In a state as diverse as Texas, there’s always an adventure around every corner and unique attractions at every turn.
Our Texas RV Travel Bucket List continues.
La Feria Nature Center
A few of the hundreds of black-bellied whistling ducks that make their home at La Feria Nature Center. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved
With the opening of the Rio Grande Valley’s newest park, the La Feria Nature Center located at 1800 South Rabb Road, the La Feria Parks System was expanded by an additional 88 acres for the enjoyment of all who love the outdoors.
The park consists of two walking trails surrounding three bodies of water, several butterfly gardens, many native plants, and a children’s playground. Bird watchers will find this a perfect place to spend the day. There are four observation decks, a fishing pier, and a large pavilion that is available for rent for special occasions.
The walking trail around the observation decks is one mile; the walking trail around the playground is ½ mile.
On our visit, we spotted great egret, snowy egret, great blue heron, white ibis, American coot, loggerhead shrike, American kestrel, Eastern meadowlark, and hundreds of black-bellied whistling ducks.
Kloesel’s Steak House
Kloesel’s Steak House in Moulton makes a great lunch stop on the way to the “little brewery in Shiner”.© Rex Vogel, all rights reserved
Blink and you’ll miss Moulton—but that would be a mistake.
On a recommendation we received while in Luling we made a lunch stop at this sidetrack town 10 miles north of Shiner on Texas 95.
Incidentally we were on our way to tour the “little brewery in Shiner”.
Turn west off Texas 95 onto Moore Avenue, and see what I mean.
Moulton (pronounced MOLE-ton) prospered in the 1880s as the railroad and Czech and German immigrants came to town. Today, the town of some 1,000 people quaintly blends Old World style and Old West flavor.
During the past 40 years, Harvey and Diana Kloesel have turned a former grocery-café into a popular eatery. The Kloesels charbroil choice steaks. Other fare ranges from fettuccine to blue-plate specials, plus luscious pies and cheesecakes. All steaks at Kloesel’s Steak House are USDA choice beef and are freshly cut in the Kloesel’s preparation room.
The salad dressings and sauces are family recipes prepared fresh each week. The Kloesels also feature their own private label of Steak Sauce which is served in their restaurant. The sauces, salad dressings, homemade pies, fresh bread and buns, and fresh steaks are available for purchase.
Caddo Lake State Park
Caddo Lake, which straddles the Texas-Louisiana border northwest of Shreveport, is the largest natural lake in the South, a sprawling maze of bayous, sloughs, ponds, and channels cut through dense, lush forests. Spanish moss dripping from towering bald cypress trees creates a sense of mystery.
A subtropical wading birds related to the herons but distinguished by a long slender downwardly curved bill, the white ibis is often seen at La Feria Nature Center. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved
Around eight feet in the shallows, Caddo’s depth increases up to 20 feet in the bayous. A visit to the lake often begins at the state park where one finds Big Cypress Bayou, a major watershed for the lake. Just above the swamps are hardwood bottomlands and eventually piney woods. Both Texas and Louisiana share the Caddo Lake shoreline, where fishing guides, boat rentals, camping, lodging, and restaurants abound.
With more than 70 species of fish—including the prehistoric-looking paddlefish—the 26,810-acre lake has always lured fishermen. But large numbers of birders, naturalists, and paddlers flock here, too, drawn by Caddo’s diverse flora and fauna.
Texas Spoken Friendly
Please Note: This is part 6 of an on-going series on our Texas Bucket List
Worth Pondering…
Texas is a state of the mind.
Texas is an obsession.
Above all,
Texas is a nation in every sense of the word.
—John Steinbeck