We’re just connecting the dots.
VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 13 • January 11, 2023
hello FROM KRISTI
•••
One thing I know about Winter
Texans is that you like to go,go,go--and almost always in a group! Knowing that, I’ve dreamed of offering bus tours for years and am over-the-top excited to see that dream finally become a reality. We launched Tours by Welcome Home early last year with the intention of starting our first tours last fall. When we talked about it with our activity directors in April, they all said, “But we have people who want to go now!” So over the course of the summer, we not only crafted an amazing tour schedule for this season, we also had fun carting our Converted Texans around! We have a number of upcoming tours, and while singles are always welcome on any of our tours, we have a few lined up specifically for singles, including a Galentine’s getaway to Corpus Christi! There’s so much to see and do this season, and I would like to personally invite you to join us as we tour South Texas and beyond. We’d love to have you join us. We’re just connecting the dots… •
Kristi
THANK YOU TO OUR 2022-2023 SEASON SPONSORS
Touring South Texas
Photos by Sarah Denzer Story by Eryn Reddell Wingert
“It’s real quality and a good time,”
says Annette Schulz, sharing her take on Tours by Welcome Home. That’s the goal--in a nutshell--for tour planner Sarah Denzer. “This is not a drop-you-off-andyou’re-on-your-own operation,” says Denzer. There is thought and planning put into each excursion (i.e. there’s something for everyone, with a focus on ease for the tourist). Building on the relationships and connections established over the last decade and a half, Welcome Home RGV added a Group Tour Division
in 2022. Tours by Welcome Home literally hit the road running, offering day trips to local attractions, like Behind the Scenes at Gladys Porter Zoo, the Gelman Stained Glass Museum, and South Padre Island’s Lighted Boat Parade. Not long after, expanding further into South Texas, including overnight trips. “The first tour I went on was so well organized, and entertaining.” says Schulz. So much so, Schulz subsequently packed her calendar with more tours. Tours by Welcome Home does all the background work, planning and preparing with research and site
visits, taking special care to craft a fun outing. After the first stop on a recent two-day Corpus Christi tour, Denzer says travelers were already asking what Tours by Welcome Home had in store for the future, even offering suggestions spanning beyond South Texas. At least for now, the tours span the local region, including Bonita Flats Farm & Winery (with a bonus stop at the new South Texas Ecotourism Center), Delta Lake Hotel Ruins and TOURING SOUTH TEXAS CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >>