People wonder how I'll handle such an exotic place. I tell them Texas has been plenty exotic, thank you. Gary Gillespie balances a diamond-back rattlesnake at the National Rattlesnake Sacking Championship in Taylor, Texas. In short, Texas is a piece of work. Visit some barbecue joints, and you might not be offered silverware, because most patrons bring their own pocketknives.
Some places still have knives chained to the wall, as a courtesy for the unprepared.
Take a look at the local festivities on any given weekend, and you'll know you're not in Kansas. Menudo cookoffs can be found in almost every sizable town in the state. Every spring, at the Vernal Equinox, hundreds of local hippies gather to sing, beat congas, and sway like kelp, all in an attempt to help A.A. Milne's fictional donkey lighten up. Austin always was a bit different. Some places have unsentimental names, such as Sour Lake.