Grapevine is "chill"

Wine charm at Off the Vine. Photo by Darragh Castillo

Cilla Hultin's card reads "Wine Lover!" She represents Off the Vine, one of the fun shopping stops in historic Grapevine. I picked up a blue glass and metal wine charm at there, a tourist-themed shopping bag at a co-op and visited Cowgirl Swag, where Ricky creates crochet embellishments and soda can pop-top collars on fancy T-shirts. 

Walk around downtown Grapevine every day of your visit and you will notice something new among the shops, farmers market, museums and of course, wine shops.

Double entendre wine sayings are on towels, T-shirts, coasters, you name it.

The visitors building is in a beautiful building downtown, and representative will refer you to the Settlement to City Museums next door, and of course the glockenspiel that reenacts a would-be train robbery.  

Walk around the Great Wolf Lodge and Gaylord Texan for fun off Main Street and make sure to get a view of the lake. 

Don't worry, there's plenty of modern shopping, too. Their botanical gardens are about to pop into bloom. 

Ready to go? Check out www.visitgrapevinetexasusa.com

Darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Art Museum has family fun; wake up early

 

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Art Museum of Southeast Texas

The most recent free family arts day at Art Museum of Southeast Texas was bustling with activity and I’m so glad I rounded the corner where I got a lump of clay to create my own little bowl.

Everybody’s creative, but you can also purchase someone else’s festively painted little bowls in the museum gift shop.

Check out the museum in downtown Beaumont any time, and the next family day on Saturday, May 21, featuring a Birds in Art theme. All the birders who “flock” to the Port Arthur and Beaumont area should love this one.

No more snooze button: The 5 a.m. Miracle

 Waking up early to run is what Jeff Sanders calls a double kick in the pants. Yet it’s kind of the whole concept he’s trying to pitch in his book “The 5 AM Miracle: Dominate Your Day Before Breakfast.”

This is bout being a rock star in your work and home life by maximizing your productivity and perfecting your schedule.

The results sound good, but do we want to wake up early for it? Sanders gets a “no way” response much of the time, but just read through. He can guide you through some tips and he promises that you don’t exactly have to begin at 5 a.m. – that’s a guide to committing to make the good stuff happen. It’s all up to you. He’s got plenty of motivation, and here’s just a bit of it:

1.   Bounce out of bed bright and early.

2.    Hydrate like you life in the desert: He says your body is thirsty after sleep and he drinks a liter before his morning espresso.

3.    Quiet time is essential: develop a calm, inspirational habit.

4.    Fruit for breakfast: his green smoothie fits right in.

5.   Consume inspirational and informative content: Successful people do this.

6.   Pump your blood: Even 10 minutes of exercise can help. He’s a runner.

7.   Plan your day like you mean it: It puts you in the driver’s seat.

Darraghcastillo@Icloud.com

Drop some love on people, pets and protect yourself

This Love Drop bag does good for the environment and helps Living Waters International. Photo by Darragh Doiron.
Begin forwarded message:

Love Drop
Have you ever heard someone say they were addicted to bags? That sounded nuts, until I realized I had bags to hold my bags.
But here’s one suitable to recycle your others for: Love Drop Jumbo Canvas Shopper Tote ($17) Loving your planet looks good with this canvas tote that can stand up like a paper sack and slings over your shoulder. Keep it in the car for shopping, so you don’t have to waste another plastic bag from the rocer. The 100 percent natural cotton canvas features an original design by Scott Erickson. Mine has skyscrapers, an old-fashioned school house, a bike with a basket, produce, a yellow rose and other natural images designed into a water droplet, to remind us of how to use our resources responsibly. Living Water International makes sure prodeeds from sales give back to other projects. It can be purchased online. Now, read up on their good works.



TigerLady

This simple device looped to your wrist is a retractable claw that means business. When you’re headed to your car, keep it ready in your palm to squeeze out claws that can capture valuable DNA when used.

It’ s a little rectangle of plastic that works like this: Simply put the strap around your wrist, place in the palm of your hand and squeeze the device to extend 3 claws.

The company sent me one so I could share the information with you. Here’s how to get more in formation: http://www.tigerlady.com

Link up your dog
Chipped nail or lost pet?
While I don’t wear nail polish or own a pet, I hate the tedious task of changing out keys on a ring. I just heard someone talking about the urgent need/difficuluty of getting a new ID tag for a dog. The very next week I was invited to discuss LINKS-IT.
These colorful bits were designed by a pet owner and team of veterinarians to make attaching tags simple and painless. Just pull back the locking crossbar, snap apart the LINKS-IT, slide tags onto the bottom half and the collar ring onto the top half and then lock the LINKS-IT in place.
I asked my contact if her dog would look best in purple or red and forwarded a LINKS-IT to try. Word is, it does what it says:

• Easy to open and close without breaking your nails or needing tools
• Strong and sturdy for active dogs: Tested to hold 58 lbs and open and close over 50,000 times
• Match color to fit your pet's personality and style.  Select from Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, White, and Yellow colors.
• Quiet and lightweight (lighter than a dime)
• Made in the USA
• Weatherproof and will not rust
• http://links-it.com/products/links-it-pet-tag-connector

darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Big Thicket adventure in Southeast Texas

Big Thicket adventure

We were on our way to a bed and breakfast when we got the text. Our contact wanted to make sure we knew how cold the weather was getting, and how old houses are and if we wouldn’t like to reschedule.

Now that’s customer service. We did reschedule, but had a plenty nice day in right where we were when we got the text, the Kountze area.

We trekked the inner loop of the Kirby Nature trail in the Big Thicket National preserve and had big fun doing it.

The 1.5 miles boasted bridges, boardwalks, cypress knees in the water, a slope forest and woodpeckers.

While walking, I did some tourist-style wondering how many people who live right by this beauty had ever done the hike.

I got a chance to test that theory when we stopped at a Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. That’s a very Texan thing to do on a road trip. We had also shopped the “mile-long flea market” on U.S. 69 in Kountze, which is run out of a strip of mini storage sites. I recognized other DQ customers as a couple who were vendors. I told them how much fun we had in the Big Thicket and asked if they’d ever hiked it. They said they lived in the area and had never done it. We should all get out more.

As soon as it gets warmer, I’ll get out to that B&B.

darraghcastillo@icloud.com