Next stop after San Antonio,need some suggestions......please?
wideblue said
03:54 PM May 6, 2009
Hello everyone! Just joined the forum,kindly bear with me for any mistakes........ At Rockport/Fulton area presently then San Antonio,Tx........and after that I'd like your opinion concerning my next stop..........I do like to hike and visit small towns,antebellum homes and always historic places are welcome.I could not get very solid information from tourist offices,someone at the CG suggested Guadalupe Mts, are you familiar with the area?CG's? I have plenty time for planning and your input is much appreciated!wideblue.
Speedhitch said
04:48 PM May 6, 2009
If your going to be in San Antonio...the Hill Country is a must see for you. There are so many places to see I cannot begin to list them...but check out this site and plan away...
http://www.gardenridge.net/texas-hill-country.htm...this is a list of great places to see and spend some time at.
Have a great time...
Joe and Sherri
Tom & Paula said
06:18 PM May 6, 2009
I would vote for Fredericksburg in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. German restraurants, Nimitz museum, Luckenbach, LBJ ranch, Opas Meat Market for Brats & Kackwurst, and lots of small shops. Enjoy! Enjoy!
TXRVr said
06:41 PM May 6, 2009
I’m a native Texan and can suggest a lot of stops, but since you didn’t mention your direction of travel, I’ve got to do the shotgun approach. Not that we don’t have trails, but TX isn’t what one would call a “hiking” state. With respect to the small towns I’d suggest the following:
1- Fredericksburg. It’s German origin and main street offers a lot of unique window shopping plus a few good restaurants.
2- Luchenbach is a near there and has its claim to fame in the Willie Nelson/Waylon Jennings song.
3- Johnson City is the home of President Lyndon Johnson. It’s a national park and has a nice trolley tour.
4- Brenham is the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream. A tour of the factory is always interesting.
5- Kerrville has the Mooney aircraft factory. You need to call for a tour reservation, but it’s worth the time if you like airplanes.
6- San Antonio has the Alamo plus the River Walk where you can hike up and down it or get a gondola ride.
7- If you go as far as SW Texas toward El Paso there is Big Bend National Forest. You can hike that for several days. North of there is McDonalds Observatory in Fort Davis. There are some other historic places with 100 miles of Big Bend.
8- The Texas Ranger museum in Waco is a half day event and unique. The Dr. Pepper museum is also in Waco. The origin of Dr Pepper is in Dublin, TX and there’s a museum there too.
9- The stockyards in Fort Worth will get you the best steak you’ve every had and a trip to Billy Bobs.
I could go on, but you really need to pick up a Texas tourist guide. Those are normally provided free at major entry rest stops on the interstates, but you might find one at a local chamber of commerce.
retread said
08:46 AM May 7, 2009
Like the previous poster, we are Texas natives and agree that there's tons to do in this area.
Going by your interest areas, here are a few other suggestions:
Hiking: Enchanted Rock (northwest of San Antonio), Barton Creek area in Austin, TX, Mission Trail in San Antonio (do not recommend hiking the whole thing...some bad neighborhoods between the missions IMO, but each mission has quite a bit of walking)
Historical areas: Austin and San Antonio both have tons of historical areas and walking tours - the King William historical district near downtown S.A. has a 25 block walking tour of beautiful older homes - don't miss the Guenther house that houses a restaurant (great breakfast!), in Austin see the State History Museum, Governor's Mansion and Capitol.
Small towns: Boerne and New Braunfels. With New Braunfels, don't miss the Gruene community!
IMO, the Guadelupe Mountains and the Big Bend area are worth a seperate stop. That whole area is really vast enough to tour from a most westerly 'base' camp.
Have a great time!
retread said
10:21 AM May 7, 2009
sorry wideblue - after going on and on about S.A. and Austin, I noticed your key word "AFTER" San Antonio! ugh!!
If you're going west, staying in Kerrville after San Antonio would give you a chance to see lots of the Hill Country from a good central location. If you're up for it, check the Texas Parks and Wildlife department for campsites in the area. On this site, we've also seen good reviews for Buckhorn RV Park. We love Garner State Park with the beautiful Frio (and it truly is FRIO....mui, mui frio) River. It will be getting hot soon, so a dip in the river might be refreshing! Fredericksburg has a great tourist center and should be a great source for info on hill country destinations.
If you want to explore the Big Bend area, Alpine or Marfa might be places to consider staying. I don't know any specific RV campgrounds, but there is a state park also in that area. You might be able to go up to the Guadelupe Mtns. from there, but it's pretty far.
If you're going north, staying in the Temple/Waco area might be a consideration for exploring some of the things mentioned by other posters.
Sorry again about the misinformation - I was just so enthused to have something offer on the board! I'm new also and usually we post questions - not responses!!
Linda
Sushidog said
03:49 PM May 7, 2009
In 2 weeks we'll be traveling through San Antonio on our way to Big Bend. It will be my third trip there. We plan on camping the first night at Seminole Canyon SP on HWY 90, west of San Antonio. We'll catch the Judge Roy Bean Museum in Langly before heading to the Chisos Basin in Big Bend, as it's the coolest place in the park.
After a few days at Big Bend, we're off to the Guadalupe Mountains (another cool spot). We'd see the Davis Mountains too, if we had more time. Finally, we'll see Carlsbad Cavern's, NM before visiting the Caverns of Sonora (off I-10) where we'll stay one night on the return leg.
Don't forget to enjoy all the Tex-Mex food in the area. San Antonio has the best. IMHO
Have a good trip,
Chip
Jim01 said
05:58 AM May 8, 2009
Sushidog,
We were at the Caverns of Sonora this last December, and the CG there was not very well maintained. The first 2 electric boxes I tried were either wired incorrectly or didn't work at all, and others were having problems also. My advice would be to check the electric box before pulling into a site, with a tester of some kind.
Oh, and enjoy the deer that come into the park in the mornings and evenings.
Have a good trip.
Jim
Judy said
08:32 AM May 8, 2009
The Carlsbad Caverns will not disappoint, we have been there several times. You may also want to visit the Sornan Dessert Museum while there a Carlsbad. southwestjudy
bjoyce said
09:15 AM May 8, 2009
Judy wrote:
The Carlsbad Caverns will not disappoint, we have been there several times. You may also want to visit the Sornan Dessert Museum while there a Carlsbad. southwestjudy
I think they place you mean in Carlsbad isLiving Desert State Park. Tucson, AZ has the Sonoran Desert Museum and it is excellent.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Friday 8th of May 2009 09:16:26 AM
Just joined the forum,kindly bear with me for any mistakes........
At Rockport/Fulton area presently then San Antonio,Tx........and after that I'd like your opinion concerning my next stop..........I do like to hike and visit small towns,antebellum
homes and always historic places are welcome.I could not get very solid information from
tourist offices,someone at the CG suggested Guadalupe Mts, are you familiar with the area?CG's? I have plenty time for planning and your input is much appreciated!wideblue.
I’m a native Texan and can suggest a lot of stops, but since you didn’t mention your direction of travel, I’ve got to do the shotgun approach. Not that we don’t have trails, but TX isn’t what one would call a “hiking” state. With respect to the small towns I’d suggest the following:
1- Fredericksburg. It’s German origin and main street offers a lot of unique window shopping plus a few good restaurants.
2- Luchenbach is a near there and has its claim to fame in the Willie Nelson/Waylon Jennings song.
3- Johnson City is the home of President Lyndon Johnson. It’s a national park and has a nice trolley tour.
4- Brenham is the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream. A tour of the factory is always interesting.
5- Kerrville has the Mooney aircraft factory. You need to call for a tour reservation, but it’s worth the time if you like airplanes.
6- San Antonio has the Alamo plus the River Walk where you can hike up and down it or get a gondola ride.
7- If you go as far as SW Texas toward El Paso there is Big Bend National Forest. You can hike that for several days. North of there is McDonalds Observatory in Fort Davis. There are some other historic places with 100 miles of Big Bend.
8- The Texas Ranger museum in Waco is a half day event and unique. The Dr. Pepper museum is also in Waco. The origin of Dr Pepper is in Dublin, TX and there’s a museum there too.
9- The stockyards in Fort Worth will get you the best steak you’ve every had and a trip to Billy Bobs.
I could go on, but you really need to pick up a Texas tourist guide. Those are normally provided free at major entry rest stops on the interstates, but you might find one at a local chamber of commerce.
Going by your interest areas, here are a few other suggestions:
Hiking: Enchanted Rock (northwest of San Antonio), Barton Creek area in Austin, TX, Mission Trail in San Antonio (do not recommend hiking the whole thing...some bad neighborhoods between the missions IMO, but each mission has quite a bit of walking)
Historical areas: Austin and San Antonio both have tons of historical areas and walking tours - the King William historical district near downtown S.A. has a 25 block walking tour of beautiful older homes - don't miss the Guenther house that houses a restaurant (great breakfast!), in Austin see the State History Museum, Governor's Mansion and Capitol.
Small towns: Boerne and New Braunfels. With New Braunfels, don't miss the Gruene community!
IMO, the Guadelupe Mountains and the Big Bend area are worth a seperate stop. That whole area is really vast enough to tour from a most westerly 'base' camp.
Have a great time!
If you're going west, staying in Kerrville after San Antonio would give you a chance to see lots of the Hill Country from a good central location. If you're up for it, check the Texas Parks and Wildlife department for campsites in the area. On this site, we've also seen good reviews for Buckhorn RV Park. We love Garner State Park with the beautiful Frio (and it truly is FRIO....mui, mui frio) River. It will be getting hot soon, so a dip in the river might be refreshing! Fredericksburg has a great tourist center and should be a great source for info on hill country destinations.
If you want to explore the Big Bend area, Alpine or Marfa might be places to consider staying. I don't know any specific RV campgrounds, but there is a state park also in that area. You might be able to go up to the Guadelupe Mtns. from there, but it's pretty far.
If you're going north, staying in the Temple/Waco area might be a consideration for exploring some of the things mentioned by other posters.
Sorry again about the misinformation - I was just so enthused to have something offer on the board! I'm new also and usually we post questions - not responses!!
Linda
After a few days at Big Bend, we're off to the Guadalupe Mountains (another cool spot). We'd see the Davis Mountains too, if we had more time. Finally, we'll see Carlsbad Cavern's, NM before visiting the Caverns of Sonora (off I-10) where we'll stay one night on the return leg.
Don't forget to enjoy all the Tex-Mex food in the area. San Antonio has the best. IMHO
Have a good trip,
Chip
We were at the Caverns of Sonora this last December, and the CG there was not very well maintained. The first 2 electric boxes I tried were either wired incorrectly or didn't work at all, and others were having problems also. My advice would be to check the electric box before pulling into a site, with a tester of some kind.
Oh, and enjoy the deer that come into the park in the mornings and evenings.
Have a good trip.
Jim
southwestjudy
I think they place you mean in Carlsbad isLiving Desert State Park. Tucson, AZ has the Sonoran Desert Museum and it is excellent.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Friday 8th of May 2009 09:16:26 AM
Living Desert State Park
Southwestjudy