Cool Off

Beat the Texas heat with a sizzling summer vacay to San Marcos

Summer in Texas means river time.

Photo courtesy of Visit San Marcos

The summer vacay vibes right now are strong, but a great getaway doesn't have to be far-flung. Keep your cool in San Marcos this summer with these refreshing ideas:

Run to the river
Did summer in Texas even happen if you didn't float the river? Besides grabbing a tube, cooler, and your best buds for a relaxing day on the crystal-clear, spring-fed water, you can also snorkel, kayak, standup paddle board, or even just sunbathe.

Head into the earth
Escape the sun by venturing underground at Wonder World Park for a tour of the Balcones Fault Line Cave. Besides being an exquisite 72 degrees year-round, the earthquake-formed cave is dotted with prehistoric fossils and huge boulders suspended in midair.

Afterward, check out the anti-gravity house, Texas Wildlife Petting Park, or the Texas Observatory Tower for awesome Hill Country views.

Embrace the AC
True Texans know to duck indoors when the summer heat gets too intense, and if you happen to start shopping while hypnotized by that sweet, sweet air conditioning, then so be it.

Score plenty of deals at the largest outlet mall in the United States and find one-of-a-kind treasures at boutiques around town.

Pick up some knowledge
Museums also crank out the chilly air, so pay a visit to the LBJ Museum (to learn about President Johnson’s time as a student in San Marcos) and drop in on the Wittliff Collection at Texas State University (for an afternoon of art, culture, and history).

Down a cold one
Cool off with a pint at one — or all — of San Marcos' three craft breweries: Roughhouse Brewing, Middleton Brewing, and Sean Patrick's.

Learn more and plan your perfect summer itinerary in San Marcos here.

Summer in Texas means river time.

Photo courtesy of Visit San Marcos

Summer in Texas means river time.

nature promoted museums shopping vacation

Holiday Travel News

American Airlines briefly halts flights nationwide for technical issue

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

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American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday due to a technical issue just as the Christmas travel season kicks into high gear.

American flights were cleared to fly by federal regulators about one hour after a national ground stop order was issued by federal regulators.

Just before 8 am Dallas time, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all American Airlines flights grounded in the U.S. at the airline’s request. American had reported a technical issue affecting its entire system with millions traveling for the holiday.
The ground stop, according to the time stamps on the FAA's orders, lasted exactly one hour.

American has not expanded on what technical issue grounded the flights and the airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The groundings couldn't come at a worse time for the millions of travelers expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up.

In December 2022, Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Southwest was ordered to pay a $35 million fine as part of a $140 million settlement to resolve a federal investigation into the Christmas debacle of 2022.

Excluding the settlement, the nation’s fourth-biggest airline by revenue said the meltdown cost it more than $1.1 billion in refunds and reimbursements, extra costs and lost ticket sales over several months.

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