November/December 2022
I hadn’t planned to go to Texas, going with my having been to Dallas in my 20’s and to Austin several years ago, as sufficient to count that toward my travels. Part of my apprehension was contributing to the current government’s state tax base. I felt the same way about Florida (having explored the center and the south quite a bit over the years). And then I found myself going to both in the same month. So much for my stand – warm weather won out. I also stayed a bit longer in Texas having promised to do so to some gentlemen I met at a restaurant bar in Bay City, Fred and Travis. I promised Fred not to disparage him given his occupation as a lobbyist for HP. Both were pretty cool guys, Travis making the wise decision to ditch his years of schooling to become a CPA and build a landscaping business and Fred for just his energy. Strange how we can feel compelled to keep our word made a stranger when the impact to them won’t at all matter. Which reminds me, I still have to get to that JW website.
Anyway, Texas. I won’t make it to the part I feel I would most enjoy until a separate trip when I can combine it with Nevada and New Mexico. The southwest Big Bend area looks beautiful. Instead, I explored the center from the top down and then to the east. I did find that politics in Texas are a bit more in your face than in other places. You definitely know if you are in a blue area or a red area of the state based on the signage and messaging. I also discovered that Texas has many cute small towns which resemble many cute small towns in California, a bit more detail below. Texas has a wine region with rolling hills and a similar feel to California wine country a long time ago (including what I understand to be the same less than stellar quality of California wines of the past – this from folks who live in Texas and have tried both Texas and California wines). Then of course the larger cities, the various bird refuges with drives through massive refineries to get there, and the hard packed sand coastal beaches. I tried to make it to some parks, including driving all the way to Pedernales Falls, but found them closed for hunting. Oh, and worth mentioning is that at a Tex Mex restaurant, at least the one I went to, “gravy” is red sauce and “red sauce” is a cream sauce so ask before you order so you don’t end up with a cream sauce on your enchilada.
Driving in Texas is a very defensive activity. People will exit the freeway from three lanes away and they have not yet learned to drive in the rain, passing at high speeds with puddles in road sending them hydroplaning. There were so many accidents on my drive out of Fort Worth, snarling the traffic which is already heavy. This erratic driving made it all the more frustrating when I was pulled over for not keeping on my left turn signal through a left turn in a dedicated turn lane at a controlled light where you could only turn on a left arrow – wondering if my California plates made a difference. At least I was left with only a warning after all my information was entered into their database – guess being a now older lady is good for something.
Not sure if this is a normal thing but seemed to be. In Houston, they had a “Boil Water Order”. The day prior to my arrival they had a system wide failure where everyone was instructed to boil the water they cook with, drink and bathe in. I guess in California we have learned to live with intermittent power shut offs, Texans in the largest metro area have learned to live with having to boil their water on occasion.
WHAT TO SEE / FREE THINGS TO DO / WHERE TO EAT, DRINK AND SLEEP
MCKINNEY & GRAPEVINE. I spent my first night in Grapevine near Dallas after a short visit to McKinney (which is a cute small town with a historic area comprised of several blocks with small shops, cafes, restaurants and nice buildings – worth a visit). What was strange was all the people having professional portraits taken at various spots in both these towns. I presume these are for Christmas cards but was odd to see so many people taking photos with the same backdrops, each photographer moving from spot to spot with a family or couple dutifully in tow. I chose Grapevine to stay after driving through the main street with its restaurants, a natural food market, wine shops/tasting rooms and most importantly, a very well priced with a surprisingly good breakfast, SpringHill Suites by Marriott which happened to be next door to an outlet mall and I needed new shoes. Grapevine also had a train running through that had I more time, I would have explored. The hotel was nice, on the new side, and had a really good breakfast, including the coffee. It was one of the last hotel breakfasts I would encounter for quite a while with almond milk. As you make your way south, the dairy free alternatives disappear and the oatmeal becomes oat soup.
FORT WORTH. On a very, very rainy day, I toured Fort Worth which has a fantastic downtown with lovely buildings and a very good ice cream spot MELT and solid coffee spot, Vaquero Coffee Co. I only walked around for a couple of hours and grabbed lunch at a less than stellar but highly rated on Yelp Thai place (should have known that Texas may not be the best place for Thai but was worth a try). The highlight here is the outdoor Fort Worth Water Gardens on the edge of downtown which seemed an apt place to go in the rain, though it would be a lot more pleasant on a sunny day. Pictures would not do it justice as it involves all the senses (the smell aspect being chlorine). There are a bunch of other free things to do in Fort Worth that are probably worth seeing.
ROUND ROCK & SAN MARCOS. I spent my next night in Round Rock just north of Austin. It was getting sort of late and I just needed a place to sleep and cook a much needed veggie meal and do some outlet shopping to bolster my wardrobe. If you need to shop, this is the place – or San Marcos with an even bigger mall, but Round Rock is a nicer town in general and has a cute little downtown (very small) with a number of coffee spots. I first tried Lamppost, but an overwhelming, nauseating perfume smell sent me away and I ended up at Mi Mundo where I had originally dismissed due to reviews saying they had bitter coffee, but I found that was not the case and it was actually quite tasty and smooth.
SAN ANTONIO. I spent my next day driving down to San Antonio where I would meet my former colleague Sigi, for dinner. Perhaps it was the time of year, but the downtown was pretty sketchy and as with many other places, plenty of homeless. The Riverwalk area, which in the summer months is probably hopping and the gondola rides look to be fun on a warm night, was also fairly desolate. So, I went to check out a few of the five historic Catholic Missions established in the 18th century, one of which reintroduced the original grains, natural grasses and aqueduct system. These missions are the largest concentration of Spanish colonial missions in North America and in 2015 were named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. One highlight is the fresco at Mission Concepción on the vaulted ceiling – a painting of a man’s face, an Indian man with a Spanish mustache imprinted on the sun which until it was cleaned up in 1987, only revealed an eye known for years as the Eye of God. My highlight in San Antonio was catching up with Sigi, who still looks like he hasn’t aged at all, and learning about life in San Antonio versus Los Angeles and what he does not miss. He took me to a fabulous restaurant, Enrique Tomas, where we enjoyed some aged Jamon (18, 24 and 36 months – the oldest being the best) and a jazz band.
NEW BRAUNFELS, FREDERICKSBURG AND WINE REGION. I decided to take the scenic loop on my drive back north to Austin through the wine region. I drove through a number of cute small towns, including New Braunfels, a German focused area and stopped and toured around Fredericksburg, the Texas equivalent of Calistoga. The drive is nice and much more enjoyable than the interstate if you have the time. There are plenty of hotels and wineries around and in the summer, peaches – lots and lots of peaches.
AUSTIN. My previous trip to Austin was during July so very hot and muggy. I also went carless on that trip so focused on Austin itself, going to the LBJ Presidential Library (worthy of a visit), toured all the neighborhoods on foot which was a sweaty feat, and spent hours on the bridge waiting for the bats that never surfaced, though met great folks on my wait and I was able to smell them. While I still went into town to walk along the river path along with many other walkers, runners and cyclists, and toured the downtown a bit, on this trip I spent a lot more of my time outside of Austin in the Lake district area which was beautiful. The traffic to get there can be brutal as a lot of people have moved to Austin and it shows. Once you are there though, there is some beautiful and strenuous hiking (or you can do the flatter trails and just get the beautiful part), what would have been amazing cycling if I had a bike and better weather, and I found these amazing breakfast tacos at a food truck in Lake Travis – Jefeberto’s Taco Shack. Yum!
BAY CITY. From Austin I decided to head toward Galveston and decided to stop in Bay City to spend the night and grab dinner. It was here I met Fred and Travis who were winding down from a day of duck hunting and passed the time with them at a Tex Mex place with mediocre food but wonderful bartender and learned about their life in Texas and where I needed to go. There was not much to Bay City if you don’t hunt, but as is often the case, ended up being an unexpected perfect stop for the night.
PORT ARANSAS. This is a bird sanctuary and beautiful. Fred insisted I needed to backtrack the 90 miles to check it out as there were some rare birds from Canada that normally don’t pass through. I took his advice and while I don’t think I saw the rare birds, it was a beautiful large area with crocodiles (or alligators, never know which, just know they were pretty darn big), butterflies, birds, observation towers, and the ocean. I caught it on a somewhat cold, quite windy day which did not seem to stop the mosquitos unfortunately. The first of many bites started here.
GALVESTON. My plan in Galveston was to camp at the state park on the beach. However, the day I arrived it was cold and windy and the two spots they had available were at the far end in a parking lot away from the bathrooms and everyone else except for one car which had a single guy and lots of stuff piled in it (and in a spot the ranger told me on the phone was open so probably not registered as the rangers had left for the night). So, I headed into town to get a hotel room on the main strip. Not a great experience. The next day turned for the better as a better spot opened up at the state beach campground, the wind died down a bit, and I found a great lunch spot Lil’ Buffalo Grille on the other side of the island which had not only really good food, but also a pleasant outdoor area so could fuel up before hunkering down for the night after a nice sunset walk on the beach. In the morning after making my breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, I had the beach almost to myself. Would like to have stayed another night but by then I had made the decision to fly to Miami so needed to make my way to Houston. Worth noting is that there is free dispersed camping on a portion of the beach and the sand is very hardpacked so any car could make it – I just feel safer in a hosted campground where I know people paid to be there and like having a bathroom nearby.
HOUSTON. If you want to shop, this is the place. I am pretty sure shopping is the main pastime. I did check out a few malls – the Galleria being the most visited and very crowded and the food prices very high. A small scoop of not very good looking ice cream ran around $6 as did a basic pretzel or a cupcake. I found this throughout Houston, but then I found the most amazing taco place across town, Tacos Dona Lea. I had the Chanclaso pastor which was sooo good and did not even need any of the several hot sauces they bring you with your meal! If this were in the Bay Area, would be here often. As I was flying out the next day, I stayed in Humble at the Hampton Inn which was close to the airport. The hotel was nice and quiet and right near Costco to fill up my gas tank. It was here I learned about the tap water issue and was assured that they were not on the Houston system so the water was safe. Luckily I never received my water at Tacos Dona Lea and I had decided against the Aquas Frescas given I planned to get ice cream after (which did not happen) as they most definitely were affected.
PORT ARTHUR / SEA RIM STATE PARK. From Houston (with a detour to South Florida via plane), I headed to what I thought would be a night of camping and day of checking out birds at Sea Rim State Park. On the way down I stopped for coffee and a sandwich where I learned that in Texas when they say jam, they don’t mean some artisan thinly spread amazing concoction like you get in California or most other states, they literally mean a bunch of very sweet jelly from a Costco size jar making my turkey sandwich inedible. While enjoying the coffee part of my lunch, I read reviews of the camping and saw that a family had just left after one night as the mosquitos were swarming them and their dog – and they were in a motor home. I drove anyway and asked the park attendant who confirmed they were abundant as we swatted them away talking. So, I abandoned my bird watching and ended my Texas ventures, complete with a flying rock into my windshield. The pictures below are all I have of the area as it was surprising how unappealing the last part of the drive there became.
