Swat team

Clute, Texas, located 44 miles south of Galveston, attracts 15,000 people and a whole lot of skeeters during the Great Texas Mosquito Festival the last weekend in July. This 30-year-old event, sponsored by Dow Chemical, takes place in a 25-acre, wooded municipal park. It features a mosquito-calling contest; a haystack dive, when kids search for coins in a giant haystack to earn prizes; a washer-pitching contest (as in nuts, bolts, and washers); and music by the Intercoastal Pirates and Trailer Choir (think Beach Boys and Texas country music, respectively).

You’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot what the locals claim is “the world’s largest mosquito,’’ a 26-foot-tall inflatable mascot named Willie Man-Chew that’s topped by a giant cowboy hat. While in town, visit historic plantation houses, a planetarium, and sandy beaches.