Newsletter dedicated to traveling in Texas, including information about news, locations, and events of interest to visitors as well as statistics and summaries of travel in the state

Texas. Travel and Information Division.

Portal to Texas History

413. !.41413"wApril 1986SOME 35 RIGS in a winter Texas Airstream caravan,en route to Mexico and the middle Rio Grande Valley,recently pulled into the Laredo Civic Center. There,trailmaster Gerry Hillman of McAllen called upon LeoGarza, manager of our Tourist Bureau at Laredo, toaddress the group. Leo showed our new film "Festival150" (see March 1986 Texas Travel Log) and describedthe operations and services of the Bureau, points ofinterest along their planned route, and brief descriptionsof the literature he distributed. Members of the caravanranged in age from 62 to 93, Leo said. Our touristbureau staffers are well suited to provide travel presenta-tions to such special groups.EIGHT NEW "Certified Professional Travel Counselors"passed the rigorous examination administered last monthto earn the coveted title. They will be awarded theircertificates at the annual Texas Travel Counselors Con-ference in Austin later this month. We'll announce theirnames in the May Texas Travel Log!"THEY COME TO LANGTRY every which way,"according to counselor Lucille White at our JudgeRoy Bean Visitor Center there. "A month or two ago agroup of cross-country horseback riders stopped by,then three Airstream caravans visited the center oneweek in March, and a few days ago the Sesquicen-tennial Rio Grande Float Trip landed their boats andcanoes nearby. Of course, visitors show up mostly inautos and on motorcycles, but we've had our share ofbicyclists, too," Lucille said.SIX FLAGS OVER WASKOM? When two college-age couples stopped late one Saturday afternoon atour Tourist Bureau at Waskom, near the Louisianaborder, counselor Melissa Heard thought it strangewhen they said they planned to visit Six Flags overTexas - a good four-hour drive away. Seems theywere from Tyler but had unwittingly turned east onI-20 instead of west. Melissa gently gave them a shortcourse in map reading and pointed them back alongthe road they'd been driving.TRAIL BOSSES for the Orange SesquicentennialTrail Ride were Travel Counselor Pam Crew of ourTourist Bureau at Orange, and husband Walter. Theyheaded up more than 200 riders who participated inthe special trail ride and parade.HELPING VISITORS is a fundamental part of thejob for our travel counselors, but jump-starting theirautos isn't exactly covered in their training manual. Soit came as something of a surprise to Roel Romero ofour Valley Bureau when he was called upon to get outthe ol' jumper cables and rescue not one, not two, butsix visitor vehicles in the Bureau parking lot - and allwithin five days. "What I can't figure out," said Roel, "iswhy they all happened on sunny, mild days!"Tj~~X-'YiZZXiii ~ *~MORE BITS AND PIECES...Both our TouristBureaus in the Valley and at Laredo report a noticeableincrease in visitors from Mexico. Sam Martinez,manager of our Valley Bureau at Harlingen, and BeckyGutierrez at our Bureau at Laredo deduce that thestabilized peso and falling gasoline prices contribute tothe influx...The Dallas/Fort Worth Tourism Councilvisited our Bureau at Waskom last month and lunchedwith the staffers, reports counselor DarleneJones...Our Tourist Bureau grounds at Orange nowsport a new birdhouse for purple martins, thanks toMrs. James Quigley, who installed the nesting homein memory of her late husband, Jimmy, formerpublisher of the Orange Leader and long-time enthus-iastic supporter of Texas tourism...Debbie Mapleshas replaced Lisa Ledbetter behind the counter at ourTourist Bureau at Wichita Falls, reports Bureaumanager Jack Conley...and Ms Eddie McKinseyhas taken the spot vacated by Doris White at ourCapitol Visitor Center in Austin.STATE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONTRAVEL AND INFORMATION DIVISION • AUSTIN, TEXAS 78701N %L~1 ~   'i:, .?/L$p~ %isA GROUP OF KENTUCKY BLACK-POWDERLONGRIFLEMEN, headed by a Kentucky districtjudge, recently participated in the reenactment of theBattle of the Alamo. On the way home, they were cap-tivated by our colorful Sesquicentennial InfoBord in ahighway rest area. The judge wrote our Austin office toask for a copy for their club house. (Sorry, we've onlyenough of the 3 x 3-ft. metal posters for highway restareas. But after 1986, they'll be available on a salvagebasis.)ODDS 'N ENDS AROUND THE BUREAUS...ACanadian planter from Central America dropped off ahuge stalk of new experimental bananas for the staff ofour Tourist Bureau at Laredo. "I don't know how goodthey are," said Bureau manager Leo Garza, "they're stillgreen!"...Counselors Betty Reynolds of our Bureau atDenison, Estelle Reaves of our Bureau at Texarkana,and Cindy Walker at our Gainesville Bureau all reportall report hordes of spring break students headed for theGulf Coast - particularly South Padre Island...Mean-while, our Capitol Visitor Center was overrun twice lastmonth as folks flocked to the Capitol grounds for theSesquicentennial ceremonies on March 2, and for the"Capital 10,000" run on Palm Sunday. "We were reallyflooded," said Center manager Anne Newsome.BOBSLEDDING IN TEXAS - IN SUMMER? Ahair-raising new bobsled ride, the "Avalanche Express,"is part of a multimillion dollar improvement to Six FlagsOver Texas. Opening late this month in the Spanishsection of the park, the ride features free-wheeling sledsthat reach speeds to 32 miles per hour over a steeplybanked, curving quarter-mile course. Also under way isexpansion of the Music Mill Amphitheatre and relatedfacilities. It'll all be part of Six Flags' silver anniversaryseason.TEXAS TRIVIA: What is the world's tallest masonrymonument?A TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER operated bythe Arlington C&VB is open for weekend operation at1908 E. Randol Mill Road, just east of ArlingtonStadium. Information on Texas Rangers baseball, SixFlags Over Texas, Wet 'n Wild water park, other areaattractions, hotels, restaurants and shopping is available.Free maps and brochures. Open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Satur-day and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.THE "NEW" SOUTHWEST AEROSPACE MUSEUMis open in Fort Worth at 30 Grant's Lane (N. Spur 341)off IH-30. Displays include military aircraft ranging fromthe B-36 to a T-33 T-bird, plus a host of fascinatingsmall exhibits. Near Carswell AFB. Call Dave Chiocchifor more information (817) 735-4143. Open Thu. thruSun. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Free.A SPECIAL SESQUICENTENNIAL EXHIBIT con-tinues at the Texas State Library during April. "The TexasRevolution" depicts political and military events of theperiod with displays of private papers, governmentrecords and other printed works. Other historic items onpermanent display include the Texas Declaration ofIndependence, and Travis'famous letter from the Alamo.Souvenir certificates documenting visits to the StateLibrary during the Sesquicentennial Year are available.SAN ANTONIO NOT ONLY SAYS "WELCOME,"but also bienvenidos, willkommen, bienvenue, andeven irashai masu! It's all in a slick, colorful new bookletin 5 - count 'em, 5 - languages, put out by the ever-inovative San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau.Clear, inviting photos are enhanced by crisp, pro-vocative copy in English, Spanish, German, French andJapanese. A neat piece, indeed. Or muy bueno,wunderbar, tres bien, or even ichi ban!A BRAND-NEW ARENA will greet rodeo fans for theopening of the 1986 season on April 4 at the MesquiteChampionship Rodeo. Now in its 28th year, the rodeoruns every Friday and Saturday night through Septem-ber. The bigger, better facility is adjacent to the old arena,LBJ Freeway (IH-635) at Military Drive exit.THE NEW CHOKE CANYON STATE PARK andreservoir is now open off SH 72 between Three Riversand Tilden, about midway between San Antonio andCorpus Christi. Three multilane boat ramps are included,while shoreline units offer picnic sites, rest rooms andfish-cleaning shelters. Currently, only the park unitlocated below the dam has available campsites. Excel-lent populations of largemouth bass, crappie, sunfishand both channel and blue catfish. Check with ParkHeadquarters for slot/possession limits. Admission.(512) 786-3538.JUST IN CASE READERS DIDN'T get enough wildflowers in the April Texas Highways, the May issuepresents an even broader variety. Features highlightAustin and the LBJ Country, historian Joe Frantz' finalchapter on Texas' beginnings, and "The Betsy Ross ofTexas." A 50th birthday salute to our tourist bureaus thatannually send millions of travelers happily on their waythrough Texas wraps up another outstanding issue. Getit on your newsstands in mid-April, or, for only $10,order 12 monthly issues by subscription. Just send acheck and your mailing address to Texas HighwaysCirculation, Box 5016, Austin 78763-5016.TRIVIA ANSWER:The San Jacinto Monument near Houston. Completedin 1939 to commemorate the Battle of San Jacinto, it is570 feet tall. It's topped by a single star 34 feet tall thatweighs 220 tons!MARCH BOX SCORE - With the first quarter of the year behind, ouF42 Texas Tourist Bureaus are closing in onthe 1 million visitors mark, with a respectable increase of+ 25.3 percent over March 1985. The increase in the numberof visitors from Mexico is reflected in totals for our Valley and Laredo Tourist Bureaus, both of which registeredsizeable gains. Here is a complete bureau-by-bureau tabulation for the month of March:Month Total Percent Year Total PercentBureau Visitors Variation* Visitors Variation*Amarillo 11,346 +15.7 25,734 + 5.0Anthony 21,987 - 3.1 54,564 - 10.3Denison 23,232 +19.9 54,780 + 20.9Gainesville 23,721 + 2.5 59,127 + 6.1Langtry 15,471 +23.6 29,886 + 21.9Laredo 27,783 +63.1 63,954 + 40.7Capitol 74,031 +46.9 146,463 + 27.0Month Total Percent Year Total PercentBureau Visitors Variation* Visitors Variation*Orange 40,140 +20.6 105,141 + 18.4Texarkana 33,216 +27.5 83,088 + 24.9Valley 50,169 +47.4 189,777 + 42.9Waskom 29,619 + 3.6 71,652 + 8.3Wichita Falls 14,145 - 0.2 35,976 + 10.3Bureau Totals 364,860 +25.3 920,142 + 21.3Austin Office 34,185 +32.7 67,107 + 31.7(mail, phone, walk-ins)*Compared to last yearBULK RATEU. S. POSTAGE PAIDAUSTIN, TEXASPERMIT NO. 2209TEXAS.TR AUEL L0GSTATE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYSAND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONTRAVEL AND INFORMATION DIVISIONAUSTIN, TEXAS 78701ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTEDRETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED

Texas Travel Log

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Portal to Texas History