Chet Garner

Miles, Texas

Producer and Host, The Daytripper at PBS

Host of The Daytripper on @PBS. Proud husband. Proud father. Sometimes attorney. No BBQ or swimmin' hole is safe. John 10:10

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Articles

Cisco Packs a Lot of Lore for a Small Town

1 week ago | texascooppower.com | Chet Garner

At its peak, the zoo had a number of cages built into the sandstone cliffs and held a strange menagerie of animals, including a bear, deer and flamingo. Sadly, its heyday was short-lived as animals died under “unusual circumstances,” and by the 1930s, everything was abandoned. For decades, the ruins of the zoo were known to only a few, and it seems most of them were graffiti artists.
Take a Walk on the Wild Side of Waco

1 month ago | texascooppower.com | Chet Garner

Hit the Road with Chet Garner Fish School For millions of fish, life starts at Sea Center Texas
Millions of Fish Start Life at Sea Center Texas

2 months ago | texascooppower.com | Chet Garner

Many Texans will spend their entire lives chasing the big one on the Gulf Coast. They’ll traverse marshes and bays in search of a bull red or spec worthy of hanging on the wall or, perhaps more importantly, posting on social media. I’ve spent my share of afternoons casting but have never had half as much luck as I did in 10 minutes fishing the ponds outside Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson, about an hour south of Houston.
What’s That UFO-Looking Thing at Rice University?

Feb 25, 2025 | texascooppower.com | Chet Garner

There I sat, in total silence, on the campus of Houston’s Rice University, surrounded by dozens of other people just staring at the ceiling. But this wasn’t any normal ceiling. It was equal parts lights show, meditation and spaceship, slowly changing colors and seemingly transporting all of us into another dimension. After 40 minutes, the light show ended, and I felt like I’d been given a brain massage—a welcome side effect to witnessing the glory of the Twilight Epiphany Skyspace.
The Daytripper Rolls Through Temple

Feb 24, 2025 | texashighways.com | Chet Garner |Danielle Lopez

I get it. You’re rocketing down Interstate 35 with places to go and people to see. You don’t have time to stop and explore this historic town with over 93,000 residents that’s bustling with new and exciting developments. You can see everything in Temple from the highway and that’s all there is to it, right? Not exactly. And those who make time to take an exit will be treated to an educational and delicious foray into one of Texas’ hidden highway gems.
The Daytripper Explores the Summerlands of Menard

Jan 29, 2025 | texashighways.com | Chet Garner |Danielle Lopez

Travel to Menard and you’ll find a quiet town with a population of 1,300 people. If it had been up to the Spanish 300 years ago, you might be standing in the largest city in Texas. But because their efforts failed, Menard is now a small, often overlooked, outpost somewhere near the line where the Hill Country turns into the West.
Amarillo RV Museum Takes Visitors on a Trip Through Time

Jan 25, 2025 | texascooppower.com | Chet Garner

The first cross-country “road trip” by car happened in 1903, and since then, Americans have been obsessed with the freedom and adventure of the open road. Near the center of America’s Mother Road (aka Route 66) is a museum that captures many of the ways we’ve traveled that road in style. I pulled up to the drab aluminum building on the south side of Amarillo and had no idea I was about to enter a time portal.
Experience Tres Palacios Bay Like a French Explorer—Without the Sinking

Nov 25, 2024 | texascooppower.com | Chet Garner

Hit The Road There I stood in the middle of Tres Palacios Bay, part of Matagorda Bay, aboard a sailing vessel named La Petite Belle. The crew and I had set out from Palacios into the same gulf waters that French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, had sailed 338 years before. Hopefully, our seafaring adventure wouldn’t meet the same fate as the French explorer’s crew.
If You’ve Ever Traveled Between Austin and San Antonio, You Know the Place

Oct 25, 2024 | texascooppower.com | Chet Garner

There’s almost no better way to break up a road trip than popping into a strange, offbeat roadside attraction. But this famous destination on Interstate 35 north of San Antonio is the king cobra of them all. I don’t suffer from ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes), but even I was nervous stepping into a building full of the world’s most venomous vipers.
The Daytripper Visits Brownsville, Boca Chica

Sep 30, 2024 | texashighways.com | Chet Garner |Danielle Lopez

If you’re heading south for the winter, it doesn’t get much more southern than the spot where the Rio joins the Gulf. If you need directions, simply head to the bustling metropolis of Brownsville (population 189,382), turn to the east, and keep going until the signs of city life fade away and you’re left all by your lonesome staring at an endless ocean. At this point, you’ll be near the southeasternmost tip of Texas and ready to lay eyes on something few Texans ever see.