Author: John L
I love the outdoors, Texas food, and some Texas wines. This is my story about combining the three into an adventure to see all the state parks of Texas, eat a lot of Texas food, and find as many good Texas wines as I can.
Visit to Barrington Farm
Barrington Farm is a living history farm similar to the the Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm at LBJ State Park.
If you haven’t been to one of these living history farms I highly recommend a visit. It is educational and entertaining. Ask lots of questions.
The farm still uses the smokehouse. They slaughter a hog in January and smoke meat for the rest of the year.
The farm has a beautiful Polish Crested Red that guards the hens.
There are also two slave houses that are present at the farm.
There is not quite as much to check out at the Barrington Farm as the Sauer Beckmann Farm, but I still recommend the stop.
Barrington Farm
After our visit to Washington on the Brazos we went right down the road to The Barrington Living History Farm. I’ll have a longer post with pictures coming up. Part of the video below discusses the farm.
Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway
On our way home from Houston (Battleship Texas and San Jacinto Monument) we stopped by Lake Somerville State Park.
The park has an office on both sides of the lake. The reason for this is that the lake is very long. It does take some time to drive from one office to the other so if you plan on visiting both offices (path tags at both) make sure you allow for about 45 minutes to get from one to the other. The other key piece of info is that the Birch Creek Unit Office closes at 4:45 pm. We arrived at 4:55 and were unable to get our path tag.
The park and lake are very beautiful. Some trails do need some maintenance. It doesn’t look like they cut some of them back much. Make sure to wear jeans/boots on the more hairy trails as there are some poisonous snakes out and about especially around the shore.
This was one of the trails that looked safer.
It turned out to be the one we saw a rather large water moccasin cross right in front of us.
Again, the lake was beautiful and there were lots of people out enjoying the water.
Plan to spend a weekend at this park to enjoy the lake. Be sure to check the TPWD site for good directions and updates on the water level.
Battleship Texas
Next to the San Jacinto Battleground in Houston is Battleship Texas. If you like history, ships, militaria, or all of the above you’ll easily spend a few hours checking out this jewel of the Admiral Nimitz Fleet.
Your parks pass gets you aboard for free. This is a great deal considering it’s normally $12 for an adult and $6 for the kids.
You can take a seat on the guns and get a feel for what it was like to aim these beasts.
If you’re a photography nut, you’ll need to bring extra memory cards. One of my favorite shots was of the San Jacinto Monument from the bow of the ship.
Battleship Texas State Historic Site
San Jacinto Battleground and Monument
Back in June we headed to Houston to see an Astros game and check out a couple of Houston area parks. Truly one of the highlights was the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site and Monument. This should be on every Texan’s bucket list. (summary of battle)
The elevator ride to the top is $4 and is probably a “do it once just to say you did it” kind of thing. The views are nice though.
Guadalupe River State Park Drought Conditions
August 13, 2013 – All water in the park is currently off Monday through Thursday. Restrooms, showers and all potable water sources are currently closed during this time due to the drought related water shortage. Weekday camping is only available in the Turkey Sink, water and electric, campground and portable toilets are available to park visitors.
Full water service will be available for weekend Camping (Friday through Sunday) in the Turkey Sink, water and electric , campground and Cedar Sage, water only, campground. Wagon Ford campground will remain closed and the day use area restroom will remain out of service, however portable toilets area available to park visitors in the day use area. Call the park for the most up to date information.
Might be a good time to visit the park to see it in the summer without tubers and campers. (silver lining right?)
A Friend Hikes the John Muir Trail
A college friend of mine is hiking the John Muir Trail for his birthday. It should make for a great blog to follow as he posts about his adventure. He’s also an amazing photographer and should provide some unbelievable photos. Good luck to him and his sister. I look forward to hearing about their hike.
Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ Joints in the World*
Along with visiting all the parks and historic sites my friends and I are hitting the top BBQ restaurants along the way. The best guide is the Texas Monthly BBQ Top 50 List.
Here’s a Google map of the top 50 along with some honorable mentions.
Exploring Texas State Parks 