Welcome back to Texas, snowbirds! Is Bryan-College Station a good stopover on the way to Port Aransas? If you’re coming from the east, yes. If you’re coming straight down the middle of the state, probably not. We’re not sitting right off I-10 or I-35, and we’re about the same distance from both.
Heading for Port Aransas, Corpus Christi, or Padre Island and coming down I-45? Then it’s worth the quick detour. Pop off toward Bryan and you’ve got a weekend’s worth of small-town Texas charm within an easy drive. Snook, Brenham, Navasota, Hearne. Brenham’s the one where everybody wants ice cream. Fair enough.
Back roads people, this one’s for you. If you’re coming down from the Shreveport area, you’d rather skip the interstate. Start in Nacogdoches, which claims to be the oldest town in Texas. People have lived there for thousands of years. Then, head west on Highway 21, which follows the old El Camino Real pretty closely, and you’ll pass right through Davy Crockett National Forest. Want more trees? Swing south to Huntsville, about an hour from Crockett, and walk around Sam Houston National Forest. Then take Highway 30 into College Station. Slow, but pretty.
Got a football game on your calendar? Awesome, build the trip around it. This is a college town, and game weekends here are a whole event. They fill up fast, and we do a 2-night minimum.
If you’re rolling in on I-10 or I-35, we might not be worth the extra miles. Unless you’re someone who likes to meander and wander off the main road on purpose. If that’s you, you’ll love it here. Lots of history, plenty of tiny towns, and nobody’s in a hurry.
However you end up here, once you’ve seen the forests and the little towns, all that’s left to do is rest your shells with us.