With copious amounts of coffee and natural excitement, Graphismo packed up and headed east last week to the Texas Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau (aka TACVB) for some convening and visiting In Sugar Land. And we brought a friend. 

Throughout the conference, we met people representing cities and towns across Texas, and the air was abuzz with local and state pride. There’s a town where gophers thrive, a city with a dulcimer fest, another city with a mile of margaritas, a diverse array of celebrations and festivals, millions of acres of state park to enjoy, and the list goes on and on. We have a long list of places to visit thanks to these ambassadors from across Texas.

In fact, we love Texas so much ourselves that we mused on 12 months of this great state in the calendar we contributed to the swag bags at the event.

The extra bonus of this week of idea-sharing, brainstorming, and goal setting was its setting in Sugarland. It lives up to its name as a sweet place, and we were lucky to have distinctive places like these within easy reach: 

• Vino Vinyl, where we had the happiest of tapas-filled hours, replete with wine and records (we bought two).
• Caipirinhas at Japaniero’s, which paired perfectly with sashimi, sushi, and other tasty nibbles.
• After love at first sight with the logo for the Skeeters, we then strengthened our love over a home game at Constellation Field, which was as magic as it sounds. Minor league ball parks really do bring the warm “America’s pastime” feeling to life.
• And how we enjoyed the TACVB soiree at Smartland Financial Center, meeting new friends over international entertainment at the city’s gleaming performing arts facility.

To the tireless and ever-smiling duo steering the big ship TACVB, Sarah and Pamela, we send our gratitude and wish you many weeks of sleep and relaxation after such a gracefully executed event! We were so happy to attend, as both a sponsor and a vendor, and to be in such fine company of Texans from far and wide. 

Want to meet our cardboard cowboy? Our friends at the Georgetown CVB have adopted Cowboy George (we’re not sure why he left us, but we’re thinking maybe he didn’t enjoy our 80s karaoke road trip quite as much as we did). George looks forward to a howdy and a selfie with you at the visitor center on the Most Beautiful Town Square of Texas!