• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Houston First
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

Southern Hospitality in LA

Hoedown in West Hollywood: Unique boutique hotel offers country side of life

Jayme Lamm
Jayme lamm
Sep 1, 2013 | 4:06 pm

Looking for a hotel hoedown in West Hollywood complete with marketing brilliance, hospitable service 24 hours a day and a location Realtors drool over right in the middle of all the action you traveled for? Then look no further than Farmer’s Daughter, a boutique hotel located directly across the street from the popular Farmer’s Market and The Grove shopping complex.

Just inches away from red carpets and velvet ropes, the 66-room boutique hotel exudes all the Southern hospitality any traveler could want.

It’s true that every corner of LA, along with every beach and shopping nook within the city confines, has its own personality, and Farmer’s Daughter is verifiable proof of that. Just inches away from red carpets and velvet ropes, the 66-room boutique hotel exudes all the Southern hospitality any traveler could want. If you’re looking for a little bit (or a lot) of Texas on the west-coast at a reasonable LA price (a little over $200 a night on most nights), check out this spot.

When it comes to the décor, think of a comfortable farmhouse with luminous paintings of farm animals, with denim comforters, painted murals, copper tables, and even a few rooms topped off with ceiling mirrors. Exactly what the farmer ordered. As long as you’re not staying in one of those ceiling mirrored rooms with his daughter!

There are also brilliant marketing sayings throughout — the door tag to hang outside your door, with one side: “Please gussy up” and the other: “Don’t come a knockin’ if this room’s a rockin’."

Other unique amenities offered at Farmer’s Daughter:

  • How about free bike rentals for guests for a romantic ride throughout Los Angeles or just to skip through the traffic?
  • A co-op shopping area in the hotel lobby where lemonade and sweet tea are served for guests passing through or checking in. SHOP: Add Our Story To Yours.
  • A Lending Library located outside the hotel’s front doors, where guests can borrow and/or leave books. Remember, sharing is caring, especially while traveling.
  • An outdoor, retro-style pool already occupied by a few rubber duckies, marking the perfect setting for a retro photoshoot.
  • Postcards. Free. In the lobby, ready for your taking. All you need is a pen and a stamp and you can quickly say hello to your favorite friends and family from your new favorite hotel in West Hollywood.

The restaurant, TART, is a great place for brunch (hint: bottomless mimosas). You can sit inside or outside and the atmosphere is casual yet uniquely chic and full of Southern twists. Another bonus, as if you needed one after the mention of bottomless mimosas: Free WiFi. Boom. Did someone say working lunch?

Tart Restaurant menu/story:

HOLLYWOOD is a place like no other. This is where the dreamers and their dreams can become reality.

It is the place where a farmer’s daughter got off the bus and embraced her god-given assets to become somebody. She let down her pigtails and became a city slicker.

She is now the envy of the city girls and the toast of the men in town. She may have lost a few things on the way to the top but she held on to her love of the small town, the comfort of mamma’s hospitality and the gift of good cookin’.

Enough said.

Oh, and Rodney Atkin’s once sang a song just about Farmer’s Daughters. So enjoy.

A Lending Library is located outside the hotel’s front doors, where guests can borrow and or leave books.

Jayme Farmer's Daugher Hotel August 2013
Photo by Jayme Lamm
A Lending Library is located outside the hotel’s front doors, where guests can borrow and or leave books.
unspecified
news/travel

New year, fresh air

Gear up for a 'first day hike' at a Texas park on New Year’s Day 2026

Stephanie Allmon Merry
Dec 30, 2025 | 9:30 am
Couple hiking
Photo courtesy of San Marcos CVB
This beats the stair-stepper at the gym any day.

Here's a way to start your health-focused new year's resolutions that won't make you want to hit the snooze button on January 1: Plan a "first day hike."

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife, First Day Hikes is a nationwide program to encourage hiking on New Year's Day. State parks near Houston and throughout Texas are offering the chance for people of all ages and fitness levels to stretch their legs and explore the great outdoors on the first day of 2026.

"First day hikes vary from short, leisurely nature walks on forested trails; boardwalk strolls through wetlands or to the beach; or climbs into the mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert," the agency says on its website. "Some first day hikes aren't hikes at all: We also lead bike rides, paddling tours, and maybe even horseback rides. Choose the event that's right for you."

State parks offer both guided and self-guided hikes on January 1. If you choose a self-guided hike, look for tables or stop at headquarters for hike information and maps, they advise. "After your hike, stop back by to report on your hike and collect a memento of your visit," they say.

Note that most state parks charge an entry fee or day use fee. For those who plan to visit several times throughout the year, a Texas State Parks Pass could help save money.

Here are all the Texas state parks offering first-day hikes on January 1, 2026, clustered by region. All are self-guided walking hikes that do not require registration, unless otherwise indicated. Find out more details about each one here.

Gulf Coast & Coastal Bend

  • Galveston Island State Park (Sunrise beach walk with a ranger.)
  • Mustang Island State Park (Ranger-guided walk at sunrise.)
  • Goose Island State Park (Bird hikes)
  • Sea Rim State Park (First Day Paddle)
  • Brazos Bend State Park (Guided hike)
  • Sheldon Lake State Park & Environmental Learning Center (Guided hike and dog walk)
  • Huntsville State Park (Chinquapin Challenge)
  • Lake Livingston State Park (Guided hike)
  • Stephen F. Austin State Park

East Texas & Piney Woods

  • Tyler State Park (Guided tour)
  • Daingerfield State Park
  • Lake Tawakoni State Park
  • Martin Creek Lake State Park (Birding hike)
  • Atlanta State Park (Guided hike)
  • Mission Tejas State Park
  • Caddo Lake State Park
  • Cooper State Park (South Sulphur & Doctors Creek. Hike or bike.)
  • Martin Dies, Jr. State Park (Guided and unguided hikes)
  • Village Creek State Park

Hill Country & Central Texas

  • Honey Creek State Natural Area (Registration required.)
  • Blanco State Park
  • Guadalupe River State Park
  • Palmetto State Park (Self-guided hike and sunrise bird hike)
  • Lockhart State Park
  • Pedernales Falls State Park (Guided hike)
  • Government Canyon State Natural Area
  • Lake Somerville State Park
  • Lost Maples State Natural Area
  • Inks Lake State Park (Guided hike)
  • Old Tunnel State Park (Guided hike)Hill Country State Natural Area (Gu
  • Hill Country State Natural Area (Guided hike)
  • Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site (First Day Bird Walk)
  • Dinosaur Valley State Park (Guided hike)
  • Meridian State Park (Story Book Stroll)
  • Colorado Bend State Park (Guided hike)
  • Lake Brownwood State Park
  • Bastrop State Park (Ranger-guided birding)
  • Buescher State Park

North Texas

  • Ray Roberts Lake State Park (Johnson Branch & Isle du Bois. Guided and unguided hikes.)
  • Eisenhower State Park
  • Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway (Guided hike)
  • Fort Richardson State Park & Historic Site
  • Palo Pinto Mountains State Park (Registration required)
  • Lake Whitney State Park (Guided mindful walk)
  • Bonham State Park (Guided hike)
  • Lake Arrowhead State Park
  • Purtis Creek State Park
  • Possum Kingdom State Park

South Texas & Rio Grande Valley

  • Falcon State Park (Guided hike)
  • Choke Canyon State Park
  • Lake Corpus Christi State Park
  • Goliad State Park & Historic Site (Guided hikes)
  • Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
  • Resaca de la Palma State Park
  • Lake Casa Blanca International State Park

West Texas & Panhandle

  • Palo Duro Canyon State Park (Guided and unguided hikes.)
  • Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway
  • Copper Breaks State Park
  • Abilene State Park
  • San Angelo State Park
  • Big Spring State Park (Guided hike)
  • Davis Mountains State Park
  • Franklin Mountains State Park
  • Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site
  • Big Bend Ranch State Park (including Chinati Mountains)
  • Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site (Guided and unguided)
state parks new year's day new years exercise hiking
news/travel
CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
Get Houston intel delivered daily.
Loading...