Texas travel planning

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hello all, I’m planning a 6-day trip to Texas in early December. I’m probably going to fly into San Antonio or Austin, rent a car, then camp in the state/national park campgrounds. So far I’m thinking a few days of paddling/floating through Big Bend National Park, then head to the coast and do some birding on Padre and/or Goose Islands. I’m hoping to avoid cities and towns as much as possible, that’s not my kind of travel.

Any tips for me? Can anyone recommend a tour company for the Big Bend overnight? Other bird hotspots I can’t miss in the area? I’m also planning on sleeping in the back of my rental car - I’ve done so in CA and OR with no issues, am I likely to come across opposition to this in TX?

2

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to see the Whooping Cranes. The coast is a full days drive from Big Bend. Lake Buchanan NW of Austin has a winter population of Bald Eagles.

3

Book your Big Bend camping reservations ASAP. It’s a popular place when it’s not scorching hot so don’t wait too long.

Also, Texas is big… so plan for that. 409 miles from SA to BB.

4

Depending on where you’re going, you might consider taking hops by plane if you’re not a fan of long drives. I’m not really sure what the airports in Texas are like outside of DFW though (I’d usually fly into DFW and drive from there, but most of the places I ever go to in Texas are near Dallas or Houston, which are about 4-6 hours apart).

If you end up closer to Houston, they have a giant statue of Sam Houston near Huntsville. Kind of a goofy thing to find on the side of the highway in the middle of the sticks, but there it is. You can get your picture with Sam Houston’s Giant Head, since they made a duplicate of the statue’s head at ground level since pictures with the statue itself would be a bit tricky with the highway being there.

Closer to Houston itself, the old dreadnought battleship USS Texas (BB-36) is on display as a museum ship at San Jacinto State Park. She served in WWI and saw combat in WWII in the Atlantic. I’ve never been there so I can’t tell you much about it other than that.

In Corpus Christi (on the Gulf Coast), they have the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16), which served in WWII as well. Lots of static displays of planes aboard, gift shop, tours, and they have a live-aboard program for folks that want to sleep overnight on a ship (but if you’re only in Texas for a week total, you probably don’t have time for that).

Unfortunately, I’ve never been out to the western part of Texas except to drive through it, so I don’t know much about that area.

EDIT: I never realized how much of a city mouse I am until I reread this post. I swear I’ve actually slept in a tent and gone on a hike at least a few times in my life.

5

If you have an evening to spare, head up the road a bit and check out the Marfa Lights. (I believe the “mystery” has been solved, but it’s still fun to go out to see them.)

Also, on your way down to Big Bend, stop in at the Gage Motel in Marathon. Even if you don’t spend the night, it’s a cool spot to grab lunch or just wander around.

6

That’s what I was going to say- better to fly into El Paso for BB, then fly SW to Corpus for the coastal stuff. If you were to drive from BB to Goose island(525 miles), there’s not much to see out there really; Texas south of San Antonio is pretty flat and monotonous.

7

It is at the complete opposite end of the state from Big Bend, but High Island is supposed to be one of the best spots for birding in the U.S. Despite how much I detest air travel these days, following Raguleader’s advice, and using an airplane to cut down on some of the more gigantic drives (like driving from Big Bend to Aransas Pass) might be a good idea.

8

Thanks for the input everyone. I don’t mind long drives - I live in CA, and am Australian, so… :slight_smile:

9

The Corpus, San Antonio and Austin airports are pretty nice, although the Corpus airport is on the rather tiny side compared to say… Austin Bergstrom or Dallas Love. Never got off the plane in El Paso, so I can’t say, although my wife says it’s a fine airport, but security can get backed up.

10

Upon further thought, the only other airports in Texas I recall flying into are Houston Hobby (no recollection of what the place was like, which means it probably wasn’t bad), Easterwood Field in College Station (a ridiculously nice airport considering how small it is, yay having college students be almost your entire customer base) and Wichita Falls (a ridiculously crappy airport that shares a runway with Sheppard AFB). I only flew into Easterwood when I didn’t have a car or couldn’t get a ride, since DFW and Houston were only a few hours in either direction.

11

I’ll second this. A neighbor of mine went there after Christmas one year. He had to book his lodging about six months in advance.

I would like to see that country some day, though.

12

No advice to offer, but my favorite factoid about the bigness of Texas:

If you drive from San Diego to Houston, when you reach El Paso you’re halfway there.

13

I second the importance of booking reservations for Big Bend immediately-- my family goes there every year for Christmas, and in order to get reservations, we have to book A YEAR in advance.

Also, people are not exaggerating about how long a drive it will be from Big Bend to anywhere else. It`s an eight hour drive from Big Bend to Austin, for example.

For other places to see, I`d recommend:

McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis-- tour a world-class observatory, and I think they also host stargazing nights.

Paisano Pete in Fort Stockton–giant sculpture of a roadrunner.

I second the Gage Hotel in Marathon.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, near Fredricksburg–hike to the top of a giant granite dome.

Pedernales Falls State Park, near Johnson City-- Pedernales River cuts through a series of hard limestone shelves. Nice hiking.

Coopers BBQ in Llano--best BBQ you will ever have. Seriously, dont miss this!

Smittys, Kreuzs, Black`s, Chisholm Trail in Lockhart-- FOUR world-class BBQ places in the same town. It is truly a thing of wonder.

Mi Tierra restaurant, in San Antonio-- amazing Mexican food and atmosphere.

South Congress Avenue in Austin-- Excellent collection of funky and offbeat stores.

Chuy`s, in Austin-- Delicious Tex-Mex and Keep Austin Weird atmosphere.

Wildseed Farms, in Fredricksburg-- A wildflower seed farm.

If you want more to do in Austin, or hike recommendations for Big Bend, let me know and I will make a list.

14

Hobby’s underwent a major renovation in the last few years. It’s a good airport - smaller than Bush, which means it’s easier to get around in and it’s closer to the city. I usually fly through Hobby but that’s mostly a matter of airlines - Southwest has cheap fares and Hobby is one of its hubs.

15

Matt’s El Rancho is better and more authentic than Chuy’s, and it’s not far away- it’s down Lamar a mile or two south of Barton Springs (where Chuy’s is). Chuy’s is a giant chain of decent Tex-Mex restaurants, but hardly what I’d describe as authentic Tex-Mex, or particularly Austin either. Their main claim to fame is margaritas and the fact that one of the Bush twins got arrested there.

If you want the “Keep Austin Weird” vibe, I’d say to go to the Magnolia Cafe on Lake Austin (N.) or S. Congress (S.).

I also recommend Hill’s Cafe on S. Congress south of Ben White for hamburgers, chicken fried steaks and the like.

16

Being from Texas, I’m not really sure your timeline works out, despite not minding a long drive. I’d pick one area and really explore that.

Assuming 6 days is set in stone:
You’ll spend 2 days more or less driving. Yes, it’s “only 8-10 hours” but you’ll probably be tired or arrive at evening?

The drive from El Paso to DFW was about 10 hours. When I was in college I used to drive it frequently. It was approximately 10 hours of non-changing scenery. It was exhausting, to say the least.

As for tips: take plenty of music. Store any food at big bend in safe places. Javelinas love to root around the campsites. :slight_smile: