Question? Goin' to Texas! What to see? Where to go?

[word-doctor]

You've got a whole itinerary there, Grumpy. I'd take up Rob on his offer and also check out 6th st. in Austin. You can hit the Hill Country on your way out to Big Bend from the beach.

As far as water, it's worth the drive south to Corpus. Around Rockport/Port Aransas is a whole lot of inshore/offshore. In addition to 2coolfishing, check out 360tuna.com.

Food? You have a lot of good recommendations. If you stop in H-town, the hottest place for seafood is Reef. Haven't been there but everyone else has, including the national folks. Very fresh and emphasis on local.

[Bret]

Most of the previous posts cover the gulf coast , West tx,and dallas areas.. If you go by amarillo, be sure and go to palo Duro state park.. Its a nice place to hang out and have a picnic.. Plenty of cool things to see. you might go to Texas parks and wildlife website and check out the parks(it also has fishing info) www.tpwd.state.tx.us Have fun.. Texas has lots of cool stuff to see..

[slydawg]

Have a burger at the "Hole in the wall" outside of Dallas. They have a great blues jam there!

Have a Lockhart sausage, in Lockhart!

In Austin, check out east 6th street for some amazing blues music! (Stevie Ray Vaughn's old stomping grounds)

See millions of bats fly from under the Congress bridge at dusk in Austin.

See the book depository in Dallas, and Deep Ellum(elm) is a cool hangout for food/music as well.

[johnnylite]

Chicken fried steak anywhere there's a crowded parking lot. In the town of Denton there is a catfish place that is off the charts. Just pull into town and ask.

Don't stay too long in Texas you won't want to come back. I miss it.

[got bent]

hit up sams boat in austin.... you have never had buffalo wings like they have them there!

[trapperben]

You cant do everything, I know natives who have not been to all the places already mentioned. Anyway, some suggestions.

Looks like you are coming through Amarillo so you should at least stop at the Big Texan and say you have seen it. Doug Hanks, Beans and Things, and Henks are all good barbecue places if you are in a hurry, PM me if you want directions. Everyone is giving you barbecue tips but if that is not your thing there are other good places to eat. The opening to the Palo Duro Canyon is nearby which if you watched Lonesome Dove you saw bits of when Duval put the bridle in his mouth and used both hands at full gallop to kill the bad guys. It is amazing to me drive up on since there are flat plains for miles on both sides with the sudden opening dropping around a thousand feet before it spreads out.

Kinda rando but I can't imagine you going that route through Texas without visiting the Alamo. The nearby river walk is touristy but fun also.

Fredricksburg near Luckenbach mentioned above is a neat tourist German town, has the Nimitz Museum and some good restaurants.

Driving through central Texas especially the hill country watch out for deer, the ones you see laying by the side of the road did not die of natural causes. I have seen a lot less this year for some reason but I have also had them jump out in front of me especially at night. I have been lucky, the only ones I have taken I tagged.

If you happen to pass through Brady Mack's is good, they are a barbecue place but the burgers and fries may be better, my daughter got so absorbed in eating their fries she bit her finger instead of a fry. I promised her I would never tell anyone she did that btw. Thery are that good though.

Llano is one of my favorite towns, Coopers mentioned above is their landmark barbecue place and they have excellent barbecue. I recommend the pork chops. Brady and Llano are close, might be hard to eat at both.

If you have not found it check out the Texasfishingforum. Something unique you could do is take a kayak guided trip on the Brazos, just look at the kayak thread at the TFF and you can locate yaknyoda who offers them. The Brazos is an amazing river, starts out with multiple forks in west Texas, seems to go uphill towards Oklahoma by the map sometimes before turning south west of Dallas. There are also links there to fishing around Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, South Padre Island that might be helpful since you expressed an interest.

Going back besides the places mentioned going through the Guadalupes north of ElPaso might be worthwhile, these are the southern end of the rockies and at 12000 plus feet the highest point in Texas. The rockies end abruptly with one peak. You could also visit Carlsbad caverns at the end of that drive. Not Texas but only a few miles into New Mexico.

Have fun.