Archive for the 'Discover Spring Texas' Category
Art for the everyman on display in Spring Texas
March 15th, 2010 categories: Arts and Culture | views
Have you seen the art on display by Felix Gonzalez-Torres? If you frequently drive up and down Louetta in Spring Texas like I do, you have probably seen it. You just didn’t know it. Sound weird? Probably so. That’s because the art was designed to become part of the landscape.
For the next year, 13 images created by Felix Gonzalez-Torres will be displayed on billboards in San Antonio, El Paso, Dallas, and Houston. The display is being presented by Artspace, a San Antonio arts organization, to celebrate its 15th anniversary.
In Houston, the 13 images will be rotated on six billboard locations and we are lucky enough to have one of those locations in Spring. The Felix Gonzalez-Torres art can be found on the Clear Channel billboard located on the south side of Louetta between Theiss Mail Rt and Champion Forest.
The first and current billboard in the series is of a solitary bird flying though a gray sky.
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Welcome Home party for Olympic speed skater, Chad Hedrick
March 4th, 2010 categories: Events and Activities | views
On March 6th at 6 P.M. Strack’s restaurant is hosting a “Welcome Home” party for Spring Texas’s hometown boy, Chad Hedrick. Chad is returning from his second Winter Olympics where he competed in the sport of speed skating and compete he did. As Chad is bringing home a silver and a bronze medal from the 2010 Winter Olympics.
To have a Winter Olympics medal winner from Spring Texas is just a tad bit unusual because if you haven’t noticed we don’t get a lot of snow. A lot of heat, yes. But a lot of snow, no.
Chad Hedrick grew up in Spring Texas on roller skates. By the age of two, Chad was skating at Champions Roller World. The skating rink that was and still is owned by his parents.
Chad revolutionized inline speed skating with his technique known as the double push. In 2002, Chad switched to the ice. In 2006, he competed in his first Winter Olympics in Turin. He won a medal of every color. Chad won a gold medal in the 5,000 m, a silver medal in the 10,000 m, and a bronze medal in the 1,500 m speed skating events.
Come out and congratulate Chad and wish him well in his future endeavours off the ice. Strack’s restaurant is located at 5707 Louetta Spring TX 77379.
Congratulations, Chad! You have done us proud!
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T.C. Jester connection from Louetta to Spring Cypress completed
February 22nd, 2010 categories: Discover Spring Texas | views
Getting around Spring Texas has just gotten a little easier with the completion of the extension of T.C. Jester. At an estimated cost of over $3.4 million, the Harris County Precinct 4 project, extends T.C. Jester from Center Court Dr. (the last street in the Spring Creek Oaks subdivision) to Spring Cypress.
The project also included the addition of a must needed traffic light at the intersection of T.C. Jester and Spring Cypress. Previously attempting a left hand turn during peak drive times into the WindRose subdivision required a lesson in patience.
The T.C. Jester connection from Louetta to Spring Cypress coupled with last year’s extension of T.C. Jester over Cypress Creek has created another major North – South route in the area. As T.C. Jester now connects F.M. 2920 to F.M. 1960.
Click on the map for a closer look at the Spring Creek Oaks subdivision and the surrounding area.
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Relocating to Spring Texas?
February 5th, 2010 categories: Discover Spring Texas | views
Thinking about relocating to Spring Texas? Then you will want to learn about Houston Texas because Spring Texas is located in an area that is often referred to as Northwest Houston.
Here’s an excellent video created by Texaplex that highlights the many things Houston has to offer and why so many people have decided to call Houston and the surrounding areas “home”.
Want to know why I have decided to call this part of the U.S. “home”? Here’s my Top 20 reasons to live in Spring Texas. The main reason I live in Spring Texas is due to its high standard of living. The after tax living cost is 12% below the national average and the housing costs are 26% below. Search homes for sale in Spring Texas to discover just how far your housing dollar goes.
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Smile, you’re on red light camera
January 28th, 2010 categories: Discover Spring Texas | views
Since 2003, over 46 cities in the State of Texas have installed red light cameras and Houston has its fair share of red light cameras too … some 70 cameras at 50 intersections. There’s significant debate as to whether the cameras decrease traffic accidents and save lives or if they are just a money maker for the city of Houston. My personal opinion of what the truth is “it depends upon who is providing the answer”. It seems very similar to if you contact four roofers and ask them if your house needs a new roof at least one of them will say “Yes”.
Where exactly are these red light cameras? The Texas Tribune has a cool interactive map that shows where all the red-light cameras are located in Houston Texas and the surrounding areas.
They also have data on a per light basis of the quantity of red light citations issued, the estimated revenue of these citations, the number of crashes, and the number of red light related crashes.
The closest red light cameras in the Spring Texas area are located by the Willowbrook Mall (one of our regional malls). The cameras are located at F.M. 1960 & Texas 249 Southbound and F.M. 1960 & Texas 249 Northbound. The data available for these locations was from the time period of July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.
I have first hand knowledge of the traffic around the Willowbrook Mall area but I was still surprised with the quantity of citations issued. At the F.M. 1960 & Texas 249 Southbound intersection 2,147 citations were issued for an estimated revenue of $112,718 and at the F.M. 1960 & Texas 249 Northbound intersection 4,121 citations were issued for an estimated revenue of $216,353. During a 12 month period 6,268 citations were issued at these two intersections. That’s a lot of tickets issued for running red lights.
One more thing to know about the red light cameras is you do not receive a pardon just because you performed a rolling stop before turning right on a red light. As far as the camera is concerned stop means stop!
Read also:
- Tips on navigating the roads in Spring Texas
- State Law prohibits cell phone use in Spring Texas school zones
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Who has the best cheese fries in Spring Texas?
January 24th, 2010 categories: Dining and Entertainment | views
Cheese fries have to be the best pig out and comfort food of all time. They probably have a gazillion calories and a high percentage of fat content but they are so good that I don’t know how anybody could resist them. At least not all the time.
If you are going to eat cheese fries you want them to be really good otherwise they are just wasted calories. A good example of wasted calories is Sonic’s cheese fries. Their cheese fries are limp fries with a small amount of cheese sauce on top. After you have eaten the first layer all the cheese is gone and all that remains are fries. Even the fries with the cheese are not that good.
So who has the best cheese fries in Spring Texas? Cheddars. Before Cheddars opened its doors for business at 21001 Interstate 45 in Spring Texas in spring of 2009, Outback Steakhouse had the best cheese fries. But that was in the past and now the best cheese fries are at Cheddars.
What makes Cheddar’s cheese fries so great? For starters, you get a lot of cheese fries for a very reasonable price of $5.99. But price isn’t everything. If they don’t taste great, it doesn’t matter how reasonable the price is.
The fries part of the cheese fries are crispy and thin but not too thin like Steak n Shake’s fries. Next they are covered with two types of melted cheese. Not cheese sauce but melted cheese. Plus there is enough cheese to have cheese with the first layer of fries and the bottom layer of fries. Then they are topped with crispy bacon and served with ranch dressing.
Crispy fries with enough melted cheese to cover all of the fries with crispy bacon and ranch dressing makes Cheddars the place for the best cheese fries in Spring Texas.
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Winter is bragging season
January 20th, 2010 categories: Discover Spring Texas | views
Every area of the country has at least one time of the year when their weather is superior to other parts of the country. I refer to this as “bragging season”. It’s the time of the year when you call your friends and family to brag about how beautiful the weather is where you live in comparison to where they live. 
In Spring Texas winter is our bragging season and my family who live in Illinois certainly know this to be true. A typical Illinois winter is windy with finger numbing low temperatures in the teens and twenties and several snowfalls. A typical Spring Texas winter is very pleasant with daily high temperatures in the sixties and a mixture of sunshine and rain.
During the winter my telephone conversation with my sister will start off innocent enough with “How are you doing? How are the kids?” She will reply “Great. Kids are doing fine. They called off school today because of the frigid temperatures and the 5 inches of snow we received last night.”
This is when bragging season officially begins. The conversation continues with me saying “It’s really cold here today too. So cold I had to wear a coat today.” During the winter months my family and I have will have numerous conversations about the weather. All of the conversations will be pretty much the same with them suffering through another cold winter and me bragging about our mild temperatures.
My family is always very happy for winter to end and spring to arrive. But I don’t know if it is because they are tired of the snow and cold temperatures or they are tired of hearing me brag about the weather in Spring Texas. Winters in Spring Texas are one of the top 20 reasons why I live in Spring Texas.
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Fireworks and New Year’s Eve
December 31st, 2009 categories: Events and Activities | views
Parties, horns, Champagne toasts and fireworks are all things that are associated with ringing in the New Year. In some parts of the country and in most cities fireworks are prohibited. In the city of Houston fireworks are prohibited but in unincorporated areas of Harris County such as Spring Texas fireworks are permitted. But it is not a free for all as permission does come with a few restrictions such as where you can ignite your fireworks.
If you are looking for a place to celebrate New Year’s Eve and enjoy a fireworks display, you should consider going to Sam Houston Race Park for the evening. They host a fireworks display that they state is ”the largest in town” and they are probably right as there are few organized fireworks displays for New Year’s Eve.
If you want to stay home for New Year’s Eve and would prefer to watch a live fireworks display instead of one on your television set, just step outside your house and enjoy your neighbors fireworks display. Residents of Spring Texas LOVE shooting off fireworks of all kinds.
The difficult part is trying to plan your evening around your neighbors fireworks display because there is no set time for the fireworks displays to begin. They just start some time after dark and end some time in the wee hours of the morning. The exact wee hour of the morning the fireworks end I don’t know exactly know. As I usually fall asleep before some of my neighbors are done celebrating.
However you decide to say farewell to 2009 and hello to 2010, don’t drink and drive, be careful when setting off fireworks, and have a good time! Okay, now I officially sound like your mother but I just had to say it.
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Merry Christmas!!
December 25th, 2009 categories: Discover Spring Texas | views
Our best wishes to you and yours for a magical holiday season filled with happiness and joy.
Congratulations to all the first time home buyers who will be celebrating their first Christmas in their new home. As “Home for the Holidays” will come with an entirely new meaning for you this year.
Enjoy yourself, take plenty of photos, and you have my permission to use the excuse of “Its the Holidays” to eat has many cookies as you wish.
And if by chance you are looking for a last minute gift idea for me, I will make it easy on you. Just give me a bottle of wine. Red or white it does not matter as I am easy to please.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!!
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Where are the best places to view Christmas lights in Northwest Houston?
December 12th, 2009 categories: Events and Activities | views
Our pick for the best place to view Christmas Lights in Northwest Houston is without a doubt the Prestonwood Forest subdivision. Known as the “Christmas Lights Neighborhood”, its continuation of a 31+ year tradition has become legendary.
Local newspapers and television stations, Southern Living , FOX News, and the Travel Channel have all written stories about or done programs on the Christmas lights adorning the homes in Prestonwood Forest.
Just about every home in the Prestonwood Forest subdivision of 750 homes gets involved in the Nite of Lites event. With almost every block in the subdivision choosing a different holiday theme. One of the themes is based on “The Night Before Christmas” in which each home on the block displays a page of the story.
The subdivision hands out awards for “Best House”, “Best Block”, “Runner-up Block”, “Best Mailbox”, “Best Door”, and “Best Lamp Post”
Estimations are around 15,000 people drive through Prestonwood Forest and view the Christmas decorations and lights display during the Nite of Lites event.
The 2009 Nite of Lites begins on December 12th and continues through January 3rd. The homes lights are on Monday – Friday 6 pm to 10 pm and Saturday – Sunday 6 pm to 11 pm.
The Prestonwood Forest subdivision is located South of Cypresswood about 2 miles East of HWY 249. If you need better directions, just click on the map.
The residents of Prestonwood Forest take their Nite of Lites event serious. So serious ….. that included in the sale of their homes are the Christmas decorations.
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