Texas Highways Magazine November 2021

Asking someone to select the best thing they’ve ever eaten in Texas may seem like an unfairly difficult question, but the responses to our query may have resulted in our most mouthwatering cover story yet. To give you even more delectable recommendations, I asked our resident staff gourmands to share their favorite Texas restaurant meals. Tyson Bird, digital strategies manager: The minute I set foot in the Lost Maples Cafe in Utopia after days of camping, I knew I was in for a life-changing chicken-fried steak. The golden-brown entrée with gravy and mashed potatoes was the best I’ve had in Texas. My only regret? Not saving room for pie. Ashley Burch, art director: One of the best things I’ve ever eaten was the gelato at OroBianco Italian Creamery in Blanco, the only…

Food styling has been a career-long passion for Texas Highways Art Director Ashley Burch. This month’s cover, shot by photographer Eric W. Pohl, features table settings from Burch’s personal collection of props. “Over time I’ve collected way too many place settings and dinnerware and cups and bowls, and this was a good way for me to put that to use,” Burch says. The cover shoot took around three hours, with a couple hours of preparation and about 30 minutes of photography. “We’re constantly working against time because stuff starts to look sad,” she says. “Ice starts to melt; things start to coagulate. With the ramen we really wanted to continuously get steam to fight that.” The perfectionism Burch shows on set pops up in her personal life too. “My family…

Ruvani de Silva The British-Sri Lankan writer was surprised to discover a nearly 100-year-old Jersey cattle herd so far from the breed’s U.K. homeland, prompting her to write “Till the Cows Come Home” (Page 59). “The Knolles are so passionate about what they do, and they have drawn on their Texan resourcefulness and tenacity to pivot their farm through the pandemic,” the Austin-based writer says. “I also got to feed a baby Jersey, which has to be the ultimate writing assignment perk!” De Silva’s work centers on food, drink, and travel. She has written for the blog Craft Beer Austin and Pellicle Magazine. Joe Hagan For “Cresting the Wave” (Page 12), journalist Joe Hagan spoke to relatives and former schoolmates to reconstruct memories of surfing off Bob Hall Pier on Padre Island as…

Dark Beasts of Texas When I was living in Austin, I liked having them around [“Grackles!,” October]. I suspect they, as individuals, feel about us the way we feel about them, as individuals. Mort Stine, Greenville, North Carolina My reckoning is that [grackles] have been roosting in the same spot for thousands of years, and we just came along and built a mall there. Thomas Stewart Webber, San Angelo Juan Seguín Seguín represented many Tejanos in the same situation but not in leadership roles like him [“Caught Between 2 Countries,” October]. He was not a traitor but a hero who had courage to do what was right no matter the cost. Eloy Zamora, Palmview One Under Par Grackles are experts at stealing crackers and candy from my golf cart as I labor over a putt I will probably miss…

Located near the Terlingua ghost town, Willow House offers refined comfort amid the rugged Chihuahuan Desert. The lodging’s 12 casitas capitalize on the landscape with unobstructed views that stretch to the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, which is 6 miles east. Covering more than 1,250 square miles, Big Bend draws visitors to the Rio Grande borderland to explore its scenery, history, and culture. As a longtime resident of nearby Marathon, photographer E. Dan Klepper knew winter conditions would make for stark desert colors when he visited Willow House in January for “Little Boxes on the Hillside” (April 2021). He brought along his colorful kites, just in case. “I like to bring something out of the ordinary into the landscape,” Klepper says. “The kites are magical and unpredictable, and…

Hemphill sits on the edge of the Sabine National Forest, about 10 miles west of Toledo Bend Reservoir and the Texas-Louisiana border. The forest and the lake, which is part of the Sabine River, make this area a paradise for birders, hikers, hunters, and anglers. The forest took on a different distinction on Feb. 1, 2003, however, when recovery workers converged on Sabine County to search for remnants of space shuttle Columbia. Returning from a 16-day scientific mission, the NASA shuttle unexpectedly broke apart when reentering Earth’s atmosphere, scattering debris across the area. Belinda Gay, a Hemphill resident since 1998, was one of the many locals who rushed to help in the recovery effort, scouring the forest for signs of the wreckage and coordinating volunteers. She and others later worked…