Texas officials are claiming that the Zetas, a drug cartel based in and around Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, are planning on targeting U.S. tourists over the holiday weekend. The Zetas’ criminal activities would include a surge of car jacking, robbery and extortion during the weekend.

The Zetas are a pretty bad gang, made up originally of Mexican Army Special Forces deserters and corrupt government officials and is, according to the DEA, the most violent paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico. They’ve been in the news lately as their second in command was recently arrested by the Mexican Army and this too will cause more activity as the Zetas look to punish the person responsible for leading the Army to this small victory.

Take heed. The added excitement of getting carjacked or kidnapped is probably not what most have in mind for their holiday vacation.

Another Rick's hottie from their website

Layover in Dallas? Beginning January 20th, Rick’s Cabaret will be opening at Dallas Fort Worth’s airport south entrance, ready to entertain weary travelers on long layovers, early arrivals to the airport or those that are stranded and have no where else to go.

Sure, it’s a strip club, but don’t let that stop you. I’m quite sure their chairs, couches and other pieces of furniture are much more comfortable than what the airport has to offer on those long layovers. The music may be better too.

At this point, the airport and the Fort Worth Mayor is aghast that Rick’s is opening. Nothing is being said that the zoning for the land and the plans have been all squared away for years. No, they’re worried about the “look” of how it’ll be when people see a strip club as the leave the south entrance of DFW.

NASDAQ Listed?! Why not buy some stock while you're at it. Photo Ricks.com

As if people have not been to any airport across the country. Strip clubs are like ticks on the belly of airports across the country.

Now, the airport and the Mayor are busy trying to block the liquor board from issuing a license. As with any strip club, liquor license or not, they’re going to open. So, next time you fly into DFW and if you’ve got the time, stop by Rick’s, have a drink and support the local economy.

Enjoy the burn at the Plano Balloon festival.

A Texas-sized balloon festival just made our radar — balloons are sneaky like that, flying silently under the radar and sneaking up on you. Sure it’s a a couple of weeks after its run — but that doesn’t mean we can’t write about it and mark our calendar for next year.

The 31st Plano Balloon Festival launched 70 hot air balloons the weekend of Sept. 18 and brought nearly 100,000 people, some clamoring for $250 rides and all standing around with their mouths agape at the incredible site of these massive objects acting gracefully — elephants waltzing in slow motion. There’s something majestic and just a little bit creepy about giant balloons drifting in the wind.

See, we told you some balloons are kind of creepy.

The festival, sponsored by Intouch Credit Union, is the biggest balloon festival in Texas — Take that Albuquerque!

For hipsters weary from taking black and white cityscape photos, a balloon festival is a great way to test the color range of that expensive camera you put on your parent’s credit card. (Don’t forget, bring a tripod and a zoom lens because all of your pics of the sky dotted with balloons will not look nearly as good as you think — zoom in!)

The first two nights of the Plano festival included a balloon glow, which takes place after the sun sets and pilots hit their burners to light up the balloons like massive Kongming lanterns. The effect is stunning as long as none of the balloons catch fire, which tends to make organizers cringe.

The romance of ballooning remains ever since Ben Franklin — the first American hipster — witnessed the inaugural balloon festival in France in 1783, which featured a single balloon reaching the height of 500 feet and covering about five miles — though in France, that’s like 200 kilometers.

Photo credit Allison Andrews

Good news, though: According to the National Traffic Safety Administration, the number of reported DUI incidents has been on a steady decline over the last several years. Instead, people are now opting to text, Tweet and update their Facebook status simultaneously (“just ate bagel, oh fuuuuu…) while speeding through a school zone. Who says technology hasn’t moved us forward?

A quick glance at the list below paints a grim and blurry portrait of some seriously drunk states—most notably Texas with five cities on the list and California with four. (San Diego and San Jose have had the highest rates in the nation for drunk driving offenses over the past three years, according to Insurance.com. It’s perpetually five o’clock there. )

If you’re planning a cross-country road trip, try and avoid the cities listed below. There’s always air travel- assuming the pilot isn’t three sheets to the wind.

Top 20 drunk driving-est cities:

1. San Diego, CA
2. San Jose, CA
3. Charlotte, NC
4. Phoenix, AZ
5. Columbus, OH
6. Indianapolis, IN
7. Los Angeles, CA
8. San Francisco, CA
9. Austin, TX
10. Jacksonville, FL
11. San Antonio, TX
12. Dallas, TX
13. Houston, TX
14. Fort Worth, TX
15. Memphis, TN
16. Philadelphia, PA
17. New York, NY
18. Baltimore, MD
19. Chicago, IL
20. Detroit, MI

In case you’re curious, Vermont ranked number one for the lowest DUI rate in the nation. Analysts attribute the state’s low drunk driving rate to increased law enforcement checkpoints during holidays and a strict “zero tolerance” policy; personally, I think it’s the cheese.

Welcome to Austin / US Travel Association

Discover America, a website created by the U.S. Travel Association, wants to give stuff away (well, at least discount some things every day with): Daily Getaways.

The idea is offer a little inspiration for places around America at a discount — which is about as American as any trip can get. (All told, the site has 25 leading travel companies including American Express, which is the site’s lead sponsor.)

Every day the site offers a package, a deal or some sort of package — today it’s a big deal on a

Austin / US Travel Association

four-person trip to Austin Music Experience. (This one you have to bid to grab a five-day deal that takes you through some of the hottest hotels, music clubs and even lets you leave with a guitar strapped to your back.) Bids start at $2,400.

There are also a number of hotel deals being offered for the day, as well as other destinations thrown in.

Dreaming about traveling is free, finding a good deal, that’s just priceless (and we know, that’s a different credit card’s motto, we just think it applies here too).

Plane tickets start at $144 and hotel rooms are 50 percent off. Check out all of their prices here.

Now is all of this worth a weekend in Dallas? Maybe for Americans, definitely for foreigners — it’s a chunk of Americana you just can’t get without out grilling, beer drinking and car shows. The weather has calmed and the local newspapers have stopped their Consecutive Days in Row over 100 degrees count, as well as its Heat Exhaustion Death Toll for 2009.

Also, where else can you dress up like one of the Village People and not have anyone else bat an eye at you? Happens at the State Fair stays at the State Fair.

While it’s likely many hipsters attending could end up in thumped on their fedoras and tossed into the bed of of a pickup, we would advise caution.  However, heading down there could mean a pair of cowboy boots that will make your freminies jealous and provide you with a little more swagger on those long walks to the martini bar.

And if the state fair isn’t your game, there’s still some hip and happening places.

Head over to The Double Wide bar for a glass of suds — the name alone brings great thoughts of slumming.

And you can stay at the Belmont Hotel, one of the growing hipster hangouts that mixes old school motor lodge with fine dining and a pool. It’s the kind of place Patrick Bateman would stay before starting another American Psycho rampage.

And don’t forget to stop by Art Prostitute Gallery to check out some Dallas’ trendiest artwork. You may not be able to afford a painting but you could grab a copy of one of their books (or magazine) to leave on your coffee table at home.