Festival Season is Coming!!!

As we near the end of August each year one thing always springs to mind.  No, I’m not talking about the beginning of the new school year.  I’m looking forward to Festival Season!! 

As the Texas weather begins to cool off just a tad, the local festivals kick into high gear.  These events are the perfect opportunity to grab your family and friends and build some memorable traditions.  We make sure to hit as many of these as we can every year.  What are your favorites?

Katy Rice Harvest Festival – It’s hard to believe that this is the 30th Annual occurrence of this fun event!  They have it all:  craft booths, food, games, rides, entertainment…all right in Historic Downtown Katy!  October 9 – 10, 2010.

Fort Bend County Fair & Rodeo – Entertaining local families since 1933!  The Ft Bend County Fair is 9 days of fun:  carnival rides, nightly rodeos, concerts, livestock shows, art shows, food,…it’s a County Fair!  September 24 – October 2, 2010 at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds.  Click Here for discount tickets.

Waller County Fair – Katy resides within 3 counties which means that we’re close to 3 County Fairs!  The Waller County Fair has been going strong since 1945.  Rodeos, carnival rides, entertainment, food,…they’ve got it!  Think you’ve got the world’s best BBQ recipe?  Maybe you should enter the BBQ Cookoff.  September 25 – October 2, 2010.

Harris County Fair – The youngest of our 3 local County Fairs, the Harris County Fair is also the shortest in length.  But they pack a lot of stuff into a few days.  Calf scrambles, stick horse races, mutton bustin, livestock shows, and a BBQ Cookoff.  At the Houston Farm & Ranch Club at Bear Creek October 20 – 23, 2010.

Houston Hot Sauce Festival – They say some like it hot.  If that’s you, then check out the 10th Annual Houston Hot Sauce Festival at the Stafford Centre.  This is your chance to sample some of the best, most unusual, and yes in some cases hottest sauces around.  Go early for the best selection and to vote for your favorites.  And the music is pretty good too!    September 18 – 19, 2010

Dewberry Farm – Have you ever been lost in a giant corn maze???  It’s an experience everyone should have at some point in their life.  And thanks to the folks at Dewberry Farm, you don’t have to go far to begin your great corn adventure!  Just West of Katy in Brookshire, Dewberry Farm opens every Fall with tons of activities in addition to their fantasticly humongous cornfield maze.  Check out Golden Goat Bridge, pig races, rubber duck races, and singing chickens.  Blast pumpkins, shoot corn cannons, feed goats, rope calves, enjoy hayrides and mini train rides…there are enough activities here to keep the family busy all day!  The season opens September 25, 2010.

Katy Wine Fest – Wine lovers are represented again this year with the 5th Annual Katy Wine Fest hosted by Rotary Club of Katy Sunrise.  This is a charity event at Agave Road featuring live music, silent and live auctions, great food and, of course, wine tasting.  October 28, 2010.

And the great festivals aren’t just limited to West Houston, Katy and Brookshire!  Art lovers should definitely check out the Bayou City Art Festival (October 9 – 10, 2010) and Galveston’s ARToberFEST (October 16 – 17, 2010).  If you like learning about cultures, the Grand Taiko Concert (September 17 - 18, 2010) and the 32nd Annual Festa Italiana (October 15 – 17, 2010) are for you.  The Wings Over Houston Airshow is always thrilling (October 23 – 24, 2010).  And the Ballunar Liftoff Festival is simply amazing, especially when they light all of the hot air balloons at night (October 29 – 31, 2010).  And last but certainly not least:  No list of Fall Festivals would be complete without including the granddaddy of them all:  the Texas Renaissance Festival (October 9 – November 28, 2010).

There are so many things to do in the coming months that I’m not sure it’s even possible to hit them all!  But I hope you’ll get out there and choose a few to enjoy.  And let us know…which ones are your favorites?  What others should everyone know about?

Weekend GetAways: Galveston Island

Can you believe we’re already in mid-July?!?  Even though summer is flying by, it’s not too late to take the family on a weekend getaway!  As natives of the area, we grew up visiting our coastal neighbors:  Surfside…Jamaica Beach…and of course, Galveston Island.  Over the years we’ve seen some old friends shut down.  Gone are the days of Sea-A-Rama Marine Park, and a few of our favorites (like Fullen’s Waterwall) were taken out by Hurricane Ike in 2008.  But even as “The Island” works to rebuild following the beating it received from Ike, it remains one of our favorite nearby family getaways.

I’m always surprised by how little some folks around the Katy Area know about Galveston.  In the past 2 weeks, I’ve had this conversation twice!  So why not put it out there for everyone?  The Island is a lot more than beaches!  So if you’re looking for a quick day trip or mini-vacation, here are some Galveston classics you won’t want to miss!

Cafe Michael Burger.  Sitting on the West end, a little past the end of the Seawall, Cafe Michael Burger features awesome gourmet burgers and German food.  It’s an interesting menu combo and it works!

La King’s Confectionary.  Stepping into La King’s is like stepping back in time to the 1920′s.  They make their own candy using century old equipment…very cool.  And their ice cream is phenomenal!!  Located in the historic Strand.  We never miss a stop at La King’s! 

Magic Carpet Mini Golf.  On your way out to Cafe Michael Burger, check out Magic Carpet Mini Golf on the Seawall.  2 18-hole courses with some of the neatest obstacles we’ve ever seen on a putt-putt course!  Outsmart an ostrich, shoot through a cannon…we usually have so much fun here we play both courses. 

Texas Seaport Museum & the 1877 tall ship Elissa.  Next to the Strand, in the shadow of the cruise ships sits the Elissa.  This, my friends, is NOT a replica…she is the real thing built in 1877 and open to tours.  Parts of the museum are still being restored, but rates are discounted.

Seawolf Park.  A favorite from my childhood (we 1st visited shortly after the arrival of the vessels)…Seawolf Park offers tours of a World War II Submarine (the USS CAVALLA) and the USS STEWART…one of only 3 WWII destroyer escorts still in existence. 

Still Rebuilding After Hurricane Ike:  We are anxiously awaiting the reopenings of the Galveston Island Railroad Museum (“the largest railroad museum in the southwest”) and the Galveston Rail Trolleys.  Watch their sites for restoration information.  These are GREAT family activities!

The fun doesn’t stop there!  Galveston has Duck Tours, the Lone Star Flight Museum, the Grand 1894 Opera House, the Moody Mansion, Schlitterbahn, Moody Gardens, and “the oldest continually operating library in Texas”: Rosenberg Library.  And if you’d like to take a longer vacation, Carnival Cruises and Royal Caribbean sail out of Galveston!  In fact, it was on one of those cruises a few years back that we met Debra, the owner of Cafe Michael Burger…and fittingly enough, we met her when we were assigned to the same table for dinner!

For more info on things to do and places to stay in Galveston, visit Galveston.com and the Galveston Historical Foundation.  So, now you know our favorites?  What are yours?