Where are some must see places in Texas?

jdennis1989

jdennis1989

Pre-takeoff checklist
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jdennis1989
I am prepping for my checkride and will hopefully have my license by Feb or March. I have noticed there are a lot of people from Texas on this site, and my question is what are some MUST SEE places to fly. You know some cross country trips that will be memorable. I live close to Houston/Galveston so the Gulf was checked off that list during lesson 1!
 
jdennis1989 said:
I am prepping for my checkride and will hopefully have my license by Feb or March. I have noticed there are a lot of people from Texas on this site, and my question is what are some MUST SEE places to fly. You know some cross country trips that will be memorable. I live close to Houston/Galveston so the Gulf was checked off that list during lesson 1!
Click to expand...

Here's the list of things we've done with our airplane since moving to Texas in 2010.

1. Austin. Fly into San Marcos, rent a car, drive down to the Driskill Hotel on 6th Street, and walk up and down 6th Street listening to the best screaming blues, in venue after venue, all for FREE.

2. San Antonio. Fly into Stinson, rent a car, drive down to the Menger Hotel (right across from the Alamo), have a beer in the bar where Teddy Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders, and then spend the night on the amazing Riverwalk.

3. New Braunfels. Fly into the local airport, rent a car (or catch a cab), go to the Faust Hotel. They have a brewery on the first floor, a winery across the street, and the town is full of great German restaurants and bakeries. If you go in November, be sure to hit Wurstfest, the best German festival outside of Munich.

4. Fredericksburg. Fly into the local airport. If you don't have kids, and it's a weekend, stay at the Hangar Hotel right on the field. You will need a rental car to get into town. If you have kids, or it's a weekday, there are plenty of places in Fredericksburg to stay.

Visit the Nimitz Museum while you are there. This hidden gem of a WWII museum is truly amazing, and MUCH larger than it looks from the road.

5. Port Aransas. Outside of Austin, this is the ONLY place in Texas I would live. We love it on our island (it's located on Mustang Island), and if you stay at our hotel, Amelia's Landing, you get a free car to use while you're here. We have 15 miles of white sand beach to explore, and you can drive it, hike it, have a bonfire on it -- pretty much whatever you want! There are a ton of great seafood restaurants here, and the town is small enough to walk to all of them.

Best of all, navigation from you to here is bone-simple: Follow the chain of barrier islands! No GPS required. :wink2:

6. Lockhart. Texas barbecue. Need I say more? Use the courtesy car, and enjoy the best beef and pork barbecue in the world.

7. Brenham. I've been to this town a hundred times, and never left the airport. The on-field restaurant is wonderful, with poodle-skirted young ladies bringing hand-dipped malts and great cheeseburgers.

8. Lake Jackson, Gulf Coast Regional Airport. Another fabulous on-field restaurant, the Crosswinds Cafe. Park right out front, and enjoy their terrific food. They have the best poblano soup I've ever had, anywhere.

It ain't in Texas, but a quick flight to New Orleans is awfully cool. From Galveston, it wouldn't take long, and you can land at New Orleans Downtown Airport and catch a cab to the French Quarter.

That's everything South of Austin. Northern and Western Texas offer a billion more things to do, but you'll need more than a lunch flight to hit them, unless you're flying a Citation.

Enjoy! We LOVE it here in Texas! :D
 
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It's pretty hard to beat the Fort Davis - Balmorhea - Marfa part of West Texas.
 
Tyler TX KTYR
At the airport
Skyline Cafe
Historic Aviation Memorial Museum
http://www.tylerhamm.org/
In town there are a lot of great things to see and do.
Have fun flying.
 
If you find yourself with a reason to head out west or toward the panhandle, here are three out-of-the-way-but-worth-a-visit destinations:

Sonora: The town now has a courtesy car (van, actually), so you can drive out to visit the Caverns of Sonora. Really, it's the only reason to visit the town, but if you have any appreciation for caverns, these are definitely worth the effort to go visit.

Midland: Two reasons:
- Commemorative Air Force HQ museum. Like WWII-vintage aircraft maintained in flying condition? Then this is a must-see.
- Eddie's Catfish restaurant. Yeah, I know...what's special about catfish in Midland, TX? I don't know. Maybe they make the batter with crack cocaine. But I've had catfish all over the western Gulf coast and I swear I've never had anything that comes close to this place.

Palo Duro Canyon: North of Lubbock, flying over the flat plains of the Caprock Escarpment and then just seeing that flatness dissolve into the almost incomprehensibly-large canyon system is pretty impressive. I think the view is more impressive upstream near Canyon, where the height of the canyon walls is not "diluted" by the breadth of the canyon floor like it is farther downstream, but anywhere you can see the flatness just collapse into the canyon is amazing.
 
Wherever you go call ahead to verify they have fuel.

I landed in Sonora a few months ago at dusk and their tanks were dry. Luckily I had enough daylight and fuel in the wings to make it to junction.




Jim_R said:
If you find yourself with a reason to head out west or toward the panhandle, here are three out-of-the-way-but-worth-a-visit destinations:

Sonora: The town now has a courtesy car (van, actually), so you can drive out to visit the Caverns of Sonora. Really, it's the only reason to visit the town, but if you have any appreciation for caverns, these are definitely worth the effort to go visit.

Midland: Two reasons:
- Commemorative Air Force HQ museum. Like WWII-vintage aircraft maintained in flying condition? Then this is a must-see.
- Eddie's Catfish restaurant. Yeah, I know...what's special about catfish in Midland, TX? I don't know. Maybe they make the batter with crack cocaine. But I've had catfish all over the western Gulf coast and I swear I've never had anything that comes close to this place.

Palo Duro Canyon: North of Lubbock, flying over the flat plains of the Caprock Escarpment and then just seeing that flatness dissolve into the almost incomprehensibly-large canyon system is pretty impressive. I think the view is more impressive upstream near Canyon, where the height of the canyon walls is not "diluted" by the breadth of the canyon floor like it is farther downstream, but anywhere you can see the flatness just collapse into the canyon is amazing.
Click to expand...
 
BBQ trail:

Llano: Coopers
Lockhart: Kruetz's, Smitty's
Stephenville: Hard 8
Brady: The Spread

I know I'm forgetting quite a few places... so help fill in.
 
Jim_R said:
Palo Duro Canyon: North of Lubbock, flying over the flat plains of the Caprock Escarpment and then just seeing that flatness dissolve into the almost incomprehensibly-large canyon system is pretty impressive. I think the view is more impressive upstream near Canyon, where the height of the canyon walls is not "diluted" by the breadth of the canyon floor like it is farther downstream, but anywhere you can see the flatness just collapse into the canyon is amazing.
Click to expand...

Yes, start near Childress and fly to Canyon. If you have time to do so exploring, rent a car and drive into Palo Duro Canyon state park and hike some of the trails.
 
Henning said:
State Line, outbound.
Click to expand...

Hehe, I was thinking the same thing.

Las Cruces comes to mind.

There are plenty of good things to see in Texas, though I haven't been flying there. My #1 would be JSC (south of Ellington), but I think the OP got that covered a long time ago. Maybe some place like Big Bend that you can't get to easily by other means (well, not without a hideously long drive).
 
Jay Honeck said:
Here's the list of things we've done with our airplane since moving to Texas in 2010.

1. Austin. Fly into San Marcos, rent a car, drive down to the Driskill Hotel on 6th Street, and walk up and down 6th Street listening to the best screaming blues, in venue after venue, all for FREE.

2. San Antonio. Fly into Stinson, rent a car, drive down to the Menger Hotel (right across from the Alamo), have a beer in the bar where Teddy Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders, and then spend the night on the amazing Riverwalk.

3. New Braunfels. Fly into the local airport, rent a car (or catch a cab), go to the Faust Hotel. They have a brewery on the first floor, a winery across the street, and the town is full of great German restaurants and bakeries. If you go in November, be sure to hit Wurstfest, the best German festival outside of Munich.

4. Fredericksburg. Fly into the local airport. If you don't have kids, and it's a weekend, stay at the Hangar Hotel right on the field. You will need a rental car to get into town. If you have kids, or it's a weekday, there are plenty of places in Fredericksburg to stay.

Visit the Nimitz Museum while you are there. This hidden gem of a WWII museum is truly amazing, and MUCH larger than it looks from the road.

5. Port Aransas. Outside of Austin, this is the ONLY place in Texas I would live. We love it on our island (it's located on Mustang Island), and if you stay at our hotel, Amelia's Landing, you get a free car to use while you're here. We have 15 miles of white sand beach to explore, and you can drive it, hike it, have a bonfire on it -- pretty much whatever you want! There are a ton of great seafood restaurants here, and the town is small enough to walk to all of them.

Best of all, navigation from you to here is bone-simple: Follow the chain of barrier islands! No GPS required. :wink2:

6. Lockhart. Texas barbecue. Need I say more? Use the courtesy car, and enjoy the best beef and pork barbecue in the world.

7. Brenham. I've been to this town a hundred times, and never left the airport. The on-field restaurant is wonderful, with poodle-skirted young ladies bringing hand-dipped malts and great cheeseburgers.

8. Lake Jackson, Gulf Coast Regional Airport. Another fabulous on-field restaurant, the Crosswinds Cafe. Park right out front, and enjoy their terrific food. They have the best poblano soup I've ever had, anywhere.

It ain't in Texas, but a quick flight to New Orleans is awfully cool. From Galveston, it wouldn't take long, and you can land at New Orleans Downtown Airport and catch a cab to the French Quarter.

That's everything South of Austin. Northern and Western Texas offer a billion more things to do, but you'll need more than a lunch flight to hit them, unless you're flying a Citation.

Enjoy! We LOVE it here in Texas! :D
Click to expand...


Austin: I've been here a lot and have seen a lot of what they have to offer. Although I do plan on flying there next time I go since it is over a 3 hour drive for me.

San Antonio: On my list to go to someday.

Fredericksburg/Llano : Been here too, Coopers is amazing! Probably won't fly back here unless I go with a girlfriend that likes to go into those little shops. Coopers probably can't be done by air for me. I might be over my weight limit on the way back :D

Port Aransas: I plan on making it down your way soon after I get my PPL. I think that would be a great practice cross country since it would be impossible to get lost lol.

Lake Jackson: I live and fly out of here so not much left for me to see around here lol.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I am adding them to the list. Any places that is a MUST SEE from the air kinda thing? I plan on getting a good camera and a GoPro later. And don't say the coast cause iv seen it from Galveston to Port Lavaca. Of the 4 airports I've made it to, Galveston is #1 on my list in terms of view. It's so cool to come in for landing right over the bay, and then take back off and be over the ocean before you hit 500 feet and turn.
 
Monpilot said:
Wherever you go call ahead to verify they have fuel.

I landed in Sonora a few months ago at dusk and their tanks were dry. Luckily I had enough daylight and fuel in the wings to make it to junction.
Click to expand...

Bergstrom/Signature was out of 100LL for almost a week recently!
 
jdennis1989 said:
Austin: I've been here a lot and have seen a lot of what they have to offer. Although I do plan on flying there next time I go since it is over a 3 hour drive for me.

San Antonio: On my list to go to someday.

Fredericksburg/Llano : Been here too, Coopers is amazing! Probably won't fly back here unless I go with a girlfriend that likes to go into those little shops. Coopers probably can't be done by air for me. I might be over my weight limit on the way back :D

Port Aransas: I plan on making it down your way soon after I get my PPL. I think that would be a great practice cross country since it would be impossible to get lost lol.

Lake Jackson: I live and fly out of here so not much left for me to see around here lol.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I am adding them to the list. Any places that is a MUST SEE from the air kinda thing? I plan on getting a good camera and a GoPro later. And don't say the coast cause iv seen it from Galveston to Port Lavaca. Of the 4 airports I've made it to, Galveston is #1 on my list in terms of view. It's so cool to come in for landing right over the bay, and then take back off and be over the ocean before you hit 500 feet and turn.
Click to expand...

If you fly north and or west let me know and I would enjoy flying off your wing to see some of the places too. We are fairly new to Houston from Florida so always looking for people to fly with and places to go.
Lynn
 
JimNtexas said:
It's pretty hard to beat the Fort Davis - Balmorhea - Marfa part of West Texas.
Click to expand...

Do you fly there often. I am looking for someone to fly behind and go sometime for a weekend. I hear its a pretty cool place to stay.
PM me if you are going in the near future.
 
FYI - Marfa does not have a rental car. Alpine is east of Marfa and has one place to rent a car.
 
Jim_R said:
If you find yourself with a reason to head out west or toward the panhandle, here are three out-of-the-way-but-worth-a-visit destinations:

Sonora: The town now has a courtesy car (van, actually), so you can drive out to visit the Caverns of Sonora. Really, it's the only reason to visit the town, but if you have any appreciation for caverns, these are definitely worth the effort to go visit.

Midland: Two reasons:
- Commemorative Air Force HQ museum. Like WWII-vintage aircraft maintained in flying condition? Then this is a must-see.
- Eddie's Catfish restaurant. Yeah, I know...what's special about catfish in Midland, TX? I don't know. Maybe they make the batter with crack cocaine. But I've had catfish all over the western Gulf coast and I swear I've never had anything that comes close to this place.

Palo Duro Canyon: North of Lubbock, flying over the flat plains of the Caprock Escarpment and then just seeing that flatness dissolve into the almost incomprehensibly-large canyon system is pretty impressive. I think the view is more impressive upstream near Canyon, where the height of the canyon walls is not "diluted" by the breadth of the canyon floor like it is farther downstream, but anywhere you can see the flatness just collapse into the canyon is amazing.
Click to expand...

Also at Sonora - Sutton County Steakhouse

The Palo Duro Canyon is beautiful!

How about Big Bend?
 
Speed said:
How about Big Bend?
Click to expand...

I second the Big Bend suggestion if you enjoy the wide open desert country. Big Bend National Park is very popular and well worth seeing, of course. Less well known is Big Bend Ranch State Park which is just to the west of the national park.

As a pilot, the best thing about BBRSP is that it has a 5500' paved runway in the middle of the park (3T9), near the Sauceda Ranger Station. If you fly in, be aware that you will be in the middle of nowhere with no transportation other than your feet or a bicycle (bring your own, or you can rent one at the ranger station). If you want to hike or bike, though, it's a great place with many trails and primitive campsites.

Lodging is available either at the "Big House" (Sauceda Ranch House) or in the Sauceda Lodge Bunkhouse (dormitory style). The ranger station and lodging is about 1.5 miles (by the road) from the airfield. If you call them ahead of time and circle the ranger station before landing to let them know you've arrived, they'll come pick you up.

Lee
 
Scott@KTYR said:
FYI - Marfa does not have a rental car. Alpine is east of Marfa and has one place to rent a car.
Click to expand...

You might check if the Pecos FBO still rents cars. They do have good, free food. We drove one of the FBO rentals into New Mexico to Carlesbad Cavern, and then made the loop back down to Van Horn, Marfa, Alpine, and around to Fort Stockton.
 
tinerj said:
You might check if the Pecos FBO still rents cars. They do have good, free food. We drove one of the FBO rentals into New Mexico to Carlesbad Cavern, and then made the loop back down to Van Horn, Marfa, Alpine, and around to Fort Stockton.
Click to expand...

Free food?? I'm familiar with complementary cookies and such at FBOs, but what does Pecos have?
 
lziegenhals said:
I second the Big Bend suggestion if you enjoy the wide open desert country. Big Bend National Park is very popular and well worth seeing, of course. Less well known is Big Bend Ranch State Park which is just to the west of the national park.

As a pilot, the best thing about BBRSP is that it has a 5500' paved runway in the middle of the park (3T9), near the Sauceda Ranger Station. If you fly in, be aware that you will be in the middle of nowhere with no transportation other than your feet or a bicycle (bring your own, or you can rent one at the ranger station). If you want to hike or bike, though, it's a great place with many trails and primitive campsites.

Lodging is available either at the "Big House" (Sauceda Ranch House) or in the Sauceda Lodge Bunkhouse (dormitory style). The ranger station and lodging is about 1.5 miles (by the road) from the airfield. If you call them ahead of time and circle the ranger station before landing to let them know you've arrived, they'll come pick you up.

Lee
Click to expand...

I third the Big Bend suggestion, with a stopover in Marfa too. Besides the field mentioned above, there is also 89TE which is an asphalt 7500 ft private field practically on the border with Mexico. It is associated with a resort but you don't have to stay there (expensive but really nice, cool bar, live music, interesting people stay there too, may even bump into an actor or two ;)). If you call them they will let you stop over, they even have fuel available. They have recently reopened the border to Mexico there so you can walk across the river and check out a really remote part of Mexico too.
 
If you're flying, Borger, TX.

Unless something has changed, it was hands down the best FBO in the entire country a few years ago.
 
My personal favorite part of Texas has always been Central Texas. Because from there ANY direction you move in YOU'RE LEAVING TEXAS !
YEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAH !!!!!!!
 
And all of us in Texas say THANK YOU for Leaving.
 
Art VanDelay said:
My personal favorite part of Texas has always been Central Texas. Because from there ANY direction you move in YOU'RE LEAVING TEXAS !
YEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAH !!!!!!!
Click to expand...

This is not true... There is at least one direction where you are both leaving and approaching Texas.
 
SkyHog said:
If you're flying, Borger, TX.

Unless something has changed, it was hands down the best FBO in the entire country a few years ago.
Click to expand...
And, according to Hubby, the location of the best Chili Rellenos in the world at Lorene's Mexican Restaurant (closed Sun & Mon).
 
Jim_R said:
Free food?? I'm familiar with complementary cookies and such at FBOs, but what does Pecos have?
Click to expand...

See photo. Beef Burritos, chips and dips, drinks, and other choices. And cookies, too. See photo.
 

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While you're staying with Jay on Mustang Island, you can go up to Corpus Christi and check out the USS Lexington and the Ships of Columbus. Both well worth the visit IMO. I guess you could fly into Corpus Christi International if you wanted to tick off one more airport in the Log Book like I like to do. I'd like to get back down there one day myself.
 
My Air Race partner has the FBOs at Port Lavaca and Victoria and they'll treat you really good too :)
 
Jay Honeck said:
That's everything South of Austin. :D
Click to expand...

No, no. Not quite.

I didn't see the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston mentioned.

T41 (LaPorte) in Houston area - FBO is run by Debbie Rihn-Harvey's family. Hang around a bit and you might get to meet her. Fantastic pilot!

Space Center in Houston.

Just a couple of things from a visitor from Georgia.
 
Dav8or said:
While you're staying with Jay on Mustang Island, you can go up to Corpus Christi and check out the USS Lexington and the Ships of Columbus. Both well worth the visit IMO. I guess you could fly into Corpus Christi International if you wanted to tick off one more airport in the Log Book like I like to do. I'd like to get back down there one day myself.
Click to expand...

If you go to Port A I highly recommend a visit to the Aransas National Wildlife preserve.

You can walk right up to giant alligators! No cages, you're in their house!
No refund if they eat your kid.
 
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