Have you ever heard it said, “Everything is bigger in Texas”? I’m here to tell you it’s true. Almost everything I saw while I was there was much bigger than any place I’ve traveled. Here’s a touristy perspective of Texas.
- The sky is bigger in Texas. It’s HUGE! The sky is massively vast and will consume not only your immediate vision, but your peripheral vision too. Have you ever taken a photo with a fish eye or panoramic lens? That’s the best way I can describe how your eyes perceive the sky in Texas. In fact it’s so encompassing, your mind may go into shock. I remember the first time I saw the Atlantic Ocean from the shore line & how vast I thought it was. I was filled with awe. In comparison, the ocean seems so manageable after seeing the sky in Texas. And that is an honest compare after seeing the ocean from almost every beach on the east coast and the gulf. It’s just big.
- Food is bigger in Texas. The chicken fried steak is bigger than the plate it’s served on. A serving of biscuit & gravy is enough to feed a family of 4. Tea glasses are so big, I had to use two hands to drink it. The only small food servings you can find are at National Chain restaurants like Olive Garden or IHOP.
- The spiders are bigger in Texas. So are the cockroaches. One evening I was having a smoke on the patio and a cockroach at least 5″ long and 2″ wide came walking up to me like everything was normal. I screamed, stomped it and it just looked at me and walked away!
The crows are bigger in Texas. They’re a Mexican breed I was told. They have an eerie scream like a sound effect from a horror movie. They’re also big enough to pick up a Buick and fly off with it. (That may be a slight exaggeration.)
- Trains are bigger in Texas. They’re really long with several engines pulling them. Actually many towns were either made or broken by the Railway. The northern part of Texas being rather flat allowed for easy railway access to transport goods. These same railways were the cause of a few ghost towns too. Trains are a bigger deal in Texas than many other states.
- The affluent population is bigger in Texas. Look up a town named Plano, TX. Enough said!
- The highways are bigger in Texas. I’ve been in some congested cities, but oh my… If you haven’t been to Dallas on a bridge over a bridge that’s over another bridge that’s over the toll road below…you haven’t lived. Most of the highways, interstates and toll roads are 5 or 7 lanes wide all the way and up to 150′ tall.
- The traffic congestion is bigger in Texas! I don’t care where you live or how bad your roads are, if you haven’t driven to Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio in Rush hour you’ve never seen bad congestion.
- The tolls are bigger in Texas. It can easily cost over $20 one way on one road to go about 35-40 miles…without getting off on an exit (which is when you’re usually charged for a toll)
- The shopping options are bigger in Texas. Name a national or regional store. It’s in Texas along with thousands of home grown mom & pop shops.
- The windmills are bigger in Texas. The largest windmill farm in the U.S is in Texas in the town of Electra.
- Jalapeno peppers are bigger in Texas. Oh I’m sure there’s a town here or there in other places that love jalapenos but in Texas almost every restaurant will off you a jalapeno with your order. Order a hamburger, you’ll get a jalapeno. Order a salad, you’ll have jalapenos sprinkled on it. Want an ice cream? Guess what they’re going to offer you on the side: Jalapeno! Every grocery store has a large display of jalapeños they show off with much pride.
- Electric company choices are bigger in Texas. In every neighborhood, folks have a choice of at least 2-10 electric companies. Shoot… at home, half of my state has 1 electric company!
- The hiking trails are bigger in Texas. Hiking is a big deal for folks in North Texas. Afterall, they either live on a farm in the middle of nowhere or are crammed into a city with millions of people. Nature takes their mind off all that. Every hiking trail we found was so crowded with thousands of people, it was difficult to enjoy nature…you couldn’t hear nature for the conversations & people!
- Pride for their state is bigger in Texas. Texans love other Texans and they love their state. They are living in a state that has almost every terrain possible in the US and almost every weather pattern. Texas could easily be self-contained and self-supporting. The economy in Texas is great and the job market is ripe. Texans take pride in their heritage and home lands. Don’t underestimate a Texan either. Most are well educated and street smart too (which is a nifty combination). Many folks fly the Texas state flag in their yards. Businesses fly it just under the United States Flag or right along next to it. I understand now why so many people are dedicated to their state here. It truly is The Great State of Texas.
- Mom and pop retails stores are conveniently located all over the state. I love to shop the home-grown entrepreneurs and the products are usually unique and home grown. There is a pride weaved into every product and “Bigger than Life” dose of love gently added to each piece. You don’t have to drive or fly all the way to Texas to experience some of the unique products though. Shopping on line has made it easy.
Hahah this was a fun but very informative post. I loved reading this. I have some friends in TX and I am going to ask them about some of these things. 🙂
thank you. I would be interested to know what their take on it is. I hope you can come back and let me know!
I’ve never been to Texas but it just seems like everything is bigger in Texas. I really like the windmills!
The huge windmills were super cool 😊
I have heard it said that everything is bigger in Texas. A friend of mine who blogs just recently relocated her family there and she swears that the saying is true.
It totally is too 😉
I never knew that Plano was so affluent! I learn something new every day.
I have to say it took us by surprise as well. There were actually three very affluent places on north of Dallas. The most being Plano, 2nd Frisco and lastly Prosper. It was a real eye-opener to see how some people live.
Wow I didn’t realize there were so many differences with the size of things in Texas x
oh goodness yes! There are so many more examples of things that are huge in Texas compared to other places but I just didn’t go into that much detail. Just to give you an example, we stopped at a small gas station deli to grab a quick burrito one day. It was probably the best burrito I have ever had in my life. The flavor was absolutely phenomenal and the burrito was so big I couldn’t even hold it with both of my hands! I took a picture of it because that thing was actually bigger than my face!! The birds are bigger, the bugs are bigger, the houses are huge, the bridges are more plentiful and taller, the home prices and rentals are bigger, the soccer AND football fan base is bigger and there’s soooo much more!!!
Yes everything is bigger in Texas. I haven’t been to Texas in such a long time. I would love to go back some winter.
You’ve got it! Winter would be a better time to visit.
I have heard the saying many times and I really like how you spelled it out. I wonder if the bugs are bigger than the ones I have seen in NYC. Ugh! Aren’t tolls getting crazy too?
I don’t know about the bugs. New York is on my bucket list but we haven’t been there yet. If the Cockroaches and other bugs are bigger than the palm of your hand, then they may be bigger than the ones in Texas! And the tolls… They’re just crazy. We live in East Tennessee where every road is just an Interstate or back road. I used to get confused when people would move to the area and call it the freeway. Now that we’ve been in a city with so many toll roads I completely understand why they called it that! Because it was certainly not free to be driving around in Texas!
you can keep the spiders and the tolls thank you very much. lol
although here in NYC we don’t have tolls but when we leave and drive back in they hit us with some pretty hefty ones 🙁
New York is on my bucket list for sure. I will keep that in mind for when we enter the state at some point.
I moved to Texas four years ago, and although it definitely took some getting used to, I love it now. You’re right- everything is bigger in Texas and Texans love their state!!!
Yes, that was one of the things that impressed me above all other things –
The Pride that they have for their state and their communities is absolutely amazing.
The skies do feel absolutely huge in Texas! Watching to sun rise and set there is just gorgeous. But…I would take traffic in any city in Texas over Los Angeles traffic ANY day of the week. 😉
Ah, see I have no comparison with that because I haven’t visited Los Angeles. Although I will certainly take your word for it!
I’d love to visit Texas, i follow a lot of Youtubers from that state and they are all so passionate about it. Your list made me laugh because I can well imagine a lot of it but I did have visions of giant crows on top of giant trains!
Hahaha. I’m glad it was able to create an image in your mind. I was quite fascinated with everything while I was there!
Agree with 14 of 15. Lived in Houston, and have to say I still have a fondness for Texas! It’s just our type of music has better musicians out here. If we played Blues, Country, or Rock n Roll, no question we’d be in Texas right now instead of California!
Anyways, the disagreement – #8. Houston’s traffic sucks and so does Dallas’s, but Seattle’s is even worse.
I haven’t been to Seattle yet!
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsI really enjoyed this post, very insightful and made me laugh out loud!
Thanks for stopping by 😊
It sounds interesting. I’ve never been in Texas, but my husband did. He didn’t compare this state with the others, but maybe he didn’t think about it how everything is bigger 😉
Everything truly is bigger and it takes a bigger pocket book to afford to live there according to locals.
All of this! I have family in Houston and visit once a year and I mind boggled every time by the size of stuff! And when I come back to my small city of Ottawa, it feels like i am in a matchbox.
I get it. I felt the same. Everything seems small everywhere else! It’s crazy.