Texas is a state of mind. The advice of this blogmeister is to begin mental and physical preparations now. The first step is to strengthen your taste buds. As a precaution, sensitive palates may have difficulty consuming our fiery salsas without some type of training. It is traditional when visiting the San Antonio area to visit at least one of our many Tex-Mex restaurants.
The hill country also offers a wide range of eating establishments ranging from steak houses (of course we have steaks in Texas, we invented steak!) to German food. Many communities in the surrounding areas were founded by German Immigrants. German Breweries are popular destinations for thirsty beer lovers. The food available in such establishments encompasses Southern Fried and German. There is nothing finer than fried pickles with Sauerkraut and beer brats. 
For those of you with more refined palates, you may want to tour one or several of our wineries. The hill country has many vineyards and wineries. You may find yourself taking home a bottle of one of Texas finest wines.
The next step in your preparation is to try on some cowboy boots. If there is not a western wear shop in your area, just wait until you cross in to Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, or any other state where people smile and wave as you pass by. Boots are a staple in every Texan's closet. It's not necessary to purchase the cowboy boots, just try them on to become one with the Texas state of mind. 
While you are in the western wear store, meander over to the hat section, and try on a straw cowboy hat. After Easter, every Texan puts away their felt hat and starts wearing one of their straws. Notice I said, "one of their straws"? Well a true Texan has at least four hats, two felt and two straw. In the winter, we wear the felts. One for work and the other is our Sunday best (or dress) hat. During the spring and summer, we pull out our straws, one for work and...you get the picture? As you continue wondering through the western wear shop, try to avoid the belt buckles the size of hubcaps.You see, a belt buckle has to be earned. The true Texan knows that in order to earn a belt buckle, you gotta bust a few bronc's (that's break horses for you non-Texans).
That's all for this week folks, Ya'll come back now...ya hear?
