Author: tracy
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Beyond Bratwurst: A Journey into the Heart of German Texas
By Tracy L. Barnett Photos by Sarah Lim For Texas Journey magazine Lively polka tunes mingled with the scent of grilled bratwurst. A bevy of girls in Bavarian dirndls bounced by aboard a hayride. A young family tried ninepin bowling on a wooden plank. Then a fellow in a plumed hat, ruffled shirt, and tall…
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¡Viva! Brownsville’s Charro Days Fiesta takes friendship and unity across the border and back
By Tracy L. Barnett Photos by Larry Ditto For Texas Journey magazine On a sunny February afternoon in Brownsville, Beatrice “Chickie” Samano stood on a covered stage and surveyed the crowd as she had done countless times over the decades. Serious in her serape-striped director’s vest, she held a microphone and awaited her cue. Then,…
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From Medicine Bow to Standing Rock
By Tracy L. Barnett Dec. 9 – I landed back at my daughter Tara’s doorstep at almost midnight, filled with gratitude and relief to have made it safely full circle home from my journey to Standing Rock. I fell into a deep deep sleep and awoke with a fragment of a dream – just an image,…
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Cuba to USA: Welcome Back!
By Tracy L. Barnett For Westways Magazine It was my first walk down the Malecón, the famous seawall that has protected Havana for a century along the Straits of Florida. I ended up at a seaside café, where I met a friendly man with a baseball cap. He called himself John and showed me his…
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Springtime in Sarajevo
Old meets new and East meets West in Sarajevo. Mosques and tile roofs, pigeons and copper pots in Baščaršija; pashminas and high fashion in the Ferhadija. A photo collection.
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San Antonio Missions preserve Native American history in Texas’s first World Heritage Site
Story and photos by Tracy L. Barnett for the Washington Post Two weathered gravestones sit in a small, dusty rectangle in front of the grand Spanish church at the heart of the nation’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site, the San Antonio Missions. I’ve been to Mission San Jose many times — to attend the lively…
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Feet on Fire: Get immersed in San Antonio’s hot flamenco scene
Tracy L. Barnett Photo by Wyatt McFadden For Texas Journey magazine Teresa Champion was just 6 years old when she heard a sound that would change her life forever. She was the leader in line to go to catechism class in her South San Antonio barrio when a sharp click-click-click reached her small ears and…
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Castro’s Cuba – Before it’s too late
Kelly and Carmela Frels grew up in the Cold War era. The Cuban Revolution, the Bay of Pigs, and the standoff with the Soviet Union that nearly led to a nuclear war marked their lives profoundly. For John and Becky Luman, it all amounted to a footnote in history – something you learned about in…
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Vision Council calls to dreamers and doers from near and far
By Tracy L. Barnett For El Daily Post The Call of the Sage, which will culminate on the week of Nov. 21-28 in the intentional community of Teopantli Kalpulli south of Guadalajara, is the newest manifestation of the 25-year-old Vision Council-Guardians of the Earth. This loose-knit network of visionaries, artists and activists have traveled the…
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San Antonio’s Missions declared a World Heritage site
Alamo with Moon (Al Rendon photo, courtesy San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau) Tracy L. Barnett, Special for USA TODAY Five cherished portals to America’s Spanish colonial past have just been elevated to the stature of Machu Picchu, Stonehenge and the Taj Mahal with Sunday’s decision by the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations…