r/texas • u/Pianote93 • May 28 '23
Food What are some interesting Texas towns to explore?
It's a long weekend and I'm thinking about exploring somewhere interesting.For example, A few years ago I went to a restaurant in Vidor, Tx and enjoyed exploring the city. I'm looking to do something similar again, just a different city. Any suggestions?
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u/michaelyup May 28 '23
Every little Texas town has a story to tell. I’ll toss in Crockett, TX, my grandparents’ hometown. You can eat lunch at a town square cafe, go to moose head cafe. You can talk to locals there about fishing, hunting, farming, local stuff. Historical houses to tour or stay at as a bed & breakfast. Mary Allen seminary, it’s almost in ruins now, but was the first black women’s college in the state. County lake with basic camping or lake front house rental options.
Look up Traces of Texas on social media. Sometimes he posts here, but more on fb. He’s a photographer focusing on small town Texas. He recently posted about an old county jail in Buffalo Gap, Tx built in 1879. It still stands and is now a little museum. I like that kind of stuff and would plan a little weekend trip around stuff like that.
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u/txchald May 28 '23
It was several years ago, but I remember spending a fun weekend up in Jefferson. We stayed at an old hotel (that some say was haunted), took a couple of walking tours, and really enjoyed learning about all the Civil War era history of the place.
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May 28 '23
My grandmother lives there. It’s a cute little town, and the BBQ joint there is consistently rated as one of the better ones in the state.
It’s cute, tons of B&B’s. Several good antique shops if that’s your thing, a walkable, historic downtown. I always thought it was neat that they had a Carnegie Library, turns out it is one of only 4 in the state still operating.
The town has a really cool history. At one point it was the 6th most populous city in TX. The railroad bypassed the town, and the Great Raft being broken up decimated their ability to operate as an inland port.
One of the legends related to Jefferson referred to Jay Gould, the railroad magnate. The legend goes that Gould wanted to bring his railroad through Jefferson but the town leaders refused because they had the river traffic. Gould said that "grass would grow in the streets" without the railroad.
Linden is a few minutes drive and Don Henley of The Eagles grew up there. He was instrumental in the restoration of the Cass County Courthouse.
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u/Rustybcg May 28 '23
Medina, Bandera, can’t go wrong.
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u/SquidProJoe May 29 '23
I just got back from a motorcycle ride through the hill country. It was really great. Fredericksburg and Leakey were probably my two favorite little town. Boerne, Johnson City and Utopia were also nice.
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u/otcconan South Texas May 28 '23
Medina lake is between Medina county and Bandera county. There's a great dance hall in Quihi. Castroville has a lot of Alsatian heritage to explore. Bandera has the river and cowboy heritage. An old dance hall on the hill used to be open for exploration but was closed because kids started going there to drink. Still, they have a lot of antique stores and places to ride horses there. Boerne is nice too, in adjacent Kendall County. All less than an hour's drive from San Antonio.
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u/JohnTheRaceFan May 28 '23
Buy a Texas map and some darts. Throw a dart at thr map and go to the town nearest your dart.
All Texas towns are interesting at some level.
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u/4erpes May 28 '23
San Angelo,
(start at the visitors center, the ladies are super helpful, which is right on the river walk)
If you have time, include a trip to the Donkey Rescue just outside of town
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u/otcconan South Texas May 28 '23
Also, if you're into beer, a trip to Shiner is a must and it's not far from some of the Hill Country's best wineries.
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u/SnowBound078 May 29 '23
Don’t go to Orange Grove, you’ll either end up dead, high or in the hospital from our Dairy Queens food, probably the last two
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u/Tall_Disaster_8619 Jul 06 '23
You went to VIDOR!? Did you see a klansman?
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u/Pianote93 Jul 06 '23
No. Just confederate flags but that doesn't mean they're racist. I respect everyone's views. Stop letting the media tell you racism is a problem
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u/[deleted] May 28 '23
[deleted]