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Find or Refer a Contractor in Tyler

Lindsey Field in Tyler

June 14th, 2012


Tyler’s city parks are becoming increasingly central to my sense of community in this town. I realize that for most people it’s probably always been this way, and I’m only now noticing it since I’m now an adult and a parent. Here at Tyler TX Directory, we’ve written fairly extensively on the various city parks. Rose Rudman, Bergfield and Faulkner Parks have all graced our pages at one point or another and all are great parks. A number of them have been improved in recent years. One park, on which we’ve not written much, deserves a mention, and that’s Lindsey Park, on Greenbriar road and spur 364. The park has at least five baseball / softball fields, about six or seven different soccer fields and a frisbee golf course. All the facilities are really nicely developed, and well maintained. The park has also recently added some new children’s playground equipment.

I’ve already spent some evenings with my son at this park since the summer started. Even (and perhaps especially), when there’s no one else around, it’s a great place to hit a few balls and run the bases. When that gets old the new swings and jungle gym are a great way to burn off a little excess energy before hitting the showers and heading to bed. So when the kids get rowdy this summer, try visiting this park. You’ll find lots of space to run, and play.             

Summer Activities in Tyler for 2012

May 30th, 2012

UntitledNearly every summer we, here at Tyler TX Directory, put out a list of summer activities as suggestions for East Texas parents. Keeping the kids busy and maybe even learning a little something, during the summer months can be a challenge. Family vacations are generally more difficult than years past, due to financial concerns, so the trick is making the summer fun and memorable without going overboard on expenses. So our suggestions are as follows:                 

The Caldwell Zoo is always on the list, but hey it’s always fun educational and is ever improving. It remains an area favorite. The Brookshire’s Wildlife Museum looks from the outside like an odd place for a family museum, but trust us, it’s a great stop. (It’s graced our site on numerous occasions already, so feel free to scroll through the attractions column on the right for more info).  Discovery Science Place is located in downtown Tyler and is a growing attraction in our area. Admittedly it’s been a while since I’ve checked it out but I’m hearing it mentioned more and more by local parents. This summer the museum is welcoming a traveling exhibit called Predator and Prey. And here are the summer activities schedule for the Caldwell Zoo:

ZOO MEMBERS’ ONLY EVENING AT THE ZOO

Come enjoy a special evening at the zoo! ZooMembers are welcome to bring a picnic supper or enjoy food from our Chakula Cafe. There will be behind-the-scenes looks at our newly refurbished cat enclosures as well as keeper chats throughout the evening. Of course, you will want to stop by the concession stands for a complimentary small sno-cone and have fun feeding the birds at Wild Bird Walkabout with a complimentary seed stick

June 8 5:00-8:00 p.m.

RED, WHITE AND BLUE AT THE ZOO

Celebrate our country’s birthday! Caldwell Zoo appreciates our country’s military personnel! On July 4th, the zoo will give one free admission with a valid military ID.

DON’T STEP ON A BEE DAY

July 10th is set aside each year as “Don’t Step on a Bee Day.” Don’t bee left out–make a beeline for the African Huts where we’ll have a hive-full of fun activi-bees.

July 7 1:30-4:00 p.m.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Bring your small fry to the African Huts for some swimming-good fishy fun.

August 25 1:30-4:00 p.m.

ELEPHANT APPRECIATION DAY

There will be a trunk-load of elephant fun on the African Overlook.

September 22 1:30-4:00 p.m.

One area attraction that is often overlooked in our area is the Hudnall Planetarium. The Planetarium is located at Tyler Junior College, and to my surprise, has actually begun advertising on local television. Hudnall has really great programs running this summer, including IMAX films. Visit their web page for more information. http://www.tjc.edu/cesse/  I love making trips to the Gulf Coast, in fact I hope visit the beach at some point this summer. Now I may or may not be able to make that happen, but I know a visit to Tyler State Park,is always a possibility. Great campsites and a sandy beach are never more than an hour away for most Tylerites. For older students and or children, The Historical Aviation Memorial Museum, and The American Freedom Museum,are two of my documented favs.

The popular Faulkner Park splash park is a great free option for the summer time. This is a small water based park inside of Faulkner park which is known for mainly being a softball and tennis court park with some biking and hiking trails. I think you will find the splash park to be a fun place to bring the kids and there are two playgrounds at this park as well when the kids want to do something not water based.

Many local churches are holding Vacation Bible School programs this summer as well. Most use a standardized curriculum which allows potential students multiple opportunities to get on board at some point over the break.  Christ Episcopal Church is holding theirs from June, 25ththrough the 29th. https://www.groupvbspro.com/vbs/ez/CEC/gpgs/Home.aspx, www.christchurchtyler.org I’m no doubt leaving off some good stops and events, but for those of us wanting to fill the kids summer days with something other than Xbox and Boomerang, I think these are a good start. As a parting note I should also remind readers that we are living through a golden age of Ranger’s Baseball, so if the cost is affordable, what better summer memory then a family outing at the ball park?

The Thrifty Nickel is Back in Town!

May 3rd, 2012

Thrifty Nickel Tyler TX

The title seems to say, “I am super excited about the Thrifty Nickel being back”, I must say that isn’t 100% true but it is a great improvement over the “American Classifieds”

Let’s face it, I am way more excited about Ebay, Amazon, Auto Trader, Facebook marketplace, before I am the Thrifty Nickel but this paper is convenient.

When I am sitting somewhere waiting for my car to get fixed, etc. so long as I find quality in the paper I will pick up again. If I pick it up this time only to find a bunch of schemes and local car dealer ads then there will be another multiple year long drought before I spend my time turning pages in that thing again.

In a previous blog post I really went after American Classifieds because they seemed to destroy the old Thrifty Nickel beyond recognition.

I am not sure how many people even knew but the Thrifty Nickel hasn’t been around for several years because it became American Classifieds.

When this happened it seemed a bunch of mail stuffing national work from home ads began appearing all throughout the publication and other stupid non personal local ads.

Lots of car dealer ads were in the American Classifieds paper and it seemed to almost completely lose any local Tyler TX connection unless you were in the market to look at car dealer ads.

I was used to finding really good deals from local people in The Thrifty Nickel but the American Classifieds was so overrun with national ads and business ads I failed to find the local people ads with cool junk for sale.

Local people seemed to ditch publicizing in the American Classifieds maybe because it was too expensive for ad space or something else, I really don’t know.

I hope now that the Thrifty Nickel is back that more cool local junk ads will appear like perhaps an old Nintendo console for sale, some retro Rayban glasses, and a $60 push lawn mower.

My Big Fat Greek Sandwich in Tyler TX

April 13th, 2012

What about Kabob and His Gyros
The gyro sandwich is something I keep wanting to call a /ji-row/ but yet it is pronounced /hero/ and no matter how many times I hear it pronounced the right way I think of gyroscopes and how awesome they are.

You need to go to Hobby Town for the gyroscope but my recomendation today is to go by What About Kabob’s and His Gyro’s and get my favorite sandwich, the Philly Cheese Steak Gyro.

The sandwich is downright good! It just is, enough said! Take my word on this, ok! Now on to the fries…

I love not only the sandwich but the fries…they have a seasoning that is just right and not too salty. There is enough seasoning on them that I refrain from ketchup but that is fine because they are nice and tasty.

If I can give you a comparison regarding the fries I would say that if you go over to that burger restaurant Mooyah you may have noticed that the Mooyah fries are extremely salty and so much so that you may have eaten like two before throwing the rest away.

At Kabob’s the fries have a seasoning that actually makes sense because they put that on those fries because it makes them taste good. You would think all restaurants would follow this formula but yet they don’t.

I know at Kabob’s I will get a good sandwhich and good fries and I can write on the walls with a marker whenever I want. I often read quotes and things written by various friends and aquantances in Tyler on their wall.

Why just the other day I read some graffiti on the big yellow wall by the South Campus First Baptist Church pastor Chris Legg.

 

Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina

March 2nd, 2012

3316 Troup Highway Tyler, TX 75701
(903) 593-1100

I visit Salsarita’s about every few weeks as one of the mexican restaurants I really enjoy going to. You could most easily compare this restaurant to Chipotle but there are some noticeable differences.

Salsarita’s offers a little more variety when it comes to make your own burritos and taco dinners. The signature chips with queso is one stand out difference.

One could argue that with such a large burrito as what you get at Salsarita’s you may never order the chips and queso because it would be too much food. To that argument I say fooee, we live in the obese country of the USA, people will not only eat a large burrito, queso and chips, but will go get a milk shake for dessert at Smashburger when they are finished.

I have no objection to the soft tacos or burritos at Salsarita’s. Both of these choices are fantastic and the ingredient choices are numerous. Chipotle is their closest competitor and from what I can tell Chipotle has a more quality choice of lettuce, guacamole, and beef that is to my liking.

I still can’t decide for sure if I like Chipotle or Salsarita’s more but one thing is distinct in that Chipotle has very rare bloody steak meat so if that is not too your taste head on over to Salsarita’s.