Discover Spring Texas
Relocating to Spring Texas?
February 5th, 2010 categories: Discover Spring Texas
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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Where to get great oysters on the half shell
December 6th, 2009 categories: Dining and Entertainment
Oysters on the half shell … it seems either people love them or think they are slimy inedible objects. I am one of those people who love, love, love oysters on the half shell.
Finding reasonably priced and good oysters on the half shell in Spring Texas is not quite as difficult as finding a pearl in an oyster but its close.
My search for good oysters on the half shell has ended with my recent discovery at Pappadeaux. On the criteria of taste, size, and price, they receive all “10″s from me.
The oysters are the right combination of silkiness and grittiness and are accompanied by the traditional cocktail sauce and a ponzu sauce. Their size vary from small to large. The Texas gulf oysters are currently on Pappadeaux’s menu at a can’t be beat price of $3.95 a dozen. A great price especially for the quality of the oysters.
Pappadeaux’s has two locations within 12 miles of my house in Spring Texas. Because of its upscale atmosphere my favorite of the two location is the Woodlands location at 18165 I45 Shenandoah TX 77385.
Just before I slurped them down, I took a photo of one of the two dozen oysters I enjoyed on our recent visit to Pappadeaux’s. The photo was taken with my iPhone so the the picture does not do the oysters justice.
Great oysters on the half shell at Pappadeaux is another reason to live in Spring Texas.
Read also:
Due to the new FTC regulations requiring bloggers to disclose any freebies or payments they receive for reviewing products I include the following:
Disclosure: Pappadeaux’s has not paid me to write this post about their oysters nor have they promised me any free oysters. Bummer!
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Breaking Records
December 4th, 2009 categories: Discover Spring Texas
On average it only snows in Spring Texas every 4 years that means anytime we do get snow it is a BIG deal. Even an outside chance of snow becomes front page news in the Houston Chronicle newspaper.
Today our weatherman’s predictions of snow came true and with it a record was broken. December 4th, 2009 will now be recorded as the earliest date on which snowfall occurred in Spring Texas.
All afternoon we were treated to a beautiful scene of snowfall. At times it was just a few flurries dancing around in the wind and at other times it was so heavy that it reminded me of the many winters I lived through in Illinois.
This evening the snowfall has stopped. The streets and sidewalks are wet but other than a few remaining snow flakes there is no accumulation. There is not enough snow to build a fort or have a snow ball fight nor is there enough snow to make a snowman or a snow angel and for many people in Spring Texas I am sure it is a disappointment. But not for me. I experienced too many cold and blistery winters growing up in the Midwest and I don’t want to experience any more.
Tomorrow the weather forecast is for a high of 51 degrees, sunshine, and no snow. Now that’s the kind of winter I like and if it nevers snows again in Spring Texas that will be just fine with me.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
November 26th, 2009 categories: Discover Spring Texas
When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of delicious food and lots of it, our annual debate of which is better white bread or corn bread dressing, football, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, traveling, good times spent with family, and giving thanks.
Take a moment before you carve into the bird to count your blessings and give thanks. Give thanks to the special people in your life, give thanks for your health, be thankful if you have a job even if you don’t like it, and if your football team is having a winning season be thankful for that too.
A special thank you to my husband and family for your support during the last year. It has meant the world to me! You are the best and I am extremely blessed to have you in my life.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
BTW: If you were wondering which is better white bread or corn bread dressing? Its the white bread dressing and it also happens to be my favorite Thanksgiving dish. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
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