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Ride the Wave

Texas' 10 best water parks for families, thrill-seekers, and everyone in between

Jennifer Simonson
Jun 28, 2022 | 9:25 am
Typhoon Texas is back.
Typhoon Texas is back.
TyphoonTexas.com

By all indications, it's shaping up to be a scorching summer in Texas. The best way to beat the heat is by floating in a brightly colored plastic tube around a fake German castle on a lazy river, or being propelled through a tube chute at 20 miles per hour into a refreshing pool of blue water. Luckily for us, no matter where you are in Texas, you are never too far from a water park. Here are 10 of the state's best.

Schlitterbahn, New Braunfels
The OG of Texas water parks, Schlitterbahn opened along the Comal River in 1979 with four water slides. Today, the park in between Austin and San Antonio offers more than 50 water rides split over two sections of a sprawling 70-acre park. The original section, home to the signature Schlitterbahn Castle, has tube chutes, enclosed twisty slides, seven kid’s pools, and a swim-up pool bar for adults. All the rides on this side are still powered by the natural spring fed water of the Comal River.

The newer Blastenhoff section is where the majority of high-thrills rides are located, including the six-story Master Blaster water coaster. To see the entire park from the comfort of your own tube, hop on The Falls. The whitewater river is 3,600 feet long, making it the world’s longest water park ride.

White Water Bay at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio
Their website says access to White Water Bay is included with the price of admission to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but we like to think it is the other way around. Bypass those Superman coasters that have you hanging upside down screaming for dear life and head to the Texas-shaped wave pool. The rides here are no joke. The Bahaman Blaster drops riders at an 80-degree angle to reach speeds of up to 40 miles-per-hour where they descend straight down six-stories. The Twister body slide descends into darkness, while the riders on the Tornado begin on by traveling through an enclosed slide before being shot out onto a funnel where they twist and turn on a four-person tube ride to the end.

Kalahari, Round Rock
Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Round Rock is dubbed “America’s largest indoor water park resort.” The African safari-themed water park has 223,000 square feet of water rides, including the Screaming Hyena, which drops thrill-seekers through the water park roof into a 60-foot slide; the Tanzania Twist — known for flinging bodies down a funnel at 40 mph; and the Kenya Korkscrew, where visitors ride on a tandem raft down a spiral tube slide.

Day passes are available, but guests who stay overnight at the 975-room resort can access the park for free.

Great Wolf Lodge, Grapevine
Does it look like rain on the day you plan to go to the water park? Bad weather does not dampen the fun at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. The indoor park caters to guests of all ages with its various pools, slides, and tandem tube rides. For those who do not want to spend all day in the water, the resort also offers dry land attractions, like a ropes course, an arcade, live action games, and story time.

At 80,000-square-feet, this water park is one of the smallest on the list, but it is a great option for families with children who do not want to spend all day in the water.

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Arlington
Adrenaline junkies, this is your place. The water park in Arlington has it all: water coasters, pitch-black enclosed water slides, free falls, shotgun tube slides, and zero-gravity funnels. It even has the Mega Wedgie, an 83-foot-tall half-pipe where riders rush up and down its walls at 23 miles per hour.

Those who want a more relaxing experience can spend time at the lazy river, the million-gallon wave pool, or the giant swimming pool.

NRH2O Family Water Park, North Richland Hills
Situated between Dallas and Fort Worth, NRH20 has rides for every level of thrill seeker. Tiny swimmers gravitate toward the Tadpole Swimming Hole or spend most of the day hanging out at the Frogstein's Splashatory, a five-level interactive water playground. Those who want to get their heart rate pumping make a beeline for the Green Extreme, an 81-foot uphill water coaster, and the plummeting 61-foot drop Sidewinder.

This city-owned park also hosts movie nights throughout the summer. It is also one of the cheapest water parks in Texas. Weekday admission for children is less than $20, and like Schlitterbahn, the park allows guests to bring in coolers full of food and nonalcoholic beverages.

Schlitterbahn, Galveston
With 20 less rides than its sister property in New Braunfels, Schlitterbahn Galveston is much more compact of a park. But that doesn't mean it is less fun. The Galveston location has Massive Monster Blaster, which is credited as the world’s tallest water coaster. Riders on the tandem raft twist, turn, and drop down three football fields worth of water coaster fun. The Galveston location also has the world’s tallest and longest mat slides. Riders on the Infinity Racers race head first down an eight-story water slide in hopes to beat their fellow racer.

Typhoon Texas, Katy
This Houston-area water park has more than 30 slides, a lazy river to help visitors get around the park, and a 375,000-gallon pool that makes waves up to three feet tall. But arguably the most popular ride is the Monster Storm, where a six-person raft barrels down an open-air tube before sliding into a gravity-defying Texas-sized boomerang wall.

The park shows off its Texas pride by matching each area with Texas landmarks, rivers, and rocks. Following the fine tradition of the love of live music in Texas, the park also has a stage for live performances by local musicians.

Castaway Cove Water Park, Wichita Falls
At 15-acres, the paradise-themed water park is small compared to the big dogs in Arlington and San Antonio. However, with water slides, a wave pool, lazy river, and sand volleyball courts, it has everything a park needs to keep families entertained for the day. It also has what few wate rparks in the country have — a ride with a 360-degree loop. The Pirate’s Plunge begins with a 37-foot vertical free fall, accelerating the rider up to 40 mph before reaching the loop. This ride is not for the faint of heart.

Wet 'N' Wild Water World, El Paso
Water park enthusiasts in Central Texas need to travel to the opposite end of the state to experience the largest wave pool in Texas. This oasis of freshwater in the middle of the West Texas desert draws all levels of thrill seekers. For smaller adventurers, the net ladders, slides, jungle gyms, and dump buckets of Atlantis Adventures are a huge draw. The park even has a slippery rock climbing wall where climbers race their friends to see who can make it to the top first. A refreshing pool of blue water is there to catch anyone who loses their grip.

Great Wolf Lodge.

Great Wolf Lodge water park
Photo courtesy of Great Wolf Lodge
Great Wolf Lodge.
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Movie review

Irish misery makes for grand entertainment in The Banshees of Inisherin

Alex Bentley
Nov 2, 2022 | 12:58 pm
Irish misery makes for grand entertainment in The Banshees of Inisherin
Photo by Jonathan Hession / courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Colin Farrell (and his pet donkey) in The Banshees of Inisherin

The influence of Ireland on the modern movie landscape is undeniable, whether it’s actors like Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Saoirse Ronan, Brendan Gleeson, and Cillian Murphy, or directors like Jim Sheridan, Martin McDonagh, and Neil Jordan. But movies made about Ireland are in relatively short supply, and even when they do pop up, they tend to be heavy dramas.

McDonagh, who has hopped back and forth across the Atlantic in his career, returns to his ancestral home with The Banshees of Inisherin, which reunites McDonagh with his In Bruges stars. Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) live on the fictional Irish island of Inisherin in 1923, with little to do except tend to the land and drink at the local pub. Pádraic and Colm are friends, until – for seemingly no reason whatsoever – Colm decides to end their friendship.

Pádraic is unable to accept this turn of events, especially as he sees Colm continue to enjoy himself with other people. And so he keeps on hounding Colm for the reason behind his out-of-nowhere decision, a pursuit that gains him few answers and only serves to escalate the feud in unexpected ways.

Written and directed by McDonagh, the film is at once one of the funniest movies of the year and one of the saddest. Colm rebuffing Pádraic’s repeated pleas for any kind of explanation is often played for laughs and never fails to entertain, often due to the reactions of those around them. In fact, the side characters – like Pádraic’s sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon), bartender Jonjo (Pat Shortt), and local idiot Dominic (Barry Keoghan) – are the secret sauce that keep the film as enjoyable as it is.

The premise is simple, but how McDonagh manages to mine that basic idea is something to behold. Little details, like the local busybody, Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), or the animals Pádraic and Colm own, add color to an already colorful film. And references to the ongoing Irish Civil War on the mainland underscores the pettiness of the beef between the two men without bogging the story down with unnecessary details.

For anyone who’s never been to Ireland, it can be difficult to explain the bleak beauty the country holds, but this film comes as close as anything to showing it. The rural area in which it takes place is filled with a seemingly endless array of black stone walls and the occasional building, a visual that serves to be pleasing to the eyes and important for character development.

McDonagh’s story succeeds even though – or, perhaps, because – the characters seem to have nothing else going on in their lives. Save for the bartender, the local priest, and a police officer, no one seems to be employed in any way in the town. That leaves everyone with plenty of time to gawk at Pádraic and Colm’s ongoing argument and other small matters.

Farrell and Gleeson have a chemistry together that makes each of their scenes together a supreme pleasure to watch. The way Farrell transforms himself into a needy sad-sack is fantastic, and Gleeson’s stone-faced reactions are the perfect complement. The supporting actors are just as good in smaller doses, especially Condon and Shortt.

The central disagreement in The Banshees of Inisherin may be inexplicable, but the film itself is fun to watch from beginning to end, even when it gets depressing. Ireland and the Irish film community have rarely been as well represented as they are here.

---

The Banshees of Inisherin opens in theaters on November 4.

Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin

Photo by Jonathan Hession / courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Colin Farrell (and his pet donkey) in The Banshees of Inisherin

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Planting new roots

San Antonio community garden grows with new farmers market and tree giveaway

Francisco Ortiz
Nov 2, 2022 | 10:59 am
Gardopia Gardens
Courtesy Gardopia Gardens

Gardopia Gardens will celebrate Texas Arbor Day on November 4 with a mass tree planting and more.

A community garden organization in San Antonio’s East Side will celebrate Texas Arbor Day the first weekend of November with a mass tree planting and giveaway and by launching a new farmers market.

While many communities nationwide observe Arbor Day in the spring, Texas offers its version of Arbor Day on November 4, when the weather is more optimal for planting and sustaining, organizers say.

In honor of Texas Arbor Day, San Antonio nonprofit Gardopia Gardens will expand its tree planting initiative this year with a goal of planting 1,000 fruit and other trees on 100 sites citywide. Planting will officially begin on November 4 and continue over a four-month period.

According to a news release, the initiative involves Gardopia Gardens partnering with various educational and community organizations as well as sustainably-minded businesses, such as The CO-OP SA, which will be planting 10 trees along Wurzbach Parkway and O'Connor Road.

From 4 to 7 pm on November 5, Gardopia Gardens will also host a community tree giveaway for the public. The news release said the trees — a mix of pomegranate, pear, fig, peach, plum, orange, lemon, lime, olive, live oak, Mexican sycamore and more — will be provided by San Antonio's Parks and Recreation Department, along with other partners, as needed.

Gardopia Gardens representatives said the tree giveaway and its resulting influx of newly planted fruit trees will positively benefit neighborhoods, especially those experiencing food scarcity.

Community garden representatives also said, one day, the newly planted trees will provide a much needed canopy to help counteract the heat island effect that growing population endures each spring and summer.

"The trees will help sequester carbon to address climate change. This is important because a lot of areas in San Antonio have a low tree canopy and so they have higher electric bills and a lot of these same areas are also food insecure. We may not see the shade, but we know the future generations will,” Gardopia Gardens founder Stephen Lucke said in a statement.

According to the release, when Gardopia Gardens first began its tree planting initiative in 2020, they planted 500 trees and the same again in 2021. This year, they intend to double that number.

At the same time as the November 5 onsite tree giveaway, Gardopia Gardens will host a new farmers market, which will offer fresh vegetables grown in the garden. The market will be open 9 am to 4 pm every Saturday, with plans to expand days and hours of operation, the release said.

Lucke stated the new store will help his group’s micro farm become sustainable and create a few jobs for the community.

Over the last few years, Gardopia Gardens has made a name for itself by offering programs and services to educational, commercial, and residential communities, providing tools, materials and best practices to ensure their sustainability and to help fight the local epidemic of obesity-related diseases and environmental issues.

“Gardopia Gardens is in a good place and continues to grow. At some point, we have aspirations beyond the garden to make sure the work we're doing is truly going to last for the long termm” Lucke said.

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Bonus Event

Entertainment chain Main Event serves up new restaurant at San Antonio locations

Brianna Caleri
Nov 2, 2022 | 9:27 am
Platter from Main Event restaurant Family Kitchen in San Antonio
Photo courtesy of Main Event

Family Kitchen is the new restaurant at Main Event.

Main Event, the entertainment chain known for its arcade games, sports, and prizes, can’t resist adding even more to its roster. With two San Antonio-area locations (one on North Loop 1604 East and one on TX-151), the games are still the main event, but now dinner is taken care of too — not just a few items at a concession window, but a full restaurant called Family Kitchen that boasts “nearly 50 new and unique menu items.”

These items start with the standard arcade food staples — burgers, sandwiches, pizza — but Family Kitchen applies its own spins for a more creative menu. Whereas before, the entertainment venue served many more generic items, Family Kitchen revamped every item to make sure it was unique to the restaurant, in addition to adding new ones.

A Triple Lava Burger comes with cheese and cheese sauce; a PBB&J Burger combines the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a less-expected blueberry jam and a totally left-field burger, bacon, and cheese; and chicken wings come in eight different sauces and rubs, including a Nashville hot blend and a lemon pepper rub.

“Family Kitchen was developed with extra care, attention to detail and a focus on premium quality ingredients,” said Chef Wiley Bates III, director of culinary innovation at Main Event Entertainment, in a press release. “We’re excited for our guests to experience our new menu offerings, which have been seasoned with salt, pepper and love, and added playfulness that customers experience throughout the rest of the Main Event center.”

As expected at the arcade, the first priority across much of this menu is shareables, including loaded fries, nachos, and pizzas. The shareability does start with volume, with “Family Feasts” bundling commonly ordered items for four to six people, but it also means more inclusive options like vegan Beyond Meat substitutes and salads. Mocktails are also available, although the presence of a “Cotton Candy Shirley” makes it clear these selections are more about being fun for kids than catering to sober adults. (Alcoholic drinks are available at the bar or the restaurant, but are not included on the online menu.)

“The Family Kitchen was largely inspired by Main Event’s brand promise to be a place for families to bond,” said Main Event Chief Marketing Officer Ashley Zickefoose. “From shareable favorites with our Family Feasts to offering something tasty and memorable for everyone in the family….”

Main Event may remind visitors of Dave & Buster’s, for good reason: the two entertainment and food venues are owned and operated by the same parent company. Dave & Buster’s, initially from Dallas, is the significantly larger brand with 148 stores, but Main Event is catching up. The latter is founded and headquartered in Coppell, Texas, and now has 52 locations. Main Event centers are also more kid-focused, and typically larger than those in the Dave & Buster’s, since they offer games like laser tag and escape rooms.

Family Kitchen is accessible to any visitors, whether or not they play any games, but there are food and game bundles to streamline the experience. More information about Main Event and the new restaurant are available at mainevent.com.

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