of bald cypress and box elder maple trees along the Guadalupe River near the Gruene Historic District of New Braunfels last November. “Fall is my favorite season in general,” says DiMenno, who lives in Austin. “The sky seems bluer, and I’m drawn to the contrast of leaves against sky.” She noticed this spot at the end of a day she’d spent searching for fall colors along River Road. It was after sunset, so she used a tripod and slow shutter speed to take the picture. “This enabled me to get the correct exposure since it was dark and also to capture the smooth flow of the water,” she says.…

Giddings is a town that keeps to itself. Ask the locals, and they’ll tell you they live here because they always have, as did their grandparents. That’s the case for Jacob Janda, whose family has been in the area for 160 years. Founded as a railroad town in 1871, Giddings grew and contracted on the fortunes of cotton and oil, a history that’s recalled at the Lee County Museum, the Texas Wendish Heritage Museum, and in murals around town. Janda’s grandfather managed the railroad depot, and his father sold gravestones. These days, Janda stakes his own claim in Giddings’ history as a gravestone restorer and designer of custom memorial monuments. Janda’s work has taken him all over Central Texas, but he says he will always call Giddings home. In this…