Texas Ten, Waco, TX (2026)

09/27/2026

Not sure where to go next in Texas? Ask Stella.

Stella can help you figure out:

📍 Where should we go?
👀 What should we see?
🍽️ Where should we eat?
📖 What’s the history?
🚗 What else is nearby?

Swipe through for a few ideas—then give Stella a try.

What would YOU ask Stella?

Visit TexasTen.com and click Ask Stella.
https://texasten.com/

09/26/2026

We found the Garden of Eden! 🌵

This Texas road trip find took us to the Garden of Eden in, well… Eden, Texas.

Sometimes the best Texas treasures aren’t the ones you plan to find. They’re the ones that make you say, “Wait…WHAT is this place?” 😂

Another day, another Texas find, and another reminder that you never really know what’s around the next bend.

📍 Garden of Eden, Eden, Texas

09/26/2026

Robert Redford and Fort Worth?

Redford was not a Texan, but he is forever linked to Fort Worth. Day 126 of our Things We Love Above Texas series discusses why, in the story of Sundance Square (fairly large clue there).

Fort Worth has one of the most vibrant city centers in the world. It was not always that way. After the Army built the fort that gave the city its name, development followed because the city was on major cattle drive trails. After railroad expansion ended the drives to northern cities, the stockyards became the destination for Texas cattle rather than a stopping place. So, Fort Worth has always been a cowboy’s town, with the associated vices.

In the 1940s, Texas oilmen used Fort Worth as a launch pad for West Texas wildcatting. Given the risk-reward nature of the oil and cattle industries, Fort Worth was forever a boom-or-bust town. Also, not an ideal fit for “on the square” businesses. By the early 1980s, Fort Worth was rundown, with no defined city center.

One of those mid-century oilmen was Sid Richardson, a long-time bachelor who loved “Cowtown.” Although philanthropic, Richardson left seed money to his four nephews, the Bass brothers. Having had a front row seat to their uncle’s career, they knew what to do with it. As their fortunes grew, they revitalized downtown by brilliantly combining architecturally significant buildings with state-of-the-art business towers. It was a tightrope act they walked expertly.

They found a name for the development by drawing on the city’s history. On November 21, 1900, five members of the Wild Bunch retreated to Fort Worth. Awash in cash from a recent robbery and having the time of their lives spending it on “associated vices,” they had their photograph taken by John Schwarz. That picture led to their eventual capture. Robert Redford and Paul Newman revived the notoriety of two of the five when they starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was the Redford character that got the naming rights.

What is the best thing about Sundance Square?

09/26/2026

We’ve spent years exploring all 254 Texas counties — finding the places, people and stories that make Texas special.

And somewhere along the way, we started thinking… how can we help YOU explore Texas, too?

That’s why we created Stella. 🚗

Stella draws from what we’ve discovered on our own travels across Texas — the places we’ve visited, the stories we’ve uncovered, and the things we think are worth knowing.

Tell her where you’re headed, what you love, or how far you want to drive, and see what Stella recommends.

Where would you ask Stella to take you?

Explore Texas with Stella at TexasTen.com

09/25/2026

Only in Texas would you find a Blizzard in Winters. 😂❄️

And since it’s Friday, there’s only one thing to say…

🏈 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, TEXAS STYLE!

Today’s Texas Ten Road Trip Find of the Day took us to Winters, Texas, home of the Winters Blizzards.

No snow in the forecast. Just a pretty great Texas high school mascot and another reason we love exploring small-town Texas.

GO BLIZZARDS! ❄️🏈

09/25/2026

What do the Nike Swoosh and Four Sixes have in common?

Each is a memorable logo, representing something unique. Trademarks have existed for millennia, a way to tell where a product comes from. That custom applied to livestock just as much as it did to made goods. In Texas, that meant cattle branding, something Day 125 of our What We Love About Texas Series celebrates.

Cattle branding was an established practice when the Spanish began importing their stock into Mexico. There was a high incentive to brand, as the Spanish government considered unbranded cattle the crown’s property. The crown also taxed all branded cattle, so the king was going to get his, one way or another. Regardless, branding cattle was necessary because of how far they travel, particularly over unfenced land.

Spanish and Mexican brands were small, elaborate murals. Anglo branding used a more straightforward approach, combinations of letters, numbers, and simple symbols. This approach meant that brands could be read. For instance, an A with a circle around it became the “Circle A.”

Ranchers register their brands with the county clerk so the sheriff knows which cow belongs to which rancher, an early version of the VIN number that continues to the present. Our historical association thinks Richard Chisholm was the first to register a brand in Gonzales County in 1832; by 1848, the system was formalized such that ranchers could not enforce claims to unbranded cattle. The trick was to be distinctive and hard to modify, so that rustlers could not re-title your stock. From those perogatives, Texas’s greatest trademarks emerged.

Richard King’s “Running W” is notoriously difficult to copy and grows with the cow, but nobody knows what it means. The legend is that “XIT” means “Ten in Texas” for the ten counties the ranch covered, and that “6666” pays homage to Samuel Burk Burnett’s winning hand in a poker game where he won the herd. Probably neither is true, but they are great stories. Today, those marks and many others convey a ranching tradition stretching centuries. They are a large part of the Texas story.

What is your favorite brand?

09/25/2026

You’ve met Stella. Now it’s your turn.

If you could ask Stella ONE question about Texas, what would it be?

Where should we go?
What should we see?
Where should we eat?
What’s the history?
What else is nearby?

Ask away in the comments!

We may ask Stella your question in an upcoming Texas Ten video.

09/24/2026

They say everything is bigger in Texas…
Sometimes Texas likes to prove the point. 😮
Another unexpected find on our road trip across Texas. You just never know what you’re going to see around the next bend.
And yes… we weren’t kidding.

09/24/2026

Who is Big Tex?

Almost every Texan answers that question by pointing out the giant statue welcoming visitors to the State Fair of Texas. Tomorrow, Tex will be back at work as the “Most Texan Place Anywhere” opens its annual three-week run. Day 124 of the Things We Love About Texas honors the fair over which Big Tex presides.

As one might guess for a Texas event set in Dallas, the whole thing started as a grandiose promotion complete with a business dispute. The fairs (plural) started in 1886 with competing shows, one in present-day East Dallas and one north of the city. The next year, they merged, with the East Dallas location winning out.

State Fairs were more than amusements. Part trade show, part political showplaces, and part cultural crossroads, fairs were the highlight of the year. To meet expenses, the Texas edition featured significant horse racing until a 1903 prohibition of pari-mutuel betting put the big event in jeopardy. Texans are always ready to do a deal, and the one that saved the fair in 1904 was the fair association’s sale of its property to the city.

That deal led to an even bigger one when the city landed the right to host the 1936 Centennial Exposition of Texas in Fair Park. Over six million visitors toured Fair Park, including President Roosevelt. More importantly, the permanent improvements to the grounds provide the backdrop for the fair to this day.

And the fair is like watching Texas through a kaleidoscope, a dizzying array of color, taste, and texture. The midway with the Texas Star Ferris Wheel at its center, the games where you can win a stuffed animal for your girl, turkey legs and everything fried, contests of every shape and variety, the auto show, and the Red River Rivlary make it truly something for everyone. Texas Ten has two fair suggestions for 2026. First, check out our interview with Stan Copeland, the Pickling Parson, in our comments to see how relevant the fair is to modern, urban Texas. Second, Go!

What is your favorite part of the State Fair of Texas?

09/24/2026

We took the Church of Texas on the road! 🚗🤠
Tonight’s live covered a little bit of everything: the Cowboys, the Rangers and Astros racing for the division title, Elon Musk’s Hyperloop, and the small towns and backroad finds we’ve discovered along the way.

We're having a blast! Follow us as we continue our road trip!

Texas Ten

09/27/2026

09/26/2026

09/26/2026

09/26/2026

09/25/2026

09/25/2026

09/25/2026

09/24/2026

09/24/2026

09/24/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request

Subscribe