BLOG POST: PART 1: Riding the Texas Railroad. A Trip Back In Time. UPDATED: April 23, 2021 READ MORE PART 2: The Palestine to Tyler Run. A Great Motorcycle Route Makes A Great Road Trip. UPDATED: May 10, 2021 READ MORE PART 3: On to Waco. UPDATED: May 25, 2021 READ MORE
PART 1: PALESTINE to RUSK, TEXAS. March 26, 2019.
NEW! WE’VE ADDED EXTERNAL LINKS TO HELP GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. At the end of every post, look for the red External Links added to the hotels, restaurants and destinations we’ve visited making it easier to research and plan your next trip.
Riding the Texas Railroad.
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY
UPDATED April 23, 2021. The Palestine-Tyler run is a route we found in Ride Texas, the motorcycle publication. It takes you on a winding drive from Palestine to Tyler, Texas.
The day before driving the route, we arrived in Palestine, Texas to ride on the Texas Railroad the following morning (more on that later).
When we arrive in a small town late and plan to leave early, we stay at newer, corporate style hotels (La Quinta, Holiday Inn Express, etc.). They’re reasonably priced, clean, well-staffed and have a breakfast bar the next morning for some coffee, juice and a bagel or fruit before you head out.
We have never had a problem with the newer, hotel style locations so make sure to look for that. In Palestine, it was La Quinta.
Our latest find in this category that we can’t say enough about is tru by Hilton. Well thought out, clean, organized, great staff, completely decontaminated between stays and contactless/keyless with the Hilton app.
Can’t find any listings on Food Network or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives? Ask around. Hotel staff or B&B proprietors are a good place to start but ask more than one person. Because opinions can (and do) vary.
In Palestine we got lucky. We heard from more than one source that Switch was the place to go.
Good thing we asked. Switch is set back, out of sight from the main street. Driving by, we never would have seen it if we didn’t know it was there.
Switch is an authentic Italian restaurant with a wood fired pizza oven (in the small town of Palestine no less!).
We had shrimp scampi and meat balls with house made mozzarella, both were prepared with fresh ingredients and cooked perfectly.
All aboard!
The next morning we headed out to the Texas State Railroad Station.
The Texas State runs from Palestine to Rusk with a one hour stop over for lunch then returns to Palestine. You can choose to ride on a renovated steam powered or a classic diesel powered train and cars.
We chose the steam powered engine for an authentic, turn-of-the-century experience.
Each passenger car is a different traveler class. From an Open Air Coach Car with open air meaning no windows (chilly in March), to First Class with either facing seats or table seating, to Dome Class with an upper seating car for dome roof views, to the Presidential Class with two to four person table seating.
We rode in the Presidential Class. With a car attendant who brought snacks and drinks (both adult and non-adult) throughout the ride.
We were the last car on the train and had our own viewing deck out back to watch the tracks run behind us. Throughout the ride, you can also get up and tour all the other cars.
For the return run, they unhook the engine from the front, bring it around and attach it to the last car (in case you missed it, that’s us).
So, for the entire run home we were right behind the locomotive and got to hear (and I do mean hear) the whistle and watch the steam go by as they blew the whistle. Might have been the best part of the ride.
To keep the experience authentic with our 100+ year old locomotive, we had a part come loose during the ride.
We knew it because we heard it bounce along under the train.
That was half way back to Palestine. Kind of unnerving. But not as unnerving as when the train stopped. We sat there waiting.
After twenty minutes or so, the Conductor came back and told us the “engineer” was fabricating a part to replace the damaged line.
Turns out, our “engineer” is a licensed engineer with a specialty in steam powered engines.
We were back underway within a half hour or so.
To book your railroad experience, go online to The Texas State Railroad Palestine for availability and to reserve your date. You can also book to leave out of and return to the Rusk station. Go online to The Texas State Railroad Rusk.
A word of warning: Be on the train before your depart time at both stations.
There was a family that got back to the parking lot in Rusk as the train was pulling out. Our Conductor told us they have a strict depart time and can’t stop, backup or deviate from their schedule. Still don’t know how they got back to Palestine.
Texas State Railroad Palestine Depot 789 Park Rd 70, Palestine, Texas. Switch Brick Oven Pizza 1615 W. Royall St, Palestine, Texas. La Quinta Inn & Suites Palestine 3000 TX-256 Loop, Palestine, Texas.
NEW! WE’VE ADDED EXTERNAL LINKS TO HELP GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. Look for the red External Links (above) added to the hotels, restaurants and destinations we’ve visited making it easier to research and plan your next trip.
CATEGORIES: Road Trip; Restaurants; Destinations; Hotels and Accommodations.
BLOG POST PART 2: THE PALESTINE TO TYLER RUN.
PALESTINE to TYLER, TEXAS. March 27, 2019.
Retracing a favorite motorcycle run.
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY
UPDATED MAY 10, 2021. We finished the Texas Railroad ride in plenty of time to make our run to Tyler.
I found this route in Ride Texas a magazine for motorcycle enthusiast magazine.
The Ride Texas “Awesome Autumn Ride” map we printed gave us the route but no distances so we ran it with Nicole driving while I navigated. (I‘ve gone through that process again, from my chair at home, and included turn-by-turn directions below to give you an idea of distances between major turns.)
This course takes you through the Northeast part of Texas using back and side roads to take you past Lake Palestine up to Tyler. While it’s not a challenging course of tight turns, climbs and descents, it is a picturesque, rewarding drive that winds its way north.
As rewarding as the Palestine/Tyler run is, heading over to Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue in Tyler is a close second.
One of Texas Monthly’s 2017 Top 50 BBQ Joints, Stanley’s brisket is pull apart juicy and pairs nicely with their coleslaw and pinto beans.
The Palestine to Tyler Run.
I had both the RideTexas map and Google maps open so I could find the turns and to make course changes.
Since it’s not a direct route, Google Maps won’t set directions for you so there was a lot of mapping small segments to get distances.
You’re looking at a best effort to give you a good idea of distances. (I would have paid to have these distances as a starting point.)
Palestine to Maydelle
Head out east on US84 to Maydelle 20.3 miles
Maydelle to Jacksonville
Left on FM2138 10.7 miles
Left on FM347 1.5 miles
Jacksonville to Mixon
Right on West Pine/TX135 then
Left on US69 7.5 miles
Right on FM177 4.9 miles
Left on FM3052
Mixon to Whitehouse
Continue North onto S. Bolton Street/FM3025 3.3 miles
Left on TX110 3.1 miles
Whitehouse to Tyler
Right on FM346 4.2 miles
Left on Eastside Road / FM3341 5.4 miles
Turns slightly left and becomes Old Omen Road 2.2 miles
Slight right onto Bascom Road/FM848 2.3 miles
Left on TX64 2.3 miles
Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue 525 Beckham Ave, Tyler, Texas.
NEW! WE’VE ADDED EXTERNAL LINKS TO HELP GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. Look for the red External Links (above) added to the hotels, restaurants and destinations we’ve visited making it easier to research and plan your next trip.
CATEGORIES: Road Trip; Restaurants; Destinations.
BLOG POST PART 3: ON TO WACO.
TYLER to WACO, TEXAS. March 28, 2019.
Heading to Waco.
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY
UPDATED MAY 25, 2021. After a night at the Holiday Inn Express in Tyler, we headed to Waco.
My first memories of Waco go back to when my parents would stop at the Elite Café on the way from North Texas to San Antonio.
This was long before IH35, before the first remodel of the Elite and before the later rebranding by Chip and Joanna Gaines as the Magnolia Table. Back when US281was still the main road from north to south Texas.
You can see why Waco has been a favorite stop for us for years.
THE COLCORD HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST. We’ve never felt like we had enough time to see Waco when we stayed overnight so, this trip, we stayed two nights at the Colcord House Bed and Breakfast.
Built in 1920, the Colcord has been restored and renovated throughout with period correct finishes and fixtures.
THE CARRIAGE HOUSE. We reserved the carriage house suite which used to be the maid’s quarters located over what used to be a horse and carriage house giving us an authentic experience of what life was like shortly after the turn of the century.
The hosts/owners at the Colcord gave us breakfast menu choices plus asked if there was anything else we would like to have.
While the home has been renovated and maintained to reflect the period it was built in, they have a near-chef-level kitchen. So breakfast was delicious.
We had scones, bacon, eggs and toast. During breakfast, they told us about the history of the neighborhood and the home.
My wife commented on how much she loves scones. They had a basket of scones for us to take back to our room.
We told them we planned to go to Magnolia Table the next morning and they gave us some great advice: BE THERE AT 7:00AM!
We got to Magnolia Table at 7:00am and only had a 10 to 15 minute wait (by the time we finished eating there were people everywhere and the wait was over an hour).
I had the Farm Breakfast, sunny side up eggs, toast, bacon and their housemade tator tots. Nicole had Skillet Porridge Oatmeal, steel cut oatmeal served with fresh berries, honey drizzle and toasted pecans. Every bite was exceptional.
TAKING IN THE SITES. After breakfast, we headed out for shopping in the business district of Waco.
The business district runs along the Brazos River creating a perfect opportunity to see the variety of bridges Waco has crisscrossing the river as you shop.
We went to the shops at Magnolia Market at the Silos (awesome selection), Jimmy Don’s trailer to get some of his original iron designs and Harp Design plus two or three antique shops as we wrapped up our trip and headed back home!
Colcord House Bed & Breakfast 2211 Colcord Ave, Waco, Texas Magnolia Table 2132 S Valley Mills Dr, Waco, Texas Magnolia Market at the Silos 601 Webster Ave, Waco, Texas Jimmy Don (JDH Iron Designs from Fixer Upper), 401 S 8th Street, Waco, Texas Harp Design Company (also from Fixer Upper) 808 N 15th Street, Waco, Texas 76707
NEW! WE’VE ADDED EXTERNAL LINKS TO HELP GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. Look for the red External Links (above) added to the hotels, restaurants and destinations we’ve visited making it easier to research and plan your next trip.
CATEGORIES: Road Trip; Out and Back Road Trip; Backyard Road Trip; Restaurants; Destinations; Hotels and Accommodations; Road Trip Must See.
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