As a consultant, and as a parent, I have come to appreciate the tremendous value of experiential learning for young people. And I think we grownups need to focus more on the power of experiential living for ourselves. After all, experience builds understanding (at best) and appreciation (even better). From far away, it is so easy to construct, then tightly embrace, a perception of people and places you’ve actually never met or seen. Getting out there, really immersing yourself in a place, is the perfect way to test (and often bust wide open) those assumptions.
Take, for instance, our various experiences in Texas and Arkansas. In both places, our expectations were definitely challenged and changed. Way back in 2023, we spent a long Labor Day weekend in Little Rock Arkansas. Despite the blazing heat and high humidity, we had a surprisingly delightful time. We discovered a huge thrift market (air-conditioned, blessedly), and took an amazing bike ride along the Arkansas River Trail, a 17-mile loop that spans both sides of the Arkansas River and features the famous Big Dam Bridge (the longest pedestrian/cycling-intended bridge in North America). It’s funny what sticks in my brain — I don’t remember much about that bike ride other than the fact that I was following behind Andrew and watched as he narrowly avoided riding right over a snake!
Cycling brought us back to Arkansas in 2026, this time to cycling mecca Bentonville. We stayed at a fascinating campground called Blowing Springs in Bella Vista. This place was basically perfect — tucked within an ecosystem of paved and gravel trails, 6 biking miles away from downtown Bentonville along a nice wide paved path. And…there was a beer garden right in the campground!
As with our first visit to Arkansas, we found a lot more than we expected. In addition to the fabulous biking, we attended a fun free jazz performance in The Momentary — a former Kraft Cheese factory converted into an art space/music venue. We also spent an afternoon wandering Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, founded by Alice Walton, designed by architect Moshe Safdie, and featuring a surprisingly wide range of American art. By the way, whatever you might think of Walmart, it’s clear that the company cares deeply about creating a desirable place to live and work. The Waltons were the impetus behind making the city so bike-friendly, and the evidence of the company’s ongoing investment in the outdoors, art, and culture is everywhere.
The first time we decided to spend part of a winter in Dallas and Houston, we were a little nervous about whether we’d find much to do in those cities. We were delighted to discover that our perceptions of these cities were definitely outdated, as well. That first visit, we found plenty of our favorite things to do — from circus performances to farmers markets to jazz evenings (even a rugby match!). Houston was a particularly wonderful example of our “try new things but keep the old” approach to this life. We attended one of the largest and best arts festivals we’ve ever been to (something we love to do) AND spent a day at the Houston Rodeo (something we had never done).
Spring 2026 found us back in Texas — first Austin, then Houston, then Dallas. Once again, we found plenty to do! Of course, I have to mention BBQ — partway through Houston, I realized that Andrew was working his way through Texas Magazine’s list of Top 50 BBQ Restaurants. The Levy top 3: But it’s not all meat and two sides — all three cities have an incredibly diverse food scene, well beyond brisket and ribs. In fact, we had the best bonchon we have ever had in a teeny strip mall Korean restaurant called the Golden Spoon!
Being in Texas during that time frame, we also had a front row seat to some fascinating political theater — in particular the primary race between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. There’s no substitute for being local at a time like that — hearing the Texas perspective on the radio, seeing the lawn signs, etc. And when we made a rare foray into network TV to watch Stephen Colbert’s final show, we saw some really wild political ads, as well!
A couple of days before we left Houston for Dallas, I asked Andrew which spot he had confirmed at The Vineyards Campground and Cabins in Grapevine (just outside of Dallas). When he went to check the reservation, he discovered that he had made an (incredibly rare) scheduling error. We were booked at the Vineyards a few days later than he thought, and our site was not available earlier. We are nothing if not resourceful at this point — we both looked at the map to see where we could spend a couple of days between Houston and Dallas. For some reason, Bastrop seemed appealing to me — probably because I found an RV park right across the street from Bastrop State Park and I am all about easy access to outdoor exercise. Serendipity struck again. As is often the case (see “An Ode to One Night Stands”) that short visit was a lovely taste of a place, and we plan to go back for longer next year!
