Canadian, TX

This is the nicest restaurant in Canadian, but still casual enough for your jeans and boots.  It occupies the lobby of a historic hotel and serves up amazing country classics, steaks, and Mexican food.  They mesquite grill never stops blazing and if you want something truly special, go for the “Steak Relleno” with a flattened ribeye rolled around peppers and cheese then topped with queso.

If you want to sip a cold beer with the locals, then this is your spot.  You’ll be surprised at the number of acts that have graced their small music stage including bands like Flatland Cavalry and Shane Smith and the Saints.  Each band or artist leaves a branded board with their name on it.  They have BBQ, pizza, and burgers.  My suggestion is to order whatever sounds most delicious but you can’t go wrong with the goat-cheese sliders.  Say “howdy” to BO for me.  He’s a stuffed goat that now acts as the town’s most precarious bottle opener.

Who doesn’t love a great cup of coffee.  Every day trip to Canadian should start with a cup of Brown Bag’s locally roasted brew.  They have all the typical coffee-shop concoctions, but true coffee purists will appreciate their expertly-fired beans from all over the world.

This old wagon bridge spans for almost half a mile across the Canadian River and has now been turned into an amazing pedestrian bridge for walkers, joggers, and outdoor enthusiasts of every kind.  Take a stroll through history.

This is one of the coolest (if not THE coolest) thing you can do in Texas.  Owner Jason Abraham is an expert helicopter pilot who trains the highest levels of the government in marksmanship from a moving chopper.  And how to pilot them when someone is firing in the back.  There’s no rush quite like hanging out of a moving helicopter hitting targets strewn across his enormous ranch.