The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment is located in San Marcos, Texas, as part of Texas State University.
I had never been on a glass-bottom boat tour and thought it would be something fun and different to share with my boys. It did not disappoint!
We visited the Meadows Center in December between Christmas and New Year's. Upon arrival, we purchased a parking ticket from a machine at the edge of the lot. The machine accepted credit cards which was good since I didn't have exact change.
We then purchased our tickets for the glass-bottom boat tour. I found a discount coupon online that was only good during the winter break. Check the Meadows Center website for any specials available.
Our tickets for the boat tour also gave us access to the displays at the center. The educational exhibits located on the first floor offer kids an opportunity to learn more about the springs and stay busy while they wait for their tour.
The day we visited, it was cold and windy...not exactly what I pictured for a glass-bottom boat tour. Thankfully, the glass-bottom viewing area was enclosed in the boat, so we stayed warm for the tour.
You could tell our tour guide enjoyed his job. He shared the history of the springs from the days of a swimming pig in a university-run amusement park to its current operation as an educational facility. He deftly maneuvered the boat so we could all get a good look at the small springs bubbling up from the ground. He showed us fish and turtles and signs of where the amusement park had been.
There is so much more we learned on the tour, but you should visit to hear it for yourself.
Here's a map of our Texas trip.
We drove a lot the first day with stops in Rayne, Louisiana, the Texas welcome center, and somewhere south of Houston for gas before reaching our hotel for the night in Wharton, Texas.
In an effort to avoid the bad weather coming through, we took a scenic route to San Antonio to visit the missions all day before stopping in New Braunfels, where we stayed two nights.
The next day we took a trip to Austin to see the state capitol and University of Texas campus. On the way back to New Braunfels, we took a glass-bottom boat tour in San Marcos.
The following day we set our sights on Houston with a stop at Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham along the way.
We stayed in a suburb north of Houston with a friend. It was nice to have a tour guide and extra set of hands during our time in Houston. After 5 nights in Spring, we returned home to the Mississippi Coast.
More details on our stops coming soon!
Texas!
After plotting potential routes in Texas and Florida, Texas came out on top. Plus I have a friend we can stay with for 4 nights in Houston, making Texas the best choice for this single mom on a tight budget.
So now we have to decide what sites to see and how many nights to stay in other towns.
Should we visit the missions of San Antonio? If we're that close to the state capitol, I believe a trip to Austin is in order. Maybe we should spend a day relaxing at the beach in Galveston.
Houston has lots of sites to see, but we don't have the time or money to see them all in one trip. What are the must-do sites here?
Decisions, decisions...
The last couple of Decembers, we have made our way across stretches of the Southeastern U.S. in search of adventure.
Now it's time to start planning for this year's trip.
I've got it down to two options, but I'm torn about where to go. One would leave me flying completely solo with my boys on a route through Texas on the way to Carlsbad Caverns. The other would wrap us around most of Florida and include picking up a friend for our jaunt down to Key West.
If you had to pick between the two, which would you choose and why?
Summer is prime time for travel for a lot of familes. School is out, so it's a great time to hit the road.
Whether an emergency expense comes up or income is limited, when you find yourself on a tight budget, travel is one of the first things to go. With limited funds, even a weekend trip is challening. That's where I find myself this summer.
Instead we have made our own fun. After searching for boredom buster ideas on Pinterest, I had my boys write activities on different colored sheets of paper. Then whenever they want a new idea, they draw from the jar.
On Fridays, we make time for cooking or a trip to somewhere special around town. Where we live there are a few options like putt-putt, bowling, and a movie theater. Even something simple like a movie can add up quickly, so these treats have been limited.
You can also create a cheaper version of some of these activities around your house. I encouraged my boys to make their own golf obstacle course (thankfully, grandad has putters for them to use).
Rent a movie from Redbox or pick one you already own. You can grab popcorn, theater-box candy, and soft drinks from the grocery store. Or pile pillows in the floor for a pallet party. Look for ways to make it different from your normal movie-watching routine.
Look for activities within an hour and a half drive of home. At this distance, you could easily drive there and back in a day. If you have a little more money in your budget, you could plan an overnight trip and visit a couple of places in the same town.
What daytrips do you recommend in your area?
My boys and I recently took a trip to Pensacola, Florida, with plans to meet my friend there. This is the least amount of planning for a trip I have done since my trip to Navarre, Florida, two years ago. Maybe it's something about the Florida beaches that stops me from making plans.
This lack of planning scared me a little because of my Type A personality. I do like to leave some room for down time, but even that is usually scheduled in.
The only thing I did plan for was a hotel room which was smart since it was Memorial Day weekend. As I was checking in, someone walked in to inquire about availability. No rooms were to be had at the inn. Score one for mom.
So what were we going to do all weekend?
The whole weekend turned into a lesson about learning to just be. Let go of ideas of what should be. Let go of itineraries. The only thing I knew we wanted to do was go to the beach.
The next morning after breakfast we decided to check out the Gulf Breeze Zoo with my friend in tow. At first, my boys were hurrying from one animal to the next. It reminded me of the frantic pace I was trying to escape. So we slowed down and took time to stop and observe some of the animals. It was a much different feel from so many of our other vacations.
We left the zoo and grabbed lunch before heading to the beach at Navarre. My friend was generous enough to take the first shift of watching the boys play in the surf with their boogie boards while I relaxed on the beach. It was strange to be able to relax for a few minutes and breath in the salty air.
Eventually, I relieved my friend and enjoyed the cool water crashing at my feet. It's like my worries were washing away as each wave came in and then headed back out to the gulf.
We went back to the hotel room and relaxed before heading to a dinner of good Southern cooking and jazz music. The night ended with movies in the hotel room.
Sunday my friend was feeling worn, so my boys and I decided to take a walk to downtown Pensacola just the three of us. Being Sunday, I thought we should consider visiting a church. We walked down the main drag in our shorts and T-shirts passing churches of various denominations. We stumbled across a rock-and-roll church in an old movie theather where our attire was the norm. We only stayed for part of the music, but it was nice to be able to visit and not feel out of place.
We walked back to the hotel and grabbed my friend as we headed to lunch at Al Fresco, a food truck food court. There were 5 different styles of food offered giving a good selection for what everyone would like to eat.
That afternoon I took the boys to the pool to play before the forecasted rain rolled in. That evening was a quick dinner at Wendy's because sometimes you need to know exactly what you are going to get when you order. Sunday night was movies in the hotel room again. After breakfast Monday morning, it was time to hit the road and head home.
We didn't see a lot of sites. We didn't do many activities. But that was the beauty of this mostly unplanned weekend.
My 7-year-old was asleep as we drove the twisty road to the top of the mountain where Caesar's Head State Park is located. His older brother chatted with me as we climbed higher and the fog got thicker.
After arriving at the top, my youngest awoke and we all completed a fairly easy 2-mile hike before getting back in the car to head to our next stop. On our way down the mountain, we stopped to check out Bald Rock. Then we were on our way to Poinsett's Bridge.
The roads to Poinsett's Bridge were hilly but not that curvy. Apparently, it was all too much for my 7-year-old.
As we passed the bridge and I was trying to figure out how to turn around to get back to the parking, I heard this sound that is recognizable to mothers everywhere...a dry heave. And then it happened. Everything a little boy had eaten that day came back up. His brother in the backseat next to him hollers as he throws up again. The second time cleared out what was left of his stomach contents.
So here I am in the middle of no where (there is a gravel parking area but not restroom facilities) in the December cold with a sick child covered all down the front of his coat, pants, and car seat. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts and figure out what to do first.
Thankfully, this was not a tourist hot spot swarming with people. We did see one other family as I was cleaning up the mess. The wife offered me a look of sympathy but I'm not sure she fully understood what I was dealing with. I wouldn't have expected anyone to offer to help me clean up the mess anyways.
The first step was to get a boy out and changed. I dug another outfit out of the suitcase in the back and had his brother stand with his coat open to block the view of anyone who might pull up. I found a plastic bag in the trunk to put the dirty clothes in.
It was winter and the temps were in the 30s and 40s most days of our trip. We only had one winter coat, so I had to find another jacket.
He still needed to be able to ride in his car seat to get to our hotel 30 minutes away. My dad's pack rat habits paid off that day because in the trunk was a gigantic trash bag ( I call them body bags). It was big enough to wrap the whole car seat so my son could sit in it without getting dirty again.
When we checked into the hotel, I asked the clerk for directions to a car wash and laundromat. She gave excellent directions to both.
At the car wash, I used the power sprayer on the clothes and car seat to get rid of the caked on layers. Then we grabbed supper and spent our night at the laundromat washing clothes.
I was so proud that I survived! But I will pass on having that experience ever again.
