Day Trips: November Events Roundup
Get out of town with this helpful guide
By Gerald E. McLeod, 3:10PM, Wed. Nov. 4, 2015
November is the most special month of the year in our neck of the woods. The breeze is crisp and the events are hot. It’s time to get out and discover something new. Don’t forget, Hill Country communities turn on their Christmas lights on the day after Thanksgiving.
Lighting up NOLA: Luna Fete, Nov. 29-Dec. 5
In an impressive display of lighting, the architecture of New Orleans becomes a canvas of colors and images. For the second year, Arts Council New Orleans brings this innovative program to the historic buildings of the Big Easy. The installations will be in Lafayette Square and along the historic Julia Street and Oretha Castle Haley corridors.
Inspired by the Fete des Lumieres in Lyon, France, New Orleans is only the third city in the U.S., along with New York and Boston, to stage a similar festival of lights featuring the work of internationally known light artists and animators.
New Orleans, La. 504/523-1465, www.artsneworleans.org.
Casa Navarro's Historic Mexican Recipe Workshop, Tue., Nov. 10, 5:30-7pm
As part of the Texas Historic Commission’s historic foods series, volunteer chefs will demonstrate how to prepare the traditional Mexican mole poblano from scratch. Reservations are required. If you don’t get in this class, get on the mailing list for future events.
The historic landmark on the west side of downtown San Antonio preserves the home of Jose Antonio Navarro (1795-1871). Navarro was a rancher, merchant, civil rights advocate, and one of only two native-born Texans to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence. Navarro and his descendants were influential members of early Texas society. The complex includes the family’s store, home, and the original kitchen.
Casa Navarro State Historic Site, 228 S. Laredo St., San Antonio, 210/463-7948, www.visitcasanavarro.com.
Pass the biscuits: King Ranch Hand Breakfast, Sat. Nov. 21, 7-11am
If you would rather have someone else do the cooking, head to the headquarters of the famous King Ranch for heaping plates of traditional breakfast food. The historic ranch rarely opens the gates to visitors except for guided tours. Since 1990, families have been invited out the weekend before Thanksgiving for a hearty cowboy breakfast. Of course, lots of entertainment to go along with your eggs, biscuits and gravy, and tortillas. It’s all a part of Ranch Hand Festival in Kingsville, three days of celebrating the cowboy culture of the South Texas coastal plains.
King Ranch, TX141, Kingsville, www.ranchhandfestival.com.
Stack the blocks: The Collectivity Project, through Jan. 31, 2016
Who doesn’t love connecting Lego bricks together? In the lobby of the Caroline Wiess Law Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, visitors can do it in the name of art. Through the last day of January, more than 580,000 white Lego bricks are laid out on a giant table for patrons to build and rebuild the structure. Over time, the creation will take many different shapes in the ever-changing art project. This interactive art installation was conceived by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson in 2005. Since then, it has been placed in public spaces in Tirana, Albania, Oslo, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark. The bricks recently visited the High Line in New York City.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet St., Houston, closed Monday and Thanksgiving Day. The MFAH is free on Thursdays, plus the museum is open until 9pm. 713/639-7300, www.mfah.org.
Other November events:
Houston Cinema Arts Festival
Nov. 12-19. 713/429-0420, www.hcaf15.org.
Freedom Flight Cruises
Nov. 15. Vanishing River Cruises at Canyon of the Eagles, Burnet, 512/756-6986, www.vtrc.com.
Rodrigo Moya: Photography and Conscience (artist talk and reception), Nov. 15, 2pm. The Wittliff Collections at the Alkek Library, Texas State University, San Marcos. RSVP. 512/245-2313.
Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots
Nov. 20-March 20, 2016. Dallas Museum of Art, 214/922-1200, www.dma.org.
Wonderland of Lights
Nov. 25-Dec. 31. Marshall, 903/702-9500, www.marshalltexas.net.
Annual Bicycle Tour of Historic Fort Clark
Nov. 28. Brackettville, 830/563-2010
Gerald McLeod has been traveling around Texas and beyond for his "Day Trips" column for the past 24 years. Keep up to date with his journeys on his archive page. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips," is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 40312, South Austin, TX 78704.
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