Texas Born. Texas Raised. Texas Adventurer. | Nacogdoches & THe Piney woods

21 Oct Nacogdoches & THe Piney woods

Posted at 08:42h in Couple's Getaway, Day Trips, Family Trips, Overnight or Weekend Trip, Piney Woods by littlesliceoftexas 0 Comments

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As soon as I saw The Piney Woods County Fair event happening in Nacogdoches, I knew this was a perfect time to come explore all the things that “the oldest city in Texas” has to offer. While we certainly couldn’t pack all the adventure into one weekend, we were going to try! It took us approximately 3 hours 15 minutes to drive from Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex to downtown Nacogdoches. As soon as we arrived we went straight to food. Exploring takes a lot out of you!

I saw Brendyn’s BBQ had some of the highest ratings online, so OF COURSE we needed to confirm these were valid reviews. Holy cow (or pig)! This was no joke! Absolutely mouth watering delicious. I am a sucker for cream corn, so when I saw the Omarvelous Taco on the menu including creamed corn drizzled over the brisket wrapped in a tortilla, there was no other option in my mind. We all licked our trays clean!

Another great thing about Brendyn’s is that it’s located in downtown Nacogdoches. This made for some easy strolling downtown to walk off all that goodness we ate for lunch. Oh wait, we didn’t stop eating yet haha. I’m actually ALMOST embarrassed to say this, but we kept eating. At least it was in between strolling right? To curb our sweet tooth we indulged in macaroons, cupcakes, and cookies from the Blue Horse Bakery just off Main Street. My salted caramel cookie was perfection! I really liked the downtown area, very pretty and nicely maintained. There are fun funky walls, statues to look at, and several boutiques and antique shops to peruse.

Now that our bellies were full, it was time to get to the best part! The Piney Woods County Fair! There was something so alluring about a simple, less crowded, small town Fall fair. I might just watch too much Hallmark TV, but it felt so charming to me to experience this little slice of Texas during one of the best months of the year. It was everything I was hoping it would be. Rides, fair food, farm animals, family & friends and my cowgirl boots. Another plus, we spent half the amount of time it would have taken us at the big city fair to walk across the entire fairgrounds. We left sweaty, sticky and covered in funnel cake with balloon animals in our hands…signs of success!

After a day of fun, we headed to our cabin at Tall Timbers Retreat & Lodge. The approximately 30 acres of outdoor space was so peaceful and also entertaining. The kids stayed very busy playing on the swing set, collecting pine cones, walking the trail, and chasing each other in the open field. The crowd favorite was the fire pit! There were actually multiple fire pits to choose from. I personally favored soaking in the warm sun drinking my coffee each morning admiring the tall deep green pine trees in contrast with the bright blue sky. You just don’t get this kind of serenity in the big city. I could totally picture a large family reunion on this property! It was just the right amount of space for medium size to large groups, and the right amount of privacy from town, only about 8 to 10 minutes. Next time we come back, we will choose one of the newer, more updated cabins to stay in. While this particular cabin we booked lacked some functionality and aesthetics, the outside space more than made up for it. We spent most of our trip outdoors anyway!

Did you know the largest Azalea garden in Texas is located in Nacogdoches?? We didn’t either, until now! With 25 miles of trails and 7,000 blooms, this is a must see, even in the off season. Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden is conveniently located in the heart of town on the Stephen F. Austin campus, It was easy to find parking, and there is no cost to enter the garden. Even though we didn’t see many flowers in bloom, we are so glad we spent this time in nature observing the foliage and fun sculptures they’ve placed throughout the grounds.

I think we could have spent a lot more time at this garden because it was so beautiful, but adventure called! The last adventure took us to a truck rally at the Pine Valley Raceway called Draggin’ & Pullin’ In the Pines. Not only was there a parking lot full of fancy cars and trucks and other off road vehicles to admire, there were also plenty of food trucks and souvenir trucks for when you are ready for a quick break.

After plenty of walking around, we sat in the bleachers to watch the semi truck big rig races. We all had a great time picking who we thought would win. I thought the kids might need ear coverings, but they did fine without them. It was loud, but not unbearably loud. It was a very memorable experience that my son said was his favorite part of the trip! Definitely not something we see everyday. The Fall weather was just perfect for an afternoon at the Raceway.