Credit: Photos by Gerald E. McLeod

• Best Trip Back in Time: Texas is home to one of the largest and most diverse collections of rock art in the New World. The Witte Museum of San Antonio offers guided tours to some of the best prehistoric sites in the Lower Pecos region. www.wittemuseum.org/rock-art-tour-calendar.

• Best Rebound: Blue Bell Creameries in Brenham holds a warm place in the hearts of Texans despite the 100-plus-year-old company’s troubles with the health department. This summer the observation deck overlooking the manufacturing floor reopened to the public for the first time in two years. www.bluebell.com.

• Best New, Old Restaurant: Stagecoach Inn Restaurant in Salado has served hungry travelers since 1861. Recent renovations seemed to take forever, but the restaurant is finally open (rooms open in spring 2018). The menu has been updated, but retains the best chicken-fried steak in the state. www.stagecoachsalado.com.

• Best Addition to Any Grill: The family-run Bolner’s Meat Market has served quality meats to the south side of San Antonio since 1909. Their pinwheel sirloin steak with bacon and jalapeños is mouthwatering. www.bolnersmeatcompany.com.

• Best Way to Brag About Your Travels: An improved postcard app lets anyone download a photo from their vacation, write a personal note, and even make a customized postage stamp. A few days later the recipient finds a laminated postcard suitable for framing in their mailbox. www.billatkinson.com/aboutPhotoCard.html.

• Best Fake News: A group calling itself “Texas Antifa” posted on Facebook that they were going to rid Texas of Sam Houston monuments beginning with the statue at Houston’s Hermann Park because the Texas hero was a slaveholder. Even though media outlets called out the prank, about 1,000 people, many well-armed and waving Confederate flags, showed up to protect the equestrian statue from nonexistent anti-fascist protesters.  

1,371st in a series. Collect them all. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a weekly travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.

This article appears in November 3 • 2017.

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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.