Temporary Texans enjoy (mostly) mild Highland Lakes winters

Every winter, thousands of out-of-state snowbirds flock to the Highland Lakes to escape the brutal cold of their northern homes. 

“It’s nice to be here and be on the lake, be warm, and see sunshine,” Missourian Megan Neumann said. She and husband Steve have been coming to the Highland Lakes by way of upstate New York and central Missouri since 2013.

Social activities, such as the Kingsland Chamber of Commerce’s Winter Texan Dinner, held three times a year during the high point of snowbird season, help travelers connect with fellow part-time Texans. The chamber’s next dinner is March 12 in Cedar Skies Barn at Log Country Cove, 614 Log Country Cove in Burnet.

“We have ourselves a bit of a community here,” said Winter Texan Phil Parry of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. “We like to drink beer, play cards, and make nuisances of ourselves.”

Parry has returned to the Lone Star State every season for the better part of the past 30 years but is a recent visitor to Central Texas.

“I just came down to (the Highland Lakes) for the first time last year,” he said. “I’ve felt more welcomed than you could imagine.”

He comes to Texas for one thing: golf.

“Legends (Golf Course) and Lighthouse (Golf Course) are both very acceptable,” Parry said. “I love them both.”

Many individuals who meet during mingling events such as the Winter Texan Dinner establish friendships that continue for years and sometimes decades.

While in the Highland Lakes, temporary Texans hike and bike, hit the links, sample the local cuisine and wines, float the water, and explore the greater Hill Country. 

“Now that we’ve seen a lot of the area, we go back to things that we like,” Steve Neumann said. “We do some walking around, but we pass time easily. That’s the goal.”

The Neumanns stay from two to six months, depending on what brings them to Texas and their tolerance level during warmer weather.

“I prefer an even 60 or 70 degrees,” Megan said. “I’m not looking for the triple-digit heat, ever.”

Married for almost 50 years, the couple said their time in the Texas Hill Country has strengthened their bond.

“When we’re home, he’s going one direction and I’m going the other direction,” Megan said. “Even in our house, he goes downstairs to the workshop and I go on the computer. But here, there is a lot more togetherness.”

Long-term trips to Texas have also solidified their view of southern hospitality.

“This is a very friendly part of the country,” Steve said. “Even when we had New York license plates the first four or five years (of traveling to Texas), we never had any issues. It’s a friendly experience. We wouldn’t be coming for the past 10 years if it wasn’t.”

The couple has witnessed the Highland Lakes community grow by leaps and bounds since their first trip to Lake LBJ in 2013.

“There’s so much construction,” Megan said. “There’s a lot of what the northerners would call ‘McMansions.’”

The April 8 total solar eclipse serves as a line of demarcation for the handful of Winter Texans who contributed to this story. 

Some, such as Betty and Gerald Stanley of Littleton, Colorado, plan to stay well past the celestial event.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” Betty said. “We’ve got a spot picked out to watch it and everything.”

Others are making sure they’re nowhere near the area before the mass gathering, which could total upward of 100,000 people in Burnet County alone.

“I see it go dark every day,” Parry laughed. “Why do I need to see it go dark during the day?”

Regardless of their outlook on the eclipse, all five of these honorary Texans contend the region’s immense natural beauty is its greatest draw and the top reason they come back year after year.

“You clearly know you’re not in Kansas anymore,” Steve Neumann said of the scenery of the Highland Lakes.

And it sure beats shoveling snow.

nathan@thepicayune.com