Historic Road Trips

Hi, folks!

The weather is still hot here in Texas, but its all the more reason to pack up the car and head out of town for a road trip. One of my favorite things to do is load my camera, ice chest, genealogy materials and guide books and head out in search of family cemeteries and fascinating historical sites. I love to photograph the county courthouses of Texas and stop at old Spanish missions. Painted churches are so charming and take me back to my Czech roots. But one of my latest loves is a tour of the historic El Camino Real de los Tejas which combines all of these things!

Also known as the King’s Highway, El Camino Real do los Tejas is a 300 year old trail that winds from the Rio Grande river to East Texas and Louisiana. It was the trail used by Indians, conquistadors, missionaries, soldiers and immigrants and encompasses the history and diversity of Texas and its people. Now it is a designated National Historic Trail. The trail begins in Natchitoches, Louisiana (the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase) and continues to weave its way across Texas until it reaches the Rio Grande.

Natchitoches, LA, the setting for the film “Steel Magnolias”, offers creole plantations and the Los Adaes State historic site. From there, you travel west to San Augustine, TX which is a great place to experience the early days of the Texas Republic. Beaming with historic churches, homes and other landmarks, San Augustine hosts a ballroom visited by Davy Crockett and Sam Houston.

Your next stop is Nacogdoches, TX, the oldest town in Texas. Founded in 1716, Nacogdoches has many 17th and 18th century homes and buildings still intact and open for touring.

Along the way, you’ll also visit Crockett, TX, (named for Davy Crockett who camped here in 1838 on his way to the Alamo) Bastrop, TX (named the ‘most historic small town in Texas’ for all its historic buildings and markers) and finally stop in San Antonio, TX (one of the most popular destinations in the state). Don’t miss the missions in San Antonio! They are fabulous!

While I didn’t intend to get long-winded on this topic, it just can’t be helped. I love a road trip and with the current economy, these short stay-cations are the perfect solution to get you out of the house and not break the bank. And this particular trip gives me chills when I think that it’s the last road traveled by Davy Crockett before he stopped at the Alamo. I’ll also admit that I have lots of Crocketts in my family tree and have always felt that he was more than another ‘cousin’.

I’ve traveled the Natchez Trace (where my Clinkscales began in Tishomingo, MS), the Overmountain Victory National Trail (where my Hambright cousins came to fight at Kings Mountain in the Revolution), and parts of the Trail of Tears (where more Hambrights lived and moved through Tennessee and my Parkers ended up in Oklahoma). There are so many more places to see and trails to visit… I hope that you will share your ideas for a summer get-away with the group!

Thanks, Diann...

The truth is that any of our ancestors who moved around at all had to travel these same trails. They were like the interstate highways 300 years ago. So if you wonder how gr-gr-gr grandpappa got from point A to point B, he probably traveled on one of our historic trails!

One of my favorite spots along the Natchez Trace is a place along the side of the current highway where you can walk into the 'gully' that was the original trace. There's a sign on the side of the road that reads "Old Trace". You can just imagine the horses and wagons moving along the well packed earth path that runs between large old trees. It's just beautiful.

Attached Pictures:

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Help, I'm on a "Historic Road trip in GWW TEE" and can't find out how to get back to the discussion I was having regarding finding the archived messages? I also am having trouble with figuring out how to navigate the GWW class to write a comment or whatever after class#1. I think I need to get a better "Map" I'm good at maps but sure am having trouble with this new "trip" with GWW TEE! Patricia

Patricia,

From here you can click on my courses on the right hand side of the screen, then click on the Posts tab and pick a post that is dated in the session you want[more later], click on that and it will take you to that post and you will be in the archives for that session. To see all the archives click on Back to all Forums at the top of the page and you will be at a page where you can get to anything archived in that session by clicking on the messages you can see or changing pages by clicking on the page numbers 1, 2, etc.

Now for the confusing part, there are two sets of class archives. The first one is for the dates May 15, 2008 - February 28, 2009 and has 5 pages. The second one is from March 1, 2009 - July 29, 2009 and has 4 pages. That is why when I was explaining how to get to the archives from the Posts tab I said to pick a post from the class session that you wanted. So, if you don't find what you are looking for in one session you might try the other.

Sorry for the long post but it's difficult to explain in a few words.

Anita

Hasn't anyone gone on a trip for vacation or family reunion this summer? I can't believe that we're all staying home and sitting at the computers! ;-))

We have our big Hambright reunion in October and I'm considering a drive to North Carolina. It's a long trip, but gas is $1.50 cheaper than it was the last time I drove.

I'd love to hear about your travels, so don't be shy!!