If there’s one big city in Texas that has “the look” that many out of state visitors expect to see, it’s probably Fort Worth. This city that calls itself “the place where the West begins” is home to the Fort Worth Stockyards, a National Historic District that’s still home to cowboys on horseback, as well …

With more than 70,000 residents, this city is the medical center for Central Texas and an important industrial producer. Temple was established by the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad and named for its chief construction engineer, B. B. M. Temple. Temple is also nicknamed “The Wildflower Capital of Texas.” Visitors lucky enough to arrive …

With its central location and its position as a barbecue hot spot, Taylor would have to be considered the rodeo-sized belt buckle in the Texas barbecue belt. To reach the pinnacle of pits, head north from Austin on I-35 to Round Rock. Turn east on US 79 and then continue for 17 miles. Taylor’s biggest …

Fredericksburg is the capital of Texas’s bed-and-breakfast business. Within Gillespie County, hundreds of bed-and-breakfast properties invite guests to enjoy a pampered getaway at prices far lower than those in hotel suites. What’s a Gastehaus? Fredericksburg, Texas is best known as the home of the gästehaus or guest house, a bed-and-breakfast where visitors are given the …

Boerne (pronounced Bernie), on the banks of Cibolo Creek, was founded in 1847 by German immigrants, members of the same group who settled nearby New Braunfels. They named the town for author Ludwig Börne, whose writings inspired many people to leave Germany for the New World. During the 1880s, Boerne became known as a health …

Port Arthur sits some 20 miles off I-10, the highway that frames East Texas on the south. It is a bustling port city through which millions of gallons of oil are transported annually, and a favorite with anglers and birders. Port Arthur is the hometown of the late Janis Joplin, former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, …

Located north of Cedar Park on US 183, the fast-growing community of Leander is home to many historic markers. Just south of Leander on the east side of US 183 stands a marker at the Blockhouse Creek subdivision, named for a blockhouse used as an interim prison by the Texas Rangers over a century ago. …