Southeast Texas Bucket List

Southeast Texas is the kind of place you can live in for twenty years and still be finding new corners to explore. The bayou at dawn. A fresh-boiled crawfish spread on newspaper. The Big Thicket in October when the light goes gold between the pines. Friday night under the lights at any of a dozen storied high school football stadiums. A summer afternoon on Toledo Bend when the water is glass and the bass are biting. This is a bucket list for people who already live here — and a reason for anyone else to come. Fifty things. Start checking them off.

The Food and Drink List (Things to Eat Before You Die in SETX)

1. Eat a proper crawfish boil at someone's backyard in spring — the kind with corn, potatoes, and mushrooms, cooked in a propane pot with about two pounds of seasoning per person. 2. Order the boudin at a Beaumont Cajun restaurant and understand why it's different from every other boudin you've had. 3. Eat pho at a Port Arthur Vietnamese restaurant on a cold morning. 4. Get the fried catfish plate at a Hardin County diner. 5. Try a Cajun seafood boil at Floyd's or a similar local institution. 6. Eat fresh Gulf shrimp from a dockside vendor near Sabine Pass or Port Arthur. 7. Have breakfast at Rao's Bakery and stay longer than you planned. 8. Try alligator — somewhere in Southeast Texas you'll find it on a menu, and you should order it. 9. Eat a full turducken at a local Cajun restaurant in November. 10. Find the best boudin in Beaumont and defend your opinion. [/category/food-dining] [/best/restaurants/beaumont-tx]

The Nature and Outdoors List

11. Watch the sunrise from the Cattail Marsh boardwalk — ideally in April during spring migration. 12. Kayak the Neches River at dusk. 13. Fish Toledo Bend for largemouth bass. 14. Walk the Kirby Nature Trail in the Big Thicket — alone, early, quietly. 15. See a roseate spoonbill in the wild on the Gulf Coast. 16. Watch a thunderstorm roll in over the Gulf from Crystal Beach. 17. Spend a night camping at Sea Rim State Park. 18. Find a carnivorous pitcher plant in the Big Thicket Sundew Trail. 19. Drive Highway 87 along the coast from Port Arthur to High Island and stop at every birding overlook. 20. Watch an alligator in the wild — from a safe distance. [/category/outdoor-recreation] [/category/birding]

The History, Culture, and Community List

21. Visit Spindletop-Gladys City and watch the replica gusher blow. 22. Tour the McFaddin-Ward House on Calder Avenue. 23. Go to the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur and spend at least two hours there. 24. Visit Shangri La Botanical Gardens in Orange — ideally in spring. 25. See a performance at the Julie Rogers Theatre in Beaumont or the Lutcher Theater in Orange. 26. Attend a First Friday Art Walk in downtown Beaumont. 27. Visit the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. 28. Learn something about Babe Didrikson Zaharias that surprises you — then visit her museum. 29. Attend the Nederland Heritage Festival. 30. Watch a Fourth of July fireworks show over the Neches River from Riverfront Park. [/category/museums-history] [/city/beaumont-tx] [/events] [/city/nederland-tx]

The "Only in SETX" List

31–50: Drive the Rainbow Bridge at sunrise. See the world's largest fire hydrant in person. Have a conversation with a lifelong Golden Triangle resident who grew up in the oil industry. Listen to live zydeco music. Watch a shrimp boat leave the dock at Sabine Pass in the early morning. Drive the Golden Triangle Loop — Beaumont to Port Arthur to Orange and back — and stop somewhere new on each leg. Eat breakfast at a diner you've never been to in a Southeast Texas city you've never visited. Go to a Golden Triangle high school football game on a Friday night. Volunteer for one local event. Make one friend who's been in Beaumont their whole life and let them show you their city. Tell someone who's never been to Southeast Texas three things they absolutely have to do here. Take a photo that captures why this place is beautiful to you specifically. [/category/community] [/city/beaumont-tx]