Since I've already brought it up, let's just start with Nacogdoches. In case you didn't know, Nacogdoches is the oldest town in Texas. It has a pretty cool history. There is evidence that there were settlements on the site 10,000 years ago. It remained a Caddo Indian settlement until the early 19th century. In 1716 the Spanish established a mission there. Once they decided that the French were no longer a threat they closed the mission and told all of the settlers to go to San Antonio. So in 1772 they left. But many of them didn't want to leave. So a Spanish tradesman Colonel Gil Y'Barbo, led a group of them back to Nacogdoches. Later that summer Spain designated it as a pueblo or town thereby making it the first town in Texas.
Although you wouldn't know it by the amount of action it gets on Trip Advisor there are actually a number of interesting places to visit in Nacogdoches. Spending a day there you can visit the Old Stone Fort and the Sterne-Hoya House Museum and Library among other historic venues. One of my favorite things to do in Nacogdoches is to visit the SFA Mast Arboretum which contains azaleas from around the world along with a wealth of other beautiful blooming plants.
A trip I have long wanted to take within Texas is steeped with Texas history and fun. I would start out at the San Jacinto battleground between Houston and Galveston for a little bit of Texas history. From there I would drive on to Galveston to spend my first night. While I understand that if you are a beach aficionado you might be somewhat disappointed with the Galveston beaches, it serves the purpose. It is a beach that you can drive to so let's all just stop the whining about Galveston. In Galveston there are a huge selection of hotels in all price ranges as well as many things to see and do. The Strand is a great area. You can also visit some of the old historic homes located in Galveston or just have some beach time. My favorite restaurant in Galveston has always been Gaido's. Give it a try for some really good classic seafood.
When you are ready to leave Galveston, off of 61st St, take FM 3005 about 15 miles to San Luis Pass Rd. Then from there you will take Country Rd. 257 on down to Surfside another 15 miles or so. I have always liked that drive. With no stops it is only about a 45 minute drive. But I suggest you stop at the Pass for photos. Once you are in Surfside, take Hwy 36 to Brazoria and on to Rosenburg. Then at Rosenburg, take Hwy 90 through Hallettsville, Shiner and Gonzales to San Antonio for a little bit of Texas history. Now, quite frankly, I think you need about 3 days for this portion of the trip. Because there is just too much to see and do and too much beer to drink to do it all in one day.
In Hallettsville, you will want to see the court house. They have a number of festivals throughout the year so you should check to see if anything is going on when you are planning to be there. From Hallettsville, drive on to Shiner. If you are a beer drinker, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that you will need to spend a night here. Shiner is home to the Shiner Brewery. The tour is fairly short, but you really don't want to miss it. It is a very small brewery in a town of less than 3,000 people where everyone is friends. The last time I went on the tour it was conducted by a local man who was semi retired and a life long resident of Shiner. He came to the brewery for tours so often (for the free beer tokens) that they finally just put him to work conducting tours. Year round there are only two tours a day, weekdays only. During the summer, two additional tours are added. But again, the brewery is only open on weekdays.
Shiner is also a good home base if you are interested in taking the self conducted Painted Churches tour. I will caution you that this tour takes a full day if you want to visit all of the churches. If you want to shorten the tour you can just pick a few of the closest ones. But it is worth a full day to see these beautiful churches. Go to the Painted Churches website for a map. To wind down after a long day, visit Antiques, Art and Beer for a tall glass of Shiner in Shiner. Then head to The Shiner Country Inn for a good nights sleep. It only has 8 rooms and it isn't much to look at, but I have stayed there multiple times and you really can't beat it.
Leaving Shiner you will need to head to Gonzales one of the most important places in Texas history. It was at one time the capital of Texas and is the home of the "Come and Take It" cannon. In 1831 Mexico gave the settlers in the area a cannon to use for protection against Indian attacks. In 1835 a contingent of Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to take the cannon back due to an outbreak of "settler hostilities". The Texians under the command of John H. Moore confronted them with a flag they had made that said "Come and take it" and successfully resisted the federal troops in what became knows as the Battle of Gonzales and was the first battle of the Texas Revolution.
Upon leaving Gonzales you can either go to San Antonio or Austin or even both to complete your Texas history trip. You all know to visit the Alamo in San Antonio and the Capital in Austin, so I won't spend time today telling you all about that. But there are many great places to see and visit in both cities. Perhaps on another day we can dig into them.
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