Texas had a big year punctuated by devastating floods and crowned with new parks. Here are 10 highlights from all over the state. 1,785th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/day-trips.
Gerald E. McLeod
Gerald E. McLeod joined the Chronicle staff in November 1980 as a graphic designer. In April 1991 he began writing the “Day Trips” column. Besides the weekly travel column, he contributed “101 Swimming Holes,” “Guide to Central Texas Barbecue,” and “Guide to the Texas Hill Country.” His first 200 columns have been published in Day Trips Vol. I and Day Trips Vol. II.
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Day Trips: Gifts From All Over Texas
Holiday gift giving means it’s time for a road trip. Maceo’s Spice & Import Company (maceospice.com) in Galveston is the perfect destination for the chefs and eaters on your list. Not only is the island city decorated for the holidays, but the 81-year-old specialty shop has an expansive selection of spices and hard-to-find imported foods. […]
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Day Trips & Beyond: December Events Roundup
Langtry legions. The real Judge Roy Bean, not the ones from film and screen, was a colorful character of the Old West without need for embellishment. He proclaimed he was “the law west of the Pecos” on dusty hill in Langtry not far from the Rio Grande at the gateway to West Texas. National fame […]
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Day Trips: Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro, Ark.
Crater of Diamonds State Park has turned into a gold mine for Arkansas State Parks. Treasure seekers from around the world pay $15 to hunt for rocks smaller than a pencil eraser in the only diamond mine open to the public. The miners are enticed by stories like what happened to W. W. Johnson of […]
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Day Trips: Martinez Pottery, Marshall
Martinez Pottery continues a tradition of manufacturing pottery in East Texas that stretches back to the Caddo people. The family-owned business 5 miles north of Marshall specializes in farmhouse chic crockery with a simple blue band or hand-painted designs. The company is operated by Vickie and Marcos Martinez, who have more than two decades of […]
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Day Trips: Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, Washington
Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site has some new residents. For years a re-created Independence Hall was the only building signifying where the village once stood between Brenham and Navasota. Visitors had to imagine from signage and old foundations what the town might have looked like in 1836 when it was the site of the signing of […]
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Day Trips: Horseshoe Bay Lighthouse, Horseshoe Bay
Horseshoe Bay Lighthouse stands at the end of a peninsula stretching into the eastern end of Lake LBJ outside of Marble Falls. The square rock tower looks like a misshapen rocket more than a classic lighthouse. It’s considered a “faux” lighthouse because it never had an official navigation function, although the red light on top […]
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Day Trips: Village of Rockne, Bastrop County
The Village of Rockne, an unincorporated community in the southwest corner of Bastrop County, is credited with being the only town in the country named after the legendary college football coach Knute Rockne. Born in Norway and raised in Chicago, Rockne became a national celebrity in his 13 seasons at the University of Notre Dame […]
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Day Trips & Beyond: November Events Roundup
In hot water. Festive-colored walls surround a small garden and common area with a pathway leading down to the pools overlooking the Rio Grande at Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences. Relaxation is the key activity at the small resort in the southwest New Mexican desert, and everything from the atmosphere to the music […]
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Day Trips: The Faust Hotel, New Braunfels
The Faust Hotel has been called one of Texas’ most haunted hotels. At nearly a century old, New Braunfels’ hotel certainly has its share of ghost stories. While most guests to the hotel, including this author, have spent restful nights at the hotel, some have not. Guests have reported hearing furniture scraping across the floor […]
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Day Trips: Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Fredericksburg
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area outside of Fredericksburg nearly tripled in size with the purchase in January 2025 of 3,073 acres on the northern edge of the park. The section is in addition to a 630-acre tract adjacent to the south side of the natural area purchased in September 2024. The latest addition is a […]
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Day Trips: “Texas Legacy in Lights,” Gonzales
“Texas Legacy in Lights” captures the story of the opening salvos of the Texas Revolution in a 31-minute film projected on the facade of the Gonzales Memorial Museum. On Oct. 2, 1835, a group of Gonzales residents faced off against Mexican soldiers west of town. The soldiers had come to retrieve a small cannon loaned […]