Meeting in Texas Big on Group Opportunities

Fame, housing one of the finest collections of restored aircraft and aviation exhibits in the nation. Moody Gardens features a 1.5-million-gallon aquarium pyramid, a 3-D IMAX theater, tropical rainforest pyramid, and a Ridefilm Theater, while the new year-round Schlitterbahn Waterpark is a wonderful family destination. Galves- ton is served by Houston-area airports. Also great for beachfront meetings is

South Padre Island, situated on the south end of Padre Island, the longest barrier is- land in the world. Linked to the mainland by the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway, South Padre Island hosts many meetings at the South Padre Island Convention Centre, with 45,000 square feet of meeting space. Primary facilities offer 22,500 square feet of exhibit space, a 2,633-square-foot con- ference auditorium, and 9,000 square feet of meeting rooms in various sizes. South Padre Island’s beaches are the perfect backdrop for post-meeting relaxation, but there are also activities to feed an adventurer’s hunger, including kiteboarding, windsurfing, parasailing, surfing, skiing, and horseback riding. Eco- tourism is vibrant, with dolphin-watching trips, birding, and sea-turtle observation. With more than 306 recorded bird spe- cies, the island is one of the premier bird- ing locations in the Western Hemisphere. Service to Corpus Christi International

Airport by several major airlines, along with more than 11,000 hotel rooms and the American Bank Center Convention Center, also make Corpus Christi an attractive venue for meetings in Texas. The convention cen- ter offers 76,000 square feet of exhibit space, two ballrooms, and 21 meeting rooms. Several of Corpus Christi’s most visited

attractions, among them the Texas State Aquarium and the USS Lexington Museum, are on North Beach. The nearby downtown museum district boasts the Museum of Asian Cultures, Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, the South Texas Institute for the Arts, Harbor Playhouse

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Theatre, and Heritage Park, replete with older restored homes. Also downtown can be found the Texas Surf Museum, which explores the history of surfing and focuses on surf culture along Texas’ 624-mile coast. And speaking of museums: The Muse-

um Capital of Texas is historic Beaumont, offering 19 museums, an expansive shop- ping district, and Crockett Street Entertain-

Amarillo is also home to the Globe-

News Center for the Performing Arts, a new performance hall with balcony, rehearsal, and education rooms. For a bit of cowboy culture, the Amarillo Livestock Auction holds a public cattle auction every Tuesday, while The Big Texan Steak Ranch offers a free 72-ounce steak to anyone who can finish it (and sides) in under an hour. Nostalgia buffs convening in Amarillo

will find what they seek along Route 66. Just to the south lies Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Canyon. It features more than 18,000 acres of majestic scenery, including walls that plunge nearly 1,000 feet to the canyon floor. More than 300 daily arrivals at and

USS Lexington Museum on the Bay, Corpus Christi

ment District. Beaumont’s Ford Park Event Center offers five versatile meeting venues, including a 48,000-square-foot exhibit hall, while the Beaumont Civic Center Complex has 42,000 square feet of exhibit space. When it comes to outdoor space near Beau- mont, the 100,000-acre The Big Thicket National Preserve, an International Bio- sphere Reserve, is a favorite among wildlife enthusiasts, scientists, and birders alike.

pANhANDLe pLAINs Rugged terrain, vast expanses of fertile farmland, water-carved canyons, and scenic lakes create the Panhandle Plains region, whose northern edge begins at the Texas– Oklahoma border and stretches south to San Angelo. New Mexico sits to the west, while Wichita Falls and Brownwood are anchor cities along the eastern rim. Amarillo, which dominates the northern

portion of the region, handles meetings in the 410,000-square-foot Amarillo Civic Center. The city has 2,000 committable hotel rooms situated within 10 minutes of downtown.

departures from Amarillo’s airport link the city with Dallas Love Field, DFW Inter- national, Houston-Bush Intercontinental, Denver International, Las Vegas McCarran International, and Memphis International. Amarillo is served by American, Continen- tal, Delta, and Southwest airlines. South of Amarillo lies Lubbock, whose

selection of meeting venues includes United Spirit Arena (a 15,000-seat, state-of- the-art, multipurpose facility), City Bank Auditorium and Coliseum (2,803 seats, climate-controlled, multipurpose), Lub- bock Memorial Civic Center (300,000-plus square feet of meeting space), Jones AT&T Stadium, the Overton Conference Center (11,018-square-foot, column-free ballroom/ exhibit hall), and many more. The city has more than 4,800 hotel rooms.

Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock

Uss Lexington photo coUrtesy of txDot