Passport to Texas

Christmas in the Parks 2011 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Make this holiday season special when you celebrate at a Texas State Park. The annual Christmas in the Parks brochure is available at parks and online. Bryan Frazier tells us about a few of the festive opportunities you’ll find inside.

54—Everything from Battleship Texas where you can tour it decorated like they did when the ship was at sea. They didn’t have a chance to celebrate Christmas, so they would do it on board the ship. So, there’s things like that.

Or just whatever you really want to enjoy and experience at Christmas, State Parks probably has something for you. The Christmas in the parks brochure is available at state parks. And as always, you can find out more on our website, at www.texasstateparks.org, or by calling our customer service center, at 512.389.8900.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Bastrop Wildfire

TPW TV Series: Burned Plants & Desert Plants Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Because of damage from wildfires, Bastrop State Park remains closed to visitors, but a smaller nearby site is taking up the slack. Learn about it on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show. Series producer, Don Cash.

Thirteen miles down the road, Buescher SP, they are open; they were unaffected by the fires.

If you want to come experience a little bit of the lost pines like you could over at Bastrop SP, we have plenty of those here. We have some really great fishing opportunities. The fisheries department came out and put about 900 pounds of catfish in, so I know they’re pretty hungry by now.

Just about everything you can get at Bastrop, you can get at Buescher right down the road.

Another segment that’s going to air during the December 4-10 show takes us out to the Chihuahuan desert where there are some surprises in the plant world.

Yeah, we’re going to visit with David Long who works out at the Barton Warnock Environmental Learning Center. He’s going to show us some desert plants that people think are pretty and like to avoid, but he’s going to show us some other uses for them, including food.

Here’s one of my favorite cactus. Every spring it’s covered with purple magenta blooms, and right after that it starts putting on fruit. When the fruit is ripe, it’s a race between javelinas and humans to see who’s going collect the most of it.

If you happen to miss the show, you can also catch these segments on our YouTube Channel.

Thanks, Don.

Check your local listings.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Holiday Trail of Lights in La Grange Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thousands of twinkling lights illuminate a quarter mile walking trail this holiday season at the Monument Hill and Kriesche Brewery State Historic Sites in La Grange.

24—The trail of lights is open to the public five nights during the first part of December. That’s December third, ninth, tenth, sixteenth and seventeenth, from 6 pm to 8 pm. And our park is decorated with lots of lights and different ornaments throughout the grounds. Kriesche house is open, it’s decorated for Christmas. We have entertainment, refreshments, and Santa Clause is there for children to tell their wishes to.

Dennis Smith is park manager.

12—[It’s] just a really pretty site here. We sit on a 200 foot bluff that overlooks the city of La Grange—and see the night lights of the city. It’s just a really spectacular opportunity for people to come out and enjoy a great Christmas celebration.

Smith says the trail of lights is the perfect family activity for the holiday season.

20—Every year we have comments from families that say we’ve been coming out here for the last 20 years. Families that come from Houston, Austin, San Antonio—just to come back to the trail of lights each year. We see more and more of that as we go by, and are just really glad to see these families keep coming back with more generations of their families to help celebrate the season.

Find complete details about the tail of lights at Monument Hill and Kriesche Brewery SHS in La Grange, including entrance fees at www.texasstateparks.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

State Park Ornament Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Trim your tree with Texas pride; it’s easy with a State Park Christmas Ornament. Bryan Frazier explains.

Every year we do a commemorative state park Christmas ornament. They’re very popular, and people buy lots of them.

You can buy the ornament separate, You can buy the gift card separate, but if you buy those amounts, then you get either a free or a discounted ornament. And all of this can only be done through our customer service center in State Parks by calling 512.389.8900.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Martin Dies, Jr. State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Wildfires and drought are just two of the challenges that confronted Texas this year, changing how people spend time outdoors, and even think about the outdoors. But as our State park Guide Bryan Frazier tells us, good news stories remain.

50— Texas is so diverse from a destination standpoint, and its people so resilient. We have places like Martin Dies, Junior SP, which is north of Beaumont. And B.A. Steinhagen is the reservoir there, and it’s actually been at, and expected to be at full pool level on into the winter. They just added a bunch of new canoes for canoe rentals.

Martin Dies, Junior has a really good story to tell, and is worth the trip. Especially if you live north of Houston in the Beaumont area, over that way. It’s just someplace if you haven’t been in awhile, go back and visit, it’s something you definitely ought to check out.

Thanks, Bryan.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.