We’ve all heard that the Gulf Coast is alive and well a year post Hurricane Harvey. We wanted to see Port Aransas for ourselves, though, so we hopped in the new 2019 Cadillac Escalade and hit the road to the beach for a little #EscaladeEscapade.

It was a perfect weekend, full of sun, and we were just in time to attend the Texas Super Chef Throwdown Series. (Check out our Facebook page to see pics from the throwdown.) 

The list price on this shadow metallic baby is a whopping $97K—-but we did feel like a million bucks on the road. And, we did hit the beach in style! We were armed with gear (like Yeti-style insulated cups and a cooler bag for any snacks) from the Cadillac Collection, which enhanced this road trip . We were set with our cool drinks in these Cadillac 20 oz. tumblers. And, you know you’re lux when you’re drinking from disposable Cadillac-branded water bottles!

Guess who’s 2-0? It’s the Escalade (not quite of drinking age), which has really built a name for itself over the past two decades with Hollywood. This luxury SUV also comes with over-the-top tech coolness! Here’s a sampling of the wow-factors in the 2019 Escalade ESV Premium:

~ Uber-lux leather interior with wood paneling on the doors

~ Wi-Fi with password available inside  

~ Seats seven, with plenty of room for storage

~ Hidden compartment behind the control panel (We have lots of ideas of what we could hide in there!)

~ Overhead camera

~ Built-in wireless charger for iPhone

~ Built-in DC-to-AC inverter

~ 2 screens for watching movies in the back

Escalade Fun Facts

* 20 years ago, Cadillac introduced the iconic Escalade SUV at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, changing the world of luxury SUVs as we know it.

* Escalade has starred in movies and television shows including “Carpool Karaoke” on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Shameless, Succession, The Blacklist, Girls Trip, Entourage, The Sopranos, CSI and many more.

* To celebrate Escalade’s 20th anniversary, Cadillac commissioned a series of design sketches and an animation from Joe McKendry Illustration visualizing the evolution of the SUV’s iconic grille and the Cadillac logo over the years

* Escalade continues to dominate the full-size luxury SUV segment, with sales topping more than three-quarters of a million in the US and 836,000 cumulative global sales. Its success can be attributed to its reputation as a technology leader, with features including the first full LED headlamps (2009), being the first full-size luxury SUV to offer Magnetic Ride Control (2009) and the world’s first full-size luxury SUV hybrid (2009). This innovation has not gone unnoticed—-Escalade has received Consumer Guide Automotive’s Best Buy Award for five consecutive years and 16 J.D. Power study awards.

* Rappers such as Jay-Z, Big Tymers and Da Brat have woven the Escalade into their lyrics and videos. Jennifer Lopez included the truck in the hit song “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.” Actor Mike Myers even sings “Give me an Escalade” in a rap parody in “Austin Powers in Goldmember.”

* Not since Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” or Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac” has a ballad for a luxury car brand gotten as much traction as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ ode to Cadillac, “White Walls.” The artists even performed it on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. The video has been viewed over 69 million times on YouTube. Macklemore’s song joins Lorde’s “Royals” and Carrie Underwood’s “Two Black Cadillacs” as songs featuring the American brand.

Marika Flatt, who is the Travel Editor of Texas Lifestyle Magazine, loves to globetrot
but is never happier than when she returns home to Texas.