In early December we will drive from Layaffete LA to Big Thicket National Preserve in eastern Texas and we are looking for a place to say (other than Houston) for one night. The next day we will drive to Fort Worth. Any suggestion?

HTtY

Rough question - lots of armpits out there (Beaumont, Orange, Pt Arthur). The Woodlands is a nice bedroom community.

If you are going to Big Thicket National Preserve, you may not want to backtrack to Beaumont, et al unless you don't want to drive very far at the end of the day.

If you don't want to backtrack, you could head up to Lufkin (90 minutes) or over to Huntsville (2 hours). Both will have plenty of chain motels along the highway.

Thanks for the suggestions. Is there any place between Big Thicket and DFW that is scenic, even if it isn't on the most direct route?

HTtY

You may want to check out Chain-O-Lake resort in Romayer, TX near Cleveland, Tx off Hwy 59N). There are fully furnished adorable log cabins situated around lakes and they have a wonderful restaurant on site, Hilltop Herb Farm restaurant. Another idea for your consideration is Orange Tx for a beautiful botanical garden (Shangrila), interesting art museum with free admission, and historic homes. Huntsville is on your route to FW area and you can enjoy museums focusing on Sam Houston and also one on the Prisons. You can check all these out on their websites to get a better idea. Good luck.

Friend of my parent's daughter owns a boutique hotel in Nacogdoches. I don't know anything about the hotel, but the parents are super nice.

http://www.hotelfredonia.com

That's sort of kind of on the way to Dallas. At least its north of the Big Thicket.