Chicago Navy Pier

Texas on Tour blew into the "Windy City" and transformed Navy Pier into a slice of Texas. If you didn’t know, everything's bigger in Texas, and we went as big as we possibly could for Chi-Town. We brought in tons of sand which was transformed, over 4 days, into a spectacular life-sized sandcastle. The crowd watched in awe as the sand artists worked their magic. If the sandcastle wasn't enough to impress Chicago, 2008 World Champion Trick Roper Kevin Fitzpatrick and his son Will sure were. The dynamic duo from Bandera wowed crowds with rope tricks. Spectators really enjoyed the father-son team as they lassoed people over to the display to learn about Texas.

To top it all off we were treated to a visit by two of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders! Lines formed fast and the ladies stayed plenty busy signing autographs and taking photos with all the fans. It was truly an action-packed event and Texas on Tour made an impression and left a mark in the hearts and minds of Chicago. Texas on Tour heads west next and it’s sure to be a San Francisco treat!

South Street Seaport

The Lone Star State took a bite of the Big Apple as Texas on Tour set up shop at the South Street Seaport in NYC. Our street team created an awesome pre-event buzz around Manhattan leading up to the event that got the city chatting and drove people in the thousands down to the Seaport to visit Texas and to take in a free concert by the Old 97's on July 4th. New Yorkers were treated to an Independence Day they will never forget - Texas style -- and the Old 97's supplied plenty of fireworks on the stage. Thousands of fans packed the Pier to listen to the sounds of this native Texas band as we celebrated the freedom of our fine country. Several groups of students, who were on summer vacation, came by to spend some time with us at Texas on Tour. In fact, a group of four college juniors told me that after coming through our interactive experience they made the decision to make South Padre Island, TX their Spring Break destination next year. The Texas sun has set on "the city that never sleeps" and it's time to travel to "the windy city" -- Chicago, IL. Texas on Tour will make Navy Pier our new backyard as we continue to travel the U.S. to share the love of Texas with the rest of the world.