There is much more to the East Texas State Fair than the above.

If you go to their official website and write down the schedules of the singing shows, farmers market, and livestock show you will get a good taste of some of what East Texas is all about.

I want to strongly urge you to stay away from the turkey legs. They are nothing more than turkey jerky by the time you get to them.

Also of you are a desperate girl in need of a relationship do not run off with a carni. This behavior always ends like in the movie, “The Jerk”.

Finally if you get motion sick at all keep away from any fast moving rides especially if you have eaten any fair food prior.

For more info on the fair please visit the links below:
ETSF Facebook Page
Yahoo Travel East Texas State Fair
East Texas State Fair

The university has a beautiful stage called the Cowan Center. People come from all over to perform on this stage. I have seen many orchestras play some of the most beautiful music on this stage. There are a lot of plays at the Cowan Center. From Shakespeare to “Hairspray” this stage have has talents from all over the country come to perform, and people from all over has come to enjoy these talents. Many times motivational speakers come and have lecture series. You can buy tickets and see the scheduling of the performances online, or displayed on many billboards around Tyler.

Recently U.T. made some very big changes in the engineering department. They have new buildings and new equipment, and they have three different camps during the summer for students and prospective students. These three camps are RISE/DIVE, Project Success, and Project Lead the Way. Each camp is intended to show students the importance of science and math, and to install the love of engineering and understanding of it into the minds of the students. High school students can participate in these week long camps as long as they have finished their freshman year and be at least fourteen years old.

There are many different scholarships available for the university including for the summer classes and summer camps. The college also has a Master’s Degree program for many different majors. They have scholarships available for both grade point averages or SAT scores, and for outstanding athletic abilities.

Many people come to U.T. to take a summer class, thinking it would be easy because it is a smaller school. Many times people are very surprised to learn that the academic levels of U.T. is extremely hard. And from the words of many graduates of UT, when you go to this school, “you better man up”.

The apartment buildings are older but they are very nice. New houses are being built all around the apartments. One thing when look for when I am looking for a place to live is I see if there are a lot of people walking outside, and if it is safe. While we were looking at these apartments many children were playing basketball in there parking lots, and kids were riding there bikes up to the small play area, which need to be redone.

The apartment complex is extremely safe, and it was surprisingly affordable. Out of all the apartment complexes this was our cheapest option, and it was the closest to the college.

We have been living here for a few months now and, of course, we have had things to complain about, like our refrigerator decided to die when we brought home a couple hundred dollars worth of food. But those things will happen anywhere you decide to live but many apartments will not do anything about it for days or even a week. We called about it at around 10 o’clock at night and they came first thing in the morning.

They happily replaced my refrigerator. One thing I hate about repair men is that they come into your house and not say a thing to you. It makes me feel uncomfortable to have stranger in my house in the first place. But here the maintenance men were very friendly and polite.

The complex allows the people that live there to own animals for a monthly fee. The apartment is very strict about how people manage their animals and that they are not disturbing to neighbors.

The pool is kept really clean and has not been over crowded by half drunks or rough children. The play area is really small and my two year old can not climb up the ladder, and it is pretty scary that there are not very good railings. But there is a great park about a mile away.

Cedar trails has a small workout room, with a few different workout machines, including treadmills and stair masters. If you want to have a different workout out in the great Texan sun, they have a great tennis court.

Cedar Trails has one, two, and three bedroom apartments. Some have laundry machine hook-ups in the hallway closet, but the apartment complex also has a laundry room only for the use of the attendants.

The offices are opened every weekday and every first Saturday. They have many different ways to pay rent each month, and you can talk to a member of the staff if you have any questions. The women that work in the office are very polite and helpful. They are really nice and are great sales women.

Each apartment has a lot of storage space and closet space. And had a lot of room for the money that you are paying. The apartment just started letting the attendances has satellite dishes. The apartment really makes you feel at home in a quiet and safe environment.

I recommend this complex, especially if you are a student at either UTTyler or Tyler’s Junior college, TJC. Also if you are looking for a great location in Tyler it is near great restaurants, Brookshires, Wal-Mart, and many fast food restaurants.

If you are looking for an affordable apartment with great staff, if you are a student or if you have a small family, Cedar Trail is

On Tuesday the adjustors and the Fire Marshall came to examine the house. It was my parents hope that they (and the insurance company) would simply write off the house. As it turns out, they cannot do that. Now I won’t pretend to understand the ins and outs of the insurance industry, or insurance law, but it seems ridiculous to me that homeowners such as my folks find themselves stuck with a residence that has been through repeated natural disasters for which they were covered.

Their insurance company is not only required to continue carrying them through future floods, but cannot write off their loss! As far as I know they have yet to be offered a settlement, and I obviously wouldn’t disclose what it is here, but from what they understand the only way out of the house is for a someone to buy it, (and whose going to buy a house that’s been flooded three out of the last four years?), or the county to purchase the home condemn it and pay the owners.

The only problem there is that the Smith County officials they spoke to didn’t know anything about that option! Only a call from the insurance officer was able to move things forward at all. So until Smith County decides to come examine the house for themselves, my folks are forced to go forward with the process of making repairs. The unfortunate fact is that the house is beautiful and there is no reason for not wanting to either keep it or buy it, except for the recent propensity for flood, which is definitely a potential deal breaker.

With the recent rain and floods my family is certainly not the only one in Tyler and or Smith County, to find itself stuck with largely unusable real- estate. The Fire Marshall has been visiting flooded areas to get an idea of the effects. Hopefully area victims will respond to city and county’s requests for assistance in taking inventory of area damage as well. It’s not too late to report flood damage to the county. To do so, or for more information, visit the Smith County website at www.smith-county.com.

Read more about the Tyler Texas Farmers market

The Tea Party people should be commended for defending and studying the Constitution and helping other people learn about America’s history. Young people in the United States consider our historical roots to be old and outdated and just like a new clothing fad they are ok with watching the Constitution being destroyed by judges legislating from the bench.

The immigrant issue has started to be used as the reason the Tea Party movement is racist. The problem with that idea is you are talking to the melting pot, America. We are a mixture of people from all different races, clans, and tribes. We are not your typical secluded tribe fighting against another tribe. American’s are more and more becoming a unified group of people and less like two tribes fighting against each other. It’s unpredictable as far as what people will fight against each other on the street.

A black person hitting a black person on the street is just as likely to occur as a white person attacking a black person. A skinhead incident is very uncommon these days and many of these types of groups now days are more like a club of Larry Curly and Moe’s than an impressively organized hate group.

In Dallas and Houston you are very likely to see a good number of black people at these Tea Rally’s although I will admit not as many in Tyler although a few do come out to show support. As far as hispanics you see very few at the Tea Rally’s here in Tyler and the hispanic immigration issue is a sensitive topic even for people in my own family.

The immigration issue is the closest thing to tribal warfare in America although it isn’t even that. Mexican’s are likely to cause violence on the border of the United States but even then it has to do with drug cartels than the color of their skin. You see American’s are not violently engaged in hate speech or violent acts as the news tries to portray. That is not what American is yet although this could happen if we do not clamp down on illegal immigration. The Tea Party point is that health care isn’t free and in fact American’s pay for the supposed free health care going to immigrants. It is not about no immigration but about legal immigration. You earn the right to be here and you should have to pay for the privileges of being an American like everyone else.

So with Glenn Beck in town and the Tea Party movement showing up in large numbers did we see the racism the news would like us to believe? No there was no racism just some common sense answers to some sensitive issues.

The Four Winds Renaissance Festival is in Whitehouse Texas but for most people it is just another extension of Tyler as it doesn’t take long to drive to.

In Whitehouse TX you will find the Four Winds Renaissance festival complete with at least a hundred actors and actresses doing their renaissance thing.

My family and I arrived there on a Saturday at about 4:00 p.m. The festival is open until 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. We strolled around and immediately found several things that peaked our interest.

I have never been to a reni fair so I had no idea what to expect. I really enjoyed the sword fighting show and the fire eating and spitting display.

Another fund thing I spent a lot of time doing was the medieval games. They had this one game that involved throwing a 12 foot wood pole on the ground from end to end in an attempt to get it to flip over. I almost managed to do it but not quite.I watched as several other people gave it a shot. Only a few were able to accomplish this task but it was fun watching people do it.

I saw another game that I did not participate in since I was on this ride called the Crow’s Nest at the time but it involved using a pitch fork to sling a potato sack over a very high beam. This also looked fun and not many people could do it.

The Crow’s Nest is a medieval marry go round ride that me and a nephew tried out. It is a rustic wooden telephone pole in the ground that has 4 cables threaded at the top. The cables are connected to a round wooden marry go round contraption that surrounds the pole.

A guy spins this thing with you in it until the cables have wrapped around the pole tightly. He than lets go and you hear a lot of creaking noises as it spins very fast with you in it. The anxiety and anticipation was a thrill by itself but all in all it was a fun ride. It didn’t feel as safe as it would on a ride at the East Texas State Fair but that is all a part of the experience of this old timey renaissance festival.

They also had some handmade jewelery and other niche things there as well as a homemade food food court that had some tasty gumbo.

All in all if you are open minded about trying new things I think you will like giving the Four Winds Renaissance Festival a try. It is very close to Tyler Texas in the city of Whitehouse closer to Troup.

They will only be open a little while longer during the month of April so hurry over and see what it is all about.

Jake’s is one of those fancy restaurants so if you don’t want to spend a lot of money you could go there just for dessert.  We have been there a couple of times and I was impressed with their steak entrees and the deserts. The service coming from our waiter was very good and you really can’t beat the view.

For Spring time the balcony at Jake’s is something your guests visiting Tyler will really get a kick out of. Once your done at Jake’s you could drive down to the Children’s Park and walk around there. It is even nice at night although you may break up a couple looking for a little privacy if you show up at night it is usually pretty tame there.

Another nice restaurant for taking a guest visiting Tyler is Kiepersol winery and restaurant in Bullard. It is just as fancy as Jake’s although everything is indoors. You will get to try local wine from their very own winery outside and they have a wide selection of dinner entrees.

Beyond food in Tyler you may want to put your guests up at the Roseland Plantation Bed and Breakfast on hwy 64. So far that bed and breakfast is the best one I have found in Tyler. I have been to a few but Roseland has got a pretty good historical experience about it.

If your Tyler guests will be staying with you for the evening the next day you could try going to the Caldwell Zoo or driving around the Azalea trail. This year the azaleas have been held back from blooming because of the snow but there are several houses that have planted quite a lot of Tulips.

Some of the houses on the Azalea trail are pretty amazing as well. For more things to do in Tyler Texas you may want to check out the Tyler TX Directory for other ideas. That site is pretty active with people and activities in Tyler.

Beyond just being in a central location and buying land and real estate you can find fun things to do here for both seniors and young adults. For seniors Tyler has you covered with all the health and assisted living needs you could possibly imagine. We are king of a senior living mecca in the state of Texas. We have everything from alzheimer’s care facilities to a dozen different home health care companies. There are dialysis treatment centers that also double as senior living communities, senior transportation buses, and recreation clubs for older adults. The Cowan Center at UT Tyler campus offers exciting plays and celebrity speakers year round. Lets not leave out that we have nationally renowned hospitals in this city with break throughs in prostate cancer, Parkinson’s disease, lung diseases, and many other forms of cancer.

For young adults you have your pick among close to 1 million restaurants. OK not quite a million but you get the picture. There are also quite a few unique bars and clubs. Tyler Texas offers a few different putt putt golf recreation centers, a bowling alley, single church ministries attracting several hundred young adults every week, and an extremely nice South Tyler jogging and bike trail system.

There is a great young entrepreneur club available to join in Tyler for those opening their own business here or are just wanting to make some business connections. There are a few public golf courses with the best one considered to be Garden Valley Golf Club in Garden Valley near I20.

Some of the popular hang outs are “The Pub Down Under”, “Where’s Rufus”, “Clicks”, “Buffalo Wild Wings”, and “The Electric Cowboy”. If you aren’t into clubbing you will find that many of these venues offer a music venue that does not require the consumption of beer or slutty behavior. I personally enjoy the Kareoke at Buffalo Wild Wings. For a little action there are quite a few in home poker games throughout the city that are a lot of fun. Many good poker players make several hundred dollars a week playing in poker games in Tyler.

Tyler Parks and Recreation has multiple softball leagues both coed, mens, industrial, church league, and other combinations. If you are newly relocated to Tyler you will find that by simply going to Lindsey Park with a bat and glove in hand you can very easily get picked up by a team who needs an extra player. Some teams are really hurting for enough players and by giving an attempt by appearing at the practice fields and games you may very well get picked up. These softball teams are always in need of girls so girls will have no problem getting picked up by a team.

UT Tyler is a very hard university offering an amazing education in the fields of business, engineering, nursing, and several other related fields. I personally pursued my education at UT Tyler and can say that it is quite a bit more challenging than SFA University in Nacogdoches.