Texas travel

Sandpiper RV Resort on Stewart Beach at Galveston Texas

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You can’t miss the Sandpiper RV Resort after you get off the free ferry and drive towards Seawall Blvd. Sher and I saw the large sign for the park as we headed towards a local CVS store.

When I stopped later at the office, a very nice fellow told me that yes, they did have a back in space available. At $40 (using a 10% senior discount) we decided to stay, considering that I was told that the park WiFi had been upgraded last summer and was very strong.

Paved roads, level concrete pads.

This is a nice park. The sites are all on concrete with paved roads. It has full hook-ups including cable TV and the so-called upgraded WiFi. Yes, that is our only complaint about this park. When we were able to connect to one of the several routers, the load speeds were very slow, and connections kept cutting out. This was very disappointing as the office had said the WiFi was strong.

If you don’t care about having good WiFi then staying at Sandpiper RV Resort is a decent choice.

On the road to Galveston, Texas via the Bolivar Peninsula

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Today we headed to Galveston Island from the town of Winnie, home to the large flea market known as Larry’s Trading Days. The direct route took us down to the Bolivar Peninsula, a very narrow spit of land with the Gulf on one side. Most of the way the road ran right next to the Gulf shore.

We stopped at the sign for a historical marker and ended up at a fascinating park that was once an artillery battery that was built in 1925. Fort Travis had several gun emplacements and several magazines.

There’s our RV on the ferry

View of Galveston from the ferry

We then went on down to the free ferry that runs daily from the south end of Bolivar across the water to Galveston Island. We had a little delay for the ferry, as we did not make the cut for the first ferry that came to the dock and had to wait for the second ferry boat. The ferry ride was really pretty cool as we saw lots of large ocean going cargo ships.

This is a Pilot boat that leads the huge cargo ships in and out of the harbor

Sher and I are planning on seeing the sights here in Galveston for at least a day or two. We’ll let you know what we see, and we’ll give you all another campground review as well.

Rio RV Park has recovered from Hurricane Harvey

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When looking for an RV park east of Houston that accepted Passport America Rio RV Park on Turtle Bayou made my short list. We ended up stopping here after our drive from Austin. I did call ahead to make sure there was space available. The Passport America rate was $22.00/night.

The park is right off of I-10 near Wallis. A very nice husband and wife couple are managers. We were escorted to our site, and given a choice. We opted for a newly placed concrete pad, a back-in site.

New, level concrete pad with full hook ups

The hurricane had flooded the lower level of the park. Our hostess said that four (4) units were swept away and the water level was neck high! Our site was part of the reconstruction.

Looking up to the upper level, laundry restroom building on the left

This is a very nice park that is gated at night. Local over the air TV is more than adequate, and free WiFi is available anywhere in the park. The WiFi service is pretty good, however it did slow considerably in the evening. There is a nice restroom and laundry building. We recommend the Rio RV Park. Here is their website.

This First Watch restaurant in Austin gets a big thumbs up

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There are First Watch restaurants all over the country. Tagged as “The Daytime Cafe” these upscale eateries are open for breakfast and brunch only, with the Northcross location in Austin open from 7:00 am until 2:30 pm daily.

CHILLED PEAR CIDER
Red Anjou pear, Fuji apple, organic
ginger, lemon and cinnamon

The service was excellent. We hit the door at a great time, about 9:30 am, and were immediately seated. The coffee was strong and hot. Sher enjoyed a local menu specialty drink: the chilled pear cider was made with Red Anjou pear, Fuji apple, organic ginger, lemon and cinnamon.

CINNAMON ROLL WAFFLE topped with cinnamon syrup, cream cheese frosting, toasted
pecans and cinnamon powdered sugar

The food was served in good time, and was hot when delivered. The pancakes I had were huge, and the eggs cooked to perfection with the fried potatoes. Our son had a Chimichanga with fried potatoes and fruit. Sher had the Cinnamon Roll Waffle, complete with cinnamon syrup, cream cheese frosting and more.

MULTI-GRAIN PANCAKES that were huge, topped with a couple of fried eggs and a side of seasoned potatoes

We highly recommend the Austin Northcross location of First Watch. The staff is great, the ambiance is inviting and the food is excellent! Visit the First Watch local website here for directions and other information.

We discovered why the Hula Hut restaurant is a local favorite

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On our way back from San Antonio to Austin we stopped to see the view of Lake Austin and to get a bite to eat. We decided that we’d try a place called the Hula Hut. Because it was so cold, none of the outside eating areas or two of the three bars were open. The five of us gladly took a table inside!

Part of the main dining area

The ambiance was unique with its island themed decorations, including palm trees scattered throughout. The Christmas lights were still up, adding to the festive feel.

The entrance

Large portions

The wide selection of the menu was intriguing, with American, Mexican and even “island” fare offered. The service was excellent and our food was served quickly. Flour tortillas are made on the spot. All of our orders were served hot and fresh.

In the vernacular of restaurant reviews, I’d call the Hula Hut $$ to $$$ on the price scale. I’ll give it a solid 4.5 on the one to five thing. Bottom line is that we recommend the Hula Hut on Lake Austin.

A real Mexican supper in a real Mexican restaurant

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Tonight we went with our family to a real Mexican restaurant here in Austin. Keep in mind that we do not have many genuine Mexican restaurants in central Indiana. Of course there are the Taco Bells that don’t even count. There are sit down Mexican eateries, but they all seem to have the same limited menus and most all items taste alike from restaurant to restaurant.

When you first walk into the La Tapatia restaurant you know that you are in for a real Mexican meal. The interior is simple but clean, and our party of five was directed to sit at whichever table we wanted. Our wait staff immediately took our drink orders and brought warm nacho chips and salsa to our table. Of note was the size of our drinks: the glasses were huge, and must have held at least 32 ounces.

Within a very reasonable amount of time our meals were delivered to our table. The size of the portions were frankly amazing. The amount of food was the most I have ever seen. Even the kids size order for our 5 year old granddaughter was huge! Everyone in our party praised the quality of the food. My plate was filled with 2 enchiladas, one taco, beans, rice and salad. There must have been at least a pound of seasoned ground beef in the items and sprinkled on the plate. The whole plate was covered with shredded cheese.

This was a great restaurant. The food was excellent, the service was also excellent, and I can’t say enough about the portion size. The prices were reasonable, averaging about $10 a person. We all were full when we left!

 

Home Sweet Home: An RV park in Texarkana, Texas

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Home Sweet Home RV Park just west of Texarkana, Texas is a comfortable full hook up RV park. This is not a large facility (48 sites) but the sites are level on stone. The roads are stone and wide enough for easy driving of any size rig. The park has both back in and pull thru sites. Sher and I recommend this park if you are in the Texarkana area.

The normal rate is $30 a night, but we used our Passport America card and only paid $15. For a park with full hook ups and free WiFi, fifteen bucks is a great deal. The hook ups included cable TV. The WiFi worked well, although I had to re-connect a few times the morning we left. Note that all of the electric shore power posts have 50 amp plug configuration. You’ll need an adapter for your 30 amp plug. There is an on site laundry.

Wide gravel roads and level, stone base sites

This is a unique park in that the office is located in the Tire Store next door. Make sure to call ahead to let them know you are coming. The office is open from 8 to 5:30. We arrived right at 5:30 and were met by the park host. He showed us our spot and said we could go to the office in the morning to settle up. This is a very nice, no frills RV park. The management couldn’t be nicer and willing to help in any way. Here is the Home Sweet Home RV Park website with all pertinent information.

Continued journey from Texarkana to Austin

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We had another chilly night, this time in Texarkana. We hit the road again mid morning heading along I-30 towards Dallas. I was surprised to see the interstate speed limit of 75 MPH. I never run our RV at that speed, but I did run a little faster than our normal 60!

In front of the massive Dallas Historical Society

We really had a great time when we stopped at Dallas after we spotted the Cotton Bowl from the street. What we found when we turned in that direction was the Fair Park, a huge area filled with tons of different things to see. The plaza was built for the 1936 Texas Centennial World’s Fair and featured large statues and buildings honoring the six countries whose flags have flown over Texas.

Fair Park Plaza with Dallas skyline in the background

There was a butterfly exhibit in one of the science buildings.

One of the many pretty water features

We saw a neat Christmas lights/celebration set up along a large pond system. Bet that this is very impressive at night. Some of the buildings were closed, some were open, and there were very few people in the park. Otherwise, we would not have been able to drive our RV through the park! We met a nice dad who was there with his two kids and two dogs. He snapped the photos of us in front of the Dallas Historical Society building, and told us of the history of Fair Park.

We spotted this from the street and found Fair Park. This is the original Cotton Bowl

We finished today’s journey when we got to our family’s place in Austin. A great ending to a great day!