179 Reasons Texas is the Best State

In celebration of Texas Independence Day (from Mexico 179 years ago), I thought it would only be fitting to provide you a list of 179 reasons Texas is the best state in the United States. Texas truly is a gift to the world, just ask any Texan.

*Note: Order does not dictate importance. Also, this is far from being a complete list of reasons why Texas is the best state in the U.S.

1. The Alamo
2. The Lone Star Flag, the only state flag that can be flown at the same height as the U.S. flag
3. Shiner Bock beer
4. George Strait
5. The American Rodeo
6. The State Fair of Texas
7. Blue Bell Ice Cream
8. Tex-Mex Food
9. Chili
10. Palo Duro Canyon
11. Texas Country Music
12. The only state that was a nation first
13. Larry Joe Taylor Fest
14. The American Quarter Horse Association
15. The Fort Worth Stockyards
16. Townes Van Zandt
17. The Dallas Cowboys
18. Caddo Lake
19. Recognizable state shape
20. The San Antonio Riverwalk
21. The Blackland Prairies
22. Pat Green
23. Astronauts
24. Janis Joplin
25. Big Bend National Park
26. High School Football
27. Floating the Guadalupe River
28. San Jacinto Monument - it's taller than the Washington Monument by 12.31 feet
29. Geographical diversity - you can see any kind of geography worth seeing in just one state
30. Texas Sunsets
31. Kris Kristofferson
32. Enchanted Rock
33. Oil
34. The Marfa Lights
35. Border Towns - minus the cartels
36. President George W. Bush
37. Bluebonnets
38. The King Ranch
39. Friendly folks
40. The Texas Rangers - the law enforcement agency
41. The Texas Rangers - the baseball team
42. Wildlife - black bears to big horns
43. NASA
44. "Texas in 1880" by Radney Foster
45. Kolaches in West, Texas
46. Buddy Holly
47. Gruene Hall
48. Beef
49. The lightning whelk, official state shell
50. Six flags have flown over Texas.
51. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
52. Y'all
53. Everything's bigger in Texas.
54. The Astrodome
55. Dr Pepper, no period needed after Dr
56. Cadillac Ranch
57. Six Flags Over Texas
58. Guadalupe Bass
59. Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
60. 75 mph state highway speed limits
61. 85 mph speed limit on I-10
62. Charles Goodnight
63. The Texas Panhandle
64. "Texas Love Song" by Slaid Cleaves
65. The first suspension bridge
66. Wiley Post
67. BBQ
68. Austin City Limits Festival
69. Armadillos, official state mammal
70. The XIT Ranch
71. Pecans
72. Llano Estacado
73. Texas summers
74. Nolan Ryan
75. The Gulf Coast
76. President Lyndon B. Johnson
77. Suds and Sounds in Nazareth
78. Lone Star Beer
79. 7.4% of the U.S. land is in Texas.
80. Port Lavaca, world's longest fishing pier
81. Whooping cranes
82. James Bowie
83. Jalapeño Jelly
84. World's largest helium well
85. Don Williams
86. World's largest rose garden
87. Only state to enter the U.S. by treaty instead of territorial annexation 
88. Desert
89. Matthew McConaughey 
90. More farmland in Texas than any other state
91. Davy Crockett
92. Longhorns, like the cattle - not the mascot
93. "Don't mess with Texas."
94. Willie Nelson
95. 6666 Ranch
96. Natural gas
97. Friday Night Lights
98. Tommy Lee Jones
99. If Texas was its own nation, it would rank 12th worldwide in GDP.
100. Beyoncé
101. The Hill Country
102. Whataburger
103. Walker, Texas Ranger
104. No state income tax
105. Padre Island
106. Texas peaches
107. Dazed and Confused
108. Fort Davis
109. James McMurtry
110. USS Battleship Texas
111. Barton Springs
112. Breakfast tacos
113. Lucas Gusher, Spindletop Oil Field
114. Rebecca Creek Whiskey
115. Dan Rather
116. Homer's Backyard Ball
117. Palo Alto Battlefield
118. Hereford, TX - Beef capital of the World
119. Llano Wine
120. Edgar Mitchell
121. Texas State Capitol, one of six state's capitols that are taller than the U.S. capitol
122. ZZ Top
123. Robert Earl Keen
124. Lonesome Dove
125. Wind Energy
126. Cory Morrow
127. Oysters from the Gulf
128. Dallas, the TV show
129. Dublin Dr Pepper
130. Big Tex
131. Billy Bob's Texas
132. Driving friendly, the Texas way
133. Everyone in the world knows where Texas is at on the map.
134. Free 72 oz Steaks!
135. Art Museums
136. President George H. W. Bush
137. Texas sunrises
138. "Waltz Across Texas" by Ernest Tubb
139. The Piney Woods
140. Texas Horned Frogs, or toads, or lizards
141. Wind.
142. SXSW
143. Most miles of highway = road tripper's paradise.
144. USS Lexington
145. Ruby Red Grapefruit
146. Shiner Ruby Redbird beer
147. Tito's Vodka
148. The Frio River
149. Tascosa Gunfight
150. Texas Toast
151. Austin City Limits, the show
152. George Jones
153. Starry nights are bigger and better in Texas.
154. Farrah Fawcett 
155. Chicken Fried Steak
156. Cowboys
157. "Amarillo by Morning"
158. Iced Tea
159. Ocelots, those adorable wild cats
160. Dell computers
161. Stock shows - Houston, San Antonio and Fort Worth
162. The Houston Rodeo
163. Round Rock
164. The Yellow Rose of Texas
165. William B. Travis
166. The Dallas Mavericks
167. Our own power grid
168. Texas Hold 'Em
169. The Rio Grande
170. Bats, the mammals
171. All of George Strait's exes live here.
172. The J A Ranch
173. Schlitterbahn 
174. Eva Longoria 
175. Texas Blues musicians like Blind Lemon Jefferson
176. Hank The Cowdog
177. Homecoming Mums
178. "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" by Lyle Lovett - But Texas wants you anyway.
179. Last, but definitely not least, that unmistakable Texan Pride 

*A special thank you to Justin Parker and Royce O'Neal for helping with this list. Y'all are some seriously proud Texans and great examples for me to look up to for Texas knowledge.