Fellow Texans-- Your Suggestions, Please
 

Sometimes it's harder to plan trips in your own state, so here's the deal.
We are leaving from Austin October 11 and will have lunch with friend in Marble Falls. We need to be in Houston by late afternoon October 13 and are looking for ideas of where to spend those nights.
One option is to head from Marble Falls to LBJ Ranch, which we have never seen. The simplest plan would be to spend that night in San Antonio, but we have been so many times that it doesn't' seem all that interesting for this trip.
We have been to many of the towns between San Antonio and Houston, but can't say we have really explored any of them too much. (However, we have done enough of Gruene!) We are trying to come up with a non-Interstate route that would include some small towns with interesting sites or attractions. Not much into museums or wineries, but won't out rule them if they are unusually good. We don't even have to go to LBJ Ranch/San Antonio, and are willing to head out from Marble Falls instead.
Our interests include historic places, quirky sites, natural beauty, short hikes, live music and good non-chain restaurants. Not huge shoppers but we do enjoy stores that carry unusual things. We enjoy festivals but probably won't see in mid-week.
Anyone have suggestions?

Well, it seems posting last night stirred up some creative juices, so we am now thinking of heading to Brenham from Marble Falls. Explore Brenham a little the next day, and then head to Galveston, which we could enjoy that night and the following day before heading to Houston.

Any special suggestions on that route would be appreciated.

Thanks as always!

I know your trip is over but for the benefit of others I wanted to mention some sites that I love in the San Antonio/Austin area - Natural Bridge Caverns and Bracken Cave. Braken cave has the largest bat colony in the world and it's an amazing sight to watch 20 million bats emerge bat-nado like from the cave. The bat storm continues for 4-5 hours until all are on the way gobbling up insects. Reservations are required through the Bat Conservatory organization and this is a seasonal activity.

Thanks for the info on Bracken Cave, nubbyrose. I have heard of it but never been, so it's definitely something to add to the list of Texas possibilities. I assume it is less crowded that Natural Bridge...?

How about the missions south of San Antonio?

https://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm

Great point, Michael. Have you done the missions?

Yes, in 1980: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7623718580201/ and the next half dozen pictures.

Great photos, Michael. I was taken to some of the missions when I too young to appreciate them. I need to visit again now that history and architecture are actually interesting.

Thanks!