Day Trips & Beyond: July Events Roundup

Water babies. This time of year, finding a source of cold, clear water to soak your overheated body in is a primary goal of any daytrippin’ outing, and the San Marcos River is a great destination.

The water is better than any air conditioner at a constant chilly 72 degrees. Before you go you should know that the city has banned single-use containers on the river. This includes anything intended to hold beverages once before discarding, whether made from glass, plastic, aluminum, or any other material. Violations could result in a fine of up to $500. Ice chests are allowed, but they must have a way to secure the lid.

The two most popular ways to enjoy the river are:

Lions Club Tube Rental in City Park at 170 Charles Austin Dr. (behind Strahan Arena off University Drive) rents tubes, life jackets, and lockers. They have a large free parking lot within easy walking distance of the river. If you bring your own tube you can shell out $14 for the shuttle that brings you back to your car or you can make the round-trip float as many times as you want. They’re open daily from 10am to 7pm until Aug. 18, then it goes to weekends only until the end of the season on Sept. 29.

It’s a 45-minute to an hour float trip to Rio Vista Park at 555 Cheatham St. where the shuttle picks you up. Or you can park your car and walk to the river. This is a beautiful park with lots of room to spread out along the river, but it can get busy. There is a small dam that forms a chute as the river stair-steps over the rocks. Parking can be at a premium, especially at busy times.
Through Sept. 29, Lions Club Tube Rental, San Marcos, 512/396-5466, www.tubesanmarcos.com

Buffaloed burial. Who’s buried in Buffalo Bill’s grave?

William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody was a soldier, Army scout, and frontiersman. He started his Wild West show in 1883, and it made him the most famous entertainer of a generation. He died in Denver, Colorado, in January 1917 at age 70 from kidney failure. Supposedly, his wife, Louisa, was paid $10,000 to have the famous man interred near the top of the 7,377-foot Lookout Mountain now overlooking the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado. Several thousand mourners attended the funeral at the gravesite that June that included an open casket before it was covered in 20 tons of concrete to discourage grave robbers.

The matter might have been laid to rest there, but the town of Cody, Wyoming, later confessed to a different story. Seeing the tourist draw from having their town’s founder and namesake buried in Wyoming and believing it to be Buffalo Bill’s true last wish, three of Cody’s friends conspired to bring his body to Cedar Mountain outside of Cody. The trio got the unclaimed body of a local ranch hand, clipped his beard in Buffalo Bill style and hauled him to Denver. In a late-night raid on the mortuary, the ranch hand’s body was switched with Cody's in the casket. The exact final resting place of the famous showman on the mountain is a closely held secret. The townsfolk like to claim that the former frontiersman is looking down on the eastern gateway to Yellowstone National Park.

It’s a slow drive up Lookout Mountain with its famous pair of double switchbacks. The view of the plains off to the east is amazing, but seeing bicyclists pumping up the steep two-lane road is incredible. In 1923, a group of Lakota Sioux started the tradition of leaving (buffalo head) nickels on the grave for good luck. Another good luck talisman is rubbing the left horn of the bronze buffalo outside of the site’s gift shop.
May 1-Oct. 31, 9am-5pm, Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, Golden, Colo., buffalobill.org

Travel Notes:

Schoolhouse rock. It’s a short walk from the uber-chic Chinati Art Foundation in Marfa to the little adobe building that served as the schoolhouse for the town’s Mexican American children from 1909 to 1965. But the two are worlds apart. Through the efforts of the community, the building was saved and preserved as a reminder of the “separate but equal” period of American education. In the last week of June, the Blackwell School moved closer to becoming the Blackwell School National Historic Site. The Big Bend Sentinel reported that the property was transferred from the Marfa Independent School District to the National Parks Foundation, the charitable arm of the National Parks Service on June 24. The foundation donated $530,000, the appraised value of the site, to the school district, and will donate the property to NPS. While the park service works on a plan for the new historic site, it will continue to be operated by the Blackwell School Alliance telling the story of the school and community through photographs, memorabilia, and interpretive panels. At 501 S. Abbott, the site is open for free Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4pm and on Monday from 9am to noon.

Pass increase. The Texas State Parks Pass, which gives pass holders and their guests unlimited free day-use access to all 88 state parks and other discounts, is increasing its annual price from $70 to $95 on Sept. 1. This is only the second time the price has increased since the program was started in 2004.

For the birds. Austin has its bats and Houston has purple martins. According to Houston Audubon, the birds are the largest of the swallows found in North America. It migrates from South America to the U.S. and Canada beginning in late January to nest and rear its young. Following its nesting season in late summer, it then migrates back to South America for the winter. After spending the day feeding on insects, the birds gather at dusk in “communal roosts” that can number in the thousands. The flocks traditionally congregate at The Fountains, a shopping center in Stafford at US59 and Kirkwood. The martins congregate at Gordon Park behind the center. The area around Willowbrook Mall has hosted numerous sites on both sides of TX249 near Gessner Road. Peak numbers for purple martins occur in July and August when they roost together in great numbers in preparation to migration. The Houston Audubon hosts monthly purple martin watch parties, but the flocks can be seen anytime.

Other July Events:

Jump to a region: Big Bend Country | Gulf Coast | Hill Country | Panhandle Plains | Piney Woods | Prairies & Lakes | South Texas | Out of State

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BIG BEND COUNTRY

Viva! El Paso
In its 46th season, this outdoor spectacle in McKelligon Canyon is part historical drama and part musical theatre portraying the story of the Southwest.
July 5-6, 12-13, 19-20, 26-27, Aug. 2-3, El Paso, www.vivaelpaso.org

Celebration of the Arts
Local artists and entertainers show and sell their art in the Bush Convention Center.
July 12-14, Midland, www.acmidland.org

Viva Big Bend
Multiple music genres are featured in a music festival spread out at venues in Alpine, Fort Davis, Marfa, Marathon, and Terlingua.
July 24-28, Alpine, www.vivabigbend.com

GULF COAST

July Fourth Patriotic Boat Parade and Fireworks
It’s a day of fun at the beach beginning with a parade of decorated boats followed by fireworks over the bay at dark.
July 4, Rockport, www.rockport-fulton.org

Varner Day
It was 200 years ago that Martin Varner settled on what became the prosperous Varner-Hogg Plantation using slave labor. The day’s activities and demonstrations illustrate some of the ways people lived and worked at the site throughout its history.
July 6, West Columbia, thc.texas.gov/historic-sites/varner-hogg-plantation

Purple Martin Watch Party
From July to September, Houston's purple martins spend most of the day feeding on flying insects to build energy for their long journey across the Gulf of Mexico. At dusk, they form large flocks and roost together in preparation for migration.
July 13, Houston, houstonaudubon.org/programs/all-age-groups/purple-martins.html

Ohana Surf Dog Competition
The pups get in the water and hang paws for the local Humane Society from 7:30am to noon.
July 20, Galveston, www.galvestonhumane.org/events/2024-ohana-surf-dog-competition

Bird Banding
This monthly event is your chance to see the birds up close and learn about the many species that live along the Texas coast.
July 20, Lake Jackson, www.gcbo.org

Great Texas Mosquito Festival
If you can’t beat ’em, invite the pesky bugs to a party featuring Willie Manchew, art, music, food, and a carnival.
July 25-27, Clute, www.mosquitofestival.com

HILL COUNTRY

Abendkonzert
It means a concert of traditional German music and stories put on by the oldest continuously active German band outside of Germany.
July 2, 16, Boerne, www.eventsoffmain.com/market-days

Spring Ho
It’s a celebration so big it takes two weekends to fit in all the music, street vendors, games, fireworks, and parades.
July 8-14, Lampasas, www.springho.com

New Braunfels Petfest
Come enjoy a party for pets and the people who love them with contests, vendors, games, and demonstrations.
July 12-13, New Braunfels, hillcountryconferences.com/new-braunfels-pet-fest

Southeast Metro Park Trail Building Days
Help Tejas Trails and Travis County Parks build new trails through Southeast Metro Park to open more of the park to the public and prepare for a trail race next March.
July 13, Aug. 9, 10, Austin, www.tejastrails.com/crew

Purple Martin Watch Parties
Travis Audubon hosts purple martin parties where hundreds of people congregate to watch hundreds of thousands of purple martins “swirl” into their roosting site at La Frontera Village from 8 to 9pm.
July 19-20, 26-27, Aug. 2-3, Round Rock, travisaudubon.org/purple-martin-parties

Pari-Mutuel Horse Racing
Put your money on the nose of a pony as the quarter horses and thoroughbreds compete in races, trials, and futurities.
July 20-21, Fredericksburg, www.gillespiefair.com

PANHANDLE PLAINS

TEXAS Outdoor Musical
Using the colorful walls of Palo Duro Canyon as a backdrop, this annual tradition has been thrilling visitors for 58 years. This year they have added Shakespeare in the Canyon on July 9, 16, 23, and 30.
Through Aug. 3, Canyon, www.texas-show.com

Buffalo Soldier Anniversary Day
Reenactors will be at Fort Concho to celebrate the day in 1866 when Congress created the first all-Black units to serve on the Western frontier.
July 28, San Angelo, www.fortconcho.com

PINEY WOODS

Texas Shakespeare Festival
East Texas’ only professional theatre company performs a rotating list of plays Thursday through Sunday.
Through July 28, Kilgore, www.texasshakespeare.com

PRAIRIES AND LAKES

Fourth of July Celebration
The longest-running Fourth of July parade west of the Mississippi has been a tradition since 1851 with lots of food and music.
July 4-7, Round Top, www.visitroundtop.com/annual-events/round-top-4th-of-july

Live Thoroughbred Racing
The excitement of live horse races continues its summer season for only a couple more weeks before starting up again in September.
Through July 14, Grand Prairie, www.lonestarpark.com

Artisan Market
Craftspeople bring their wares from handmade soap to yard art and salsas to market on the third Saturday of the month.
July 20, Luling, www.lulingartisanmarket.com

Shakespeare at Winedale
Students in the summer program of the English Department of UT spend two months in the Texas countryside, studying and performing three plays in a 19th-century barn converted to a theatre outside of Round Top. In its 54th season, this year’s plays are A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Othello.
July 18-Aug. 11, Winedale, liberalarts.utexas.edu/winedale/programs/university-program

Fuzzy Peach Festival
In Freestone County, named after the peaches, it’s time to celebrate the harvest with music, food trucks, games, and street vendors around the courthouse.
July 19-20, Fairfield, www.fairfieldtexaschamber.com/events/fuzzy-peachfest-305

SOUTH TEXAS

Salute at Sunset
San Antonio’s river parades are legendary and there will be four of them each evening at 8pm to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend.
July 4-7, San Antonio, www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/events/salute-at-sunset

International Sister Cities Festival
The two Laredos come together for an indoor mercado and cultural exchanges.
July 12-14, Laredo, www.laredosistercities.com

FridaFest
It’s a day of fun honoring the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo with art and performances.
July 27, Edinburg, www.edinburgarts.com/fridafest

National Day of the Cowboy (and Cowgirl) Celebration
The free community event includes free admission to the Briscoe Western Art Museum and its exhibitions, as well as indoor and outdoor activities. This year’s event tips its hat to the role cowgirls played in the West while showcasing cowboy life, skills, art, and more.
July 27, San Antonio, briscoemuseum.org

OUT OF STATE

International Folk Art Market
One of the largest folk art markets in the world welcomes more than 150 artists from 52 different countries not only selling their unique wares, but doing craft demonstrations and telling about their home regions and art.
July 11-14, Santa Fe, N.M., folkartmarket.org

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Gerald McLeod has been traveling around Texas and beyond for his "Day Trips" column for more than 25 years. Keep up to date with his journeys on his archive page and follow him on Facebook.