Mid-Texas Museum Road Trip

It’s time to get out of the house and start seeing stuff. When I retired, I had always planned on doing some traveling. Getting started is the hard part. I’ve been sitting around waiting for someone to go with me but if I continue to do that, I won’t be going anywhere, ever. I’ve decided to let go and go.

I’ve never really done a real road trip so this is basically my first one. I selected a distant destination and used Google Maps to find all the places to stop along they way. My main destination is the Texas Museum of Broadcast and Communications in Kilgore. About 6 hours away.

I set out this morning. My first stop was a small park along the river in Bastrop, Texas. About 1 hour away. There wasn’t a lot to see there but there were a few pretty views and it’s a good spot to stop and stretch my legs a bit. It was really hot so I only walked around a little, took some pictures, stopped at the park restroom and got back on the road.

I was mostly traveling the Texas back roads which are mostly 1-2 lane highways. It was a Thursday and there’s not much traffic which makes for a leisurely scenic drive through the country. I was glad I fixed my cruise control.

My second stop after another hour drive was the Brazos Valley Natural History museum in Bryan Texas. It was small but had some good stuff like covered wagons, live snakes, turtles, and bees, rocks and dinosaur bones to look at plus it included a temporary railroad exhibit. It was worth $5.00. Just before the museum I stopped at Dairy Queen for a burger.

It was another two hour drive before I got to Palestine, Texas where I visited the Railroad Heritage Center. It seems the theme of this trip is “Railroad” as you shall see. There were other museums but I’m not really interested in fine art or local culture. There are a surprising number of railroad museums and I figure you can’t go wrong with that. It was a nice, small setup in an old building from the 1920s. There’s a massive model railroad along with plenty of train accessories to look at. The guy working there was a wealth of information on the museum. Interesting guy and subject. I had no idea Palestine even existed much less having been a historical major rail hub between Houston and Dallas. I paid the $5.00 donation when I came in and I probably should have left more. My cheap side fights with my moral side and the cheap side usually wins.

Evening was approaching so I picked a cheap motel using Travelocity. The Express Inn and Suites. I got a better deal on the price that Travelocity quoted so… Bonus! I’m not a stickler when it comes to motels. If it’s clean and cheap then I’m happy. I checked out the room, used the restroom and went across the street to a Barbecue joint the motel guy recommended. I was going to get a 2 meat plate but when I saw the price was $19.00, I changed my mind and had a sliced beef sandwich for $9.00 plus $3.00 for some fried okra. There was plenty of meat on the sandwich and the sauce was good. I would have preferred half the meat for half the price. That would have been adequate and easier on the wallet. I wish restaurants would do that.

I went out to try the pool for a while. The pool area was well maintained and I marveled at the large Magnolia and Pine trees. I don’t see many of those in my area. I want to get some Magnolias for my property. They probably take forever to grow. I think I’m the only white guy in this motel. Everyone at the pool and those I’ve seen walking around is black. I wonder what side of town I’m on. LOL.

I was in the pool for 30 minutes or so when I got bored and headed by to my room for a shower. Hey! I found the ice machine and filled my Yeti. I’ll reload tomorrow before I leave.

I was pretty tired from driving so I watched a little TV, read a little of my book and fell asleep while listening to a podcast. I’m glad I brought my earplugs because the air conditioner is loud as they all are. ALWAYS bring earplugs when you travel.

DAY TWO

I woke up way too early after having a somewhat restful night. I would have preferred to sleep at least until 7 but woke up before 6, had to pee really bad, then couldn’t get back to sleep. Might as well get up. I watched some TV and went to the condimental breakfast. A few other people where there. One filled up like 5 to go boxes and took them to his room. If he’s getting all that for his kids then shame for having such lazy kids. On the other hand, better than having them where I’m trying to eat. LOL.

I watched more TV to pass the time because I had to leave around 10am to get to the Texas State Railroad Station for my train ride. I couldn’t find anything else interesting on Google maps in the area so I just waited in the room.

I got to the train station with plenty of time to walk around, look at things and take pictures. I had a ticket for the observation car which is a two-storey glass domed car where you could see all there is to see. I was worried it would be hot since it’s basically a greenhouse but the air conditioning was adequate on an upper 90s cloudless scorcher day. It was about a 1.5 hour ride from the Palestine station to Rusk. There wasn’t really a lot of “scenery” to see other than trees since we were basically riding through the Piney Woods forest.

Since I was traveling alone, I was assigned a booth with three other people. I was apprehensive about having to talk to strangers but they were fun people and made it easy to come out of my shell. It goes to show you that I don’t have to be an invisible introvert, I just need a little help. Having them to talk to made the otherwise rather boring ride fun. I felt like a real person for the first time in a very long time. It won’t last long though. As with all my other “friends,” Absence makes my heart grow colder.

We arrive at the Rusk station where there was a train car on a side track that had been made into a deli-like counter were you could order sandwiches, hot dogs, pulled pork, etc… I had just eaten a huge sliced beef sandwich last night so I just had a turkey sandwich with all the fixin’s, chips and a Dr. Pepper. (Forshadowing) We ate at at picnic table in the shade of some pine trees. There was time to wander around a bit and take some more pictures as the engine turned around and attached itself to the other end of the train. The ride back went by faster somehow. It was fun but I was glad it was over when we pulled into the Palestine station again 4.5 hours later. We bid each other adieu.

I got into the 1000 degree car, cranked the AC and headed for my next stop. Another train museum in Henderson. It was later than I had planned so when I got there, it was closed. Oh well. I continued on to Kilgore. This is where my primary destination is. The Broadcast Museum.

It’s too late for any more museums today so I went to the Motel 6 to get a room. $75. Not bad by today’s prices. The place was well maintained and looked to have been renovated fairly recently. My room was nicer than the last place. I was very satisfied with my find. The AC is somewhat quieter too.

I used the restroom and then headed out for dinner at The Jalapeno Tree mexican restaurant. The food was great and even included a strange new appetizer that I’ve never seen before. It’s basically a puffed tortilla on lettuce smothered in cheese sauce. I wish I had taken a picture of it. I ate more than I should have but not the whole meal. I would have exploded. The meal cost $20 plus a tip. Normally I would never pay that much for a mexican plate but I’m on vacation so we can be more lenient. It goes into my entertainment budget rather than meals.

Back at the motel, the pool gate was locked. It was a little green, which doesn’t bother me but I guess some people care. A shame but I don’t need to swim again. Back to my room with some fresh ice in my yeti cup where I’ll watch Family Guy all evening and try to get a good night’s rest. I miss Alexa.

DAY 3

I was surprised that the motel didn’t have a condemental breakfast so I did without. I had woken up early again so I watched some TV. At 9:30 I packed up, checked out and headed for The World’s Richest Acre. A small patch of land with the most oil dereks packed onto it when oil was discovered there in the early 1900s. It was free and always open. There were still a lot of dereks there. I’m not sure if they are original or not but they look to be in very good condition so that’s questionable. It was interesting but not a lot to see there. There was no oil being pumped anymore.

At 10:00 I made my way to the East Texas Oil Museum. I thought it would be a more technical museum about oil drilling and extraction but it was more of a Historical snapshot of what life was like during the Texas oil boom. In the back section was a really impressive recreation of an oil town street scene with cars stuck in a muddy street surrounded by shops you can walk through. It really felt like I was back in the time period. The stuck in the mud Model T with the engine running and the car shaking was very realistic and cool. I also road the Elevator to the Center of the Earth which was a bit hokey but was well done and felt like you were actually moving down. A neat experience.

After that, I headed over to my main destination of the trip. The piece of resistance. The Texas Broadcast Museum. It was amazing! A quite large building packed with historical equipment from the history of radio and tv broadcasting. There were early TV station video cameras, a whole set from a local news station, TVs, Radios, Mixing boards, phonographs, tape and wire recorders, you name it! There were even two mobile broadcast trucks. One from ESPN’s early days and one from a local news station in the 1950s. I was the only one there at the time so I got a personalized tour from a guy who worked in a local news station many years before he retired. I enjoyed every minute and square inch of the place. If this had been my only stop, it would have been worth the 12 hour round-trip drive.

After leaving there, I drove 2 hours to Tyler Texas where I had a quick lunch at Schlotzkeys and then to the Historic Aviation Memorial Museum at the airport. There’s a great inside display of uniforms, pictures and aviation history artifacts. For the outside displays, I needed an escort out on the tarmac so I got another personalized tour of a bunch of planes and helicopters baking out in the Texas sun. The guy was a former army pilot and engineer so he gave me an amazing tour and description of each plane. Another very enjoyable stop.

It was getting late now so I had to decide whether I get another motel room for the night or continue. I was lucky that the last two stops were open later than usual so I made my way another two hours down the road to Waco.

My first stop there was the Magnolia Towers. Well known on TV for Chip and Joanna Gains’ remodeling shows. It was mainly a bakery, gift shop and hang-out area with closed food trucks. Lots of people here. None of that worked for me but I mainly just wanted to go there and get a picture of two. It was a short stop, which was good because the Dr. Pepper museum closes in a few hours. Fortunately it was only a few blocks away.

This place was pretty crowded. There’s not a whole lot to see in the museum. Mostly old bottles and cans. There is some old equipment on display and a lot of pictures and words. If you like to read the history then it’s great. I couldn’t get my mind to concentrate well so I just looked at the stuff and made my way to stand in line at the drink counter where you get $1 off a soda or float. I imagined that would be a good deal but a small soda costs $4.00 and a float costs $8.00. Holey Guacamole! It’s sugar-water, for god’s sake.

I bit the bullet and went for the experience so I stood in the long line to order a float. You at least get one of those nice, restaurant-style red soda cups. That was good because there was only one scoop of ice cream and a tiny bit of Dr. Pepper in it. The rest was foam. Major rip-off. I sat, disappointed, at one of the tables and enjoyed my little float in a big glass.

It was about 7:00 pm and I checked my GPS for distance home. It was only 2.5 hours to get home so I decided to just go for it. It was after rush hour so there was only a short slowdown in Austin so I got home around 10:00. I only unpacked the necessities, took a shower and enjoyed how nice it was to sleep in my own bed.

Great trip! I need to do this more often rather than just lying naked on the couch watching TV. It’s important to get out of the house and see what there is to see while you still can and while it still exists. The world feels a little smaller to me now and I feel more confident about getting out and traveling. Maybe I’ll do my Colorado sight-seeing trip in a few months. Or maybe my Smithsonian trip during the hot summer. It feels good.