‘The Texas Bucket List' Celebrates 10 Years of Highlighting What Makes Texas Great

The Texas Bucket List is celebrating a milestone, 10 years on the air and 20 seasons of documenting the people, places, and things that make the Lone Star State great.

Shane McAuliffe is the face of The Texas Bucket List which can be seen Sundays at 10 a.m. on NBC 5. "I'm very humbled and honored to be able to continue the show for so long."

WHO IS SHANE MCAULIFFE?

McAuliffe has a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Houston, but he started out as a sports reporter working at stations in Abilene, Corpus Christi and Austin. Then cupid's arrow hit and he followed his sweetheart to KBTX-TV in College Station. The general manager there asked McAuliffe to come up with a series of feature reports and the Brazos Valley Bucket List was born in 2008.

McAuliffe didn't mind the parallels viewers drew between his reports and the Texas Country Reporter. He enjoyed the work so much that he asked his boss if he could "pull a 'Bob Phillips' and do the show on his own." He received the GM's blessing and The Texas Bucket List was born.

The Texas Bucket List

McAuliffe and photographer/editor Donnie Laffoday have put on quite a few miles talking to interesting people, taking viewers to interesting places and eating interesting food.

WHAT MAKES TEXAS AMAZING?

McAuliffe's love of Texas is clear, and when asked, he said he loves "EVERYTHING" about the state.

"The landscapes, the food, the culture, the people! No matter our differences, true Texans can always rally around the fact that we're from the greatest state in the world," said McAuliffe. "The people are what make this state great because they've brought so much to what makes Texas amazing."

What makes Texas unique is what draws McAuliffe in.

It's been such a joy to showcase so many amazing people from across our state. Every one of their stories has been so unique and I couldn't be more honored to be able to tell those stories.

'The Texas Bucket List' host Shane McAuliffe

"We're always looking for unique stories that have unique connections to our state. We get TONS of suggestions and since we've been doing the show for 10 years now, we've been around the state a couple of times and have an idea of what stories would be good for the show," he said. "History, food, culture, fun, unique folks. It all fits under our show, so we have a pretty wide canvas."

Viewers can email suggestions for the show to ideas@thetexasbucketlist.com and McAuliffe said some places he's covered from suggestions have surprised him.

THE TEXAS BUCKET LIST FAVORITE PLACES

"The Munster Mansion in Waxahachie was surprising. The Gelman Stained Glass Museum in San Juan was surprising. The Boston Terrier Museum in Floydada was interesting," he said. "We just never know what we'll run into."

After crisscrossing the state so many times, McAuliffe has a hard time narrowing down his favorite or most memorable segments.

"Driving tanks at the Ox Ranch in Uvalde was fantastic, as was sailing on the Elissa down in Galveston. Being able to see the stars at the McDonald Observatory might be one my favorite stops," said McAuliffe. "Pretty much anything around Big Bend, Terlingua, Marathon, and Alpine rank at the top of my list."

THE TEXAS BUCKET LIST FAVORITE FOOD

As much as Texans love food, it's not hard to believe the "Bite of the Week" segment is popular.

"Everywhere I go, people want to talk about food and where we're eating," McAuliffe said. "The only suggestions we usually get are about food and considering that's only one-third of our show, we have to weed through a lot of those."

When it comes to food, McAuliffe said it's also hard to narrow down his favorites, so he gave us a list of top posts from burgers to barbecue.

"Some of my favorite burgers include Willy Burger in Beaumont for the Hee Haw Burger, The Superman at Top of the Hill in Benchley, and the Super Panda at Panda Burgers in El Paso, of course, nothing beats a burger from Dairy Queen as well! Other amazing meals include The Turkey Leg Hut in Houston, The Spice Station in Kingsville, Antonini's Subs in Webster, steaks at the Leona General Store, Perrini Ranch, and the Beehive Saloon in Albany. Pasta at the Palermo Pasta House in Round Rock. BBQ wise my top three are Tejas in Tomball, 1775 in College Station, and the Burnt Bean in Seguin."

THE TEXAS BUCKET LIST CHECKS IN TWICE

It's not one-and-done for McAuliffe. The show will revisit some favorite places, especially if there's been a life-changing moment. It's a segment called "Check It Twice."

"We visited a chocolatier in Calvert named Ken Wilkinson. He was originally from England and he owned Cocomoda Chocolates. He made amazing truffles in a small Texas town and he was TV gold. Full of life and humor, he was a great interview. Well, a few years later he fell off a ladder and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Ken can no longer communicate like he did and walking and standing is tough for him. His wife has since taken over the business so our secondary story was about her carrying on the business while taking care of Ken."

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT IN SEASON 20 OF THE TEXAS BUCKET LIST?

The 20th season of The Texas Bucket List kicked off Feb. 11th and McAuliffe is excited to take viewers on new adventures.

"We've got several upcoming stories that are amazing including an international border marker in our state that's not where you think it would be," he said. "Also working on a story about a unique get-together that centers around the old movie Smokey and the Bandit in Texarkana!"

WHAT'S ON SHANE MCAULIFFE'S BUCKET LIST?

As for McAuliffe's bucket list, there's one place he wants to visit.

"To climb Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in the state of Texas," he said. "Only problem is it's a 8.4-mile hike! Still haven't gotten the gumption up to do that!"

The interactive map on The Texas Bucket List website gives you an idea of just how many places McAuliffe has visited and there are no signs he's slowing down.

"We plan on continuing to tell the great stories of Texas until we can't anymore. It's been such a joy to showcase so many amazing people from across our state. Every one of their stories has been so unique and I couldn't be honored to be able to tell those stories. Here's to another 10 years!"

Indeed, here's to another 10 years!

WHAT'S ON THE TEXAS BUCKET LIST THIS WEEKEND?

By the way, this weekend The Texas Bucket List's cameras will visit Terlingua, Dallas and Calvert.