greybeard

I am starting to plan a trip to SW Texas for next spring. We will fly in from UK and drive a loop to include:

San Antonio
Laredo
Big Bend
El Paso
Hill Country
Austin

Are there any must see Easter celebrations at any of the border towns along the Rio Grande? At this stage I can vary the start/finish point and dates sufficiently to be in any of them Easter Sunday or Monday if there is anything really worthwhile to see.

Plus of course any other input to our itinerary would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help, Greybeard

mikemo

Hello Greybeard,
You'll be doing a lot of driving, but petrol is still under $2.00 a US gallon in Texas (actually 87 octane regular is about $1.60 - $1.75), and your GBPs will go lots further than my USDs went last week in London and at Hambleton Inn.
Since you are going to Big Bend, I would recommend a stay at the Gage Hot. in Marathon on the way in. Real West Texas flavor and good food.
There is a really fun restaurant (former movie theater) in the "ghost town" of Terlingua (Starlight Cafe - res required) and lodging is cheap in Lajitas a few miles West when leaving. The place is so dark at night, you will not see your hand in front of your face and there are zillions of stars visible. The drive along the Rio Grande from Lajitas to Presidio is amazing. To the North are Ft Davis and Balmorhea which are worth seeing - both have Texas state park hotels - the one near Ft Davis is VG and inexpensive - Balmorhea has a wonderful spring fed pool and large numbers of 2 species of fish found nowhere else. The hotel here, while cheap, is just OK.
Easter fiestas are a huge deal in my San Miguel de Allende home in central Mexico, but I don't know about the Frontier/Border towns.
You might want to think about El Paso and Laredo. SA, Austin and the Hill Country are great, but so is Ft Worth (Amon Carter and Kimbell Art Museums are world class).
Dallas and Houston are very large with too much traffic (I live part time in Dallas/24 years).
The HC roads, esp 337 from Leaky to Medina with a stop at the Lost Maples State Park are VG. The Cowboy Art Museum outside of Kerrville is worth a visit.
You might want to consider a subscription to "Texas Monthly" which has lots of updated info on most of what is happening in the state.
M

Jayne1973

Great info from mikemo. If you do make it to Fort Davis when you are on the Big Bend leg of your trip, the hotel in the State park is Indian Lodge. We really enjoyed that place. There's also McDonald Observatory, which is interesting.
I'm sure many people will warn you that if you cross into Mexico - don't drink the water (even ice) and it's a good idea not to eat any dairy products. I got really sick on my first anniversary from eating at a highly recommended Texas Monthly restaurant in Juarez.

Jayne1973

Oh, almost forgot...
Also in the Big Bend area, you might be interested in checking out the famous and mysterious Marfa Lights.
http://www.marfalights.com/

While I am posting Web sites, here are ones for the Indian Lodge and McDonald Observatory:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/indian/
http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/mcdonald.html

dcespedes

At Easter time (Good Friday)a passion play is held each year in downtown San Antonio.

http://paulcasanovagarcia.smugmug.com/gallery/96079

mikemo

Thanks Jayne1973 for the name - Indian Lodge and the web site. I had forgotton and can't find my trip tics.
I would not drink the tap water in MX either and I have a state of the art filtration/purification system in my house. The wonderful fresh salsas are my downfall.
M

greybeard

I am constantly amazed by the prompt and helpful replies that posters contribute to this forum; thank you all.

Mikemo, yes that is a lot of driving, but for us one of the great pleasures of road trips in the US is just driving the open road. We live in an enviorment of perpetual traffic grid lock, and gas at my local station is $6.20 a gallon this morning! (but gee we get a real imperial gallon ~ about 10% more than a US gallon)
Anyway I think you are right; a bit more number crunching with the distance tables makes me think that El Paso will have to wait for a New Mexico trip. That will give us an extra day in each of: Big Bend, San Antonio, and Austin.

Thanks again for all your help, I am researching all your leads, Greybeard

mikemo

Greybeard,
Perhaps you have already done the SW, but I would recommend Northern New Mexico, N Arizona, Four Corners, Grand Canyon, Brice, Zion, and the many Indian Reservations and their surrounding historic areas next trip.
M
PS Lots of open roads in W Texas - I once drove my 850i @ 156 (nominal) MPH for hours on the way to Marathon and Big Bend.

greybeard

Mikemo,

I thought we had to watch for smokey in the sky nowadays! I know what you mean though, I once drove the old Route 66 between Seligman and Kingman doing over 100 all the way in a rented Camaro. There's no substitute for that in the UK.

Yes we have been to most of the places you mention. In 2001 we flew into Phoenix and went Flagstaff, Page, Zion, Bryce, Salt Lake, Boise, Salmon, Yellowstone NP,Sheridan, Custer NP, Rocky Mountain NP, and back via Monument Valley.
Took six weeks and covered 6,000 miles, only put the roof up on the car for half an hour; loved every minute of it.

Last year we did a tour round the Eastern states; tied it into a tour of the major Civil War sites and had a ball. But I think my heart is in the West, too much John Wayne as a boy.

Thanks for your input, Greybeard

ChristieP

Honestly, I would skip Laredo. There's not much to see there, besides the very busy land port and all of the large trucks. It is not a very tourist-friendly city at all! It is also quite out of your way and adds driving along LOTS of lonely roads.

If you want to see a border town, go to Del Rio. It is right on the way from San Antonio to Big Bend and it has some neat things to see. The Whitehead Memorial Museum is fun! Along Hwy 90, the Seminole Canyon State Park has some amazing Indian pictographs, and Langtry has Judge Roy Bean's "court house." Del Rio/Cd. Acuna is also not as busy as Laredo, yet you will still be able to go across and see what Mexico is like.

Oh, make SURE you have the proper re-entry permits, or you could spend a LONG time meeting with the Border Patrol at the international bridge...

mikemo

Greybeard,
You have probably travelled in the SW US more than 99% of US residents.
I did a triple digit (MPH) run on the M 25 after the mess near LHR to LGW on 12 July and I had lots of company in the far right (wrong for us) passing lane. Never saw any law/speed enforcement. Most of the controls you mentioned are in the revenue needy areas where they assign folks who should be dealing with real criminals to traffic stops - the good news is that by going to court one can avoid 85% or more of fines and driving "points". The cop fails to show despite "time and 1/2" salary - he/she values time off as much as all.
That said, I would imagine 110 in the UK and 156 in the US would mandate some incarceration, lol!
Have a wonderful trip!
M

tmh

I don't know when Easter is this year or if this event is always the 1st weekend in march.

This past March, we stopped in Alpine after our 1st swing through Big Bend to find a Cowboy Poetry Reading going on. It was great! Besides being free, it was held at the Sul Ross University for 3 days.

Ranchers, ranchers wives, old and young cowboys (dressed so fine) came out and read/told their stories. It wasn't 'poems poems' as such. Many were humerous and some sang their poems.

Check http://www.cowboy-poetry.org/ for more details - there's a calendar at

http://www.cowboypoetry.com/events.htm

LDLee

Fredericksburg, in the Hill Country northwest of San Antonio, has an Easter Fires Festival every year, the Saturday night before Easter, http://www.gillespiefair.com/easterf...asterfires.htm. Kerrville, also in the Hill Country, has an Easter Festival & Chili Classic every Easter weekend.

I would Guess the San Antonio missions would have some sort of service, but I don't know of and can't find anything about it.

mikemo

Once again, and you probably know this - Chisos Mountain Lodge in The Big Bend National Park - very cool Alpine climate even in summer with Bears, Mountain Lions, etc.
www.visitbigbend.com
M
tread gently