Neat places in Texas?

Taylortractornut · Apr 23, 2004

I dont know if its on your route but I think one of the neatest spots to visit is Wylie . Home of the WroughtnHarv. lol Im in the same boat Im looking for a place to visit this summer on the July 4th break I may go towards Texas or I may go to where I was born in SC

wroughtn_harv · Apr 24, 2004

( I dont know if its on your route but I think one of the neatest spots to visit is Wylie .)

Yup. And we have a couple of suburbs of some reputation. There's Dallas, Plano, Highland Park................ /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If you're coming to Texas then I suggest two things. One, stay off the interstates. Travel the farm to market roads. Two, and more importantly, open up, be yourself, pretend you're family.

"It's a whole other country" isn't just a tourist burea spin byte. It is an attitude, a way of life.

Jefferson is a fantastic town. Pittsburg is famous for it's sausages, the one topic besides the Dallas Cowboys that will get Texans arguing instead of discussing. Mt Pleasant is the home of Pilgrim's Pride Chicken and Preifert livestock equipment. When you see acres and acres of livestock panels ready to ship out consider old man Priefert originally had kids from the shop class helping him out because he couldn't weld or so I was told. Bo Pilgrim of the chicken fame once went to Austin and gave out checks plain as day to the legislators to get his ideas heard. Started quite a flack as you'd guess. Dangerfield Park is a wonderful place to stop and visit if you're RV'in.

On I30 east of Sulphur Springs you'll see this big old place, iron fence, brick columns, humungous house, lots of foofoo. JB Weld built it, the money from JB Weld. Another one of the homes along I30 before you get to Sulphur Springs from Dallas belongs to the parents of Dallas Cowboy and Monday Night Football's Dandy Don.

But here is just like there. Try to be first in flashing the grin and watch what happens.

Do have breakfasts in the little towns at the restaurant on the square. See if they have a wisdom table. Wylie has one. I got in the trouble the other day by saying I'd learned all I know there. It was explained to me that I'd better get back down there quick for I had a long way to go.

The wisdom table is where the know it alls sit, sip coffee, and barely tip the waitress. After all the once worked for a quarter a day, in the sun, back breaking labor. Surely a waitress doesn't deserve more than that for putting up with them for a couple of hours. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If you do come to the Dallas area be sure and visit next door to Southfork. That's where the most beautiful gate I know of resides. It's called "breakout". Vulcan Forge out of Ft Worth area made it.

Speaking of Southfork, two stories. The original owner of the ranch and me have an ego problem. We haven't found a room, highway, or even pasture large enough for both of our egos to be comfortable at the same time. So when we get together there's that little magic in the air that makes most folks a little nervous. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

If you leave I30 and go east on HWY205 you will find the road ends in Lavon at HWY 78. If you turn left you're less than a mile from the rock shop I refer to in my posts. But there on your inside corner is a bar b que. When it was being built the manager had been told to call me to build his cooker. I went over and we hit it off like a couple of nut cases do.

I looked over his shoulder and there was my bud big ego Joe walking up. Manager I quess saw the glint in my eye. He turned around and introduced me to his dad.

I didn't get the job. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Last October while passing through northern Arizona we met a couple building this beautiful pipe fence outside of Prescott. It turns out they were building miles of the stuff for the guy who not only owns a substantial part of rural Arizona, but Southfork, The Ranch.

Small world.

Poppa · Apr 24, 2004

I've been to Texas Twice, both times visiting a friend down in the San Antonio area. The first time we did the San Antonio River walk. Nice, touristy. The second time, he took me on two road trips. One was norhtwest, hillcountry and I fell in love with the area. The second trip was east. Got a haircut in some broken down old building. Five dollars and it was the fastest and best haircut I've ever had. Apparently the guy has been there forever and actually undercuts the local AFB and does a better job. Then we drove to Shiner Texas. An incredibly beautiful town containing a Texas landmark, the Shiner Brewery. Three memories of Shiner. HOT, Nicest people working in the brewery, let me sit there and chew their ear long after the official tour was over. And HOT. Never felt heat like that, even in Phoenix in August. It was alive and it sat on me like the proverbial eight hundred pound gorilla. But, I still try to talk my wife into moving to Texas every chance I get. She refuses but hey, I've darn near talked her into Tractor, if I can do that, Texas should be no problem

Mike

Chechnya · Apr 24, 2004

Definatly go to the Gulf(Galveston, Kemah). A few years ago the Imperial Sugar Factory in Sugar Land, Tx used to give tours but OSHA made them stop except in the packing department. Very awesome. I think they still give tours. I can get you the number if you are interested. Its neat to see all of the machines and how things work. I live not 5 miles away from the factory and drive by it everyday.

Bird · Apr 24, 2004

Mike, you've visited some of my favorite parts of Texas; San Antonio and the hill country northwest of there. Of course, I also like the coast, especially around Port Aransas. And you're right about the heat in the summer. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Junkman · Apr 24, 2004

No one mentioned it so far, but when I was in Texas a bunch of years ago, my friends took me to a place called the "Ima Hogg" museum. Now once you have been there, you will know who Ima, “First Lady of Texas”, was and how she was named! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif It is in Quitman, just outside of Houston.

Kyle_in_Tex · Apr 24, 2004

( I'm confused. Did they move Houston to north Texas? )

Not yet, but I consider Houston to be in southeast TX due to the fact its only 90 minutes to Beaumont. Plus, I think they import gigantic mosquitos directly from Louisiana.

The hill country (about an hours drive northwest of San Antonio) is my favorite scenery. Drive on 337 between Leakey and Vanderpool. There are 4 rivers that their headwaters start in this general area.

It all just depends on what you want to see. Austin has beautiful lakes and the Bob Bullock state museum.

http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/

jinman · Apr 24, 2004

If you come to Texas in the next month or so, you'll still see lots of wildflowers along almost any roadway. The bluebonnets are fading fast, but the indian paintbrush, indian blanket, evening primrose, and every variety of yellow flower known to mankind will be blooming along the roads in May.

Now you really surprised me when you mentioned Archer City. I had an uncle who worked in the oil fields and lived in a little town so small you didn't know you were in it unless someone told you. He used to go to Archer City or Electra to shop and hang out at the coffee shop and tell lies. Anyhow, when you take two steps past the end of the earth, you'll be smack in the middle of Archer City. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ...no it's really not that bad, but it is a little town south of Wichita Falls. Wichita Falls is a town of 30,000 with a University (Midwestern State) and an Air Force Base (Shepard AFB) and where there is a bicycle race every summer called the "Hotter'n Hell 100."

You'll see plenty of arid land with few if any trees. What trees there are are mesquite and they don't provide much shade (not that you'd want to get that close after you see the 2" thorns). This is the area where Texas transitions from green to brown. East of Dallas and Fort Worth is lush and green, while 100 miles to the west, it's brown and dry.

If you are in this Northwest sector, you'll see plenty of cattle grazing and maybe a few wild critters like deer and turkey along the roadways, especially back roads. It's not advisable to change a tire this time of year on the side of the road in West Texas at night, because you just might meet a wiggly rattlin' kind of Texan. The rattlers crawl up on the shoulders of the road for the warmth during cool springtime and fall evenings.

Most of the N. Central and East Texas highlights have already been covered. I just thought I'd throw in some flavor of the near-West Texas area. If you drive through Decatur, you can't miss the Wise County Heritage Museum on top of a hill and visible from everywhere. Also the downtown area has many antique shops and a beautiful old courthouse as do many small country towns in Texas.

You will surely want to stop by one of the state information bureaus normally located nearby to the state line between Texas and Oklahoma. You'll find them staffed with very friendly people who will make you believe it will make their day if they can help you. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Truth is, it probably would make their day. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Junkman · Apr 24, 2004

( I'm confused. Did they move Houston to north Texas? )

You certainly must be because the title of the thread is "Neat places in Texas?" .... that is unless you consider North Texas its own state!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Tdog · Apr 24, 2004

Just wondering Libertine, how did you zero in on Kilgore? 30-40 years ago it was something to see - - - all the oil dericks in downtown. It was a town of about 10k & had 1000 producing wells in the city limits. Not much left to see now. They left a few of the dericks, side by side downtown, for you to get the idea of what is was like. I remember when I was a kid, watching passenger trains come in & people craining their necks to see all the steel towers.
I grew up there, but prefer central Texas to east Texas.

Have fun.