Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery, 12/17/2016

44. We visited this park for its Trail of Lights, since that is something unique to this park and it's very pretty as well.  Monument Hill is the actual tomb of 56 US soldiers who were killed by Mexican troops in Texas' War of Independence - 36 from Dawson's Massacre, 16 from the Black Bean Lottery.  

This event was actually the reason for our initial visit to La Grange in 2010, during which we decided, while gazing upon the Fayette County Courthouse, to visit all 254 County Courthouses in Texas.  It was the beginning of the end.  And I didn't realize that our visits were EXACTLY 6 years apart (12/17 2010 & 2016) until I uploaded the older photos here.  😀

Fayette County Courthouse, La Grange, 12/17/10

Kreische house, 2010

View from Monument Hill & Kreische Brewery, 2010

Kreische Brewery ruins, 2010

Kreische Brewery sign, 2010

Us, 12/17/2010

Us, Fayette County Courthouse, 12/17/16

Trail of Lights, 2016

Kreische house, Trail of Lights, 2016

Guitarist, Kreische House, 2016

The Monument and tomb, 2016

Trail of Lights, 2016

Tile mural of the Black Bean Lottery, 2016

Trail of Lights, 2016

2016

La Grange is a cool town - there is a lovely restaurant, Bistro 108, where we ate dinner both years.  The cemetery has some of the most fantastic stone monuments in it - we haven't seen another cemetery that compares.  La Grange had a highly skilled stonemason at one point and it shows.  Weikel's Bakery is always worth a stop - in addition to wonderful kolaches (and my favorite, the Czech shortbread), it has clean restrooms and a nice gift shop.  The Courthouse is gorgeous inside and is unique among Texas courthouses in its design.  The old jail is now a museum, but has the cells inside still, so one can pretend they're locked up!

Government Canyon State Natural Area, 11/21/16

43. We brought our parents here for a day trip while Mom and Dad were visiting from Colorado.  We hiked the Joe Johnston trail to the dinosaur tracks and then Aaron and I also hiked the Canyon Overlook trail just to where we could see the tracks from above.  It was a lovely trail, not a lot of elevation change, some smooth flat areas, some rather rocky parts.  The dinosaur tracks were under water, so that made it harder to see them, but the view from the Overlook was pretty good.

Government Canyon is on the northwest side of San Antonio, so not close to the courthouse or Riverwalk, but we did stop at Freetail Brewing on the way home for beers and an early dinner.

Aaron at the top of the canyon.

Government Canyon Creek.

Dinosaur tracks.

Sign about the tracks.

Government Canyon Creek from above. 

Goliad State Park, 10/1 - 10/3/16

42. We camped at Scampsite #20 to celebrate our friend's birthday.  20 was a nice site because there was nobody next to us, but really #17 is the best site in the Karankawa Camping Area.  These sites are also "full service": they have a grey/black water dump hole at each site!  (The tent camping areas were all closed, as was the River Trail, due to recent flooding.)  Jacales Camping Area was okay, but better for large groups.
Goliad State Park is perfectly located near Goliad, which is also a county seat, and there is a paved trail connecting the park to the town, called the Angel of Goliad trail.  We rode the whole trail (2 miles each way I believe) more than once and it is lovely.  Lots of wooden boardwalks over otherwise unnavigable terrain.  Once we set up camp, we rode our bikes to the 2-year old Goliad Brewing Company, which has a remarkably big tank system and a wonderful beer garden.  There were lots of different games on site and a live band playing country covers.
Sunday we explored the park, the Mission Espiritu Santo and the adjacent Presidio La Bahia.  These historic sites are of incredible historical significance, not just to Texas, but to Mexico as well.  Spanish missionaries established the Mission in the 1700's, it was restored by the CCC between 1935 and 1941.  The CCC even used the original kiln and quarry to make more bricks for the restoration! "General Ignacio Zaragoza (1829 - 1862), Mexican general and the hero of Cinco de Mayo, was born in Goliad when it was a sleepy village on Mexico's northern frontier." (Texas State Parks State Park Guide)  Zaragoza's birthplace is on site, as well as a commemorative statue and amphitheater.
Presidio La Bahia "was built in 1749...was one of the major links between Mexico and east Texas and was the principal military post between San Antonio and the Rio Grande...In 1836 during Texas' War of Independence, Texian troops under the command of Col. J.W. Fannin evacuated La Bahia and were caught out in the open and taken prisoner.  All 400 were executed.  This, along with the defeat at the Alamo, was used as a rallying point to win sympathy for Texas' fight for independence." (https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/tx/tx20.htm)
There is also a statue honoring the Angel of Goliad - Francita Alavez, a woman who accompanied a captain in Texas and who helped evacuate the Presidio, hid several men, delivered messages and provisions and is recognized as a heroine of the Texas Revolution.
Aaron and I also walked the dogs on the Aranama Trail and I checked out the bird blind as well.

This park is amazing - there is so much to do here and in Goliad, which is a Texas Main Street City.  There are several very good restaurants in Goliad, antique shops, and of course the lovely old courthouse.

Angel of Goliad trail

Goliad Brewing

Scampsite #20

Presidio La Bahia

Mission Espiritu Santo

Interior: the altar is illuminated at sunset by a window in the front of the church.

Interior: the window that illuminates the altar every sunset is above the door.

Funerary exit. 

Original Spanish hardware - the park gift shop sells replica jewelry in these designs.

Goliad courthouse.

The kiln for the Mission.

Aranama Trail

Presidio La Bahia

Angel of Goliad

Fannin's Memorial

Statue of General Zaragoza

Bird blind. 

Barton Warnock Visitor Center, 3/18/16

41. This was a stop on the way home.  We drove out through the River road, which is one stunning view after another.  This VC is for River Road campsite check-ins; there are lots of picnic tables, a nature garden, and cool maps for sale that the Saucedo Ranger Station IN the park didn't have.  Definitely worth a stop.

View from River Road.

Barton Warnock Visitor Center. 

The nearest county seat is Marfa, which is a Texas gem.  Marfa is home to a gorgeous old courthouse, the historic hotel where the cast and crew of "Giant" all stayed, a huge art scene, diverse lodging opportunities, restaurants and shops, Prada included.  And of course, the Marfa Lights. 

Big Bend Ranch State Park, 3/15 - 3/18/16

40. Primitive campsite, Rincon 1.  We traveled here with Aaron's parents and 4 of their friends, all of whom are avid off-roaders.  On the way here we stayed in Ft. Stockton - a good idea to split the journey because the dirt roads within the park make for slow going.  If we had tried to drive from Austin in one day, we would have been navigating seriously off-road jeep trails in the dark.  It was 27 dirt miles from Presidio to the Ranger Station and another 15 to our campsite on unmaintained roads.  We knew our campsite would be primitive so we brought one gallon of water / person / day and had about 2 gallons left at the end (we gave it away).  We brought 5 gallons of extra gas.  All cooking was boil-in-bag or cold - we didn't want to waste water washing dishes.  And we all brought bucket toilets, newspaper, toilet paper, and multitudes of trash-compactor bags (thicker than regular trash can liners).

The shade shelters helped a lot, but sunscreen is a necessity.  A free-standing shade canopy would have been a nice addition.

We didn't see any rattlesnakes (whew!), but saw lots of quail, rabbits, deer and wild burros (available for adoption immediately).

We had some amazing hikes in canyons to Mexicano Falls and to the mesa above the Crawford-Smith Ranch.  Aaron also hiked to the top of the hill nearest our campsite.  Big Bend Bluebonnets were blooming like crazy and we found springs and waterfalls in the canyons.  In all 3 days, we only saw 2 other people: a cyclist on the road and one person hiking on the mesa across the canyon from us.

This is where you leave the pavement.

Burros en route to our campsite.

The unmaintained road into our campsite.

Handprint rock art on the way to our site.

Our caravan.

Rincon 1 campsite.  That's our tent on the right.

Pano of the Flatirons from our campsite.

Our bucket loo and the view.

Mexicano Falls.

Pools at Mexicano Falls.

Aaron on top of the nearest hill.

Crawford-Smith Ranch ruins.

Crawford-Smith Ranch ruins.

Cairns marking the trail on the mesa.

Pano of Fresno Canyon from atop the mesa.

Ready to hike! 

Hiking up the mesa behind the Ranch.

Close to the top of the mesa.

The nearest county seat is Marfa, which is a Texas gem.  Marfa is home to a gorgeous old courthouse, the historic hotel where the cast and crew of "Giant" all stayed, a huge art scene, diverse lodging opportunities, restaurants and shops, Prada included.  And of course, the Marfa Lights.