There is much to see and do in Texas during the holiday season. Each year, I try to highlight a new way to enjoy the holidays, with an eye to gas prices and other costs. So, jump in your RV or car and get ready to see the beauty of Texas during the Christmas Season.
The Texas Hill Country Regional Christmas Lighting Trail
Every year, the citizens of towns and villages in the Texas Hill Country spring into action. These elves spends days, if not weeks, preparing festivities for visitors. From the map, it may look like you could drive the trail in one day. Please do not try it. The roads are not divided highways and many run through the center of towns. Below is a map of the trail with possible day trips delineated by green boxes.
2012 Texas Hill Country Regional Christmas Lighting Trail Participants
The last time I went to a drive-in, it had old school speakers that hung on your open window. If you were raised before the 1970s, drive-ins might have been a big part of your dating scene. Did you cruise the strip, looking for friends and admirers? Did everyone pile in the car to go to the drive-in?
Life was pretty good. Gas was a quarter a gallon and driving and cars were stops on the path to becoming “grown up.” Drive-ins were social places, where gossip, love and heartbreak were just as real as the movie of the day.
The thrill is back. Visit Blue Starlite Drive-in in Austin. Get all the information you need on the website at: bluestarlitedrivein.com. I would suggest the $45 package for 4 people. You get parking, popcorn, cokes, candy–served by an honest to God carhop.
Purchase your tickets in advance at the Parks & Recreation Office, 4141 Bailey Road. The office is open Monday through Friday from 730 am-530 pm through January 26, when pre-sales ticket sales end.
Discounted Tickets (buy before event):
$8 Child (ages 3-16)
$2 Adult (ages 17+)
Regular Admission (day of event):
$10 Child (ages 3-16) or $8.00 with a canned good
$4 Adult (ages 17+) or $2.00 with a canned good
Parking available at Pearland High School, 3775 South Main Street, Pearland, Texas.
Advanced RV Resort is Tom Bass Regional Park that offers a public golf course, fishing ponds, model airplane field, nature walking trails and gated entrance.
Almost Heaven RV Resort can accommodate any size RV in our 132 full hook-up sites. Amenities include free WIFI, and an extensive selection of movies and books.
I am writing about ways families may celebrate Christmas in a less commercial way. The State Parks and State Historic Sites are made to order for authentic experiences.
Photo Courtesy of Louis Vest, Ship Pilot Houston, Texas
First Stop : Battleship Texas State Historic Site
Yuletide TEXAS “A Sailors Christmas”
Battleship TEXAS State Historic Site
3523 Highway 134
LaPorte TX 77571
281/479-2431
Thursday, December 1, 2011 to Saturday, December 31, 2011
10 am to 5 pm
Price is $10, children under 12 free with adult.
Yuletide activities include sending message to the North Pole, taking picture with Santa, creating Battleship ornament, enjoying performances by area bands and choirs, and filling up on hot chocolate, wassail and cookies. You also exercise by exploring the ship. From the huge guns on deck to the crew quarters to the engine room. Who could resist?
Map from Latin American Studies.org
San Jacinto Battleground
You may also explore the entire San Jacinto Battleground site (map in PDF), where Texans captured Santa Anna after the Alamo. There are nature trails and the San Jacinto Monument, picnic areas, wetlands and a reflecting pool. You will see 20 boulders on the battlefield that were laid by the San Jacinto Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas. These boulders give visitors a sense of place in the final battle fought for Texas Independence on April 21, 1836. Follow the boulders and the action of the battle.
Reflections of San Jacinto Monument
San Jacinto Monument
Take a trip up the San Jacinto Monument in an elevator to the Observation Decek ($4 adults, $3 children). Bring your camera for pictures of Houston, the Ship Channel, Battleship Houston and the San Jacinto Battleground . If heights do not make you or your family happy, spend $4.50 per adult and $3.50 to see the 35-minute documentary, Texas Forever!! The Battle of San Jacinto, presented on the hour beginning at 10 am, in the Jesse H. Jones Theatre for Texas Studies, also located in the monument.
Note: Have you have heard that everything in Texas is bigger? It is true. The San Jacinto Monument, honoring all those who fought for Texas’s independence, stands 15 feet taller than the Washington monument. In addition, the Texas Capitol also rises approximately 15 feet higher than the National Capitol in Washington.
