Foster's been quite thorough and provides information about the architecture, history, and things to look for when visiting these sites. I found it extremely interesting and helpful when I was doing research on the subject.

How many times have you considered the VFW a local eatery?
We tried using the book and found it to be a serious let down. A day trip to Sealy? What is the purpose? Hinze's Bar-B-Que is very good but you can find better without leaving Houston.
To be fair, we did not try all the trips, but the ones we did try left a lot to be desired. Not for people interested in getting out of the car.

This is a useful book with information on a great many places within an easy drive of Houston. More detailed maps would be a plus.

I purchased this book last year and LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!It covers almost every festival and other happening there is within driving distance of Houston. You will still probably want to call and check to make sure of the date of the festival (or other event) that you are interested in. The book provides the phone numbers to the chambers of commerce, etc. which makes it easier to find out all of that good stuff. So if you like taking short trips, THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hiking & Backpacking Trails is a useful complement to your outdoor reference library. The guide is best suited to families seeking multi-use trails and recreation options who don't have a lot of time to research trips online. Couple this book with Laurence Parent's "Hiking Texas" , and you've got everything you need to plan your outdoor adventures on the trails of Texas.

Best features of this book -- copies of facilities maps are included, helping you plan ahead the route(s) you may wish to take, and each park is accompanied by a small map of Texas showing the park's location relative to the rest of the state.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring Texas parks on foot. Parks are arranged by region, and there is a section devoted to parks that offer trails for the backpacker; many facilities are cross-referenced. Sometimes the information is a little brief, but an informative overview of each park is given, along with a contact address and phone number of the respective operating agency, if additional information is desired. I haven't found a more thorough source for backpacking Texas.

As a resident of Corpus, I thought this book would be great to have on hand for out-of-town visitors. However, after just a brief run-through, I noticed several things were out of date. This book was published this year, but lists some places (restaurants, movie theaters, and stores) that have been closed for a year or more. I know they had access to accurate and up-to-date information because they also list new places that have opened in the past year, long after some of the other places they listed closed. What happened?

I'll be visiting Corpus Christi for the first time in May, and if I like it, will be moving there within the next couple of years. I've never wanted to move cross-country on a whim before, but the way this book describes the Coastal Bend area, it makes me want to! It provides information that you wouldn't normally find in a travel guide, everyday info that the normal tourist wouldn't care about (lists of radio stations, television channels, describes the library systems, newspapers, weekly & monthly magazines, etc.), though someone who is relocating would. It would appear, to my un-schooled eye, to be about as complete as it could get.

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

Every word of every historical marker - nice idea. But the markers are in alphabetical order by whatever the nearest tiny little town may be. The book desperately needs some sort of map system whereby you can look up all of the markers in a given region, say. I'm glad I got this book out of the library, so I can give it back.

This is an excellent book to have in your car as you drive across Texas. As you drive up on a Historical Landmark, your passanger can quickly find the description in the book and you won't have to slow down. Thousands of Landmarks are referenced. A must have for the long treks across Texas.

I sat down at Book People this morning and read the section on Austin and the Hill Country, and I have to wonder how much time the author has really spent in my part of the state. The restaurant recommendations were just terrible - it's almost as though he just looked some places up in the yellow pages and stuck them in the guide. A relative Austin neophyte could've provided better recommendations. I felt such pity for potential visitors that I felt like giving out my home phone number to steer them away from LP's recommendations and toward the truly great restaurants in my part of the state. I also didn't care for restaurant recommendations in Houston and San Antonio.

Aside from restaurants, the Austin section was decent but still nothing special. I guess my primary recommendation to visitors is not to trust this Lonely Planet guide just they've enjoyed Lonely Planet guides for other locations. I've absolutely loved LP guides to San Francisco and New Orleans(both written by the same author, btw), but this one isn't up to snuff.

The picture of the Longhorns on the cover and the beautiful burnt orange trim (Hook'em Horns!) almost moved me to give the guide an extra star, but that wouldn't be fair to potential travelers. My advice to travelers is just to research Austin and the other major Texas cities on Citysearch and to pick up a decent regional guide in a bookstore after arriving for information on rural locales. Austin visitors should also pick up a copy of the Austin Chronicle upon arriving in town. Austin and San Antonio (and the rest of the Hill Country) are definitely the best places to visit in the state, but the two national parks and some of the coast and border towns are definitely worth seeing.

This book forgot to mention the bars on the coke machines at every rest stop in Texas and the filth and general depressed nature of lots of those small towns like Waco and Hillsboro. Oh and the "go home" attitude of the Texans if you happen to have a license plate from a Northern State. Safety should be an issue while visiting. Some areas white folks are the minority, too but I don't see that mentioned in these wonderful travel books. I would love to see a real story of some of these states. Been there and was not impressed.

I've traveled around my back yard in Houston, Galveston, and Corpus with both this book and the Moon Texas Handbook. Lonely Planet is pretty much on the mark with what attractions they've included and which they haven't (as well as with the ones they've dissed). From reading Moon, you'd never know that Moody Gardens in Galveston is a total rip; You'd also think that it would be worth the time and the shelling out of $3 to visit the Institute of Oriental Cultures in Corpus, the home of a few exhibits randomly strewn together with very, very minimal interpretation.

As far as restaurants go, it appears to me that the listings in Lonely Planet concentrate on rather hip places with cheap prices, regardless of the quality of the food, while Moon tends to imitate the listings in the Houston Chronicle and Houston Press. I guess which you would prefer depends on whether you're a 'foodie' or if you just want a cheap place to nosh.

One deficiency of this book is the lack of coverage of outdoor activities. Moon definately surpasses Lonely Planet in this regard. If you enjoy both outdoor and urban activities, you might need both guides.

The only thing that irritated me about this guide (I almost couldn't get past it)was its constant bashing of Houston and the climate. Several 'insights' the writers had to the area were based on faulty assumptions, but, I guess, at least they had an opinion. Furthermore, Houston's climate is a tad bit milder than nearby New Orleans, and they didn't bash that city for its climate. But that's a minor complaint compared to how useful I found the guide. (And the maps are also excellent --- showing the location of most of the text.)

While this guidebook is still the only printed source for central Texas limestone, it is extremely outdated. Do not get me wrong, for those wishing to merely sample the limestone of central Texas, this well established guide will lead you in the right direction. However, with the innumerable number of sport routes and bouldering areas that have developed over the past five years, this guide is in need of a serious overhaul. As well, it is DEFINATELY not worth more than 15 bucks! Better to look at Blodyflapper.com or Texasclimbers.com for up to date information.

GREAT BOOK WITH DESCRIPTIVE DETAIL ON CLIMBS. IT'S REALLY A SIN TO PUBLISH ALL THIS BETA. TEXAS CLIMBING WITH AN ATTITUDE. I LIKE IT. AND YES, E-ROCK IS STILL CLOSED TO ALL CLIMBING... THANKS, RPM

For finding limestone routes around central texas, nothing compares, except I guess having someone take you there. The exposition is clever & irreverant. The directions to the crags are clear and the topos are pretty good for picking out which route is which (though not the best I've seen).

The biggest drawback is that the current addition is going on 5 years since the last edition. Many new routes have been added & changes have been made to the protection on many routes. Hopefull the authors will create a new edition soon. Until then, there is nothing better (at least that I've seen..)

147 Fun Things to Do in San Antonio is a great source of information on things to do while in the Alamo City for both visitors and locals. While the author has also included many fun things to see and do in areas outside San Antonio (Bandera and New Braunfels) some of the recommendations in the book are just plain horrible (Kiddie Park, Hard Rock Cafe, etc.) Additionally, the restaurant information, while fairly good, is somewhat dated, specially considering the fact that the San Antonio restaurant scene is in a perpetual state of change and growth. Perhaps the author should have limited the options to 100, instead of pushing it to 147. I gave the book three stars because I do think that prospective readers will find many off-the-beaten-path activities that are fun to both adults and kids.

On a recent trip to San Antonio, I brought this book along with another guide. Unfortunately, I found that I relied on the other book quite a bit more because "147 Fun Things to Do in San Antonio" wasn't quite up to date and didn't contain enough information to stand alone as a guide. Also, the maps were not detailed enough to find things. Frankly, it did not contain any info that was not in the more complete guide and therefore was not of much use. I'm guessing that if you were already familiar with San Antonio, this slim volume might be fine as a reminder of what attractions are available, but don't try to use it as your primary guide if you are a visitor.