Tyson Bird

6 days ago | texashighways.com | Tyson Bird

Before a weeknight showing of the obscure 1995 Todd Haynes film, Safe, Hyperreal Film Club cofounder Jenni Kaye invites a round of applause for the volunteers running the 60-seat screening space in East Austin. After almost a decade of hosting movie parties around the capital city, Kaye’s cinema pop-up opened a permanent clubhouse on Chicon Street last September. A rotating cast of some 40 cinephiles help pop popcorn and host four features each week, often paired with locally made short films.

1 week ago | texashighways.com | Matthew Odam |Tyson Bird

There are no bad ideas in a brainstorm. Especially those that come at the beginning of a global pandemic. COVID-19 shuttered restaurants starting in March 2020, and Austin chefs Laurie Ziminski and Victor Sandoval, like most of their peers, found themselves at home considering the futures they wanted to create for themselves. Gone were the late nights and 60-hour work weeks at Jeffrey’s and Il Brutto, respectively. In their place, something new: hobbies and spare time to envision a brand-new life.

1 week ago | texashighways.com | Lina Fisher |Tyson Bird

The drive into Cuero through its farm-to-market roads is carpeted with Texas’ best treasures: wildflowers. Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes are the most prevalent, but soft pink evening primrose and fuchsia winecups spill over fence lines and into roadsides. Looking out over the fields of color, it’s difficult to imagine that just years before, the flowers were at risk of disappearing. The seat of largely rural DeWitt County, population 20,000, is many things.

1 week ago | texashighways.com | Tyson Bird

You’d be forgiven for feeling a little envious of the vast fields of blooms that blanket the state with color each spring. But if you’ve got a barren plot of land, don’t fret—you can craft your own wildflower patch with help from Native American Seed. Founded in Argyle, the company has collected and preserved seeds native to Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma for 35 years.

2 weeks ago | texashighways.com | Julia Jones |Tyson Bird

A giant towers over the Piney Woods town of Huntsville, population 47,000. Sam Houston’s likeness, at 67 feet tall, stands on Interstate 45 at the southern edge of the community to welcome visitors from Houston. Though he grew up in Tennessee, the Texas icon made his home in Huntsville toward the end of his eventful life.